keep active during lockdown
First of all, in case Leo Varadkar is reading this, I know its not officially “lockdown”. But we are under such restrictions which make it difficult to get the exercise and movement we are used to or would hope to get.
A lot of people are still working from home, and what this usually means is, badly set up desks and computers, or like me writing this, sitting on the couch with my feet up. I always encourage people to get up as much as possible during work, to break up the day and keep the body moving well. This is even more important now considering you are most likely not in a suitable environment for work. Your desk is less likely to be set up as ergonomically as at work.
However, on the other hand, because you are at home, there is no excuse for not being able to get on the floor and do a few exercises. There is no-one giving you funny looks.
So, set a timer on your phone or computer. Get up every 30 minutes and do something. The best way to do this is to make a plan so you know before your alarm goes off what you are going to do. At the beginning of the day, you should have a page with a plan for exercise throughout the day. Find exercises you like or are good at and do them for 1 minute, then give a walk around the house to loosen up, get a drink of water and back to work. There are countless exercises which are easy to do and functional and effective.
- Push-ups
- Squats
- Jumping Jacks
- Skipping (if you don’t have a skipping rope, pretend you do)
- Lunges
- Jogging/sprinting on the spot
- Shuttle runs over and back in the room or outside
- Tricep dips off the chair
- Punching the air (uppercuts, jabs, hooks. Vary it each time)
- Pilates exercises
- Yoga poses
This is a quick list off the top of my head, nearly enough to fill a day if you are doing something every half hour during work. Google these to look for variations of each. Email me or ring for advice if you are struggling to do them correctly.
If you are not working and you are at home every day, then you have no excuse. If you have no experience in exercise and just can’t come up with something to fill your time, there are so many ways around this.
One option is to look at the list of exercises above and look up more similar ones online by searching for bodyweight exercises. Instead of doing them every half an hour, do them together one after another. 10 bodyweight exercises for a minute at a time, followed by a fast walk or jog after is a great workout for a beginner.
Some people just cannot motivate themselves without guidance and that is understandable, so find guidance. There are countless fitness trainers online who run live exercise videos where you can exercise with them on Facebook live. You can see them, they can see you and they can guide you on whether you need to adapt something. Many of these are child friendly and will always make an effort to include the kids and mention their names during the class if they are taking part with you.
My favourite online class which I have done with my own kids is hosted by Dave Sheahan on DS Gym. Look for @dsgymplayablanca on Facebook to see when he is running classes. If you find exercises you can do with your kids, make it a competition. They will give you the encouragement you need to do more, no-one likes to be outdone by their kids!!!!!!!
Here’s a snippet of what it looks like
Use various apps and websites to change it up each day. Most trainers are different, find the one you like and develop a routine. If you need help, get in touch, we are always here to offer advice.
The best advice I can offer is to MOVE!!!!!!! There is no bad exercise. And listen to the experts, stay indoors but enjoy yourself and keep fit while you can
