Derbyshire gym shares five inventive ways to get your best indoor workout
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While it’s important to get a daily dose of fresh air, there are plenty of opportunities to be creative when exercising at home to keep the joints moving and the blood pumping.
Stuart Martin, Managing Director at Active Nation, said: “Social distancing and isolation doesn’t have to impact your physical activity rate. Maintaining a routine of 30 minutes exercise five times per week will have a big boost to your mental health, immune system and overall wellbeing.”
Be inclined to use your stairs
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Hide AdStep one would be to make the most of your stairs to keep active. You could start with stepping on and off the bottom step 20 times in the event of getting up for a drink or a toilet break. Also select multiple points within the hour at which you’d get up and take an item upstairs, whether it’s a book, a bottle or simply a pen, and at the end of the day you’ll have a pile telling you how many trips upstairs you’ve made.
Arrange ‘walk dates’ on your virtual treadmill
Social exercising is just as practical in your own home, as you and a fitness friend can FaceTime one another whilst walking on the spot in the living room. You can increase your daily steps whilst having a much-needed catch up with a friend, or even a grandparent. Why not go the extra step and put on a YouTube video that allows you to explore a new destination without leaving your front room.
Meet the neighbours via ‘doorstep aerobics’
Pre-arrange a day and time at which you, alongside your neighbours, can take a step outside and complete an aerobics session on your doorsteps. All you’d need is a bluetooth speaker and your best gym gear.
Become balanced with squats
Squats are useful for, not only strengthening your core, but also reducing the risk of injury by improving your full-body mobility, balance and posture. Complete your squats adjacent to a door frame and at the highest and lowest points of the exercise, alter the location of a piece of blu-tack on the frame. Whilst devoting attention to your form you can focus on this secondary challenge and, before you know it, you’ll have done more squats than you initially realised.
Utilise your household items
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Hide AdYou’ll no doubt find a range of items at home that can help with your exercises, making it that little bit easier to keep fit. For those who haven’t got a yoga mat, you can use bath towels for a softer surface which make sit-ups, press-ups and planking more comfortable. Without dumbbells, you can use the cans of baked beans for your workout, or simply opt for a sturdy chair for those tricep dips.
If you’re struggling to sign your children up to join you in your exercises, they can hold your feet in place to help your sit-ups.