Whether you have trained at home before lockdown or not, it’s likely you have noticed a drop in daily movement since going into quarantine. This begs the question, how and what kind of exercising should we be doing when locked up indoors?
Here’s the thing, it’s important to remember that training is not just an output of calories. This is a multitude of benefits to exercising in the right way aside from just expending energy, including consistency and improving yourself, even on the days where you don’t feel like it. This is usually followed by a sense of pride, confidence and accomplishment.
The physiological benefits range too; from release of various chemicals and hormones which improve your mood and energy levels, to maintenance of muscle tissue and weight control. Therefore, if you like feeling fitter, more confident, and happier, sleep better and look leaner then we’d highly recommend sticking to consistent training during this time!
We are lucky to have access nowadays to free content online, but we’ve outlined some of the fundamentals to follow during your fitness regime.
- Include some form of resistance training. This could be anything from bodyweight, for example press ups and squats etc. When you apply intention and purpose to bodyweight exercises, you’ll quickly realise how much these exercises can be underestimated.
- Shorter, more intense sessions will likely yield the best results initially. This is due to the lack of weight or load that we have available to us right now. Rest times can remain short, and by performing the exercises with slower tempo. Having a higher frequency of these sessions (3-5 times per week) will then stimulate all the benefits mentioned above.
Examples of the type of exercises you could do at home are as follows:
Bodyweight full body workout:
4 Rounds:
30-45 secs each exercise
30 secs rest in between each round
- Squats
- Press ups
- Hip extensions (feet on floor or sofa)
- Lunges (alternate legs)
- Tricep dips (chair or sofa
- Plank
Full body light Dumbbell workout:
4 Rounds
30-45 secs each exercise
30 secs rest after each set
- Squats
- Bicep curls
- Lateral raises
- Hip extensions
- Overhead tricep extensions
- Lunges (alternate legs)
Enjoying your training and setting goals is an important factor to consider, as this will determine how long you stick to your home exercise. It can be tempting to train similar to the way you trained in the gym, but without the training equipment and environment it can make it harder, this isn’t a bad thing, it just requires to adapt to what you have available, in a structure you can stick to.
Use the time to make further improvements required for when you return to the gym. This could include improved flexibility, mobility or a strengthened core and the stability it comes with. With these improved skills, you will have far less limiting factors and reduced risk of injury when you return to the gym.
If you’d like to start or continue training from home but just lack the motivation and structure, then consider online group personal training. It will provide the structure and accountability required to make improvements when traveling, or within the comfort of your own home. Find out more here.