Maintaining fitness is a challenge even with daily access to a full-service gym. Depending on where you live, COVID-19 might be putting a dent in your workout plan. Even if you can go to your gym, you might choose not to for any number of reasons. Meanwhile, stress levels are at an all-time high, and you need to stay fit to help your body and mind stay healthy.
Build these crucial fitness components in your home fitness schedule to stay looking and feeling your best.
1) Self Care
The foundation of all fitness is a strong routine. Did you know that sleep-deprived people eat, on average, about 400 extra calories in a day? Wake up at the same time every day, and don’t impose a sleep time on yourself. Set a time at night for a quiet, screen-free activity like meditation, journaling, drawing, or reading.
If you stick to your morning alarm, your body will learn to get you to sleep at the right time. Eating around the same times each day will teach your body to maximize your nutrition plan.
2) Strength
At the gym, you might have measured your strength by the weight on a bar or machine. At home, you might not have space for an equivalent weight room. You can get a total bodyweight workout with a few simple, versatile pieces of fitness equipment like weight vests or sandbags. With a weight vest, any bodyweight exercise can build extra strength and definition.
3) Stamina
You use it to reach a certain cardio time, cover a set distance, or hit a number of reps. Stamina means the capacity—both physical and mental—to keep doing an exercise over time. You don’t have to do marathon training to build stamina, but if you want to stay fit, you should be challenging your body to endure. Walking and running are still safe, so log your miles and steps.
Try weighted exercises with less weight and more repetitions one day a week. A great way to build stamina is through variety. Jumping rope is intense cardio that demands little space. You might find a perfectly brutal HIIT workout program online.
4) Agility
Timing, balance, and coordination create grace even in an explosive movement. We call this “agility.” Physically, strength, stamina, power, and flexibility all play a part in agility. Cognitive processes are involved as well. Timing and reactive decision-making are aspects of agility that can benefit all athletic performance. You don’t need to be an elite athlete to train for agility.
The compound movements of plyometric exercises are perfect for developing power and fluidity, and a plyo box doesn’t use much space. To build hand-eye coordination, try dynamic, asymmetrical exercises with a medicine ball, like pushups switching one hand at a time onto the ball, and crunches passing the ball from between your hands to between your feet, then back to your hands.
5) Flexibility
You know you need to stretch after each workout, but maybe you haven’t been consistent enough to reap the full benefits. Your muscles and soft tissue will recover faster and more thoroughly if you commit just ten minutes after every single workout to stretching. If you want to truly increase your range of motion and prevent pain, build a longer flexibility routine into your workout week. Yoga or pilates for 30 minutes, twice a week, will support your progress in every other movement your body does.
6) Nutrition
Your kitchen kicks off every muscle gain and caloric burn your workouts give you. If you’re working remotely, you have the advantage of being able to plan your meals around your own intuitive nutritional needs. If you’re like most people, you don’t have trouble getting enough calories, your challenge is finding the right balance of different calorie resources.
In general, whole grains and fruit are the best early morning fuel. A variety of protein resources distributed every 3-4 hours through your day will ensure your body gets the most out of each meal.
On your most intense workout days, you might add a bonus protein serving as a smoothie with protein powder for building core muscles. Choose a high-quality protein powder for the best muscle boost, and eat it about 30 minutes after a hard workout.
7) Mindfulness
The incredible tool of mindfulness practice can help you manage your overall stress level. Mindfulness simply means conscious awareness in the present moment without judgment. Daily mindfulness practise builds the inner resilience you need to overcome plateaus in your fitness and avoid emotional eating. It can also help you sleep. Mindfulness exercises take just a few minutes for all-day payoff in your energy and focus.
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