- 1). Contract your gluteal muscles. Isometric muscle exercises require contraction, and no movement. There is no muscle-lengthening. You can isometrically exercise any muscle that can be contracted or clenched. Your gluteal, or seat, muscles are the largest muscles in your entire body, and exercising large muscles burns more overall calories than small muscles. So formulate a glute-workout: squeeze your glutes together, hold the contraction for 3 to 5 seconds, and relax. Do this 10 to 12 times, to create a set. Work up to three sets, with a one-minute rest in between. Aim for three or four sets daily.
- 2). Perform bridge hip-raises. If only one of your legs is injured, use the other to perform a bridge hip-raise. Not only does this maintain strength in your uninjured leg, but when you exercise a healthy limb, its injured partner doesn't lose its function quite so fast; the brain can still send nerve impulses to the injured muscles, and this helps decelerate muscle atrophy. To perform a bridge hip-raise, draw your healthy knee upwards, plant your foot flat on the bed's surface, and press downwards through your heel while you lift your hips. Difficult even with two healthy legs, hip-raises need not be very high to be effective; start with just five to six repetitions, 2 to 3 inches high, and work up to three sets.
- 3). Do sit ups. Sit ups are classic isometric exercises. You can perform sit ups with straight legs or bent legs; the key is slow, controlled movements. Remember that your shoulders and arms should remain uninvolved; abdominal muscles are your focus, and the slower you go, the more your abs are taxed. If you can only manage stomach contractions, that's fine; do six to eight of them. If you are adept at sit ups, perform three sets of six to eight reps, starting from a straight position. Turning your torso at the beginning of a sit up activates the lateral, or side-most, abdominals. You can alternate frontal and lateral sit ups for variety and overall abdominal targeting.
- 4). Lift arm weights. Lying on your back in bed is like assuming the bench-press position, so do some arm weights while your legs rest. Have a friend bring you some barbells, soft weights or bottles filled with water. Hold the weights firmly, and start with them positioned by your shoulders. Take a full three to five seconds to press upwards over three seconds, and lower the weights over the next three to five seconds, staying slow and controlled. You can start with eight to 10 repetitions, rest, and repeat twice. These bench-press exercises primarily work your shoulder muscles and triceps, and secondarily, your biceps and forearms.
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