You must have come across many Coronavirus jokes on your social media feed. Though there isn’t anything funny about the deadly disease, at these times, it is okay to laugh and try to make light of the situation. One of the viral memes is the ‘before and after’ situation, where they show a person fit and healthy before the lockdown, but after a few days, he is overweight with a tummy bulge.
Well, the joke won’t be funny if you forget to take care of your fitness during this time.
Get Back On Track With A Makeshift Gym
The gyms are closed, and I can’t go out for a walk. That’s not a good excuse to sit back and sip coffee, is it? So, we bring to some cool tips and ideas to turn your home into a makeshift gym, and re-start your fitness journey!
Choose a place for workouts
If you have a spare room or a guest room, it would be nice to have some peace for your workout, but if not, then any corner in your home, be it in your bedroom or living room would suffice. Ensure that there is enough space to move around. Shift the furniture if need be. Choose a corner where there isn’t much movement. It would be difficult to concentrate if someone or the other is continually walking in or out.
The best time for exercising
Though the popular belief is that morning time is best suited for exercises, health experts believe that any time of the day is fine as long as you build consistency and you are comfortable with the timing. For example, those who have insomnia may not be able to get up early in the morning, so they find it more convenient to work out in the afternoons or in the evenings.
An article in the Time Magazine says, “There is really no bad time to exercise.”
So, choose your own schedule but ensure that you do not exercise when your stomach is full. Wait for at least two hours after eating to resume heavy activities.
Making exercise a part of your daily routine and sticking to it is more important than worrying about the best time. At the end of the day, your muscles can do with some rejuvenation regardless of the time.
Workouts you can do at home
There are many exercises you can do at home without any equipment. If you are a beginner, then start slow, maybe, for a few minutes a day and then increase the time. Dedicate at least 30 minutes a day for some workout or the other to keep you fit and healthy during the quarantine time.
Yoga is considered to be one of the best at-home exercises which benefit body and mind equally. You can try learning the different asanas online as well. Try the popular YouTube channels such as Baba Ramdev, The Yoga Institute, or even the videos of ‘Yoga with Modi,’ our Prime Minister’s easy to follow yoga instructions.
As you are aware, there are also numerous fitness videos on YouTube and even on streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and others.
Whatever exercises you do or the amount of time you devote to it, ensure these steps:
Warm-up: A few steps for a slight increase in heart rate prepare you for your workout. Stretch your muscles via doing an on-the-spot walk or 5-minute on an exercise bike should be enough.
Cool down: As your body needs time to prepare for exercise, so it does for cooling down too. Decrease the level of intensity as you near the end of your schedule, and then go for gentle stretching and relax.
Try these simple exercises
Do not strain yourself, but do how much you can. The only thing to try is to maintain consistency and make exercising a habit.
Squats: One of the best exercises to strengthen muscles and bones also to develop flexibility, squats are a popular workout form with fitness enthusiasts. Stand straight and keep your feet slightly wider than your hips with toes pointing outward. Fix your glance at a point on the opposite wall. Bend your knees and stretch your arms parallel to the floor and sit up and down as if on an imaginary chair. Repeat it for a couple of minutes as long as you are comfortable. You can increase the time as per your convenience.
Pushups: It is an effective exercise to work chest and back muscles. There are many types of pushups but start with the basic one. Lie on the floor with your chest and stomach flat on the ground. Keep your palms at the chest level, and the legs stretched behind you. Now, push from your hands and heels and exhale as you do so and lift your chest, stomach, and thighs. Pause in that position and then go back to the normal state. Repeat.
Touch the toes: Stand straight. Lift your hands up and then slowly try to touch your toes. Do not exert because you will be able to reach your toes only after a few days. So, wherever you can reach, your calf or ankles, touch, and go back to the normal pose.
You can also do the exercise while sitting. Stretch your legs and sit straight. Raise your hands and try touching your toes.
Dancing: What if you have two left feet? It is quarantine time, and no one is watching you. Play a song and dance your heart out to the beats. You can also try the steps from dance instruction videos. The aim is not to be a perfect dancer but to help your muscles move and enliven your mood.
The main idea is to move and stretch your muscles. Try whatever works for you. Start with low-intensity moves and increase as you progress.
Makeshift equipment out of household items
Many fitness experts recommend using household items as weights for exercises. What if there are no dumbbells at home? Fill plastic bottles with water and use them for your strength training. The bottles can also be taped to your arms while exercising.
Backpacks can also be used as fitness equipment. Fill your backpack with some books. Do the squats or lunges wearing the backpack. Keep your back straight. You can also try this with grain packets, flour bags, or cans.
Similarly, towels, t-shirts, and leggings can be used in place of resistance bands for resistance training.
Simple activities for cardio at home
Cardio exercises help increase your breathing and heart rate. Regular cardio workouts can help strengthen your heart, lungs, and circulatory system. They also help burn calories and thus, aid in weight loss.
Try jumping ropes as it can help burn around 200 calories if done for 20 minutes. If you don’t have a jumping rope, try it with any ropes in your home. Spot jogging is also an effective cardio workout but ensure that you do it for a continuous 5 minutes to 20 minutes as per your capacity. Remember, increasing your heart rate is the primary function of cardiovascular exercises.
Squat jumps are also effective, but they are high cardio workouts and need caution. Try once or twice and then increase as you get used to it.
Lunges and side lunges help in improving balance and posture. Side lunges, as the term suggests, are done sideways. Stand straight and place your feet at a distance, shoulder-width apart. Now, step out with your right foot, lower your hips, and go as wide as you can. Now repeat with the other leg. Your core will say a thank you to you if you do lunges regularly.
Fitness should never be at the mercy of place, equipment, or procedures. As long as you move your muscles, you should be fine. Now that many are working from home, there could be long hours of sitting and non-stop work. Devote a few minutes to exercises and keep moving as you can throughout the day. Coronavirus crisis reminds us to be healthy and fit, and we should!
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