10 Ways to Exercise at Home

With COVID-19 restrictions in place, it’s all too easy to suddenly fall into sedentary routines, and maybe nowadays the only exercise you’re doing is walking from your home office to the fridge and back again.

Well, there’s no shame in that – it’s important to keep your spirits up with some tasty treats! But alongside some well-deserved comfort eating, a bit of exercise can really help with both your mental and physical help during these challenging times. So, we’ve come up with 10 ways to exercise at home without any equipment.

1. Walk to ‘Work’

Now that everyone’s ‘office’ is just a room or two away from their bed, it can be all too easy to get straight up and start work at 7am. But why not emulate a little commute and go out for a walk each morning before opening up that dreaded laptop? It’s a great way to start the day, and ensures you actually get to do something for yourself before work begins.

2. Use Your Stairs

Apologies to all one-level dwellers out there, but for those of you with a flight of stairs in your house, you’re in luck. And if you’ve got two or three flights, well you’re living the dream. Take a short break each hour and walk up and down your stairs five or ten times. It gets the heart and legs going and gives your eyes a brief rest as well.

3. Use Your Garden

If your legs are in agony from all that walking up and down stairs, then why not mix it up and walk laps of your garden. Perhaps you heard about the 99-year-old veteran who vowed to do 100 laps of his garden (with a zimmer frame!) before his 100^th birthday to raise money for charity? Well, if he can do it, what’s your excuse?

4. Make Your Own Cardio Circuits

If you’re looking for something slightly more vigorous, then up the intensity somewhat. Pair high intensity exercises (e.g. burpees or mountain climbers) with lower intensity exercises (e.g. jogging on the spot). Try 30 seconds high intensity, 30 seconds low intensity.

5. Make Your Own Strength Circuits

If you’re looking more to target specific muscles, then choose exercises that consist of push/pull movements; press ups for instance, or squats or ab crunches etc. Have a look online at what exercises work different parts of the body, and make sure to try and work out each area of the body as much as any other area to avoid imbalances.

6. Stream Classes Online

If you don’t feel comfortable creating your own circuit, or perhaps you’re just not in an inventive mood and would rather be told what to do (we get it)…then take a look online or on an app and stream a workout. There’s plenty of good stuff out there, so give it a go!

7. Try Out Some Yoga

Not only is yoga great for your flexibility and posture (which are two things most likely taking a battering during these sedentary times), but it’s excellent for mental health as well, giving you time to slow down, unwind and relax.

8. Or a Pilates Class

Whilst yoga is great for flexibility, Pilates is a brilliant way to increase strength, most notably in your core, lower back and glutes (areas often neglected!). It’s another form of exercise that’s brilliant for your posture and you may even find an ab or two trying to poke through.

9. Exergames

If you or your kids own a console of some sort, why not take advantage of it to get a bit of a workout in? There are plenty of games out there that help to get you standing up and moving, and whilst you will most likely need to supplement your gaming session with another form of exercise, it’s better than just twiddling your thumbs on a controller hey?

10. DIY Exercise Bike

Finally, if you’re feeling ambitious during lockdown, why not create your own exercise bike? Have a look online on sites such as Pinterest for tips on how to build a bike stand that allows you to use your bike inside. Maybe it’ll spur you on to a few more DIY projects at the same time!

There you go, 10 easy ways to exercise at home (aside from the build-your-own bike perhaps!), Of course, you don’t have to do them all, pick and choose what suits you best. But if nothing else, make sure to get up and move for 10 minutes each hour. There’s nothing worse for your body or mind than being stuck in one position all day staring at a screen.

Go on, treat yourself and your body, we can’t let lockdown turn us all into couch potatoes.

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