I’ve been thinking about writing a post about my vegan and cruelty-free hygiene and beauty products this week, but a chat with my friends gave me a different idea. They were saying that they’re struggling to find the motivation to work out while stuck at home. And while I’ve had a couple “off” days recently, I’m now pretty good at being consistent with exercising. This consistency with working out mainly came from training for the Oxford half-marathon, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Here is a quickstart guide to working out at home – even if you have no equipment!
Everyday movement
I covered the actual workouts I do a on a weekly basis in the Day in the life of a new(ish) mum & blogger – four months into motherhood blog post, however I believe the best place to start isn’t “working out”, but just trying to move a bit more all day long.
A great way to get a reality check is to check your step counter if you have one. I use the Garmin Vivosport (which is 46% off for Prime members it seems!) and as I’m editing this, it says 1,444 steps today (and it’s already the afternoon)… Not great! I’m not saying that we should obsess over fitness metrics, but a low count like that is a decent indicator that I’m spending a lot of time sitting down! So whether you use a tracker or not, take a second to evaluate how sedentary / active you are right now and think about why you might want to do something about it (better mood, longer life, etc.).
(Note: this blog post contains affiliate links. That means that if you purchase a product I recommend, I may earn a commission at no cost to you. If so. thank you for supporting my blog!)
In my self-care workbook, I suggest two ways you can pepper in a bit of movement into your daily routines and they both happen in your bathroom! One of them is using going to the toilet as a cue to do one repetition of the alive, awake, alert, enthusiastic song. The other idea is what I call “sink circles”. Essentially it means drawing circles with either your nose, shoulders, hips or feet. If anything makes a small cracking noise, you clearly needed a stretch and the next step will probably be great for you too! Nobody is there to see you when you’re in the bathroom, so give it a go and see if puts a smile on your face!
It might just be the Interwebs circles I’m a part of, but every other video or blog post I see seems to be about working from home right now. If that’s your case, or maybe you’re a student or you spend a lot of time playing video games or “online window shopping” (guilty!), a standing desk could be a great idea! When I say standing desk, I’m not saying you need to throw away your current desk, then go out and buy a swish new standing desk. You can just use what you have to put your mouse and keyboard at elbow height and your screen at face height. Until it became a changing mat surface, I used an IKEA shoe rack to prop my computer up and it worked really well!
Discipline and flexibility
The best place to start working out from home is by doing yoga on Sundays. This is what I did before getting pregnant, when I upped my yoga game (more info on that in my upcoming Sane Mama course – subscribe to stay in the loop!). Every Sunday (or almost) I would do the latest video on the Yoga with Adriene YouTube channel and feel refreshed for it.
There are many reasons to start with yoga. One of them is that it will improve your posture and help ease out any existing kinks. That way, you’re less likely to get injured going into other forms of exercise. Yoga is also a great way to work on the “practice over perfect” attitude. Because unless you’re some kind of alien, you won’t be able to do all the poses perfectly from the start. The other two reasons are that focusing on your breath and your sensations will lower your stress levels and that you can start with no equipment whatsoever. Yes, you can use props (like cushions), but as long as you have a carpet, rug, towel or blanket, you don’t even need a yoga mat!
Another great reason to start with yoga is that there’s plenty of free videos on YouTube. So either start with Adriene‘s most recent video, or do a quick search for what would be the most appropriate for you, for example “yoga for runners“, “yoga for back pain“, etc. Quick note: if you are pregnant, you need to adapt the movements, or much easier: do prenatal yoga, as it’s specifically tailored to your body’s needs! Same applies if you gave birth recently: look for postnatal yoga videos. Yoga really is for everyone – not just skinny bendy people!
With yoga and all other forms of exercise, aim for consistency instead of a streak. Note how earlier I wrote “doing yoga on Sundays” and not “doing yoga every Sunday”. Lots of people find starting a streak very motivating, but generally give up as soon as they “fall off the bandwagon” once. Instead, just try to do as many individual days as you can and let it go when you don’t make it to your mat (or rug). By the way, the pose my little assistant is doing in the photo at the top of this post is appropriately called happy baby – try it and see if you don’t feel at least 1% happier!
Strength and confidence
Right, once you’ve done your first yoga video and you’ve got your head round the idea of showing up consistently, it’s time to take that mindset over to an organised program. I personally use the SWEAT app by Kayla Itsines. Once upon a time I used to use the Abs Diet book for my workouts (as mentioned in this old but surprisingly popular blog post: Challenge yourself physically: six ideas to spice things up and get moving!). But having someone walk you through all your sets is much less faffy than having to find the right page every time I wanted to try a new exercise.
There’s a variety of programs, including several that can be done at home instead of the gym. I’m currently on week six of a post-pregnancy program and I actually look forward to my workouts! As I said in my last blog post, I’m focusing on lower body and core on Mondays, upper body and core on Wednesdays and full body on some Fridays (that last one is optional). It all works through an app on your phone, but I’m glad to say that you can also follow along to the workouts on your computer. You can try it for a month (or more) by following this link. It’s definitely worth it in my opinion!
Doing a strength training program will give you feeling of self-integrity from following through with your own plans. You may also gain confidence from the physical changes that come with strength training. The workouts don’t seem that hard to me, but I am starting to feel that my abs are much stronger already!
Focus and endurance
If you’re reading this blog post when it comes out, you’ll know that a lot of the world is in lockdown because of the coronavirus outbreak. (If you’re reading this later on, hello people of the future!) One way of dealing with any anxiety and cabin fever linked to self-isolation is to go sweat outside. Of course only do this if it’s allowed (insert your official local guidelines here, ha!).
You will feel the benefits of being outside with any type of exercise, but I personally recommend training to run a certain distance. That way, you’ll have something to look forward to when social gatherings are allowed again! You could train for an autumn race that hasn’t been cancelled or get parkrun ready (which is what I’m doing).
If you haven’t run in a long time, I recommend doing a couch to 5K plan. There are lots of them available online for free. I’m personally following the 5K plan in my No Meat Athlete: Run on Plants and Discover Your Fittest, Fastest, Happiest Self book. All plans have their merits, but make sure you pick one that is reasonable for your lifestyle (e.g. three weekly runs rather than five) and that incorporates walking in the build up to running 5km in one go.
Once you’ve completed the ten (or however many) weeks plan, you’ll be ready to join your local parkrun or athletics club! Finding that community is a great way to stay in shape for the long run. For now, you can also find your community online, with Strava or Facebook groups for example.
Joy and gratitude
While flexibility, strength and endurance are all very important, many fitness programs forget a key element: joy! If you try any of my ideas above and hate them after a month, just try something else. A great way of making working out from home (or elsewhere for that matter) sustainable is to focus on the things that you enjoy.
Have a quick think: what ways of moving your body would bring a smile to your face? Have you never done Zumba, but always had a niggling desire to try it out? What did you enjoy doing as a child? Did you do athletics after school? Did you play any sports at university?
Which elements of these can be done at home? Is there a Wii game that mimics your favourite sport? If you really don’t know what to do, either dance along to a video or have a spontaneous dance party with your favourite music. No matter what you choose, do your best to be grateful for what your body can do. If you have a little kiddo, put them on their playmat and entertain them while leading by example!
Gear you can use to work out at home
Now I know that the title of this blog post said with no equipment. You can do the things above with what you have at home: you probably own a blanket for yoga, some heavy objects for strength training and some old sports shoes for running in.
The list below is totally optional – please please please start with what you have! However, if like me you find buying new gear motivating, then the things below may enhance your at home workouts. These are the products I actually use on a weekly basis. Other than the shoes, they’re all pretty affordable!
1 – Running shoes
2 – 3kg dumbbells
3 – Gym ball (I have the L version of this without handles, but I couldn’t find it)
4 – Resistance bands
5 – 4kg dumbbells
6 – Foam roller set
I’ve linked to the exact items I own and use. It could be that they’re currently unavailable, but I hope it gives you an idea! If you do buy something, I’d first get decent running shoes (that fit properly) and then dumbbells, as they’re so versatile. If you can’t get to a running shop, you can order shoes online, but please send them back if they’re not comfortable.
So that’s it, my starter guide to working out from home! What did you think? Do you work out at home? If so, what do you do? If you struggle to find the time to exercise, make sure you check out my free guide to making time for what’s important!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.