At Home Workout: How To Make The Most Of It Through Covid-19
If there is one thing we can all agree on during these coronavirus times, it’s that we need to figure out how to work out at home.
This looks different for everyone. Some people have a home gym, while others just use their living room. Some people have a peloton or a treadmill, others nothing but open space.
The good news about at-home workouts: you don’t need anything but yourself. Using only your bodyweight can be extremely effective. If you have some dumbbells to add, all the better, but they are certainly not required.
An At Home Workout and A Few Tips To Get The Most Out of It
In this article, we have an at-home, full-body workout guaranteed to get your heart rate up. And don’t worry, there is no treadmill involved.These bodyweight exercises will keep you on track with your workout plan, working both the upper body and the lower body.
From there, we’ve got a couple of mistakes to avoid in your at-home workouts. These are just some common tendencies for beginners and vets alike that we want to be sure you steer clear of.
The At Home Workout
This workout is going to be done in a ladder format. There are five total movements. We’ll start with one and build from there. Before, we list the ladder workout, let’s run through the movements.
Straight Arm Plank: A plank position up on your hands, a.k.a. the beginning of a push-up
Broad Jump: Starting from two feet, swing your arms and jump forward, landing on two feet
Seated Reach-Backs: This one is a bit more complicated. Sit on your bottom with your legs bent in front of you, soles of the feet on the ground. From there, place your arms straight out in front of you, and hinge back as far as you can keeping your back straight. Now, all you’re going to do is reach your arms back toward your ears, keeping your arms straight. Move your arms from in front of you to overhead repeatedly, at a comfortable pace.
Burpees: A classic. Start with a push-up. From there, jump or step your feet in under your hips, and stand up straight. Add a little jump at the top if possible, and then head back down and start all over again at the push-up.
Happy Stars: Start by laying on your back in a big X position. Next, you’re just going to take crunches by lifting your opposite arm and opposite leg. Crunch up from your X, touching your opposite hand to opposite foot. Aim to keep your legs straight, and get your shoulder blades off the ground.
Want to follow along through a video? We’ve got you covered.
ROUND ONE:
1. Straight-arm plank: 30 seconds work, 10 seconds rest
ROUND TWO:
1. Straight-arm plank: 30 seconds work, 10 seconds rest
2. Broad jump: 30 seconds work, 10 seconds rest
ROUND THREE:
1. Straight-arm plank: 30 seconds work, 10 seconds rest
2. Broad jump: 30 seconds work, 10 seconds rest
3. Seated reach-backs: 30 seconds work, 10 seconds rest
ROUND FOUR:
1. Straight-arm plank: 30 seconds work, 10 seconds rest
2. Broad jump: 30 seconds work, 10 seconds rest
3. Seated reach-backs: 30 seconds work, 10 seconds rest
4. Burpees: 30 seconds work, 10 seconds rest
ROUND FIVE:
1. Straight-arm plank: 30 seconds work, 10 seconds rest
2. Broad jump: 30 seconds work, 10 seconds rest
3. Seated reach-backs: 30 seconds work, 10 seconds rest
4. Burpees: 30 seconds work, 10 seconds rest
5. Happy stars: 30 seconds work, 10 seconds rest
At Home Workout Mistakes To Avoid
Avoiding these mistakes will reduce your risk of injury and help you get the most out of these covid-19 workouts.
#1: Do Not Skip the Warmup
Consider this the cardinal sin of your at-home workouts. You need to warmup; it’s that simple. There are plenty of ways to warmup. Get your heart rate up with some jumping jacks or a jump rope, hit a few high knees to get the blood flowing; you have plenty of options.
The only thing that isn’t an option here is skipping the warmup altogether. Skipping it dramatically increases your risk of injury, and it can limit or hinder your form in the movements you do. This leads me to my next point.
#2: Focus on Posture, Even When You’re Tired
Letting your posture slip is another workout mistake that increases your risk of injury. Make your posture and form the top priority of your strength training and your cardio, even when you’re tired. In fact, focus on form more as you get tired.
As a general rule, engage your abs and your glutes wherever possible to protect the back and work the proper muscles. Whether you’re doing a HIIT workout, a cardio workout, or a workout to build strength, proper form is your best friend no matter what.
#3: Mix It Up
Avoid the mistake of just repeating the same exercises every day. As you start to build your at-home workout routine, it can be tempting to stick only to the exercises you like. Or you may find one workout online that you love, and you just want to repeat it.
However, our goal of these at-home workouts isn’t just to check a box. Our goal is to keep progressing on our fitness goals. To do this, we need to mix up the workouts and exercises we do.
There are so many resources and workouts to choose from right now. Many are free of charge and require no equipment. Embrace this! Search around and switch up your workout routine as often as possible.
Surprising your muscles and forcing them to adapt to new situations will lead to major results in the long run.
A closing thought: stay positive. Stay motivated and do your best to approach these in home workouts with your goals in mind. While everything feels out-of-wack right now, your workouts can provide a sense of normalcy. Embrace it, and get after it!