3 Tips for Keeping Moving at Home
Well, this was certainly unexpected…
Not only unexpected, and unprecedented, but disturbing. We are waking up each morning at the moment to discover the ground beneath our feet is shifting, much quicker than we as humans are designed to easily process.
As we face our current reality, working from home often in suboptimal economic conditions, and finding our normal outlets for our physical and mental health curtailed, things can seem a little overwhelming.
In this 1st “corona world” blog I wanted to look a little at our physical welfare, and provide 3-tips to keep you moving at home.
Physical Welfare
Something I haven’t been at all surprised to see happening in my work is many of my clients asking for me to create for them a “home workout program”.
With access to gyms and similar spaces curtailed or reduced, most group exercise classes stopping, and people aware that they are going to be spending a lot of time in their own home this makes perfect sense.
But even without your own PT there are steps we can all take at home to keep up our physical activity, benefiting both our physical and mental health.
3 Tips For Your Home Workout
For some people working out at home is easy, but for many of us it feels nigh-on impossible.
The majority of people are not set up for either working, or working out, at home. There is always something else going on to distract us. But in the current circumstances we are going to need to find ways to make this work, so try these 3 techniques to assist you in getting your workouts going:
Schedule a Workout Slot
Set aside a particular time to work out.
If you are working from home block 2 or 3 lunchtimes aside for 30 or 40 minutes.
Or, if working out in the evening is more your thing, set that time aside mentally and make sure the people around you know that that is happening.
If you previously went to a class at a regular time, keep to that and use the same timeslot at home.
It’s so easy to become distracted by other stuff at home, or just taken over by an inertia, but planning and scheduling some movement practice gives it an import, and makes it much more likely you will go through with it.
Connect with a Friend(s).
Research shows if we are lacking motivation making commitment with a friend provide huge assistance in attaining goals.
These days it might not be possible to meet up in person, but you might be able to connect on a video chat. Or even just arrange to do the work out at the same time, and check-in with each other afterwards about how it went.
You’re much more likely to keep your commitment to yourself, if you’re keeping a commitment to somebody else as well.
Follow a Set Plan
Even for experienced exercise practitioners, myself including, setting out to workout without a plan is never the most effective way of getting value.
Before you start - know what it is that you’re going to be doing.
Resources
If you’re happy to follow a YouTube Video / App there are multitudes of yoga and home workout services out there.
Try: Adriene and Sean Vigue (with bonus golden retriever action making him a personal favourite)
Or, support your local studios and businesses by attending any online classes they may be looking to run at this time. Do try to help keep them operating so they'll be there for you when this passes. I’m looking into this myself at the moment.
If you prefer a workout program that you can do at home, there are some great books that provide ideas and workouts for all levels of ability.
Try: You Are Your Own Gym or The Cell Workout
Or, you can try my simple working at home workout program designed to give you a break from sitting and get moving again. PDF and Video below:
The Home Worker Home Workout