Workouts You Can Do From Home While Watching TV

If you want to work on your arms and chest while you watch TV, the classic push-up is the perfect exercise. Push-ups also target abdominal muscles, hips, and legs, which can give you a more comprehensive workout than most people realize. According to WebMD, doing push-ups can improve balance and posture, protect you from back injuries, and effectively burn calories — in addition to strengthening your upper body.

However, doing a push-up the right way does require you to keep your spine in alignment. If you’re doing push-ups on the floor, it’s important that you look down at the floor to keep your neck and spine in line while in the plank position. Because that can be difficult with the TV above you, it’s a good idea to only do traditional push-ups during commercial breaks or in between the action.

You also have the option to modify your push-ups to make it easier to enjoy your favorite show or movie. For example, you can do push-ups while leaning against the back of your couch or a chair to keep your body aligned while having your eyes on the TV. Switching up your push-up form has other advantages as well. New York trainer Jackie Stalzer told SELF, “Not only is it a good idea to perform multiple types of push-ups to engage different parts of your body, but it’s also important to explore your options to find out which variations work best for you.”