Our #HallamInsider Chandni Soren wanted to share with you a few ways that she is keeping fit and staying active at home during the current Coronavirus situation.
“As well as to stay in shape, the more important reasons I exercise are to lift my mood, clear my mind, get a rush of endorphins and feel more limber or loose if I am feeling bit groggy and lethargic. This is what I’ve been doing and some helpful tips for what you can do”
Online Sessions with your Sports Club or Gym
I am an instructor for the University of Sheffield Jitsu Club and we have started running online sessions twice a week focusing on fitness, some martial art techniques and shadow training; seeing what moves we can do without a partner. This is a great way of mixing things up in my exercise routine and continuing to engage with my club and members. We also have started doing online socials like Netflix hangouts. Why not check if you gym is doing something similar?
FaceTime Workouts with a Friend
It can be hard to motivate yourself so why not set a time and date in the dairy with a friend to have a video call and workout together. You can spur each other on and catch up, it is much easier exercising with a distraction from the burn! Here are some ideas of what you can do:
Youtube Yoga and Ab routines
Youtube is a great source for finding fitness routines to do, I tend to use it for ab or yoga routines because I am still learning moves to do. Here are some links to people I subscribe to, they have a wide variety of programmes for example you can do a 30 day yoga programme or you can follow simple 10 minute or 20 minute videos etc.
Once you have done a few videos you can pick a few stretches you prefer or feel loosen you up in the morning or evening and just do those on your own when you need a little calm or pick me up. If you don’t have a yoga mat don’t worry, carpet or grass works just as well! If you don’t fancy that, even some simple stretching like touching your toes, winding your hips and arms in a circle is good enough!
Bodyweight Circuits
If you want to change things up why not decide on a little circuit for yourself for example: press-ups, sit-ups, squats/pistol squats, leg raises, plank, mountain climbers or any other specific exercises you want to get better at. Just put on some tunes and repeat three or four times. These specific exercises are great because you don’t need any equipment.
Using Household Props
I am lucky enough to have a punch bag and pull-up bar at home to do the obvious exercises but you can also use the common household items to workout! For example you can use a chair to do tricep dips, a table to do a reverse row and laundry detergent for weighted lunges. If you don’t have kettle bell, a bag of heavy books will also do for something like weighted squats or Russian twists. Get creative! Chris Hemsworth put some fun things on his instagram for ideas:
Chris Hemsworth workout at home
Variety and Fresh Air
I find it always helps to get a bit of fresh air. For me personally it is bit too much pressure to go out for a run everyday, hard to motivate myself as I don’t enjoy it that much and it gets boring. An alternative I like is taking a skipping rope and going outside for 10-15 minutes. Put a timer and some headphones on and off you go. You can vary the intensity of similar activities you do, sometimes I will take a walk in my local park, do one lap and vary my route, if I am feeling up to it I will jog around the park a few times or on some days I just run one lap as a warm up and do some other exercises when I get home. To make things easier for yourself either make a physical calendar or mental calendar and decide what days you’re going to do what and what days you are having a rest. If you are on a rest day just going outside to put the laundry out or do some gardening can be a nice excuse to get some fresh air.
Master or Project a Move
Is there a certain move you have always wanted to master? Allocate some time in the week or on your exercise calendar to work on that. Do you have a garden? Why not work on your handstands! If you want to get more flexible decide on a move you’d like to improve on and try practice it regularly. I am currently working on my headstands.
Make space
If you can, try and tidy an area for exercise where you have space to move. If you don’t have a lot of space and can’t keep it like that all the time figure out how you can transform the space quickly and put it back. This will help you get into a good headspace ready to do your exercise.
Most of all, enjoy it, don’t take it too seriously and have fun!
Written by Chandni Soren
#HallamInsider
