Continuing Your Fitness Regime While The Gyms Are Closed: A Practical Guide
- Written by a Guest Writer
The outbreak of a novel coronavirus around the world has brought about some serious changes to society. From kids being home-schooled to working from home suddenly becoming the norm rather than an exception, lockdown rules in a variety of countries worldwide have left many of us staying indoors for the majority of the time. If you were sticking to a regular fitness and exercise routine before the pandemic took hold, this has likely been one of the many things disrupted by the outbreak. In order to control the spread of coronavirus as much as possible, the majority of gyms have temporarily closed their doors to the public and even if your gym is still open, there are a multitude of reasons why you might be reluctant to go and workout at a time like this.
The good news is that you can definitely exercise at home but figuring out what to do can be difficult. Chances are, you don’t have as much space or exercise equipment in your home as you’d have access to in the gym, so it’s likely that you’ll need to get used to doing things a little bit differently when it comes to staying fit in the middle of a pandemic.
Bodyweight Exercises:
The simplest and easiest way to work out at home is bodyweight exercises. You do not need any equipment; just your own body! And there are a variety of different effective bodyweight exercise options that you can use to build strength and endurance and burn calories. Circuit training with your body weight, where you go from one exercise to the next with little or no rest in between, will help keep your heart rate up so that you can burn more calories and get the best results from your exercise sessions.
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Choose your workout: Decide whether you are going to do cardio, strength training or a combination of both
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Choose ten exercises: If you’re going to do cardio, focus on exercises with different intensity levels. For example, you might combine a high-intensity exercise like burpees or jumping jacks with a lower-intensity move like marching in place. If you’ve chosen to do strength training, choose pulls, pushes, and core movements, like lunges, push-ups, dips, and squats.
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Choose your exercise length: Decide how long you are going to perform each exercise for, based on your stamina level and experience. If you’re fairly new to fitness then you might want to start with short times between 10-30 seconds and build up gradually, whereas if you are more advanced and experienced, opt for 60-90 seconds or more. Don’t be afraid to push yourself if you feel that you can go for longer.
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Set the scene: It’s always easier when you’re prepared, so set the scene by making sure that you have enough room to comfortably exercise and putting on some upbeat music. You might find it useful to have a timer or stopwatch to time your reps.
Exercise Videos:
There’s really nothing better than exercise videos if you want a variety of different exercises to try, convenience, and more structure in your home exercise routine. Working out with an exercise video can also often feel like you have a trainer with you, which is great if you need that little bit of a push and encouragement to really give it your all when you work out. There are exercise video options to choose from for every age, gender, interest, and fitness goal, and all you need to do is switch them on on your TV and you can work out any time that you like from the privacy of your own home. And there really are thousands of options that you can browse; YouTube alone has a huge collection of workout videos uploaded by reputable trainers and fitness companies that you can browse and take advantage of free of charge. You might also want to check out some of the following resources for exercise videos:
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Collage Video: This is a great website for researching and purchasing exercise videos. You can search for the video that you want by keywords, fitness levels, instructor, type of exercise, and many other factors. You also get to check out video clip previews before you buy and there’s a handy user review feature so you can know exactly what to expect.
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Video Fitness: If reading past user reviews is important to you, then you are going to love this exercise video website. It’s very well-organized and you can find the videos that you want by searching the type of workout, fitness level, or instructor that you are interested in.
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Amazon: This online giant is also great for finding exercise videos, comparing prices, and reading reviews. Plus, you can buy a huge range of fitness and exercise equipment here, all in a handy place.
Exercise Video Games:
You might not associate video games with exercising, but the truth is, video games are no longer just for couch potatoes. In recent years, there has been a huge increase in exergames - games that require you to get up and move - and it couldn’t have been better timing since we’re now all stuck at home while we wait out a pandemic and gyms are closed, so what better way to get in more physical activity while having fun?
If you find it difficult to motivate yourself to exercise and would find it a lot easier to get up and move if it was fun at the same time, check out games like Gold’s Gym Dance Workout, Everybody Dance, and EA Sports. If you want to try out the latest tech, you might even want to think about investing in a virtual reality headset; VR games require you to move around a lot more than regular console games and favourites like Beat Saber or Superhot will get your heart racing in no time, but you’ll be having so much fun it won’t feel like you are working out.
Online Classes:
If you tend to get most of your exercise in spin classes, yoga classes, and other group workouts then you might be missing out on the social aspect of keeping fit. Transitioning to working out at home on your own can be difficult if you are used to hitting the gym with a fitness buddy or working out as part of a larger group of people. Many personal trainers and fitness instructors are offering online classes that you might find useful. While exercising with a group over a Zoom call will never be the same as being there in person, it can be a fun way to keep up the social side of things and a great way to stay motivated if you find that exercise classes help you keep up with regular workouts.
If you don’t want to attend online classes, another option to consider is working out with your friends virtually; you can set up a Zoom call while you all work out together in your respective homes; this can be a great way to motivate one another and help keep working out at home interesting.
Improving Your Diet:
If you have been unable to hit the gym for as often as you are used to, then improving your diet and lifestyle is essential to combat the changes to your fitness routine. You might find that since you are exercising less or doing less intense exercises than you are used to in the gym, you will need to place more focus on eating healthier foods to stay in shape.
Reviewing Your Supplements
If you take any supplements, it’s also worth reviewing your supplement intake to ensure that what you are taking is still working correctly in relation to your new at-home workout routine; for example, if you are lifting fewer weights and doing more cardio exercises at home, you might not need to take as much whey protein. Testosterone supplements can be especially useful if you have found that you have lost muscle mass as a result of not being able to work out as often; they can help support muscle growth and help you get the most out of the workouts that you are doing at home. TestoGen offers safe, effective testosterone supplements that can help you with muscle building along with providing more energy overall. Check out their website here.
Other Lifestyle Changes Worth Making:
Last but not least, with lockdown measures in place and most non-essential businesses closed down temporarily, it can be all too easy to end up in a more sedentary and even unhealthy lifestyle than you are used to. While sitting on your sofa and eating snacks can be very appealing when you’re stuck at home with nothing to do, it’s important to not let yourself go.
Sleep is an important factor. Getting enough high-quality sleep at night will ensure that your body can repair and recover from your at-home workouts and get the best results. It’s also important to stay hydrated; a large reusable water bottle that you can keep by your side throughout the day is useful.
If you’re used to working out at the gym, current closures due to the coronavirus might have messed up your routine. But, setting up a good fitness routine that you can do from home is easier than you might think.
Daily Bulletin
