How to incorporate fitness into your quarantine routine

Photo by Sonnie Hiles on Unsplash

While many parts of the country are beginning to loosen coronavirus restrictions, allowing some gyms to reopen with fewer customers and strict safety guidelines, why even take a risk at all when you can just get creative and workout on your own? There are plenty of ways to keep on top of your fitness routine from home or on your own in a safe way that doesn’t require you to potentially expose yourself to COVID-19.

Who knows when the world will get back to some semblance of normal, but until that time, you don’t need to stress over how to maintain your fitness while in quarantine if you recognize just how easy it is to incorporate fitness into your routine.

Getting Motivated

Finding the motivation to begin any workout routine, let alone one that restricts you from heading to a gym to take advantage of specialized equipment and having access to personal trainers, can be difficult. Whether you’re trying to keep up with your New Year’s fitness resolution or simply trying to focus on your health now that we’ve all seen just how important it is, maintaining your motivation is one of the biggest challenges of setting up a workout routine, even when there isn’t a pandemic happening all around the world.

The key to starting up a successful fitness routine during quarantine (or any new routine, really) is to develop a solid daily schedule that you’ll be able to realistically follow. Obviously, everyone’s schedule has dealt with a massive shake-up in recent months, and when juggling working from home, working out the kinks of online education if you’ve got kids, all while juggling the regular duties you have around home, finding the time for fitness can be daunting. Despite a conspicuous lack of time, setting aside even a half-hour three times a week can be sufficient for maintaining your fitness routine, you just need to remember that it is still important to make the time for yourself and your health even with everything going on in the world today.

Finding the motivation to stay on top of your fitness journey can come from unexpected places. Even something as simple as changing up your home decor can help to give you the drive you need to keep going. Rearranging furniture so that your home is still functional while giving you the space you need to engage in your workouts is essential as you won’t have to worry about moving things around to accommodate a workout every time you want to get your heart pumping. Additionally, painting your interiors with bright, energetic colors can help to subconsciously keep you focused and keep your energy up on working on your fitness routine.

Photo by Sonnie Hiles on Unsplash

Creativity Is Key

Once you’ve decided on what your fitness goals are, developed a plan, and found the ideal location in your home to set up your de facto gym, its time to take stock of what equipment you’ve got and what equipment you’ll need in order to meet your goals. Sure, home gym equipment is certainly effective, but it can be incredibly costly and takes up a huge amount of room in your home. Getting creative in how you will approach your workouts can help you to save a significant chunk of change while still being just as effective as working out on any of the equipment you’ll see at a gym or any home gym equipment you could purchase.

There is no shortage of items in your home that you can repurpose as exercise equipment. A sturdy chair can be used to do everything from tricep dips to planks to Bulgarian split squats. If you’ve got an old duffel bag laying around, you can create an impromptu sand bag by either filling it with heavy items from around your home like the millions of soup cans you have on hand from preparing for quarantine, or you can simply fill ziplock bags with dirt or sand and duct tape them closed so nothing spills inside your duffel bag for a tool that can help you engage in a full-body workout.

If you are a dedicated gym rat that needs to have workout equipment in order to stick with your fitness routine, you can create a huge number of workout devices using inexpensive pipes and fittings from your local hardware store. Pull up bars, squat racks, or dip stations can all be easily assembled in an afternoon if you’ve got the space within your home to dedicate to them. Realistically you might not need all the equipment you’d find at the gym in your home, but if it helps you stay motivated to keep working out during quarantine, then it certainly doesn’t hurt to get creative.

Photo by João Ferreira on Unsplash

Don’t Be Afraid To Get Some Fresh Air

Though it might seem counterintuitive with so much guidance telling us to stay indoors, working out outside during quarantine actually poses a pretty low risk of exposure to COVID-19. Going on a long jog or a vigorous hike not only works to get your blood pumping, but spending time in the great outdoors can reinvigorate you and offers up a nice change of scenery.

Busting out the old roadbike for daily or weekly rides is also a great idea. Not only is cycling an inherently socially-distant activity, but is also a fantastic cardio workout that can be done at just about any time you find yourself with a half hour or so to spare. Note that, while risk of exposure to COVID-19 is relatively low when cycling outside, knowing the basic rules of the road for both cyclists and drivers can help you to have the safest workout possible, considering the circumstances.

Your fitness journey doesn’t need to be put on hold during the pandemic while you’re in quarantine. All you really need to do is develop a solid plan for yourself, find ways to achieve your fitness goals using what you have on hand, and take advantage of the great outdoors in order to stay on top of your fitness routine. Know that your fitness journey isn’t all or nothing and adapting to changes in the world might have to continue for some time to come. Either way, you’ll be taking care of yourself and your health all the way through.

Cover Image Source: Unsplash

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