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iExercise: Staying Fit At Home

Staying Fit at Home

by Laura Webber, Owner of Learn.Restore.Thrive Wellness LLC NASM Certified Personal Trainer, AFPA Certified Holistic Nutrition Consultant

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Apandemic can make you re-consider your health for many Build a Base reasons. Maybe you are active and missing your gym time. If you ease yourself into an active routine, you are more likely to adapt Maybe you are ready to get fit so you can handle life better. safely and be able to continue to work on your health. Rush in too Maybe this was the wake-up call you needed, and you are fast and you risk injury and face recovery time before you even get ready to get started on a healthier journey. Whatever your reason is, started. My advice is to start with balance and isometric exercises. getting a fitness program going at home takes some planning. Those Although it seems mundane to simply hold a position, isometrics online video classes look great but if you don’t have the right space, are the most effective way to contract the muscles and make them equipment or physical fitness level, you may well end up hurting stronger. Weightlifters throughout history have used this technique yourself. It’s important to focus on your fitness in the correct order of to build strong muscles so they could keep performing heavy lifts operation. Here’s a few tips and steps for an effective transition into a during competitions. If it was good enough for them, then it’s good workout routine at home while avoiding injury. enough for us!

Hold a plank position, the bottom of a lunge position, a squat with varying degrees of knee-bend against a wall, and the hands-up, flatback wall-sit three or more times per week. Hold each position for up to 30 seconds to start and increase your time each week until you can hold those positions for a minute or more.

Make It a Social Activity by Involving Family or Friends Isometrics are a great way to make a challenge group. You and your friends can make goals to do these exercises a few times a week. Keep each other accountable with reminder texts, phone calls, groupchats, or video chats. You could even get six feet apart outdoors for some added vitamin D and fresh air benefits.

Add a walk or jog with your group for some cardiorespiratory fitness as well. Remember that social health is an important part of fitness!

Get Your Heart Rate Up You have heard of stress, right? There are 2 kinds of stress: distress and eustress, or the bad and the good kind. Distress happens when you are suddenly faced with a situation that is challenging and you must act quickly to find a solution or an escape. Eustress is a level below that stress. Your heart rate goes up, your breathing becomes rapid and shallow, but not completely out of your control. This is what your exercise routine should feel like.

It’s your job to judge the intensity of a home workout. If you feel like you are unable to breathe, then you are likely working too hard. If the activity is difficult but you can still manage to inhale and exhale under your own control, then you are doing it right. Do not be afraid to push yourself. Just remember to recover your breathing to a comfortable pace before continuing after a hard round.

Get Dynamic When you can hold the isometric positions for a minute or more, it’s time to make them dynamic. Moving from one position to another Purchase Area Family Magazine

takes muscle strength and coordination. Start to add side-to-side hip dips to the plank on your elbows, move into and out of your squats and lunges with control, and take your plank to a wall or chair to change it to push-ups. Move slowly and deliberately into the positions for four seconds, hold for two seconds and explode out to the starting position. Keep your isometric exercises in your workout rotation but reduce them to once a week and start to move dynamically twice a week, three sets of each exercise for 8 to 10 repetitions. Increase your repetitions every week by one or two until you can do them more rapidly with control.

Move Some Weight No weights at home? No problem! Start with canned goods, move next to laundry detergent, or grab a stack of books. Do you have an old backpack laying around? Try putting a few cans or books into it and perform your exercises while wearing it. Have you seen the video of the guy squatting his couch? Do not do that! The key is to start small. Only do what you can, get good at it, and then move on to something heavier.

You don’t need to order a whole weight set to start or continue a fitness routine. Use what you already have at home, and then consider the weight purchase or a fitness membership later if necessary.

Know When to Seek Professional Advice None of these exercises should be painful, but rather you should feel like you are being challenged. If at any time you feel any pain while exercising, you should contact your doctor first to check for injury. Then, consider letting a fitness professional check your movements for correct form and to receive proper modifications.

Keep It Simple Fitness at home can be fun and easy. Try not to complicate it with overly complex movements and be honest with yourself. Do only what you can and soon you will be doing more than you imagined. * Read online! issuu.com/purchasefamilymag Purchase Area Family Magazine

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