With gyms being closed and people working from home, everyone but the biggest fitness enthusiasts aren’t thinking too much about engaging in physical activity. With people moving all their obligations to their homes, exercise during the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t a priority. But, your body shouldn’t be neglected.
Exercising is beneficial not only for our physical health, but for our mental as well. Living in the time of global pandemic is a stressful thing. One of the best ways to get a relief from anxiety and stress is to do a workout and stay as active as possible. Exercise during the COVID-19 lockdown, albeit having its own difficulties is extremely important. But how can you commit to regular workout routine when you are being asked to stay at home? It is hard but not impossible. Below are some tips on staying on track with your exercise during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Take Free Virtual Workout Classes
A lot of fitness companies and gyms are taking advantage of the lockdown by offering free virtual classes. This is a good commercial for the company, while you are getting your necessary trainings. For example, Nike Training Club Premium is giving away free virtual exercise during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of these exercises don’t require you to use any professional sport equipment. Of course, if you want to do a strength training but don’t have a workout machine at home, use things that you already have at your home, such as water bottles, to help you with adding weight.
If you don’t feel like taking a whole class, but still want to learn some exercises that you can do from home, World Health Organization has a few examples on their website.
Don’t Forget to Stretch
If you don’t want to do full exercise, but still want to do something with your sore back, you should stretch. Stretching doesn’t require much space and you can do it anywhere. You can even do some at-home yoga! This will help you with your posture and will relief you of some bone and muscle pain. If you need help with it, try using belts, towels, ties or similar household items.
This is especially useful if you are working at your desk all the time. Try to open your chest and back by standing straight and leaning down to touch your toes, or by holding your hands behind your back and bending over.
Try Dancing
If you are easily bored and find exercise to be a bummer, try dancing. No, we’re not talking about professional salsa classes, as these are hard to take right now. Simply turn on the music that you like, find the room with the most free space in your home, and dance. Dancing is one of the best stress-relieving activities. You can even sing along, for even more entertainment. And don’t care if anyone’s watching – you’ll feel good afterwards.
Be as Active as Possible
You probably don’t even realize how much calories you are burning just by doing simple house tasks. If you are working from home, you are probably spending more time sitting down than ever. Sure, you wouldn’t be active in the office, but at least you’d have some walk from the parking lot to your office, or while taking a bus. This is why it’s important to take short breaks and do any physical activity that you can. Play with your dog or your children, do house cleaning, mow the yard, or wash the dishes. Do whatever you can to remain on your feet instead of sitting down.
Just an Hour of Workout a Week Makes a Huge Difference
Just because you are sitting at home, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have bunch of free time just for yourself. People are busy homeschooling their kids, doing house chores and working from home. Don’t worry – you don’t have to spend whole day exercising during the COVID-19 lockdown to notice some improvements. Of course, if you’d want to bulk up, you’ll have to work out every day, but for your mental and overall health 15 minutes of exercise per day makes a lot of difference.
Health Study of Nord-Trøndelag Count conducted a study (also called the HUNT study) which proved that at least 12% of depression cases could have been prevented if the participants had just one hour of workout a week. In the US, millions of people struggle with depression and anxiety, and the numbers are only getting higher. Exercise might not help everyone, but it can make you feel better in every way possible.
Sell a House
Doing workout can be motivating and can help you do things that you are hesitating to complete for a while now. For example, maybe you are in financial debt and you can’t afford to pay your mortgage anymore, or you are afraid of the possibility of the incoming foreclosure. If this is the case, why don’t you sell your house during the COVID-19 pandemic? Yes, it is possible – and this might be the right time to do so.