Get fit, Stay fit

With gyms shut and our outdoor time limited to food shopping and walks; it is important to keep up with our physical fitness in order to maintain our health as well as possible in the current health climate.

It is also vital for our mental health as some form of exercise every day can be great for giving some purpose to our day and releasing all those great endorphins we would usually get coming back from the gym or the pool.

Even if you’ve found yourself particularly unmotivated for the third lockdown, these tasks will improve your physical and mental wellbeing combined with your surroundings and we guarantee you will feel more at ease participating in these regularly.

GARDENING:

If you have a garden, you may find that it takes a lot of effort to look after and maintain. Well, gardening is actually a great way of getting fresh air, moving your body and is found very therapeutic by many.

From a physical aspect, gardening puts you into positions that you wouldn’t normally sit or stand in when working from home. For example, squatting whilst pulling weeds or carrying watering cans and heavy plant pots.

WEIGHTS WITH HOUSEHOLD OBJECTS:

Unless you are fortunate enough to have a set of weights in your home, it is unlikely that you have done much heavy lifting in the past year.

Try getting your muscles toned by using objects such as bags of flour, metal cans or a carrier bag full of heavy things that you’ve collected from around your home.

CLEANING:

Many of us never seem to consider the benefits of cleaning on our physical and mental health. However, giving your home a thorough clean will be working your body hard and will result in a beautiful, clean home!

Try upping the difficulty of your cleaning workout by incorporating some fitness moves into your task. For example, engaging your core and balancing on tiptoes for high dusting, lunges while vacuuming the stairs or side lunges while making the bed. Also try putting your favourite music on for some extra motivation.

ONLINE FITNESS CLASS:

YouTube is filled with creators posting great, PT level at-home training sessions for you to follow along to. Many do not require equipment or lots of space, so it is a really great way of working exercise into your daily routine.

If a HIIT virtual workout class isn’t for you, try an at-home Zumba or yoga class instead!

Fitness at this time of year and in the current climate is so important. Even if you don’t enjoy working out, moving your body and getting fresh air where possible will make a dramatic impact on your mental health and overall wellbeing.

This is a difficult time for everyone and we should all be looking after ourselves and each other in order to make the most of this strange and stressful time.