Ways To Keep Active At Home

workout from home with dumbbells

There are many reasons why we should exercise; helping to combat illnesses, to lose weight as well as keeping our mental health in check. As of today (March 20th), the government have said because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) gyms are to be closed for the foreseeable future, meaning many of us are having to change the way we workout and keep active.

So, I thought I’d put together this blog together with some ideas of ways to keep active at home, even when we can’t go too far!

Get Out For A Walk

Free and easy, getting out for a walk is the best way to get some fresh air. When I work from home, I like to get out and stretch my legs on my lunch break, even if that’s just for 10 minutes it’s nice to get outside and not be staring at a screen! 

As well as being a good way to keep active, getting outside also has proven benefits for helping with mental health, to reduce anxiety and depression. 

Do A YouTube Video

When I first started doing fitness back in secondary school, I used to do fitness DVDs. Now we’ve moved onto YouTube! There are so many fitness videos on YouTube to utilise, from HIIT (high-intensity interval training) to low impact workouts, ab workouts to yoga and Pilates.

There is something for every fitness level out there, and because there are so many options, you won’t get bored with doing the same workout. They also tend to be quite short and snappy, so that you can fit them in during your lunch break!

The Body Coach

Joe uploads SO many videos on YouTube; he’s also doing PE for kids while schools are closed, which is a great idea. He has a variety of workouts on his channel, from low impact to high intensity, perfect for all levels. This is one of my favourites:

Pamela Reif

Quick, easy and effective workouts, Pamela has a variety of different workouts on her channel, most high intensity, but all workouts are less than 20 minutes!

Find A Home Workout Plan

If like me you like to follow a plan, there are a number of home plans out there. I’ve done fitness plans from Busybee Carys and Grace Beverley, which you can read about in my fitness journey

There are a number of home workout plans you are able to find online, which you can do year-round with minimal to no equipment. There are so many out there, but these are just some which I follow!

Busybee Carys

I’ve followed Carys for years; she’s done three main plans. The newest one she’s released is New You, where you can combine mental health and workouts, which is a fab idea, especially at this current time! There’s also the option to purchase a gym plan as well as the home and mental health plan, all for £19! 

Shreddy/B_ND

Shreddy and B_ND store are Grace Beverley’s babies! I’ve purchased many of the bands to add resistance to my workouts, but last year B_ND released guides, I currently do the fat loss (when I can go to the gym), but there is also the option of a home guide, which is £25, which covers six weeks. 

Following on from this, Shreddy launched! An app which you pay for monthly, there are gym and home workouts. So, investing in this monthly payment could potentially be a great option as you’ll get the best of both worlds! At the time of writing this, Shreddy is doing a two-week challenge on Instagram, completely free!

View this post on Instagram

EEEK how about a 14 day home workout SHREDDY challenge? 🤩⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ We wanted to create a 2 week challenge so that you guys can stay fit, active and keep your mind happy over this period of time. We had an overwhelming amount of requests to share more home workouts so that's exactly what we're doing but in a fun way that means you can set new goals and reach new targets. Remember you're not alone and this is something we can all do together as a community 💖 ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Wanna know how it's gonna work?👇⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Starting from Monday 23rd, we're gonna be sharing a workout with you every day following the timetables above. Some of these workouts will be posted on our feed, others are gonna be live workouts thanks to some of our amazing SHREDDY creators. Oh, and have you noticed the gaps for 'mini challenges' ? You'll have to wait and see what these are 👀 ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ This is completely free, there is no enrolment form or fee, it's just an online community challenge with free access to #SHREDDY workouts ⁠on a daily basis. The workouts won't rely on equipment as we want to make them as accessible as possible. You may see bands or dumbbells being used in the videos however they're not necessary! ⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ There'll also be some cute giveaways along the way for people we see giving it their all and tagging us 💪⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ Complete it with your friends and family, if you're not together, pick up the phone, facetime and complete the workouts together📱⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠#shreddy #readyshreddygo #letsgetshreddy ⁠⠀

A post shared by SHREDDY (@shreddy) on

Results With Lucy

The app which Lucy Mecklenburgh created has come on leaps and bounds since it’s been released. There’s an app with bundles of workouts, over 1,000 in fact! As we’re being told to social distance ourselves, the team are streaming live, free workouts every day for the next few weeks over on their Instagram page!

Take Part In Couch To 5K

The NHS has an exercise plan called Couch to 5K; the plan lasts nine weeks and involves three runs a week. It’s meant for first-time runners, so it’s a fantastic way to get into running if you’ve been scared to. I’m not the best runner myself and have undertaken C25K before; you’ll work upon running in stages and before you know it you’ll be running longer each time!

When the clocks spring forward, there is nothing I like more than getting out for a run outside, making now the perfect time to take part in the Couch to 5K, as we’re officially in spring!

Take Inspo From Insta

There are so many fitness influencers on Instagram; I follow a lot of them and have done for years. As I’ve mentioned, I like to follow a plan, so don’t tend to follow workouts I seen on Instagram, unless I’m doing an extra workout. These are some of the fitness gals which I follow on Insta who upload workouts!

Meggan Grubb

Alice Liveing

Whitney Simmons 

Hop-On A Bike

Living in Devon there are so many great places to ride a bike, it may not be easy all around the country, but if you’ve got some great cycle paths or are confident on riding on the road, the evenings are getting lighter, which means we have longer to enjoy the great outdoors. 

Cycling has many benefits, from helping with cardiovascular fitness to reducing stress, it’s also been reported cycling helps to improve brainpower! So, if you have a bike, why not dust it off and go on an adventure?

Download An App

There are again SO many apps which you can download on your phone for working out. I’ve downloaded many in the past to ensure I keep active at all times, a lot of the apps you’ll find are free too, which is great news!

Down Dog

During the coronavirus outbreak, Down Dog is offering the use of their apps for free! They’ve got five apps and workouts to choose from; Yoga, Yoga for Beginners, HIIT, Barre and 7 Minute. Available on the App Store and Google Play. 

There are so many ways to keep active even when stuck at home. Currently, we are still able to leave the house (if not showing symptoms) it just means we have to be a little smarter and social distance ourselves!

Walk in North Devon during sunset

Hopefully, these ways to keep active at home tips will help. Exercise isn’t just good for losing weight, there are SO many other benefits, including mental health which can have an effect when stuck indoors.

I’d love to know how you’re keeping active, let me know in the comments! 

Follow:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *