How to Make Workouts Happen at Your House
By Sandy Schroeder
Just as we are becoming more flexible about shopping, interacting and communicating, it's vital for all of us to keep working on our fitness routines.
If you are missing your gym workout, yoga or tai chi classes, dance session, or pick-up hoops game, it's time to get creative to make workouts happen with tiny workout spaces, outdoors spots, and other new ideas.
Health and fitness experts remind us daily exercise is vital to support our immune system, keep our muscles strong, and lift our spirits. It also helps us sleep better.
Actually, exercise improves every part of the body, helping the heart, bones, muscles, lungs and brain. It also siphons off stress hormones and improves insulin sensitivity. Exercise works to erase anxious feelings and reduce depression too.
So how do we make exercise happen in the midst of a pandemic? Here are some ideas from Harvard Health.
Be open to new ideas and flexible about choices - Take a look around your home, patio, or backyard and think of spaces that would work to jog in place, put a treadmill, stretch on a mat or practice basketball or soccer with your family.
Muscles adapt to the situation - Lifting weights, doing squats, or moving through yoga poses really can be transferred from the gym to your patio, bedroom or family room. Instructors online can sub for your regular teachers to help you with tai chi, yoga, weight lifting or stretching.
Change may be positive - Muscles can benefit from a wake-up switch when you move from a barre class to indoor cycling or start a new strength routine in place of your usual yoga. At the same time, your stay-inside routine may get a lift when you add short morning, lunch, and evening fitness routines. Even small spaces can turn out to be quite workable once you get everything in position.
Take Another Look Around
Here are some questions to consider.
- Would your kids love to work out with you on the patio?
- Would your favorite programs benefit from the addition of cycling?
- Would your morning coffee pair up with simple stretches before breakfast?
- Could you and your kids invent some new outside exercise games?
- What body areas would you like to target?
- How about setting shape-up and weight goals for the whole family?
- Is it time to add resistance bands, small weights and a treadmill to the family room?
- Have you ever started the day with stretches in bed?
- Jumping jacks, counter push-ups, and running in place also count
Wherever you are with daily fitness routines, don't give up. Just keep moving and innovating.
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Mt. Juliet, Tenn.