5 min
Keeping fit and healthy during the Covid-19 quarantine might seem more challenging than usual, with the temporary closure of many indoor fitness facilities.
Staying sedentary for extended periods of time can impact negatively on an individual’s health, both physically and mentally; leaving us feeling more lethargic, prone to injury, and also more likely to gain weight, amongst other health concerns.
Therefore, we must find ways to stay in shape, without the gym.
If you’re looking for new and creative ways to stay active without your gym, here are some valuable tips to get you started!
How to Stay Active During the COVID-19 Quarantine
Whilst the gym provides us with a huge amount of variety in our training, we sometimes neglect the variety found closer to home. How can you still maintain a physically fit body whilst staying at home?
1. Find a Reason to Move
Try to find a reason to stand up and move around. It could be tasks like cleaning or doing laundry, but also just moving to another room to fill up a water bottle, or climbing the stairs.
Make sure you take regular breaks to move and break up your day.
If you work from home, try standing up every 15 minutes, or (if possible) stand whilst you work. You’ll be boosting your metabolism and increasing your calorie burn just by keeping yourself up and active, even if it’s just choosing to stand and not sit!
If it’s only for a few minutes a time, those minutes add up.
Not only that, but you’re also getting those joints and muscles moving, limiting stiffness or potential muscle strains.
2. Increase Your Neat
Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) plays a significant role in the total amount of calories you expend per day. NEAT is essentially your day-to-day activity, outside of dedicated physical activity or exercise.
To maximise the calories you burn, the more active you are, the better.
Expenditure through physical activity, such as HIIT workouts or strength programmes, averages a total of 15-30% of your energy output a day; therefore, getting your steps in is just as important!
Aim for around 10,000 steps a day- easily measured using a phone or a fitness wearable. Even if you cannot count steps, going for a walk, cycling, and taking the stairs are some options to increase and improve your daily NEAT.
Having a dance around your living room to some music can help pump the endorphins and keep your body active!
Have You Tried Outdoor Training?
If you’re able to get outdoors, plan a run or a bodyweight HIIT or strength session. There are plenty of apps available for running that tailor to your specific goals.
For workouts, if you don’t have any weights or equipment, bodyweight exercise is a fantastic way to build strength , and also helps to improve your cardiovascular endurance.
Try creating a timed exercise routine, made up of compound movements, which incorporate multiple muscle groups; squats, push-ups, rows, and deadlifts are great options.
You don’t need heavy weights, just a timer, lots of repetitions and your surroundings- hills, steps, trees!
Being outdoors will give you space to move and change up your settings, helping to find some variation to your normal routine, whilst also improving sleep and decreasing stress.
Regardless of what exercises you choose, you’ll be getting that all-important Vitamin D boost, whilst increasing your heart rate and calorie burn. Even better? It’s free!
How to Stay Fit at Home
So, the question is: what exercises can you do to stay physically active during self-quarantine? There are many ways to stay fit at home: you can start with doing yoga (even for beginners ) or other home exercises to stay healthy.
Keep reading to discover how can you still maintain a physically fit body while staying inside your home.
Home Workouts
Thanks to the rise of digital technology, we now have new and varied ways to train from inside our homes.
There are plenty of apps to choose from, as well as Zoom classes, YouTube videos, and online memberships to most gyms and studios.
If you have some space, get inventive with some makeshift weights- such as cans for dumbbells or a rucksack filled with household items, that you can use to lift or squat.
Having a friend or family member join in, whether at home or remotely, can add some much-needed motivation. Even a quick 20-minute session in your day will have a huge impact on mood and motivation .
Stretching
Incorporate a quick stretch routine into your day.
Stretching has many benefits; it can help decrease back pain, prevent injury, increase flexibility, improve posture and range of movement, and can reduce tightness in muscles and joints.
It can also be extremely calming and good for the mind. Great times to stretch are first thing in the morning and before bed, as well as before and after exercise.
Incorporating a daily yoga or stretching routine into your training will keep you flexible, improve your breathing, and improve strength.
You can also use items of clothing, such as tights or a tie, in place of a resistance band, to help any particularly tight areas of the body.
Give these tips a try and see how you can transform your quarantine fitness regime!