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Home › Articles › Weight Loss › The Body Noble

The Body Noble

A Holistic Approach to Fitness

By Kelly Burgess

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Noble may put himself out of business for saying this, but according to him you don't need to join a gym to get in shape. Nor do you need personal trainers or fancy equipment. All you need is a small piece of your home.

"To most people the psychology of exercise is going to the gym because they haven't been trained to fit exercise into their lifestyle," says Noble. "A lot of people, particularly women, use that as an excuse not to exercise – they don't want to have to get dressed for the gym and drive there and they may feel self-conscious. You don't need any of that to obtain an overall level of fitness."

Noble's approach has been to develop easy but effective exercises that can be incorporated into any lifestyle, whether you're deskbound (the Office Pump), are a frequent flyer (Jet Set Fitness), practically live in your car (Traffic Jam Pump), love a neat home (the Houseclean Pump) or just like watching TV (the Couch Potato Workout).

It's a no-excuses approach to fitness that Noble jokingly calls the desperate housewife workout, realizing of course that what most housewives are desperate for are just a few more hours in the day.

Because his primary market is women, Noble's exercises are geared toward resistance and strength training.

"I like how yoga and Pilates are exercise but are also very intuitive with an almost spiritual element," says Noble. "I wanted to bring that into my program because I think it's something women can relate to. Women also have a special concern because of the danger of osteoporosis, and studies show over and over that resistance training can help combat that."

Noble Exercises

Talk about exercises anyone can relate to. Here's just a sampling with a few of the exercises for each workout:

Office Pump
Target: The Desk Bound
Equipment needed: Chair

  • Seated Abdominal Crunch

1. Sit up tall in a straight-back chair and imagine that you're trying to squeeze a water balloon on your abdomen. Lace your fingers together behind your head and keep your chin up.

2. Lean over slightly as you contract your abdominal muscles. Maintain the squeeze for five seconds.

  • Seated Calf Raise

1. Sitting in a chair, place feet shoulder width apart on floor.

2. Slowly raise lower legs up onto the tips of toes. Dip heels back to the floor.

Traffic Jam Pump
Target: The Commuter

  • Steering Wheel Squeeze

1. Shift car into park.

2. Sit up tall and place hands on steering wheel at 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions.

3. Squeeze the steering wheel together from both sides. Feel it in your arms and chest. Hold for five seconds, five repetitions.

4. Repeat with hands at 6 o'clock and 12 o'clock positions, and 10 o'clock and 5 o'clock.

Couch Potato Workout
Target: You Know Who You Are

  • Couch Squat

1. Stand up straight in front of the couch with your body straight and feet shoulder width apart.

2. Bend your knees and sit back into a squatting position toward the couch without actually sitting down. Try to stop before your butt touches the seat. Stand up and repeat.

  • Couch Press

1. Stand facing your couch. Put your arms in front of you on the seat cushions as you lower your body and place your feet straight back behind you or in a modified kneeling position.

2. Bend your elbows and lower your chest toward the couch. Press back up to starting position and repeat.


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