How To Make Your Netflix Marathons Count

Photo by Qi Weng

After a long day of classes, club meetings and homework, we all love to come home and binge-watch our favorite shows on Netflix. Who doesn’t love zoning out and losing the stress of the day? But, too often, episode after episode will go by and soon you’ll feel like you’ve just lost valuable hours of the day to your laptop screen. This is called “binge-watching guilt,” and we’ve all been there before.

Don’t get us wrong, it’s perfectly fine to take time for yourself and catch up on your favorite shows, but make this time count for something! Valley worked with PSU Fitness instructor Zoe Rafferty to design a simple but effective workout routine to help you to get rid of that binge-watching guilt. It works for 20-minute episodes, as well as 45-minute ones.

Rafferty is a senior Elementary Education major that has been working with PSU Fitness for two years now. She is responsible for 6- classes a week at the White Building and has even created her own class: Quick HIIT.

Zoe tells us that a high-intensity workout would not be the best while trying to keep up with your shows, so we are going to focus on rounds and rests exercises. This will help to keep your body working and focus on muscle strengthening instead of a super-sweaty cardio routine.

Set your phone timer to go off every three minutes. Once it goes off, you will have a minute of exercise to do and then another three-minute rest.

20-minute routine:
1st exercise break: Hollow Body Hold

Lay on your back and lift your head and shoulders off the ground so that you can see your TV. Then lift your feet six inches off the ground and hold. Your lower body will be pushing into the ground and you should feel it in your abs.

Need to simplify? Keep your shoulder blades on the ground.

Want a challenge? Hold your arms out by your ears and above the head and flutter your feet.

Engaging: Core

2nd exercise break: Squats

Open your legs into a wide stance. Keeping your weight in your heels and your chest up (this will help you engage your core), bend down at your knees, but keep your knees behind your toes. When you come back up, squeeze your buns. Repeat this movement for a full minute.

Need to simplify? Hold yourself in the squat position for the full minute.

Want a challenge? Before coming back up, kick one of your legs back until you feel a pinch in your booty. Then after your next squat, do the same on the other side.

Engaging: thighs, glutes, core

3rd exercise break: knee push ups

While knee push ups may seem easier, they really do engage the major areas of your body and you can keep your eyes on your show. To do this move, keep your hands flat on the ground and parallel with your shoulders. Keep your back flat and at an angle from your knees to your shoulders. Bend your arms down, bend your elbows out wide and keep your chest just above the ground, then come back up and arms straightened out.

Need to simplify? Do a couch press instead. Find an edge of a piece of immobile furniture and keep your legs back at an angle to a couch. Preform push up against the edge.

Want a challenge? Do a full push up!

Engaging: Arms, chest, shoulders

4th exercise break: Arm circles

Standing up, stick your arms out at a 90-degree angle to your body with hands extending out. Rotate your arms in a medium-sized circle, not too fast but not too slow either. You should feel a burn in your shoulders.

Need to simplify? Hold your arms out one at a time instead.

Want a challenge? Hold your remote or a water bottle in your hands as you do the arm circles.

Engaging: Arms, shoulders

5th exercise break: Supermans

Lay on your stomach and lift your chest off the ground as high as you can while lowering your core into the ground. Lift legs off ground until you feel a pinch in your lower back. Keep your hands off the ground and by your shoulders. Hold this position.

Need to simplify? Only lift chest.

Want a challenge? Twist your torso a bit to the side.

Engaging: Lower back

That’s it! For a 45- minute episode, just do this routine twice and try to do the challenges for the second set to spice it up. If you want to do it with friends, take turns which minute you do the exercise and the others can keep track of the timers.

*Disclaimer: If you are adding to or changing your physical fitness routines, consult your physician.