26.2 Ways to Get Healthy While Watching the Marathon

October 31, 2013— -- intro: If you plan on parking yourself in front of the tube this Sunday to cheer on the 48,000 runners who are running this year's New York City Marathon, expect to feel some guilt.

Those people trained for many moons and logged many a mile to make it to the starting line. You traveled mere inches to get to your couch.

Here, experts share 26.2 ways you can diminish non-runner's remorse so you can take your own small steps towards better health.

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category: 26.2 Ways to Get Healthy While Watching the Marathontitle: 1.url:text: If you order wings, ask for double the celery. As a crunchy, satisfying, low cal veggie, it cuts your snacking calorie count even if you add a dab of blue cheese dressing. - Workout DVD star,Jennifer Galardi.quicklist: 2category: 26.2 Ways to Get Healthy While Watching the Marathontitle: 2.url:text: Got an indoor bike or treadmill? Get on it! Even if you crawl along at 1-mile per hour, you'll still burn about 4 calories per minute. That's better than nothing. - Weight Watchers workout DVD star, Jennifer Cohen

quicklist: 3category: 26.2 Ways to Get Healthy While Watching the Marathontitle: 3.url:text: Use a couch cushion as a balance trainer. Place it on the floor, stand on it, do 12 squats. (Stand with your feet hip-width apart, hands on hips. Bend knees until thighs are parallel to the floor. Stand back up.) – J.C.

quicklist: 4category: 26.2 Ways to Get Healthy While Watching the Marathontitle: 4.url:text: Give a traditional drinking game a healthy makeover. Instead of taking a chug every time you see, say a runner wearing a French Flag, do a set of pushups. – Gina Allchin, six-time marathon finisher, president of Health Trek, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

quicklist: 5category: 26.2 Ways to Get Healthy While Watching the Marathontitle: 5.url:text: Every time the leaders cross a mile marker, do a different strength exercise. Aim to do 26 different moves for a full-body workout. Here are five to start you off: lunge, pushup, chair dip, leg lifts and reverse crunches. - Fitness pro Sadie Lincoln

quicklist: 6category: 26.2 Ways to Get Healthy While Watching the Marathontitle: 6.url:text: For a stronger, tighter middle, do one set of planks or abdominal curls for every 20 minutes of the race you watch. If you stick with it for the entire broadcast, that's a little over 2 hours of TV, and six sets of core work. - Tom Holland, author of the Marathon Method. Tom has run 60 marathons and is running this Sunday

quicklist: 7category: 26.2 Ways to Get Healthy While Watching the Marathontitle: 7.url:text: Shoot for 26 minutes worth of cardio movement. Take on an extra 20 seconds for good measure. Walk in place, do jumping jacks or mountain climbers, skip some rope. You can do it all at once or a minute at a time, Just add it up. – T.H.

quicklist: 8 category: 26.2 Ways to Get Healthy While Watching the Marathontitle: 8.url:text: Runners often complain of tight hamstrings but couch potatoes can also suffer from the same affliction. If those hammies are feeling a bit bunchy, throw your foot up onto a low coffee table or a thick book and lean forward until you feel a strong pull travel up the back of your thigh. Hold for 30 seconds. Repeat twice with each leg. – T.H.

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