How to pursue fitness goals while quarantined & how I curate my at-home gym
Your gym is closed during the pandemic? You can't go the park for your daily jogs anymore? Your university is no longer holding free fitness classes? I know how frustrating it is to not be able to continue your gym routine. Over the years, I've gotten pretty good at accumulating equipment for at home exercises due to not being able to make it to the gym regularly, what with over 30 hours of class per week, research, and extracurriculars. If I could squeeze in 3-6 days of exercise with such a tight schedule, I'm confident that you can too! If you don't have an established workout routine, this quarantine is the perfect opportunity to develop one at home. And finally, whatever your fitness situation is, exercise has been proven time and time again to be important for immune function, and you need your immune system to be on your side right now. With its demonstrated benefits on your mood, exercise is a welcome addition to the stressful pandemic situation, and I'm gonna help you get more of it.
1. When you feel too lazy to just start
Both newbies and exercise addicts have this in common: we've all experienced feeling too lazy to just start our workout. To remedy this, watch your favourite show or YouTube channel while working out. Sometimes, music is just not enough. If there's a show you've been wanting to watch, leave it for when you have to exercise. A lot of my tips you're about to see are very conducive to watching something or listening to a podcast simultaneously. In fact, I've frequently watched educational videos to help me with my engineering courses while working out! Habit stacking is a powerful psychological principle that helps you do what you're supposed to do. Basically, it's combining something you have to do with something you like doing or already have to do. By combining exercise with listening to your favourite crime podcasts, for example, you're much more likely to get up and do it. This helps you ENJOY your workouts over time, trust me. Doesn't that sound nice?
2. Confused about what exercise routine to follow?
If you're a newbie: we all start out with online videos. YouTube has a wide plethora of routines you can follow. Keep trying out different ones and you will gradually grasp what works best for you in terms of your limits and the body you want to sculpt. Unless you have a professional trainer creating your routine, you do have to engage in an active trial and error process until you find out what you like best. There are also a bunch of workout apps that create a personalized routine based on your stats and goals. I've never used one personally, but if you have a recommendation, please do leave it in the comments!
3. And most importantly: equipment
Now for the most fun part. Before I show you what I use, let's start with the basics. To ease you into feeling more comfortable with equipment, you can use stuff you already have at home. You won't believe how many exercises you can do with just a chair, from tricep dips, to leg raises, to glute bridges (use a non-wheeled chair for safety). A great way to get your glutes burning is using your own staircase instead of buying a StairMaster. You can get a great jogging or HIIT session in with a staircase. Not to mention, you don't even need equipment to do some of the most hard-hitting moves, such as planks, squats, lunges, glute bridges, crunches, the list goes on... Check out YouTube for routines with household supplies!
As I mentioned, over the years, I've accumulated a useful plethora of equipment that I use when I don't have time to go to the gym. For example, I no longer go to the gym for ab days - I simply don't have to since I have the equipment I need at home. For leg days, I do prefer the gym so I can access heavier weights.
Here are my favourite things I use at home:
These make for great resistance during leg days. I used these as a beginner to build tolerance to weights, and now use them for warm-ups, or a change when I don't feel like lifting that day.
You can do SO much with a pair of adjustable ankle weights. These contain removable weights for adjustment from four to 20 pounds, and can be used for VERY intense workouts.
You can start with these lighter dumbbells and move on to heavier ones as you build resistance. Since these are neoprene, I can comfortably stack multiple dumbbells with ease. I regularly stack up to four dumbbells for a glute bridge - the shape and material make them very conducive to combining.
Since I absolutely love to run and have been doing HIIT since I was 14 years old (yes, lol), a treadmill is a must for me. You don't need to invest in a pricy treadmill though - you can use your staircase or do a quick jog around the neighbourhood. I do recommend treadmills for those of you who want to shed fat though - nothing makes it easier to pack a mean HIIT session other than a treadmill.
4. The EASIEST way to keep yourself accountable:
This is something I started doing on a whim, and couldn't stop since, due to how useful it proved to be! I keep an album on my phone just for photos of my stats. Here's the digital scale I use. By using a scale like this that tells you more than just your weight, you can easily track your stats, including your muscle mass and more, without having to worry about logging, record-keeping, or tracking through time. Your phone will already do that for you by telling you which date you took that particular photo on. So just snap a quick pic every time you hop on the scale, and save it to your "stats" photo album. Isn't that genius? If you're seeing a negative trend in your stats over time, this can serve as a quick reminder to get a workout in!
5. Can't find what works best to get you into exercise mode?
Since I love to run, the best way for me to get pumped up and in the mood to exercise is a HIIT session. If you can't find what works best to pump you up, try yoga to ease you into the exercise mood and make you more amenable to moving your body. To me, running dissolves my stress and puts me in a good enough mood to continue the rest of my workout. Yoga can serve that role for you if you're too stressed to think about exercise - yoga's been proven to help you relax and unwind. Note, however, that yoga may actually lower your heart rate as opposed to increasing it, so this may not work for everyone. My parents love doing yoga and say it's done wonders for them - perhaps this is a great trick for those of you who are a little older and not great fans of running or weight-lifting yet!
6. Does your gym do virtual workouts?
Inquire if your gym or community centre uses conferencing platforms like Zoom to offer group or individual workouts. With the current quarantine situation, lots of gyms and public centres are switching to such platforms to continue their services. Your university or college, and maybe even office, may provide similar services. You can also organize a group workout with your friends virtually, if that makes exercise fun for you. It definitely would hold you accountable to getting your workout done.
There you have it - some foolproof ways to pursue your fitness goals while quarantined. Now it's your turn to give me some tips in the comments below!
Sincerely,
Annesa
1. When you feel too lazy to just start
Both newbies and exercise addicts have this in common: we've all experienced feeling too lazy to just start our workout. To remedy this, watch your favourite show or YouTube channel while working out. Sometimes, music is just not enough. If there's a show you've been wanting to watch, leave it for when you have to exercise. A lot of my tips you're about to see are very conducive to watching something or listening to a podcast simultaneously. In fact, I've frequently watched educational videos to help me with my engineering courses while working out! Habit stacking is a powerful psychological principle that helps you do what you're supposed to do. Basically, it's combining something you have to do with something you like doing or already have to do. By combining exercise with listening to your favourite crime podcasts, for example, you're much more likely to get up and do it. This helps you ENJOY your workouts over time, trust me. Doesn't that sound nice?
2. Confused about what exercise routine to follow?
If you're a newbie: we all start out with online videos. YouTube has a wide plethora of routines you can follow. Keep trying out different ones and you will gradually grasp what works best for you in terms of your limits and the body you want to sculpt. Unless you have a professional trainer creating your routine, you do have to engage in an active trial and error process until you find out what you like best. There are also a bunch of workout apps that create a personalized routine based on your stats and goals. I've never used one personally, but if you have a recommendation, please do leave it in the comments!
3. And most importantly: equipment
Now for the most fun part. Before I show you what I use, let's start with the basics. To ease you into feeling more comfortable with equipment, you can use stuff you already have at home. You won't believe how many exercises you can do with just a chair, from tricep dips, to leg raises, to glute bridges (use a non-wheeled chair for safety). A great way to get your glutes burning is using your own staircase instead of buying a StairMaster. You can get a great jogging or HIIT session in with a staircase. Not to mention, you don't even need equipment to do some of the most hard-hitting moves, such as planks, squats, lunges, glute bridges, crunches, the list goes on... Check out YouTube for routines with household supplies!
As I mentioned, over the years, I've accumulated a useful plethora of equipment that I use when I don't have time to go to the gym. For example, I no longer go to the gym for ab days - I simply don't have to since I have the equipment I need at home. For leg days, I do prefer the gym so I can access heavier weights.
Here are my favourite things I use at home:
 |
| Resistance bands by Peach Bands |
These make for great resistance during leg days. I used these as a beginner to build tolerance to weights, and now use them for warm-ups, or a change when I don't feel like lifting that day.
 |
| Ankle/wrist weights by Valeo |
 |
| Dumbbells by Amazon Basics |
You can start with these lighter dumbbells and move on to heavier ones as you build resistance. Since these are neoprene, I can comfortably stack multiple dumbbells with ease. I regularly stack up to four dumbbells for a glute bridge - the shape and material make them very conducive to combining.
 |
| Horizon T202 Treadmill |
Since I absolutely love to run and have been doing HIIT since I was 14 years old (yes, lol), a treadmill is a must for me. You don't need to invest in a pricy treadmill though - you can use your staircase or do a quick jog around the neighbourhood. I do recommend treadmills for those of you who want to shed fat though - nothing makes it easier to pack a mean HIIT session other than a treadmill.
4. The EASIEST way to keep yourself accountable:
This is something I started doing on a whim, and couldn't stop since, due to how useful it proved to be! I keep an album on my phone just for photos of my stats. Here's the digital scale I use. By using a scale like this that tells you more than just your weight, you can easily track your stats, including your muscle mass and more, without having to worry about logging, record-keeping, or tracking through time. Your phone will already do that for you by telling you which date you took that particular photo on. So just snap a quick pic every time you hop on the scale, and save it to your "stats" photo album. Isn't that genius? If you're seeing a negative trend in your stats over time, this can serve as a quick reminder to get a workout in!
5. Can't find what works best to get you into exercise mode?
Since I love to run, the best way for me to get pumped up and in the mood to exercise is a HIIT session. If you can't find what works best to pump you up, try yoga to ease you into the exercise mood and make you more amenable to moving your body. To me, running dissolves my stress and puts me in a good enough mood to continue the rest of my workout. Yoga can serve that role for you if you're too stressed to think about exercise - yoga's been proven to help you relax and unwind. Note, however, that yoga may actually lower your heart rate as opposed to increasing it, so this may not work for everyone. My parents love doing yoga and say it's done wonders for them - perhaps this is a great trick for those of you who are a little older and not great fans of running or weight-lifting yet!
6. Does your gym do virtual workouts?
Inquire if your gym or community centre uses conferencing platforms like Zoom to offer group or individual workouts. With the current quarantine situation, lots of gyms and public centres are switching to such platforms to continue their services. Your university or college, and maybe even office, may provide similar services. You can also organize a group workout with your friends virtually, if that makes exercise fun for you. It definitely would hold you accountable to getting your workout done.
There you have it - some foolproof ways to pursue your fitness goals while quarantined. Now it's your turn to give me some tips in the comments below!
Sincerely,
Annesa
Definetely agree with point 1! On days that I don't feel like working out, I put on a netflix show during my workout and it really helps me get through it!
ReplyDeleteRight?? Music just doesn't cut it sometimes!
Delete