With the world being ravaged by COVID-19, many of us have found ourselves confined to our homes in an effort to slow the spread of the disease.
This quarantine has disrupted all of our usual routines, from how we get groceries to how we work. It has also had a huge impact on how we take care of our bodies.
Keeping fit at home during a quarantine is possible; it just requires some creativity and discipline.
Read on to learn how you can stay healthy while sheltering in place during the pandemic.
Body Weight Exercises
One of the best ways to work out at home right now is to do bodyweight exercises. These don’t require any equipment and can be modified to fit your fitness needs. You can also find a variety of exercises to exercise different parts of your body.
If you want to focus on lower body strength, go for exercises like squats, lunges, and high-knees.
For core strength work, crunches, pilates, and seated twists are great options. You can do pushups, tricep dips, and pull-ups to improve your upper body strength.
Yoga
Yoga is another amazing at-home exercise option. Not only will this help you improve your strength and flexibility, but it also comes with a variety of mental health benefits. Yoga has been proven to help mitigate anxiety, depression, and many of the other mental health challenges you may be facing while isolated during the quarantine.
If you’re new to yoga, there are a variety of apps and online tutorials you can follow for guidance. Some companies like Down Dog have made their apps completely free for the next several weeks.
Start with a ten-minute practice in the morning or evening, or even advance to a longer practice if you have some experience with yoga.
Walking
During this quarantine, many people are turning to walking and jogging as a way to get out of their house and get some exercise. Like yoga, this has both mental and physical benefits.
Walking can be a sort of meditation and walking just thirty minutes a day five days a week can have the same weight loss effects as taking a diet pill.
If you plan to go out for a walk or jog, be sure to maintain an appropriate social distance. If you’re jogging or running, you should stay more than six feet away from other people – aim for ten or twelve feet.
If you’re out of breath and panting, you will be expelling respiratory droplets further and potentially risk infecting other people around you.
Virtual Workouts
There are a number of options available for virtual workouts right now. Many fitness influencers have begun posting at-home workout options on their social media and website pages. And workout studios have started finding new ways to help their customers stay in shape at home.
If you’re a member of a gym or workout studio, check whether they are offering virtual classes or at-home workout videos. If not, search on YouTube or other social media for guided workouts you can do.
This may be an excellent time to try out a new workout you’ve wondered about – drop in on a virtual kickboxing class or give a barre workout a try.
Video Game Fitness Programs
If you’re the sort who’s been doing most of your outdoor activities in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, don’t worry. There are lots of fitness options that work through video game platforms! You can earn achievements and get in shape all at the same time.
Wii Fit and games like Dance Dance Revolution have been around for more than a decade now, but they are still great options if you have the system.
Nintendo Switch has a Ring Fit Adventure game that gamify working out. And if you have a FitBit or an Apple Watch, that can be helpful for keeping up with your daily activity recommendations.
Stretching
Even if cardio isn’t your favourite thing in the world, getting up and moving around every day can still be important. Working from home in quarantine, it can be easy to sit in the same spot for most of the day, only getting up to go to the bathroom or get food.
Some light stretching can be a great option for people confined to small homes or those who don’t get excited about working up a sweat. Sit on the floor with your legs out in front of you and reach forward, trying to touch your toes.
Pull your arms across in front of your body or twist your upper body around from side to side, always listening to your body and stopping when your pain levels move from a gentle stretch to a sharp pull.
Home Fitness Equipment
Of course, if you have home fitness equipment, staying in shape at home will be much easier. You can run a few miles on your treadmill or do a few reps with a weight bench or dumbbells. But going through your same routine may start to get dull after a while in quarantine.
Use your time in quarantine to find new ways to use your fitness equipment at home. If you usually run on a treadmill, try varying your speed or incline settings, or push yourself to run a little faster or longer. If you use weights, look for some new exercises to try out.
Learn More About Keeping Fit at Home
While we’re in quarantine, it can be easy to let our fitness goals go. But finding new ways of keeping fit at home can both make your quarantine more interesting and keep you mentally healthy.
Look for resources online or find new ways to use your home fitness equipment until we can all return to our usual routines.
If you’d like to learn about more ways to protect your health, check out the rest of our site at Gallagher Basset. We provide insurance for both catastrophes and for accident and health protection.
Learn more about our accident and health insurance options and start safeguarding your health today.
