It’s safe to say that COVID-19, otherwise known as the Coronavirus, has affected us all in some way. Even if you don’t know anybody who has contracted the virus, we’ve been able to feel the effects of it in our daily lives. With how much it’s affecting our infrastructure and permeating into our daily conversations, everyone has COVID-19 on their mind.
It is, of course, also affecting a lot of businesses and pastimes. Texas has been locking down, reducing restaurant operations to takeout and delivery, and people are increasingly looking towards how to continue their lives at home. The fitness industry is particularly affected by this. For obvious reasons, people won’t want to come to crowded gyms and use equipment that’s constantly touched by other people. At Re:Gen, we are prepared to close our doors if necessary.
But that doesn’t mean that you can’t still workout! Even if we can’t give you classes in person, we still want to help you become the best version of yourself. One way that we can do that is to give you top quality fitness advice through our blogs! Are you ready to start working out from home? Here are five important tips to remember:
Find the Best Workout For What You Have
One inherent limitation with home workouts is that you only have a certain amount of equipment. And with the COVID-19 pandemic on the rise, it’s becoming harder and harder to find fitness equipment at the store. There’s a possibility that you won’t have the Pilates reformers you’re used to using in our Pilates classes, and you certainly won’t have the mighty Megaformer that we use in our Lagree Fitness Program.
But it’s possible to get a great workout even without equipment. Your own body weight can provide amazing resistance, such as with staple exercises like push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups. You can also opt to do workouts that aren’t strength-based. If you’ve been coming to our Yoga classes, try to remember our routines as best as possible and practice the moves at home. Don’t want to do that? Consider looking up a plyometrics workout for a killer cardio experience — plyo workouts involve copious amounts of jumping in place, functioning as both a cardio workout and a strength workout for your legs.
Whatever you choose, just don’t be disheartened by your lack of equipment. There are many resources online that will help you find exercises that are appropriate for home, and if you have any questions, contact us, and we may be able to help!
Don’t Forget to Warm Up and Cool Down
Stretching might seem unnecessary whenever you go to a fitness gym, but there is a method behind the madness. In fact, stretching is one of the most important parts of any workout! When you stretch your muscles, it eases the tension and prepares them for more intense movements. This makes it much easier for them to recover after a workout. If you forego stretching, you’re limiting your potential.
But stretching is just part of the warm up and cool down process. You want to get your body ready in every sense. Before you jump into intense cardio, consider jogging in place for a few minutes. Similarly, don’t suddenly cease all physical activity when you’ve finished your core workout. It’s like braking your car — you could just slam your foot on the petal, but it’s a much more jarring experience than a smooth slowdown.
Find a Partner
This is a bit of a double-edged sword during the COVID-19 pandemic, but hear us out — if you can find a consistent workout partner at home, you’re more likely to keep yourself on track. This isn’t just true at home, it’s common advice among all fitness professionals in general. When you have a fitness partner, it’s easier to hold each other accountable, push each other towards completing challenges, and monitor each other’s form.
Obviously, caution must be exercised during a pandemic. You’ll want to avoid gathering in groups, and if you’re working out with someone who doesn’t live at home, you both need to ensure you’re following proper social distancing measures in all other areas of your life. Visiting other people is a good way to spread the virus, so try to find someone at home you can work out with, if possible. Or, consider a workout over video chat!
Schedule Your Workouts
If you’re a regular student in our fitness classes here at Re:Gen, you probably already know that we have things pretty well figured out. We always know what fitness routine we’re doing each day, and we help to guide you through it, whether it’s yoga, Pilates, Barre, or spin.
But now you find yourself at home, and we aren’t there. What to do? While you could just wing it and do random exercises until you’re tired, this isn’t the most ideal route. At Re:Gen, we specifically plan our fitness sessions to be beneficial to anyone at any point in their fitness journey, and we make sure to constantly vary it up so that people aren’t doing the same workouts over and over.
We advise that you schedule your workouts to cover all the bases. Consider dividing cardio and strength workouts fairly evenly throughout the week — an example would be strength workouts on Mon/Wed/Fri, and cardio workouts on Tue/Thu. Or, if you’re doing a single type of workout, such as yoga, vary your movements and poses in such a way that you’re getting a full-body workout throughout the week, instead of targeting the same muscle groups over and over.
Scheduling your workouts helps to keep your exercises more dynamic, and it also plans everything out in advance, making you more likely to “attend” your workout sessions instead of bailing on them.
Keep a Journal and Set Goals
If you come into our yoga and Pilates fitness studio every week, you’re going to get a pretty good workout no matter what. While we encourage personal note-taking and record keeping, it’s not necessarily required or essential. But at home, this becomes much more important. Since you’re the one planning your workouts, you need to plan according to your results.
When you do certain exercises, log your progress in a journal. How many reps did you do until exhaustion? Which of your yoga poses need the most work? By writing down your results, you’ll start to see improvement over time. And if you don’t see improvement, you can take an opportunity to ask yourself why, and potentially fix the problem.
Yoga and Pilates in Prosper, Texas
While it might be awhile before things get back to normal, we want to help everyone in Prosper with their fitness goals, even if you’re working out from home. Got any questions for us? Be sure to contact us today.
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