Home Workout Ideas
I've had to get pretty creative the last few weeks to keep active. It hasn't been easy, however, I've managed to stay motivated, even from home. I thought I'd share a few ideas with you to help stay active during this isolation period. I know it's hard, especially during these times - but trust me, moving your body has so many benefits, including: stress relief, better sleep, more energy, motivation to get up and get things done. I wanted to highlight the importance of these benefits especially during these difficult times.
1) Body Weight Exercises
For those of you that are giving yourselves the excuse that the gym is closed. Listen up. There are many exercises you can do from home without any equipment. Here is listing a few with body weight only: push ups, tricep dips, crunches, squats, jumping jacks, burpees, mountain climbers, planks, lunges, yoga poses, etc. Body weight exercises are shown to help with weight loss, lean muscle building, increases endurance and many more benefits.
2) Using prompts you can find around your house
Challenge yourself from home. Using prompts, like chairs, the couch, your bed, the wall, canned goods or wine bottles (used as dumbbells). Take it to the next level and do elevated lunges on the couch, tricep dips with the help of your chair, switch it up and do wall push ups and wall squat holds. If you wish to challenge yourself even more - Amazon is your best friend. If available to you, you could order some small weight, bands, yoga ball, yoga mat, etc. I ordered some equipment myself to make things a bit more challenging at home.
3) Go outside
Take your dog out for a walk, go out to the park near your home to do some yoga or go for a run around your block. It's finally getting nice out, here in Canada, going outside will give you so much more energy to move. So go on! Get some vitamin D while keeping active. Personally, I've been going for walks or runs almost every day. I always come back feeling refreshed and energized. Plus, Cali (my dog) loves it.
4) Clean your house
I know this may sound boring to some of you. But cleaning around the house can keep you active and on your feet for a few hours. PLUS, you get to wake up to a clean, fresh smelling house the next day. Honestly, who doesn't like the feel of a fresh cleaned house?
5) Do HIIT workouts (High Intensity Interval Training)
These types of workout typically doesn't require any equipment. They will get your heart rate up and running - that's for sure. HIIT workouts are quick to complete and can give you a really good workout within 30 minutes. Usually, what I do is list 5-6 different exercises, put a timer on and do each exercise for 1 minute. I'll repeat that 3 times and voila. Another good HIIT example, would be to sprint up your street, walk it back, and repeat this 3-4X.
6) Start a home project
This may be limited, in terms of resources. However, you could order some seeds online and start a garden in your yard. You could also re-arrange your deck, build a fire pit, clean out your front and back yard - get it ready for the upcoming warmer months! This will not also get you moving, but motivated to spend time outside, when the summer does arrive. Obviously, this does not necessarily replace a "home workout", but it does include some manual labor which will get your heart rate up there and promote good health benefits.