No excuse not to stay active

We all thought it was spring, right? And now Mother Nature's getting all crazy on us again. Luckily, almost all the exercises from my fitness videos, which are part of my Truth on Health Campaign, can be done inside or out, so there's no excuse not to stay active. Check out the latest clip from my new video embedded in this blog. We're startin' out by jogging in place. This is a great way to warm up, get the blood pumping. Don't forget to swing those arms to really get yourself moving.

Next, get into a defensive stance. All you have to do is crouch down a little, keep your arms out and your palms up. Get your feet moving, chopping up your steps. From here, you can move on to what I call “quick feet.” You stay in defensive stance, but your feet start movin' even faster. You're breathing harder now, aren't you? That means you're really working! These are some great moves that really help with your circulation and get your heart rate up.. Remember, it’s important to get a good warm-up before any activity.

Another one to try is side slides. You want to keep facing forward, but take two slides to the left, then two slides back to the right. In between sets of slides, you can do some quick feet to keep that heart rate up.

I also like doing squat jumps for a really good burn. Get in the squat position. Be sure to protect your knees by keeping them over your ankles. Then comes the fun part - jump as high as you can in the air and come down. Don't forget to lift your arms up as you jump. Do five of those and you're really feeling it, right? Good, keep it up!

After all those exercises, you need to end with a good stretch, because you just worked a lot of leg muscles. Open up your legs into a straddle, lean over to the right, and stretch. Do the same in the middle, and then over to the left. Feels good after workin those legs, doesn't it?

Like I keep saying, you don’t need fancy gym equipment to get some really good exercise. Check out the full video on Comcast On Demand. Just select the Get Local category from the On Demand menu, then choose NBA TV, Boston Celtics, and Paul Pierce's FitClub34, and then get outside and get movin! You can also check out my website, www.truthonhealth.org, for some more exercise tips. Remember to check back every week for my new video.

Paul Pierce's Truth on Health campaign empowers and encourages young people to lead healthier lives by providing them with the information, resources, and tools necessary to become more active and physically fit. To learn more, visit www.truthonhealth.org

Follow Paul Pierce on Twitter @PaulPierce34 and @TruthonHealth and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/paulpierce