We all know how important it is to exercise and stay active. We now have an opportunity to try a new way of exercising and keeping active at home during lockdown or social distancing.
Things to think about over the next few weeks:
- Doing something is better than doing nothing
- It doesn’t need to be perfect
- 10,000 steps is probably not a realistic goal if you are social distancing, on lockdown or working from home, so what is your new normal?
- Moving 2 minutes every hour is perhaps a more realistic every day goal to help ensure you are not sitting for hours. My FitBit has a ‘reminder to move’ option yours may have something similar or set an alarm,
- My blog How to be healthy even if you spend all day sitting was for 9-5 office work but you might find some inspiration here
- What resources do you have? Stairs, garden, old fitness kit packed away how can you use what you have to be more active?
- Moving less means lower calories intake is required. Your body will naturally self-regulate. If you are prone to comfort or boredom eating you may need to find other ways to keep yourself occupied,
- Housework! You know it’s serious when you are looking at housework as a means to stay active!
- Green gym aka your garden may be a good option for you. If you do not currently do a couple of hours in the garden every day, take it easy and have lots of back breaks,
- Keep in mind that physios and massages are not going to be available to you for the short term (although some are offering an online service) so it might not be the best time for breaking world records!
Do it Differently!
- For most of us trying to replicate our exact exercise routine may not work, don’t try to shove a square peg into a round hole
- You may need different goals to keep you motivated. My blog on Exercise Goals That Are Not Weight Loss or Running may give you some inspiration. Click here to read,
- Be a beginner! If you are not comfortable or confident exercising on your own don’t go for the same style of workout that you would do with an instructor,
- Go short. Exercising for the same length of time might not work so well for you on your own. Go for consistency, doing something every day rather than irregular inconsistency.
Exercising using Videos
- Many tablets such as iPad allow you to connect to smart TV’s, it’s worthwhile googling it for your specific devices and getting your video on a big screen,
- Before I had that option, I found a foot stool the best height for the Pilates videos. You might have to experiment a bit to get a good placement for you,
- Some apps allow you to download to your local device. With so many people working from home in the next few weeks, it’s hard to tell how robust our home internet connection will be.
Exercise Videos
We are lucky there are so many exercise videos available to us. It can be hard to know where to start so I have popped a few suggestions below to get you going. Starting with low intensity to high. Some are free usually on YouTube, and some you have to pay for, usually around £10 per month
Click here for my blog on Tips for Exercising at Home
Lucy has a massive library over on YouTube which is free. She specialises in 7 minutes workouts and has some on indoor walking, as well as higher intensity videos. (Click here)
Has a 21 day yoga series, as well as a stack of other yoga videos for gardening and running. (Click here)
If you have attended a class with me, this is closet to how I teach. It is a paid subscription. I love the Essential Collection and the Short Workouts. There is lots to chose from and different instructors to mix it up (Click here) At the time of writing there is a discount code: keepmoving
Rachel is the creator of Fitness Pilates. As it sounds, it’s faster than clinical Pilates, there is plenty to chose from here.
Rachel also teaches step so dust off your step and get your heart rate up! (Click Here)
If you fancy BodyCombat, BodyAttack, BodyBalance at home, sign up for a subscription. (Click here)
Exercising and mental health
Exercising and mental health go hand in hand. It may not be something you do or think about deliberately but you might notice the difference when you don’t do any exercise. We may all be going through the same thing, but we will have very different experiences of it
Options to help mental health, anxiety or worry:
- Morning pages. Journaling helps get what’s in your head out and onto a bit of paper. Stuff that you didn’t know you were worrying about. Click here for a short video on Morning Pages Journaling
- EFT Tapping Emma at the Inner Smile often has a free ‘Daily Tap’ over on Facebook. Click here for her page
- Talking about it. Not wallowing in it, but talking over anything that’s on your mind
- My blog on 6 Things To Do When You Are Feeling Rubbish
- Meditation may need a different approach if your head is busy. In yoga it’s the last thing you do after 50,60, or 70 mins of exercise. You may need to declutter your head beforehand!
- Guided mediation my suit you better. Kate Spencer has a stack of free mediations to download from her website here
- If you are energy sensitve, then grounding everyday will be essential
- Be social on social media. Zoom, Facebook and WhatsApp are probably the easiest place to set up groups to keep in contact with people,
- Limit scrolling and be deliberate in how you use your phone. Unfollow or pause anything that is causing you worry or anxiety
- Always bring your sunshine. But don’t worry if it’s a rainy day as a rainbow will always follow
You can treat this lockdown as the worst thing to happen to you, or with curiosity, creativity and innovation.
(P.S. There are no affiliate links in this blog)
Top Takeaways
- doing something is better than doing nothing
- finding what works for you may take a while
- sometimes paying for content means you’ll find what you are looking for quicker than searching free content on YouTube.
- pay attention to your mental health if you have reduced or changed your exercise routine as it may be affected.
