3 minute read
Top Tips For Staying Fit At Home
Stuck at home? Need to keep fit? Here are some tips from qualified personal trainer Mike Smith.
His local business, Happy Sports and Fitness, offers support and services which promote healthy living. Here are his top five tips on staying fit and healthy at home.
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Plan and progress your workouts.
Firstly, set aside some time to complete your workout. Knowing what exercises and when you are going to complete them is important. If you state that you will exercise later, it usually ends up with non-completion or
a reduced time and effort on task. Motivation is of course important, but when the motivation is absent, self-discipline with organised activity will win the day. Know what you want to achieve and when you are going to complete it.
If you can track activities and progress your workout over a period of time, then this is very rewarding and gives the process a sense of purpose. For example, if you can currently plank for twenty seconds, why not set a target of being able to plank for a whole minute within the next two weeks? You don’t want to be completing the same exercises in six months time from now as they will be ineffective. Progressively increase either time, repetition, weight or intensity of each exercise over time.
Fun, varied and creative.
Complete exercises you enjoy. That doesn’t mean pick easy workouts, you should still challenge yourself, but if you enjoy long walks/runs then target your focus on that. A varied selection of exercises are important. Combining strength training and cardiovascular activities will improve and develop your overall progression.
If you do not have a great deal of equipment at home, use your imagination. At the gym you would find a range of different types of free weights and machines which are used to sustain force and strain on the specified muscle or group of muscles. This can be replicated with any item that is weighted. Use a bag of sugar, tin of beans or simply tense and put added stress on the muscle you would like to work. Not got a yoga mat? Use a towel or soft rug. Complete exercises on the bottom step or against a wall to maximise impact. Think outside the box and concentrate on you and how you can move one foot forward at a time.
Routine sleep and food intake/ home cooking.
Fitness is not just about the workouts you complete. Food is very important and very complex from individual to individual. My top tips are to make sure you eat consistently throughout the day, roughly every four hours and eat small meals built around complex carbohydrates (rice, pasta, vegetables) and proteins (quorn, meat, dairy). Eat home cooked meals with a nice glass of water to accompany it (avoid take aways). Routine sleep is also key to your energy, engagement and willingness to improve your own health. Do not underestimate the positive wellbeing factors that sleep has on the human body. Although requirements vary slightly for each person, you should be looking to get seven to nine hours sleep per night and in my experience, the early bird catches the worm.
Mental Health and wellbeing
Not every day will be perfect but the combination of sleeping, healthy eating and varied exercise completion will contribute to an improved wellbeing. Create opportunities to get fresh air and find subtle ways to improve your health e.g. gardening, playing tag with the kids, cutting the lawn at a quicker pace.
Team work
If you have children, a partner or a friend, why not get them involved with your exercise plans? Every activity can be adapted to suit your individual needs and it might suit you to follow an online video or some type of tutorial. You may find it hard at first but give it a try as it will reduce preparation and planning time. There are a number of various types of fitness videos you can watch, all depending on your preference.
Short goals with challenging objectives is the key. If you are not feeling it, just get through the basics of what you had previously planned, but if a good day, push yourself to achieve more. The only person stopping you is you.