If you’re living like much of the world right now (read: social distancing at home), do yourself a favor and get sweaty from your living room with an at-home workout.
Your gym might be closed or you might be camped out in a small apartment, but you can still get stronger and maintain your fitness with home workouts.
Not only are at-home workouts time-savers, but they’ll boost your mood and keep you strong for your runs. They’re also a great way to relieve stress amid all the coronavirus news updates.
To accommodate everyone’s different living conditions, these at-home workouts assume limited space and no equipment. Just lay down a towel or mat, lace up your sneakers, and you’re ready!
How to Warm-Up for At-Home Workouts
Cardio Focused At-Home Workouts
Strength Focused At-Home Workouts
How to Cool Down for At-Home Workouts
While working out at home allows you to roll straight from bed into your workout, that doesn’t mean you should skip your warm-up. The limited amount of walking you might be doing right now (I’m right there with you) makes warming up all the more important to reduce your risk for injury.
A proper warm-up gets your heart rate up, primes your nervous system for exercise, and wakes up your joints and muscles for moving in multiple planes of motion.
Here is a quick warm-up you can pair with any at-home workout or run:
If you don’t own a Peloton bike or elliptical, cross-training while the gyms are closed is a little tricky. But with these bodyweight cardio workouts, you can get your heart rate up and strength train all at once. Forget the treadmill and say hello to burpees!
This Tabata session only takes 8 minutes, uses only bodyweight moves, and hits the entire body.
The workout: Alternate between moves in the set, moving for 20 seconds and resting for 10 seconds. Keep moving for 4 minutes. Rest 2 minutes between sets.
Set 1 (4 Minutes: 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off)
Rest for 2 minutes between sets.
Set 2 (4 Minutes: 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off)
Want to follow-along instead? Try the entire workout led by Coach Holly here:
Tabatas are great when you’re feeling impatient and low energy because they only require 20 seconds of work before you rest. Try this 12-minute Tabata for an amazing full-body sweat.
The workout: Do each move for 20 seconds, taking 10 seconds rest before moving to the next move. Complete 4 rounds for a total of 12-minutes. If you need to take a longer rest between rounds, do so!
The movements:
Watch Coach Morgan demonstrate all the moves here:
This workout is as simple as it gets, but don’t underestimate its burn! Set the timer for 15 minutes and complete as many rounds as possible of the below exercises for the number of reps listed.
If you have more time, rest for 1 to 2 minutes and complete another round.
The workout: Set the timer for 5 minutes. Do as many rounds as possible of the below bodyweight exercises.
The movements:
Get full instructions on the moves from Coach Morgan here:
This workout is short and snappy. You’ll do three sets of two different exercises, finishing each set before moving on to the next one. If you have a pair of dumbbells, that can be a great way to take it to the next level.
Set 1
Complete 12 reps, then 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 of each exercise
Rest 30 seconds
Set 2
Complete 12 reps, then 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 of each exercise
Rest 30 seconds
Set 3
Complete 12 reps, then 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 of each exercise
Done! Give yourself a high-five and cool down.
Want company? Do this workout with Coach Holly:
You don’t need much for a good strength training workout. Your body, some space, and some high energy music will do the trick.
Add these workouts to your workout routine on your cross-training days to build muscle and prevent injury.
This bodyweight workout works your lower body and stabilizing muscles. And it helps with injury prevention for runners. You’ll move in multiple planes of motion and focus on balance and leg and core strength.
The workout: Do the following three moves for the reps listed, repeating 4 rounds total.
The moves:
Repeat each move for 4 rounds!
Get a full breakdown of all the moves here:
Don’t think you have time to workout? Think again! This bodyweight challenge can be done anywhere and trust me, it’s a scorcher.
The workout: Set a timer for 5 minutes. Alternate between the 2 moves, starting with one rep of each, then 2, increasing your reps as high as you can for 5 minutes.
The moves:
Do 1 rep, then 2, then 3, etc. until the 5 minutes are done.
Pro tip: Record your rep count and repeat this workout once a week to track your fitness progress. Come out of social distancing fitter than ever.
Here’s video demo of the two moves with Coach Nate:
Staying at home with a roommate or partner? Mix up your evening Netflix routine with this partner body strength workout.
The workout:
The moves:
Place your back foot onto an ottoman, coffee table, couch, whatever. Or keep both feet on the ground.
Alternate between partners until each of you complete 50 reps on each leg. For example, maybe Person 1 does 10 reps on each leg, planking while Person 2 does their 10 reps, going until both of you have reached 50 reps
Person 1 gets into a stable plank position while person 2 holds their legs. While holding the stable plank, Person 1 taps opposite hand to shoulder, making sure to keep stable hips, not rocking them back and forth.
For a no-jumping alternative, do 100 side shuffles up and down a yoga mat. One yoga mat length equals one rep.
Watch Coach Holly and Coach Morgan tackle this workout together:
With all the lounging going on, we need core workouts now more than ever. Imagine coming out of quarantine with visible ab definition! Here are a few core workouts to bring six-pack energy to your living room.
The workout: For each set listed below, alternate between the two exercises listed, doing each for 20 seconds and resting for 10 seconds for a total of 4 minutes. Rest for 2 minutes between sets.
Set 1:
Set 2:
Set 3:
Do the entire workout with Coach Holly below!
This is the perfect ab session to tack onto a full-body workout or after a run. You just need 10 minutes and a towel or yoga mat. Not only do these moves work your core, but they also strengthen your upper body.
The workout: Complete each move for the time specified below, taking 15 seconds in between moves. Do 3 to 5 rounds in total.
The moves:
Pro tip: To make it harder, increase hold time or add a set of dumbbells to your hips
Watch Coach Holly demonstrate all the moves here:
Combine core work with a sneaky bit of cardio in this quick ab burner.
The workout: Alternate between the two moves in each set, starting with 12 reps, then 10, 8, 6, 4, 2.
You will complete all the reps of one set before moving on to the next set. Rest 15 to 30 seconds between sets.
Set 1:
Set 2:
Follow along with Coach Holly in the workout here:
Just like a good warm-up, don’t end your work out without a proper cool down to help relieve muscle tension, calm down the nervous system, and accelerate recovery.
Here’s a 5-minute cool-down you can do anywhere:
For many more at-home strength, cardio, and mobility workouts, download The Run Experience mobile app. We’re currently offering FREE premium workouts and will be releasing even more at-home workouts to our app and YouTube Channel in the coming weeks.