Getting exercise is vital for staying healthy. If you currently struggle to maintain your fitness at home, then these essential tips and tricks are for you.
By Thomas Walker of Amire
Exercise should be an unmissable part of your daily routine – and there are lots of reasons why.
Not only will working out help you stop piling on the weight, but it will also boost your immune system, improve your heart, strength and overall health and fitness, lift your mood and according to one study from Harvard University, it can even potentially improve your memory and thinking skills.
If you’re confined to home or are just looking for a way to get the benefits of exercise without joining a gym, the possibilities are endless.
To find out how to achieve your fitness goals at home, check out our article. You’ll soon find out that all it requires is a little inspiration and a dash of imagination.
Read on for our top tips for staying healthy and fit while at home.
Tip #1: Set up a routine and stick to it
The evolution of working out at home has been well documented and has in fact been around for a while. The starting point of exercising successfully at home is setting up a routine and sticking to it. This means that you should be realistic about how much exercise you can achieve and also consider what time of day works best for you.
So instead of setting out aiming to run for an hour every evening on your treadmill, why not break it down into smaller, more manageable goals?
Recommendation: Could try 20 minutes of running to start with and build up to longer distances as your fitness improves.
If you’re a natural lark and are at your best in the morning, get into the habit of waking up 30 minutes earlier than usual and using the time to exercise.
If you work from home, you might find squeezing a virtual exercise class into the middle of the day works best for you.
Or you could use after-work time to unwind by taking part in physical activity.
Tip #2: Turn everyday chores into exercise
With a little imagination, you can turn everyday chores into exercise – and get those pesky jobs done, too!
Gardening is an obvious place to start. Mowing the lawn, digging and weeding are all examples of moderate activity that can raise your pulse and bring about real health benefits.
Maybe your house needs a makeover – view it as an opportunity to nail more than one goal at once. Instead of calling in the decorators, why not invest in some paint and brushes and do the work yourself? Going up and down a ladder is excellent aerobic exercise. Painting walls will tone up your arms, too!
Even housework can count towards your daily exercise. Set a timer, put on some music with a quick rhythm and challenge yourself to do as much vigorous dusting, vacuuming, sweeping and mopping as you can within a certain timeframe.
Tip #3: Connect with an exercise buddy
If you’re used to exercising at the gym or in classes, you’ll know that it’s so much easier when you have the support of others around you with similar goals.
But you can still recreate this supportive vibe when you’re exercising at home. Get in touch with a friend, colleague or relative and find someone who also wants to get fit at home.
Using technology such as ZOOM, Viber, Skype or even Microsoft Teams can get you in touch with close friends and family in order to organize a workout routine online.
You can exercise at the same time using a video chat app or work out some goals with each other. As well as getting the support you need to motivate you, you’ll find peer pressure pushes you to achieve your goals!
Tip #4: Get down with the kids
How old you are shouldn’t be a barrier to keeping fit – you can take care of your health at any age. And if there’s one thing that will motivate you to lead a healthy lifestyle, that’s kids, whether they’re your own or others’ children or grandchildren.
Taking part in kids’ games and activities in your back garden can be enough to raise your heart rate and get you sweating and having fun at the same time.
Try the following activities to get your exercise fix:
- A fast-paced game of tag.
- Water fights (when it’s warm enough outside).
- Back garden yoga.
- Build an assault course. You don’t need any special equipment: prop a broom across two chairs to make a hurdle, make a crawl tunnel out of cardboard boxes open at both ends and squirt objects out of a tree with water pistols.
- Relive your childhood and have fun climbing trees in your garden.
- Set up a treasure hunt to be completed within a time limit. You can run around with the children as they search for clues.
- Bowling. If you don’t have a set, use plastic bottles and any ball you have lying around.
- Try sack races using bin bags or pillowcases if you don’t have sacks.
- Hide and seek is a classic game that both adults and children love.
- Tug of war is a fantastic way to get you breathless and build up your muscles. Use a skipping rope if you don’t have rope to hand.
Tip #5: Go virtual
Many gyms and personal trainers are offering their services online, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic..
This is the perfect way to stay in touch with your local fitness community without having to set foot outside home.
You can also take advantage of the many free online exercise classes available on YouTube. Why not try:
- A kettlebell workout for strength and muscle toning
- Yoga for flexibility and relaxation
- A total body workout with Olympian Jessica Ennis-Hill
- Walk for one mile (1.6 km) indoors for a simple exercise fix
- A workout for your abs with no equipment needed
There are also plenty of apps available to help you exercise, whether you’re a fitness pro or a beginner, with functions to help keep track of your progress and motivate you to your next goal.
To Summarise
While it’s certainly a little more challenging keeping fit at home, it’s certainly not impossible. You have just got to get a little more creative and use technology to its advantage.
Once you start exercising at home, you’ll wonder what stopped you before! You’ll find it fun, convenient and a way to bond with family members and friends.
If you can combine your homemade exercise routine with healthy eating and taking care of your emotional wellbeing, you will be well on the way to achieving all-around health and fitness from the comfort of your own home.