At home workout routine: Why you should keep a routine during Covid-19 outbreak

Replace the GYM with a home workout routine

Working out in a gym is not possible right now due to the risks involved with the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Sharing gym equipment increases the likelihood of contracting and spreading the virus. However, there’s NO reason why you can’t keep your workout routine going indoors from the safety of your home. The more we can maintain our daily routine the more we can create a sense of normalcy during these trying times.

You can easily replace most of the machines and equipment you would normally use in the gym with light weight resistance bands and free weights from home. You can even get creative and incorporate water jugs, towels, and furniture if you don’t have any equipment. In our 10-minute home workout we show you how you can workout using just your own body weight.

With no equipment or any special workout attire necessary and so many options for virtual training you don’t have an excuse to miss a workout. You can choose to have a personalized workout from a virtual trainer, a streamed live workout or you can watch a preloaded workout video on YouTube. Many workout classes that were offered in person prior to the pandemic are making their classes available online as well!

Pick what works best for your needs.

Skipping workouts could set you back

Exercise is vital to your health and especially important to building immunity against this pandemic outbreak. According to leading physiologists from the University of Bath’s Department of Health, “exercise can help the immune system find and deal with pathogens, and in the long term, regular exercise slows down changes that happen to the immune system with ageing, therefore reducing the risk of infections.”

Psychological stress and mental health is also better managed through exercise, which has a positive effect on your mood. Serotonin levels are boosted and feel-good endorphins are released through regular exercise.

Skipping your workouts now could also set you back on the progress you made in the gym. It doesn’t take long for muscles to start to atrophy without use. This leads to the onset of other ailments like back and joint pain.

Consistency is important for any kind of progress, but also to maintain what you already attained.

Other healthy habits to make part of your fitness routine

There are many ways one can try adopting & making a switch towards healthy habits without sticking to any rigid diet plan. Some healthy habits that you can start with:

  • You can boost your immunity by eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables. The more leafy greens the better! Try to also eat some of your vegetables raw so you don’t lose any of the nutritional benefits. A nutritious diet coupled with exercise can help you better maintain a healthy weight.
  • You should also make sure you’re getting enough quality sleep as this can also put stress on the body.
  • Make sure you’re LIMITING your consumption of alcohol and processed foods.

Following these healthy lifestyle habits won’t just help boost your immunity against disease and infection, they will also help keep your body strong for a better quality of life.

These factors help reduce your biological age slowing the aging process.

Routine is good for the psyche

As much as our lives seem uprooted right now it’s important to maintain some sense of normalcy. We can do this by holding onto the routines in our lives that we can still control.

Exercise is one of them!

Keeping up with our exercise routine will help us form new healthy habits. This routine will also help us:

  • better cope with the changes we are experiencing.
  • create order in our lives, which also helps us mange stress, anxiety, depression and even insomnia.

Establishing a routine on a personal level can also help with forming routines on a professional and relationship level. This will make your work environment healthier and the added strain on families forced to spend an unprecedented amount of time together easier.

Home exercise: 10-Minute quick lockdown workout you can do at home

Staying fit while stuck at home

Times have changed during this time of social distancing, due to the COVID-19 crisis, including how we workout. But just because you can’t get to the gym doesn’t mean your workout routine needs to suffer. Now that we are all stuck at home ideally we have more free time on our hands, but that’s not always the case when you’re juggling a demanding work schedule, a house full of kids and also playing homemaker. We’re here to show you how you can get an effective and efficient workout at home in just 10 minutes.

YES! In Just-10-Minutes..

By doing a 10-minute workout a day you can walk away feeling energized, motivated and satisfied that you’re doing something good for your body and your health. These 10 minutes of exercise are great to do first thing in the morning to kick-start your day, mid-day when you’re feeling sluggish or just before bed when you have fewer interruptions.

Home exercise complete with quick 10 minute workout

We recently teamed up with Chasing News to share our 10 minute home workout with viewers on Fox5 and NY9 and now we are sharing it here with you. We brainstormed and came up with 8 of the most effective total-body exercises that are practical for everyone. Whether you are a beginner, a seasoned gym-goer, pregnant or postpartum these exercises are simple enough for you to do.

There’s no excuse not to do this 10 minute at-home workout plan because it doesn’t even require any gym equipment. All you’ll need is a chair and yourself.

Yup! It’s that simple.

At home workout plan without equipment

This workout is effective at promoting strength, coordination and mobility development. If you do these exercises daily you will get stronger over time and you can gradually increase the intensity by adding more reps, more sets or increasing your pace.

Why CHAIR DIPS is the best:

To perform Chair dips, all you need is a sturdy chair or bench or even a staircase. Make sure your arms are at your sides gripping the front of the chair, bench or stair, and your feet are firmly planted on the floor shoulder-width apart. Shift your torso forward off the chair keeping your hips directly underneath you and slowly lower your butt towards the floor as you bend at the elbow. As you lower make sure your hips stay directly underneath your shoulders. Inhale as you lower and exhale as you come back up extending the arms to your starting position.

Complete this exercise for 10-15 reps and then repeat this set 2x. You can work your way up to doing more repetitions or sets as you build strength.

Takeaways –

Chair dips engage your –

  • triceps (back of your upper arm),
  • pectoralis major (pecs or chest muscles),
  • trapezius (triangular muscle extending from the neck to the shoulder to the middle back), and
  • serratus anterior (the muscle on the surface of the upper eight or nine ribs).

Most people don’t realize the triceps are important muscles used in everyday movement that involves extending the elbow and forearm. You use them when lifting things like grocery bags or when reaching for items overhead. This muscle also plays an important role in stabilizing the shoulder joint.

Tone your abs with LYING LEG RAISE:

Lying double leg raise with butt lift exercise starts with lying on your back with your feet up towards the ceiling. You can place your hands under the small of your back for support. Lower your straight legs towards the floor and then raise back up to the starting position adding in a butt lift and hip rotation at the top.

Repeat this exercise for 10-15 reps or until you become fatigued and repeat for 2 more sets.

Takeaways-

This exercise is great for building core strength in your rectus abdominis muscle and the internal and external oblique muscles. Leg raises also improves the strength and flexibility of your hips and lower back.

KNEELING SIDE CRUNCH for a flat belly:

You start in a kneeling modified side plank with your top leg extended away from the body. Your bottom are should be straight and your top arm should be behind your head. Bring your top elbow and top knee in towards your torso to meet and then extend the leg back out straight opening up the contraction.

Repeat this exercise for at least 15 repetitions on each side and then do 2 more sets.

Takeaways-

Kneeling side crunch exercise uses just your body and it mainly targets your core specifically your obliques. Your shoulders and glutes are also assisting so again this is a compound movement. Your core is your entire support system. Core strength is important in everything you do so it’s important to start here in your workouts.

Improving LATERAL LUNGES:

To perform lateral lunges exercise, stand with feet together and hands clasped together at your chest. Take a large step out to the right, immediately lowering into a lunge, sinking hips back and bending right knee to track directly in line with right foot.  Keep left leg straight but not locked, with both feet pointing forward. Push off the right foot to return to starting position.

Repeat on both legs. Do 10-15 reps on each leg for 3 sets.

Takeaways-

This exercise targets your glutes and legs and it helps improve your mobility in the frontal plane of motion (moving side to side). The side lunge also helps you build strength and stability in each leg individually as well as improve your balance.

DEAD BUGS are good:

Lie on your back with your arms and legs extended up towards the ceiling. Bend your knees and hips to a 90-degreeangle. Tighten your abs and press your lower back into the floor as you bring your left arm overhead and right leg down towards the floor.

Exhale as you lower and inhale as you raise being careful not to let your lower back arch.

Takeaways-

Dead bugs target your abs, back, shoulders and hips. By activating the deep abdominal muscles, the transverse abdominals and pelvic floor, this exercise helps stabilize the lower spine to reduce the risk of back strain. Doing this exercise also improves your motor skills and coordination. Plus, it helps with a wide range of motions, such as lifting and bending in everyday activities.

Combating poor posture with SEATED WALL ANGELS:

This exercise can be done against the wall either sitting or standing. You can also do it while lying on your back on the floor. To perform this exercise bring your hands up by your ears. While keeping your wrists and elbows in contact with the wall or floor slowly elevate your arms overhead as far as you can and then return to the starting position.

Repeat this exercise for 10-15 reps.

Takeaways-

Seated wall angels help in correcting bad posture by strengthening your shoulder mobility and back muscles while also opening up your tight chest muscles. It helps treat upper-crossed syndrome common in people who sit at a desk or computer for long periods of time.

SIT TO STAND to improve mobility:

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and with your arms behind your head. Lower yourself slowly into a chair keeping your back upright. Rest your butt into the chair and push your weight into your heels to come back up to a stand. You can make this exercise harder by sitting on an exercise ball instead of a chair or placing a small object between your legs.

Perform this exercise 15-10 times for 3 sets.

Takeaways-

Sit to stand helps strengthen your legs, glutes, and core. It’s a functional movement that promotes balance to prevent backward falls and helps with posture. When practiced regularly this exercise helps improve scores on the Berg Balance Scale, a test that measures balance and fall risk in older adults.

Mastering the PRONE T-RAISE FLOOR PUSH-UPS:

To perform Prone t-raise floor push-ups start in a straight arm plank position. With your elbows touched into your sides lower your body slowly to the floor. Then extend your arms out to your sides. Elevate your arms and legs off the floor for a beat and then lower and press back up into the plank.

Repeat this exercise 10 times for 3 sets.

Takeaways-

This two-part exercise targets the erector spinae and latissimus dorsi muscles in your back as well as your oblique, transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, glutes, hamstrings, pecs, triceps and rear delts.

How to enroll in our virtual training

If you feel this routine might be too basic for you, I would suggest scheduling a 10-minute call with us because we are here to help!

As certified in-home personal trainers in NYC with years of experience, we are now offering customized virtual workouts to our clients. Unlike online training where you’re given a program to follow, with virtual training you still get the same one on one attention you would get in person and a tailored program to fit your needs.

 And the best part is..

To make it more affordable, we can also train you and your FRIENDS or FAMILY together using the Zoom gallery and you can take advantage of our special savings. Contact us today to learn more and get started!

 

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