As many of us have been affected by COVID 19 over the past year or so, we are finding that we need to conduct our daily lives in a different manner than we did before. Before the lockdowns and self-isolation, we were free to visit shops, restaurants, bars, cinemas and gyms as much as we wanted and without having to wear a mask and social distance. For those who enjoyed going to the gym or attending an exercise class, it has been difficult and many health conscious people have had to find alternative ways of keeping fit. Here are 5 excellent ways you can exercise from home.

Build a Home Gym

If you have a spare room, a shed or a garage you may want to consider turning it into a home gym – or you could erect a fit-for-purpose building on your property.

A typical home gym will be a good sized room with air conditioning, electricity and heating. The floor should be covered with an easily cleaned material such as wood, laminate or a specialist flooring for gyms such as Fitfloors Rubber Gym Flooring. Gym flooring is the best option as it is non-slip, easy to clean and durable.

Some of the walls can be covered in floor-ceiling mirrors so that you can see if you are performing your exercise properly.  As exercise increases body temperature, you may want to install some fans as well as air conditioning or have a large window that you can open on especially hot days.  A sink or water fountain would be an added bonus so that you can hydrate adequately during your workout.  A further luxury to have in your home gym would be a shower so that you can shower immediately after exercising without having to use the bathroom in your home.

The equipment for the gym is something you will need to think about. Do you want a complete range of equipment, or do you just want a couple of pieces such as a treadmill to work your legs and cardiovascular system and a rowing machine to strengthen your arms and legs.  Your budget will probably dictate what you can buy for your home gym, but you can build up your equipment over time.

Workout DVDs and Apps

A convenient way of exercising in your home is to work out to DVDs or apps shown on your television, laptop or computer. You don’t need lots of space or equipment to do this as you can just move your furniture and make some space in your lounge room or take your laptop or tablet to another room or into your garden and exercise there.

There are numerous DVDs on the market that cater to all areas of interest and exercise needs from yoga to kick boxing. Some online apps offer live exercise classes with instructors so it makes you feel like you are in a real class at the gym.  Other apps can personalize a workout for you and assign you a fitness coach to motivate you.  Some of the most popular fitness apps in 2021 are MyFitness Pal, Map My Run, Fitness Buddy, 30 Day Fitness at Home, Workout for Women and Home Workout 

Video Games

Video games are no longer just for teenage kids to play while sitting alone in their bedrooms. Now, whole families can play games together and keep fit at the same time. The Wii Fit is probably the most famous gaming platform. Users can buy exercise games such as Just Dance and Wii Sports that will make exercising fun.  The Nintendo Switch has taken over from the Wii and has a great range of fun fitness games – one of them being the Nintendo Switch Ring Fit Adventure. This brilliant game uses a ring for resistance exercises and controllers for movement. The game takes you on a fantasy adventure where you will work up a sweat working through different levels to achieve your goal. 

PlayStation have their offering of exercise games such as boxing games like Boxing VR and Creed: Rise to Glory, dancing games Zumba and Just Dance 2021 and Yoga Master for relaxation and recuperation.

Housework 

If you are stuck in the house anyway, why not do some free exercise and look after your home at the same time by doing some housework.

Vacuuming the whole house is a great cardio workout and strengthens your leg and arms muscles too.  Thirty minutes of vacuum cleaning can burn off up to 160 calories. You can add to the health-giving effect by doing some lunges while you push the machine around the rooms. Lunges are a great exercise for tightening the abdominal muscles and strengthening the legs.  Mopping and sweeping floors has much the same advantages as vacuum cleaning.

Scrubbing and wiping surfaces uses up calories and tones arms muscles. If you stand up and down on your tip toes or do some squats while working, it will turn into a full body workout.

Doing laundry involves lots of bending, stretching and lifting heavy weights around the home. If you have a house with stairs, carrying baskets of dirty and wet washing up and down them can burn around 8 calories per minute. Your calf muscles and gluteal muscles will get a tremendous workout while you are doing it. Others household chores that will burn plenty of calories include changing and making beds, cleaning the windows, tidying up and clearing clutter.

Gardening

Getting out in the fresh air and being at one with nature is an enjoyable way to partake in a little bit of exercise. Mowing the lawn can burn up to 8 calories per hour – more if the lawnmower is especially heavy and your garden is on a steep hill. If your mower doesn’t catch the cut grass, you will use up more energy raking up the loose grass and transporting it to a storage vessel. Mowing and raking will exercise muscles all over the body.   Weeding is another energy burning task that can also  be quite relaxing. Being outside is also great for health as the sun gives the body vitamin D and the lungs benefit from breathing in the fresh air.