The New Home Workout: Keeping fitter, feeling better during lockdown
Being confined to home doesn’t mean you need to stop working out.
Exercise is not only necessary for keeping the body fit, it helps free the mind.
But don’t think you have to invest in tens of thousands of dollars worth of home gym equipment to get the job done. With a bit of commonsense and a touch of resourcefulness, you’ll find common household items can easily take the place of fitness equipment.
Set your imagination free and get a decent workout in, perhaps even while watching a little telly…
Workout tips by Jane Cleary
Feature Photography: Bhupinder Sandhu.
Model: Jasneet Jhinger (for Livfit Lifestyle Personal Training).
Stairs
No need for that expensive ‘Stair Master’ when you’ve got a perfectly usable set of stairs at home. Walking or running up a set of stairs is a great way to get your heart pumping and your glutes burning.
The Humble Towel
One woman’s towel is another woman’s resistance band! Use a towel to help with stretching or for a killer arm workout.
Hitting The Wall
We’ve all got these, and walls can be useful for those who are unable to get down on the floor. Rather than just sitting there and staring at them, use your walls to provide stability when stretching. Or work those quads and glutes with a few wall-sits. You can even use your own body weight for some clever doorway rows or wall push-ups!
Soup Cans, Water Bottles and Laundry Detergent Jugs
This is where some innovation and creativity can really kick in – treating any heavy object you have around the home like hand weights or dumbbells. Give your arms a major workout by doing some front raises, bicep curls, overhead presses or tricep kickbacks. The possibilities are endless. Attach bottles to a broom for some simple weightlifting exercises.
The Trusty Vacuum
Try this multi-tasking idea. Next time you are sweeping, vacuuming or mopping the floors, shake things up a little by adding some hip hinge exercises, or oblique twists. You can also get your heart rate up by playing some music and adding in some groovy dance moves. We recommend 101 Great Housework Songs, a compilation featuring the fab likes of Blondie, Britney, Katy Perry and even Duran Duran.
The Laundry Basket Deadlift
Chris Hemsworth has made this a thing recently – by putting all that laundry to good use. The wetter the clothes (ie: fresh out of the washing machine), the heavier the lift.
The Everyday Chair
A sturdy chair can make an excellent addition to your workout routine – and you can do these exercises while watching telly or a movie. Try incline push-ups, decline push-ups, Bulgarian lunges LINK, leg lifts, chair squats or tricep dips.
Kitchen Countertop
Next time you are waiting for water to boil or oven to pre-heat, use your kitchen benchtop to sneak in a few rounds of inclined push-ups and calf raises.
Exercise releases chemicals such as serotonin and endorphins in your brain – which are great for your mood. It also leads to better sleep and gives you more energy throughout the day.
Heavy Pots and Pans
Grab that huge pasta pot or large pan for some overhead tricep extensions. Bonus points if you have a heavy cast iron skillet!
Simple Bits of Cardboard
Place a small piece of cardboard beneath each foot whilst in a plank position – slowly, and in a controlled manner, glide your legs apart and back together and feel the burn. Placed under each hand, cardboard can also work in place of sliders for simple ab extensions. By replacing the cardboard with a small towel or flannel on smooth surfaces (such as tiles or timber) you can get your housework and workout done at the same time!
Backpack or Shopping Bag
Simply throw a few soup cans or water bottles into a backpack or shopping bag and get to work! Use as a weighted vest for some deep squats or walking lunges.
Facebook and Instagram are fantastic sites to find innovative ideas to help you with your home workout. You will be surprised what you can achieve simply and easily with what you have just lying around. You will also find many yoga or Pilates classes online, too. And, heck, even music video might give you a bit of inspiration, such as the latest clip Phenom by US outfit Thao & The Get Down:
While maintaining social distancing it is important to keep up physical activity for many reasons.
Exercise releases chemicals such as serotonin and endorphins in your brain – which are great for your mood. It also leads to better sleep and gives you more energy throughout the day.
Physical movement and simple exercise can ease tightness in the shoulders and neck – which often come with stress and anxiety.
On top of all this, exercise makes you feel like you’ve achieved something good.
Regular exercise reduces the risk of serious health issues and helps with weight management while physical activity is great for your immune system.
Oh, and for a more camp version of exercise at home – complete with social distancing themes – you could always take part in comedienne Laura Clery’s Quarantine Workout.
CREAM MAGAZINE 
4 Responses to “The New Home Workout: Keeping fitter, feeling better during lockdown”
Great tips, I love how creative you’ve been in improvising your workout. I have a few basic tools and am really enjoying my bodyweight workouts at the moment.
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Amazing Jasneet Jhinger these are good tips not only for lock down but are helpful in our day to day busy life as well.
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Great time to try new methodologies for fitness!
Thanks for sharing 😄
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[…] you get away with sweats) and you . Zoom with your own personal trainer if you can afford it, or get resourceful and turn everyday spaces and products into makeshift gym […]
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