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Staying Active While Being Confined - 5 Tips & Resources

March 31, 2020

Given the craziness of our times with coronavirus and home isolation, we thought it would be helpful to provide some resources and tips for those looking to stay active while adhering to the stay home policy.  It's not easy on many of us being confined, but getting into some new workout habits and taking advantage of what we can do outdoors will keep us healthy mentally and physically.  So enjoy these tips, and stay healthy.

Things you can still do outside

  

Thankfully we are still allowed to go out with our loved ones for a walk, run, hike, or bike so long as we keep our social distancing.  The benefits of a 30 minute walk are numerous, including boosting our immune system and improving bone and joint function.   

Cycling, running, and hiking along our favorite trails are still allowed.  With the weather warming up over the coming weeks, this may be another great way to break the monotony of staying at home.  

 

Virtual Workouts to Join

There are numerous types of workouts, both for free and for subscription, to follow online.  Many gyms are doing live streaming of workouts to substitute for their on-site classes.  It's a great way to support your local studio/gym to join as many of these places are struggling with lost revenues.  Check out your favorite place and see what they are doing and how you can help.  

Some things we have tried are zumba (Nicha's favorite), yoga, and a variety of circuit training workouts that have a series of exercises and breaks which last for a total of 30-50 minutes depending upon the site and routine.  Many of these workouts require little to no equipment.  One site we used in the past quite a bit is Fitness Blender - they have everything from 10 minute to 1 hour sessions.  If you don't have a local gym to support this is another good site.  

The trick is to block a time, make an appointment - put it on your calendar - so you treat it as you would if you were going to a class.  Otherwise you may turn to other things.  

Electronic Games 

We got into Wii Fit a few years ago and got into some intense competitions with it - particularly the hula move thing and the ski racing.  We lost interest after a bit of time but may bring it back out again for variety.  Check out the review here if you don't have it - it may be a good option especially if you have kids and are looking for some organized games.  It's also a great place for those just getting into working out. 

Some other games you may want to check out that get you moving are here.  Happy reading!

 

Creating your own routine and interval training program

Another option is to crank up your favorite music and build out your own series of of exercises and do interval training.  This type of training, some refer to as Tabata training or HIIT (high intensity interval training) - can be as intense as you want and has proven benefits - it's been shown to be 5 times more effective as traditional cardio.  Plus - they can be done in a relatively short amount of time.  They do ask you to go all out during short intervals, so check with the doc (virtual call) before trying this or any of the options we mention above. 

There is an app that you can download called Interval Timer which you can set up your own interval and rest periods.  I've set up an 8 set routine of 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off, and do 5 rounds of exercises.  

 

Meditation as part of your routine

It's stressful and scary out there right now, across the globe.  And being confined to home may add to the stress.  While meditation may not be high on many people's list of things to do while confined, that may change when they realize meditation can reduce stress and relieve anxiety - most likely #1 and #2 issues for many of us.  I would encourage you to give meditation a try, even for 5 minutes - and add this to your arsenal to keeping healthy mentally during these times.  And if you need to read more on meditation benefits, there was an updated article recently published you can read here.  

 





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