Still Can’t Go to the Gym? No Problem!

If you’ve lost your motivation for working out during quarantine, it’s time to get back into the swing of things. There’s plenty you can do at home to stay in shape even without equipment.

THE STORY: Quarantine life has come with a lot of changes for us all. Some of us took up breadmaking or old hobbies. Some of us decided to work on getting healthier, while some of us went the other way and decided to be a bit lazier. Whatever camp you landed in, a workout routine is essential. Even a small amount of daily activity has amazing benefits! Even if your gym is still closed there are plenty of ways to stay in shape at home, with or without equipment.

THRIVING WITH HOME EXERCISE: Number one on your list for working out at home is to prioritize your workouts. Put them on your calendar with your regular appointments & to-do lists and you’ll find yourself more motivated to complete them. Without making exercise a priority, none of the rest of these tips will work.

Next, if you have the room create a home workout space. You’ve already set up a dedicated home office by now - doing the same here will help you stick to your schedule and goals. Place everything you’ll need to work out in this area and you’ll be good to go.

Now that you’ve put exercise on the schedule and have a place to do it - what will you actually do? You might be thinking there’s only so much you can do at home but the truth is you can do almost anything. If you’re missing having a trainer or lacking in motivation, check out Youtube. Here you can find everything from yoga to pilates to strength training and more. One of our fave yoga channels is Yoga with Adriene - she has tons of videos for beginners and up and super motivating. Love dancing? The Fitness Marshall has 3-minute workouts that will make you sweat!

Not in the mood to follow along with an instructor? Do your own thing - get outside and go for a walk or run or even a bicycle ride. Play Just Dance with the fam and have a blast while you get that exercise in - there’s an entire series now and you can dance to everything from old school MC Hammer to Broadway! Or play with your kids in the yard.

Miss strength training but don’t have any weights at home? No problem! You don’t need weights to do an at-home workout. Search for bodyweight workouts that use the weight of your body to help build lean muscle and decrease body fat (such as pushups and burpees).

If you lack the motivation right now to do a full-on half-hour workout, break your exercise up into small chunks. Get up after that 8th Zoom meeting of the day and walk around the house or up & down the stairs for 5 minutes. Do push-ups at the kitchen counter while you cook dinner. Do jumping jacks or squats while you binge-watch your favorite show. It doesn’t matter how you're doing it, so long as you're getting that activity in!

THE WRAP-UP: Being stuck at home is hard and it sucks the motivation out of you. We get it. But staying healthy is important (especially right now), so do what you can to get in some exercise every day. Home isn’t limiting you as much as you think. Now, get up and get moving!