The Five-Minute Solution: How to Improve Your Fitness, Strength, and Posture at Lightning-Fast Speed

One ​​of the hardest parts of building a New Year's fitness habit is finding the time. Even in our hybrid work world, it can seem impossible to dedicate just 30 minutes a few times a week. But everyone has five minutes: that's about a third of the time people spend looking for something to watch on Netflix. And while five minutes may not seem like a lot, if you keep your efforts focused, you'll start to see results — as well as lay the foundation for a longer-term habit. So choose an area to work on and start the hourglass.

Office jobs tend to create poor posture, and everything you do in the gym won't help - the typical "bench bro" routine can lead to intuition that will set you up for trouble down the line. "Posture is really about back strength," says Helen O'Leary, physical therapist and clinical Pilates instructor. "The harder your body's back muscles work, the more they will hold you against gravity." Use these three moves in a circuit, doing them each once.

Prone press"A great mobility and readiness exercise to start at the end of your day", says O'Leary. “Lie on your stomach with your hands close to your chest and your nose above the ground. “Press your pubic bone into the ground to create a stable base. Press down on your hands and imagine pressing down on the floor - this will start sending your upper back to the floor. Pause with your lowest ribs on the floor, breathe, then lower back down. As you get better, try raising your hands at the top of the movement to see if you can stand up. inline" data-spacefinder-type="model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement" class="dcr-173mewl"><

Swim Pilates "It's largely a progression of the bench press - it will test your endurance as well as your core control," says O'Leary. moving your arms and legs apart as if you were separated in an arm wrestle. You should end up with both feet and hands on the ground. Pause when you're here and make sure you're breathing, then start "paddling" the arms and legs from the shoulder and hip. Your body will turn a little and that's fine. Ideally, build the amount of time you are on your feet towards 60 seconds. engage your spine,” says O'Leary. "Also, your legs are involved, making it a complete exercise. Lie on your stomach and lean on your elbows to make a...