4 Simple Workouts for the Self-isolation period
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Wellness and Health are the current hot topics, at the least in the world of bloggers, celebrities, writers and Instagrammers, they are. As much as many of us believe that almost everyone and anyone is talking about this topic and it is boring and time wastage, the harsh truth is the matter has never been more important in past than the present.
Today, we are living a really stressed and pressured life. The stress of life eventually takes a toll on our physical and mental wellbeing. Last year the stressed life led me to extreme hormonal imbalance that led to various physical issues that again took me back to another sort of stress completing the stress cycle.
My Doctor could not do anything apart from advising me to improve my lifestyle. And the journey to read uncountable lifestyle blogs and books started. I started learning about the healthy diet that suits my body, workout that is better for my health/routine/interest/stamina, day to day habits and the way I am actually living my life.
As we all are going through a very challenging period due to the worldwide spread of Covid 19, the talk and discussion about having a healthy lifestyle are more important.
The interesting thing is we all have some time in our hand these days to actually look into and figure out what works best for us. The core of the issue is we cannot run away from stress in life (somethings are beyond our approach) but we can do something to improve the way we are living to keep the level of stress minimum.
The first step in improving our lifestyle is having a fixed non-breakable workout routine. I am going to totally believe you when you roll your eyes and say here it goes again who has the time to go to the gym. Because I was there once. I hate Gyms and those bone-crushing machines. I used to loathe working out.
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But I found something that works for me after trying out lots of things in 6 months. I tried regular yoga, hot yoga, cardio, traditional bone-cracking at the gym, skipping rope, workout at home, Zumba, swimming and the list is pretty long.
Eventually only two things worked – Swimming and a few workouts that I can do at home. I love the time spent in pool (saying a person who never put a foot into any sort of pool for three decades of her life) and 4 workout techniques that I can do at home.
Now in light of the infamous social distancing and stay at home thingy, we will be talking about them today:
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Plank: The best and I cannot stress the word best enough when it comes to this exercise. The simple exercise that does not need any sort of equipment is the best workout technique ever developed.
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The list of benefits is long:
- It strengthens your core
- burns the fat
- increases muscle definition
- heightens metabolism
- reduces back pain
- gives you better posture
- improves body balance
- enhances bone and Joint health
- boosts mood and relieves stress
Photo by Elly Fairytale from Pexels
According to Doug Sklar, a certified personal trainer and founder of PhilanthroFIT in New York City, “If you’re new to planking, don’t risk injuring yourself. It’s OK to start with shorter sets and work up to 60 seconds”. 3 to 5 planks a day will change your life. See just 3 to 5 minutes per day. There are many variations but I only do with straight arms and elbow bend on the front. Learn how to do plan by clicking here.
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Squats: Squats strengthens your lower body. Whether you plan to build muscles, tone your legs or has extra fat to lose – squats are the next step after planking. Squats work up quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, abdominal muscles, lower back and butt. The video above shows how to squat as beginners. You can learn bit more about Squats here.
Stretching: After the full night’s sleep if you need to wake up your body or your body feels like a tight knot after sitting for hours and hours, Full body Stretching is the key to body relaxing. I usually do Mountain pose with some variations early in the morning to wake my body up.
Weight training for Upper Body: The only work out that needs some prop. I usually lightweight dumbles to perform 10 sets of each rep in no particular order. It takes hardly 10 minutes to perform all the reps. Learn how to do them here. If you want bit more of Upper body work out check out this really good video here.
Photo by Elly Fairytale from Pexels
It hardly takes 40 minutes to finish all these workouts at home. They all are easy, interesting and leaves you longing for more workout. Try to make them part of your daily routine during this infamous Stay Home period and you will see the result soon in your physical and mental wellbeing. Raise your hand if you are going to use this period to achieve something good in your life – A Healthy and Fit Body with peaceful mind.
