As we all move to spending much more time at home and adapting our lifestyles to fit this new way of life that we find ourselves in (thanks, 2020), it can become difficult to keep up fitness levels and maintain positive levels of physical and mental wellbeing. Working out at home isn’t easy for everyone, but you don’t need heaps of space and resources to have an effective home workout.
Let’s get digital, digital
Thankfully, we live in times with ample technological options and virtual alternatives to the things we do each and every day: workout apps, social networks, video conferencing, virtual events, and there’s a YouTube tutorial for just about everything nowadays.
There are a number of fitness and physical wellbeing apps and we would recommend exploring them to find what works for you. If you’re interested in high intensity home workouts, have a look at Joe Wicks’ content and online classes, which you can access for free on YouTube. Lots of fitness professionals create video classes specifically without the need for any equipment and with differing levels of intensity for beginners and advanced gym-goers. Try MadFit for a bit of everything.
If yoga is more your bag, try Yoga with Adriene (also available as an app) for a whole range of guided yoga classes targeted at specific challenges, so you can find the ones that appeal most. Whether you’re focusing on flexibility, physical pain, weight loss or just need a bit of calm, there’s something for everybody. Yoga with Kassandra is also taking the YouTube yoga world by storm, so have a look around and try a few classes to find what works for you.
Create your space
Much like the challenges faced by many when working from home, both working professionally and working out in the same place that you relax can make things difficult. We all know that working from your bed or the sofa is a bad idea for productivity, and working out is the same.
Create a designated workout space for yourself and set it up in an appealing way for yourself that helps it to become an escape and not a chore. Set up a space with your water bottle, a speaker and if you’re going down the yoga route, some candles and your mat (if applicable).
Plan it out
It’s not easy to wake up in the morning and decide to do a workout. Especially if you’ve got to find what you want to do and a class or virtual instructor as well as the motivation (because it don’t come easy, am I right?)
To avoid making things feel like a right old chore, create a clear plan for yourself about what you’d like to do, and when. Plan the week to make things as easy as possible and incorporate a mixture of inside and outside activity where possible – and remember not do overdo it.
Involve a partner
If you live with somebody else and you’re both looking to up your workout game, do it together to keep each other motivated. Sometimes you need someone to remind you of why you started and keep you going, so pick a playlist and pick each other up.
Don’t run before you can walk – literally
Don’t go in all guns blazing with a hideous workout on day one and put yourself off. You want to feel good – start slow and increase the intensity of what you’re doing over time to create small wins for yourself and keep yourself motivated. Plus, no-one wants an injury.
Explore the eve journal for more tips and advice on fitness, health and wellbeing