COVID-19 guidelines recommend that we "socially distance" with measures like working from home.
Doing this hopefully means the spread of the virus will be slow and steady, rather than all at once, easing the pressure on the hospitals.
The prospect of staying at home for a long time can seem overwhelming and a little scary, especially if you're someone who enjoys keeping fit and active and hitting that daily step count.
Rather than letting the isolation scare you, we should instead try and embrace it.
View it as an opportunity to get your sweat on with new, at-home workouts you've never tried before, incorporate more simple healthy habits into your daily routine, and mix things up a little.
Remember, self-isolating doesn't mean sitting down doing nothing for several weeks.
It's actually quite far from it with these easy-to-follow and tangible tips.
Table of Contents
- Develop a Routine
- Clean Your House
- Stretch
- Adopt a Home Workout
- Go With Bodyweight Exercise
- Practice Gentle Lifting Exercise
- Don't Turn Into a Couch Potato
Develop a Routine
Strict routines are likely out the window right now, especially if you have become a new homeschool teacher to your children.
What's important right now is to create a new routine that creates active alternatives for you.
Even though you can sleep late to your heart's content (unless you have kids), you should resist the urge.
It's essential to your overall health to go to bed at about the same time and get up around the same time every day.
Make yourself a healthy breakfast, have a shower, and find a groove that you can cling to stay positive.
Clean Your House
Cleaning your home or apartment regularly is another way to ensure that you stay active during the week.
Cleaning your house can incorporate a variety of muscle groups without you even realizing it.
Dragging around a heavy vacuum isn't an easy task, especially if you have to go up downstairs.
Take your house cleaning to the extreme and squeeze your buns every time you take a step.
While you're taking a break, try tightening your abdominal muscles for some time throughout each hour.
A 150-pound person can burn 85 calories every 30 minutes through light cleaning, while vigorous cleaning burns 102 calories in 30 minutes.
Stretch
You should at least have a bit of a stretch on your bedroom floor when you wake up every day.
Or you could go a step further and set aside half an hour or so every day to do a guided yoga routine.
Moderate stretching or yoga style movement will help avoid stiff joints and maintain proper blood circulation.
Keep in mind that there are many different types of yoga.
There are the more dynamic flows, designed to make you get a sweat and work, to the more steady Vinyasa flows, for those needing a stretch after sitting down all day.
No matter what you prefer, there are hundreds of free flows available to stream on YouTube.
Many studies show that regularly practicing yoga can help improve heart health and reduce risk factors for heart disease.
Plus, we all need a little zen at the moment.
Adopt a Home Workout
Even if you don't have a single piece of workout equipment at home, you can create a home workout that helps to keep you fit.
Get back on YouTube to find a variety of workouts, all totally free and tailored to different ages and abilities.
Press play on the workout you choose, grab a water bottle and get moving.
Go With Bodyweight Exercise
If online workouts aren't for you, then now might be the time to explore bodyweight workouts.
After all, anyone can do a plank or a squat anytime, anywhere.
An excellent place to start is with three or four rounds of eight or so squats, planks, lunges, or press-ups for about 20 minutes.
If you can work in two to three 20-minute bodyweight workouts during the day, you're off to an amazing start!
Practice Gentle Lifting Exercises
The concept of making makeshift weights at home can seem intimidating, but strength training doesn't have to mean throwing heavyweights around the gym.
You can add weight in the form of bags of rice, flasks of water, and other bottles of liquid. It's that simple.
Strength moves are beneficial for older adults as they not only build muscle and muscle mass but preserve bone density, too, which is essential for combating weakness, fragility, and the risk of osteoporosis.
When you are performing your weighted exercises, try doing each move ten times, then rest for 30 seconds, and repeat that four times.
You'll maintain important leg and arm strength, and you can do it from the comfort of your sofa.
Don't Turn Into a Couch Potato
Staying at home can feel daunting, but it's an opportunity to explore things you may not have had the time for previously.
Seize the day and make sure that you don't let your focus on health and wellness slip by.
If you'd like to take your health and wellness a step further, contact Arrowhead Clinic.
Their expert team of chiropractors will perform an exam and design a custom treatment plan tailored to their findings, which may include exercises you can do at home.
Click here if you are wondering what you should do if you can't visit a chiropractor?
Click on the button below to get started today.
