At a time like this, when you’re at home living in sweats, you might just be making every excuse in the book to justify your laziness. I used to be like this until I started going to the gym religiously 5-6 days a week. So when that all came to a halt and lockdown life began, I had to motivate myself to workout.
Some people are absolutely blessed and have a home gym or a modified-work-with-what-you-have-and-make-it-a-home-gym; to those people, I applaud you because not only have you subconsciously prepared for this situation but you’ve got a gym sitting in your house that will probably make you feel guilty if you don’t use it.
Others may not have much at all to supplement a home gym, which isn’t a problem either. You might find a few random weights lying around or a yoga mat or some sort of exercise equipment and trust me that is more than enough. I’ve got a couple of weights, a yoga mat, a few resistance bands and luckily, a punching bag and some boxing gloves - I’ve got more than enough to work with.
If you don’t have enough to work with, you might just be able to jump onto Amazon and purchase a few bits. But if you don’t want to do that, you don’t have to. The point I’m making here is that equipment, or should I say the lack thereof, should not halt you from keeping fit.
Over these last 6 weeks, my best friend has undoubtedly become YouTube. I absolutely love YouTube and for good reason; it’s a saving grace at time like this. In that realm of wonderful video content is an array of workout videos. You will find everything from HIIT to yoga to pilates to structured workouts for different areas of the body. And if you aren’t into all the basic stuff, pick things that are out of the ordinary like dance, Zumba or boxing.
I’ve been so determined to keep my fitness levels up because it took work to get to the point that I’m at and I don’t want that to flop. A few things that I do to keep my motivation and fitness high are…
1.) To-do lists might just do the trick. I have been writing to do lists for every week and I follow them pretty much to a T. As well as writing all the productive things I have to do in the day, the first things I write down are; wake up early, workout plan and keep hydrated.
2.) Mix it up! For workout plan, I give myself a rough outline of what I’m going to do, even if that just means writing down “abs” or “legs”, “cardio” or “yoga”. I make sure that every day is different so I don’t get bored.
3.) Find a place that you can call your workout zone. It’s important to have a specific place that makes you comfortable to workout in. For me, I’m lucky to have a nice veranda out in my garden that overlooks a lake – that sounds really boujee, doesn’t it? But this is my new happy place for working out. The natural breeze, all the birds and beautiful sunshine keeps my mood high.
4.) Listen to your body and your mind. Your physical and mental health is so important right now. Stay tuned into the signals that your mind and body are giving you. If you didn’t sleep so well, then don’t overdo it or don’t do it at all. It’s okay to have a break, don’t punish yourself. Take it easy when you need to. And on those days you feel the energy is high, give it the best you’ve got.
With all this being said, make sure you keep hydrated, get good sleep and eat well too. It’s all about moderation and how you feel. Personally, workout out every morning has been really good for me mentally as well as physically. So if you’ve been feeling a little down, why not try getting in some exercise, even if it’s just giving your body a much needed stretch.
Here are the videos I’ve been following lately for workouts:
HIIT & Workouts
Yoga & Pilates
Sending you lots of love and hoping you’re staying safe!
Emily xx
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