What Cabin Fever? How to bring your workout indoors

Staying active at home might be a little bit harder than it was when it was just a question of heading down to the gym. However, there are still plenty of ways to keep fit during the lockdown. Here’s our advice for bringing your workout indoors. 

Try an online workout class

The sense of community, camaraderie and competition people find at the gym or when playing sports is one of the main reasons that people enjoy exercising. A great way to bring this into your living room is to try an online workout class. There are plenty of initiatives bouncing around right now to keep people fit and healthy at home. Why not subscribe to one of the many online gym memberships circulating at the moment or get yourself onto Instagram for live group workout sessions.

Set a household challenge 

Keeping yourself motivated without eyes being on you at the gym is definitely going to be a struggle during lockdown.  A great way to overcome this obstacle is to set down the gauntlet with a household challenge. Set the rule that every household member must commit to 150 minutes of exercise a week and wager a forfeit for anyone that doesn’t stick to it (i.e. taking the bins out, hoovering the house, washing up dishes). You’ll be sure to keep up your fitness if there are penalties for laziness.

Dance off the COVID-blues

We could all do with our spirits being lifted at the moment, a great way to make this happen is to dance the COVID-blues away. Get an upbeat music playlist pumping on the speakers, get into your workout gear and dance like there’s no tomorrow. Dancing can burn anywhere between 400 and 800 calories an hour depending on how much you’re feeling the rhythm.

Get creative with household items 

Lockdown has probably made you realise how much you depend on the exercise equipment down at the gym. Don’t let the lack of dumbbells or a bench press machine stop you from muscular exercising. Why not try putting some tins into a strong carrier bag or use your housemate as a bench press. 

Keep off your chair 

One of the biggest temptations of working from home is to spend the entirety of the day sitting down or lying on the sofa - but don’t. Keeping yourself active by staying off your chair can completely change the way your attitude when it comes to staying fit at home. Standing is one of the most underrated exercises there is, burning 100 - 200 calories an hour depending on your age and weight. 

The combination of working from home and not having the gym open has given all of us a drop in motivation. Keeping fit indoors might seem like a difficult task at first but once you’ve reorganised your routine with our tips above, you’ll be fighting fit in no time all from the comfort of your lounge.

All of our blog articles are reviewed by our Medical Director before publication.