Personal Training in a Pandemic – Home Workouts (Part 1)
Health has never been more important. Coronavirus has magnified the need to build up strong immunity and so we must adopt healthier lifestyles more than ever before. Virus or no virus, it’s our job as health & fitness professionals to put the safety of our clients before all else. That has not changed. What has changed, is the need for us to adapt and be flexible with how we work with clients.
Part 1 of the ‘Personal Training in a Pandemic’ blog series (4 parts) looks at what it means for home workouts, keeping in mind current restrictions.
I believe the trend in home workouts will continue to rise, long after the pandemic ends. If you’ve been training at home during lockdown, you’ll hopefully have realised just how much progress you can make to your fitness levels, with zero or limited weights. Realistically, the majority of people don’t have a home gym, or lots of equipment. Many of us don’t even have gardens or outdoor space in which to exercise.
Personal trainers can provide you with workout programs to follow, which are personalised to you, your environment and what you have to work with. There are also lots of online videos you can use for inspiration if looking for something more general. Take a look at my Instagram for some full body circuits or exercise ideas to help you work up a sweat at home, with limited room and no equipment!
Here’s some ideas of how to use your home & contents to work up a little sweat at home:
Using towels/tea-towels/cushions to add a little extra resistance to ab exercises (crunches or twists.)
Using your couch or bed as a weight to squat with or great for stepping up and down from to work that booty or use them to do push-ups off of! I’m even using my cat’s bed (was previously a foot stool!)
Bottles (drinks, shampoos, milk…) can all be used as weight to work your biceps and triceps (bicep curling diet coke bottles CAN make a difference!)
Chairs can also act as an excellent piece of home equipment – use for squats, or step-ups or even better, you can get a real burn working your triceps doing dips off the side of the chair.
Books can be used under the heels of your feet to do various forms of squats.
Shelves/chest of drawers/window ledges are great surfaces for push-ups.
Doors/chair legs act as great ‘hooks’ to wrap resistance bands around if you’ve got them.
Food (bags of rice) can also be used as weights when squatting, or doing shoulder work!
Socks on shiny/varnished floorboards or marble surfaces can act as effective ‘sliders’ when doing lower abdominal focused exercises.
Stairs can also be used in so many ways to get that heart rate up – walking or running up and down them, doing step-ups, lunges or even push-ups.
The important thing is just to stay as active as you can. If you can, aim to exercise for 20-30 minutes 3-4 times a week. See if you can increase your overall movement. If you can take a walk outside, try to get in 10,000 steps (if you are able to track!) or just walk for even 20-30 minutes a day. It will make such a difference to your state of mind, not to mention the physical benefits! If you are doing home workouts, bodyweight exercises (like squats and push ups) alone can help you build up strength, core stability and increase your fitness levels. You’ll be surprised how a little creative thinking can spice up your home workouts! If you need any help or inspiration, get in touch with me!
