Stuck at home and trying to keep up on your fitness game?
With so many businesses offering at-home work out options it's hard to find reasons to not be able to stay fit at home. You can now do aerial yoga, spinning, and barre classes right in front of a screen, anytime and anywhere you have wifi!
But, are you doing it right? Are you seeing results?
It's a lot easier to "get by" in front of an online instructor vs being surrounded by other fitness enthusiasts at the gym... Anyone ever step on a treadmill next to someone else at the gym and find yourself in a friendly little competition called "I'm not quitting before you!"? There's definite advantages to working out with peers and face-to-face instructors but here we are in an era of online everything and social distancing. So how do you make at-home workouts work?
Ask yourself these 5 questions:
1. Is my form correct?
I know who you are. Yes you, the one who constantly avoids eye contact with the mirrors in class. The one who hides behind someone else.
It's time to become friends with the mirror. Watch the instructor and actually listen to their advice and then use the mirror for guidance. Are you feeling pain during a move or not feeling anything at all? Chances are you aren't doing the move correctly... If the instructor isn't providing enough advice, try finding tips online for form. Check out Pinterest, ACE Fitness Exercise Library, or just Google it!
Quality over Quantity.
2. Am I Varying My Workouts?
Feeling like you are finally getting in to the workout groove at home? Loving that Yoga YouTube class so much that you have decided to up your morning workout to 6x/week. You have done it so many times you could probably teach it, right?
Step away from the YouTube channel... It's time to add variety back in to your life.
While you might feel you are getting stronger because you can finally make it through that class without falling over or collapsing from shortness of breath, you are only getting stronger for that specific class and those specific muscles. Try adding a new workout to the mix. If you feel sore the next day or two you've found those alternative muscles!
You don't have to give up your favorites, but definitely mix it up. It keeps it entertaining, challenging and helps engage all of your muscles. Include cardio and strength. HIIT and yoga. Dance and weight lifting. And don't forget to mix it up with rest days too, they are just as important!
Variety is the Spice of Life.
3. Am I taking rest days?
Leading perfectly in to our next question...
I feel like your mom telling you this again and again. You know it, but for some reason, you just choose to ignore this one... Take a rest! Why is this so hard? Probably because you know the law - "A body at rest stays at rest and a body in motion stays in motion." You've finally gotten you're momentum going and you're feeling better. You remember what you felt like at rest. That time when you chose to binge watch The Office for the 11th time instead of using that time to workout. You're scared that even one day of rest will bring your momentum to a crushing halt and you'll go right back. So start to think of rest day as a challenging workout. Because it is. It's a mind game. You are intentionally halting that power for just one day. It's adding in that variety and throwing off your scent so that your body doesn't start to just adapt to that new found momentum - instead, it continues to propel you forward and make larger gains. Now go put on your comfy pants!
You got this!
4. Am I pushing myself?
I mean, really? Are you really, actually pushing yourself? Are you going further in your squats, are you adding more reps, are you increasing the speed or incline on the treadmill? Or are you jumping on with the mindset every day of "Just get it done." I don't mind that mantra once in a while, but if that is your daily you need to find something new. Something that excites you. (See #5)
When you are at home and acting as your own fitness coach it becomes very easy to lie to yourself. Well, I broke a sweat today - must have pushed myself! I know, that you know, this is a lie. I've broken a sweat before trying to open a jar of pickles, but was that my best workout?
How do you know if you are pushing yourself? Fair question. Are you trying new things? Are you sweating through your shirt or those other weird places you sweat at the end of a cardio session? Are your muscles sore 1-2 (maybe even three...) days after?
Think about that time you first started a new exercise adventure. Whether it was your first couch to 5k experience or a spin class or taking a hike somewhere new. How did you feel during that very first workout? Like you were dying? Haha! Find that feeling again! Even though you may have felt that way, you finished and you pushed through and you even likely did it again! And you probably felt like a badass afterwards and told everybody who would listen on Facebook that you did it.
Remember that feeling that comes with hard work and pushing yourself.
It's worth it!
5. Am I having fun?
Lastly, are you finding some enjoyment in getting your heart pumping? When is the last time you've jumped out of bed and gotten excited to work out?
If the answer is a bitter "Never" then you're not doing it right... Be honest with yourself. Stop saying that this is just part of a healthy lifestyle. Nobody actually likes to exercise. FALSE. You think Michael Jordan hates playing basketball professionally? You think Michael Phelps dreads getting in the pool? You think the smiles plastered across the faces of runners as they cross the finish line are all just signs of relief that their run is finally over? I mean, some probably are, yes. But! There would not be thousands of people running marathons in this country if they weren't loving it. The "free" shirt isn't worth 26.2 miles guys. We are a free country, so if we want to sit on our couch all day we can. But we do not. Keep reminding yourself that. The alternative is not that "fun" either.
So get out of your exercise rut. Find something that sparks excitement in you. How do you do that? Experiment. Like you are child in a science class. Try and try again until you find the right solution to make that volcano finally explode. No one, let me repeat: no one, can help you with this part.
I know being stuck at home is not an ideal workout space for everyone, but sometimes we have to make the best of our situation. And right now may just be the time since every company is working to get their platform online.
There is no magic number. You may have to try 10, 20, maybe 30 new things before finding what you love. But those ones that you didn't love weren't a wash. They were still opportunities to improve your fitness and find your adventure. And you will find your adventure!
Don't give up!
Adventure to be fit! Even at home!
תגובות