Let’s be honest: we all live incredibly busy lives in this day and age. Finding the time to work out can be difficult when we have work and other responsibilities outside of work. However, finding the time to workout from home is now easier than ever before. With the current pandemic, plus with more individuals being able to work from home, people now have the opportunity to get in workouts from the comfort of their own space. Exercise is incredibly important not only for our physical health and long-term well-being, but also our mental health. It has been shown that all individuals benefit greatly from flexibility, cardiorespiratory, resistance, and neuromotor exercises (1). Exercise and physical activity not only improve cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, but also cardio-metabolic health, bone health, weight status, cognition, and decreases the risk of depression (2). Getting the recommend WHO guidelines for exercise (at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity) is important. But that number does not have to feel immensely daunting. You can reach the recommended amount through many different forms of exercise, even doing household chores!
“Exercise boosts the immune system: Research shows that regular, moderate-intensity exercise has immune-boosting benefits that may help your body fight off infections, including COVID-19.” (3)
Below are some tips and recommendations for exercises you can do from home – including their proven benefits!
Active Video Games
As technology continues to improve and grow in our society, several inventions are out there that help improve our ability to stay active and maintain fitness, even from home! One of the more prominent are active video games, that allow individuals to maintain a physically active lifestyle while also having fun. Active video games can be done alone or with family. Consoles like the WII or Nintendo Switch offer the opportunity to play video games, some with motion sensors, that simulate active behaviors like swimming, rowing, cycling, running, and walking (1). Many dance and music fitness games help individuals stay fit while also jamming out to their favorite songs.
There is a growing body of evidence that highlights the benefit of active video games, especially those that consisted of dancing simulation, for elderly individuals and patients in rehabilitation. Not only do the games keep individuals engaged and active, but they have a positive effect on an individual’s perceived stress, cognitive performance, quality of life, mental health, and depression (1). Patients and elderly individuals, such as those with Parkinson’s disease, found improvement in quality of life by reducing stress and anxiety.
Online Virtual Fitness Classes
With a lot of our services moving to virtual platforms, for safety and convenience, trying an online fitness class with a group is easier than ever before. Many apps on our phones offer fitness classes to try out. Additionally, gyms and other fitness platforms have zoom group exercise classes from home. The group setting helps hold accountability for your progress and offers a necessary social element of community to create a fun environment for working out. Many of these services off a free class to try out and see if it is the right fit before you commit to any monthly cost. The hours of these classes are very versatile and flexible to those with full time jobs and can be done when you see fit.
Yoga and Pilates
Yoga is one of the easiest activities to perform at home, as all you need is your body and 5 to 10 minutes of your time. Many videos online and apps in our current day and age have guided yoga exercises you can follow daily or weekly in order to maintain flexibility and optimal fitness levels. Yoga has been shown to have direct positive effects on an individual’s stress, anxiety, and depression levels, and a reduction in insomnia (1)! You can also try Pilates exercises for some more body weight training and increased strength development!
Lifestyle Changes
There are so many lifestyle changes you can uptake from home that will help you stay in shape. Whenever possible, whether it is at the grocery store, shopping, or at home, take the stairs. In fact, you can use your household stairs to run exercises. Try going up and down the stairs in your house or near your property (such as, at a park) for about 10-15 minutes.
Household chores definitely don’t have to be boring and can be spiced up to get a good workout in. Music is a great addition to any workout. While cleaning the house, do some dancing! Dancing burns a lot of calories and, if your favorite song is on, you may not even realize you are shredding calories. You can also add some new household chores to your list, if you have the time of course. Small activities such as carrying groceries, cleaning with a vacuum or cleansing wipes, washing clothes, sweeping, mowing the lawn, and cleaning your car are all physical activities (2)! You will most likely be doing these activities anyway from time to time to upkeep your home. Add some music and energy to these activities, really clench your muscles and move fluidly on some movements, and you will be working toward staying in shape since you are being active on a daily basis.
Make sure to also take breaks from working at the desk or in between very strenuous or heavy chores. You don’t need to clean your car for 4 hours straight. Definitely give your body a rest, perform some stretches, grab some water, and relax for 5 minutes in between these activities. Additionally, if you are sitting at a desk or watching the television, make sure to frequently get up and stretch and walk around your house (4). If you’re watching television, try and do these at every commercial to stay in shape.
Strength Training
To really reap the benefits of long-term health, metabolism, and strength & stability, strength training is a great option that can easily be done from home. Many individuals believe strength training can really only be done with high-tech equipment at the gym, but this is not true. You can have a fantastic exercise session from home, even with just your body weight. Try a few of these full-body strength training workouts that go a long way to developing muscle and endurance – burpees, lunges, jump rope, push-ups, squats, single leg step ups, planks, jumping jacks, tri-cep dips on a chair, calf raises, crunches, and much more (2).
Add dumbbells and elastic bands (which are very cheap options to do these workouts from home) to add extra challenge to some of these exercises. If you are not able to afford, or not able to acquire, dumbbells and elastic bands, you can use everyday household objects as extra weight for exercises! Objects such as rope, shipment boxes/packages from retailers, heavy filled water bottles, backpacks with objects inside for added weight, set of books, furniture (like lounge chairs, bedside table, etc), and more can all be utilized to add weight to a workout (2).
Cardio and Cardio Equipment
If you have the financial ability, there are a lot of cardio equipment options out there that can make it extremely easy to get a quick cardio workout in at any time of day from your own home. Equipment like treadmill, stationary bikes, rowing bikes, and more help an individual stay in shape while also challenging themselves further and improving in their endurance with the resistance and speed settings. If these devices are a bit expensive for the current times, a classic jump rope provides a great cardio workout (4). If you have a bicycle as well, or have the ability to purchase one, you can take bike rides around your block, neighborhood, or at the nearby park. Additionally, as mentioned before, many household chores we partake in are actually secret cardio workouts. Washing a car, mowing the lawn, and carrying heavy groceries often breaks us into a sweat without us even realizing. These activities are cardiovascular activities! Add some different household chores into the mix a few days during the week to reap the benefits.
Running and Walking
For those who do not have the money, time, ability, or space to acquire and use cardio exercise equipment in your home, you can always find the same wonderful cardiovascular and calorie burning benefits from classic running or walking around your neighborhood, block, backyard, or nearby park.
Not everyone has the ability to safely walk or run in their neighborhood and may not have a local park. In this case, jog or walk around your house and up and down your stairs for about 10-15 minutes several times a day to get in your daily exercise requirements (4).
Wearable and Non-Wearable Technologies
Many fitness devices have come out which help monitor your health levels, get reminders to do certain activities at certain times, remind you and tally your achievements toward your goals, and sometimes even offer workout list. Wearable sensors like heart rate monitors and pedometers can track your steps throughout the day and also the calories you burn based on your heart rate during physical activities (2).
Your smartphone, wearable watch, and other devices can also be configured to send your reminders and notifications throughout the day to do your workouts, get up from your chair to stretch, and much more. You can easily keep accountability for your progress with these devices and their notification features. If you’re attempting to reach a fitness goal, these devices are needed to keep yourself in check and on track to being in-shape and maintain peal fitness.
In our current day and age, many fitness YouTube channels have risen up to offer FREE content for people to follow. Many of these fitness bloggers have 30-day challenges and even summer challenges that you can follow easily on YouTube in a playlist, for free, and reach your fitness goals. This option is not only easy to follow as you can use YouTube on your TV, computer, or Phone, but it is also the most affordable!
Family Time
Lastly, family time is the perfect way to encourage the health and well-being of not only yourself but your loved ones. Exercising with your family has the social and physical benefit tied together. Take a family walk, ride bikes together, enjoy a dance party in the living, try doing a group backyard yoga session, a small soccer game in the backyard, and a game of tag with your children (3). All of the above activities create wonderful bonding time while also helping you break a sweat!
Conclusion
From what you can see above, there are so many options to stay in shape from home. You do not have to go to any gyms or run for miles on end or even dedicate your entire day to fitness in order to stay in shape. These activities can be done in segments, throughout the day or week, and can be changed up daily to keep your body challenged and ready for more flexibility, muscle, and cardiovascular development. Give them a try!
By Ashley Gresko
Blog Editing Consultant For Health Industry Designs
References
1) https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01708/full
2) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7722993/
3) https://www.nuvancehealth.org/coronavirus/exercise-is-essential-for-well-being-during-covid-19-pandemic/
4)https://www.newswise.com/coronavirus/staying-physically-active-during-the-covid-19-pandemic
