Being stuck at home can really leave you feeling down. Each day becomes just like the one before. There don’t seem to be enough television channels to keep you interested. Cooking food for lunch and dinner seems like too hard a task. While being stuck at home can have adverse mental effects, it can also impact our physical health. In fact, inactivity can cause everything from loss of muscle mass to loss of bone density. To break up the day and give your body the tools to keep mentally and physically fit, build a workout routine at home. Whether you’re stuck in an apartment or a house with kids, your space can easily transform into gym leggings. Helping you keep fit while stuck at home.
The benefits of keeping fit
With more people stuck at home than ever before, sharing the message of keeping mentally and physically fit has never been more important. This is especially true considering the multitude of research that shows just how harmful being sedentary is for overall health. When humans of any age are inactive, there are risks involved. This is because being physically active helps lower blood pressure and cholesterol. Physical activity has also been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. It’s worth noting that physical activity helps your immune system flush bacteria from the lungs and airways. Increasing white blood cell circulation while also helping to raise body temperature. All of which enable your body to fight the signs of infection. Finally, physical activity helps lower stress hormones while also promoting the release of the body’s feel-good hormones. All of which helps to regulate mental health and reduce symptoms of stress.
5 tips to keep active at home
Keeping active at home may seem like an insurmountable task at times. However, sprinkling exercises into everyday life can be quite fun. Think dance parties or bicep curls with soup cans. You can even break up the monotony of cleaning with a few lunges and squats. 
When it comes to exercising at home, the possibilities are endless. Just remember to take it easy. Exercising when stuck at home is all about maintaining your fitness level, not increasing it. With this in mind, listen to your body and try not to overdo it.
1. Set up a routine
Setting up a routine is an important first step. Otherwise, without a routine, you won’t be accountable or motivated to work out at home. In the routine, leave room for a warm-up and cool-down exercises to prevent injury. When creating an exercise routine, keep it simple. A routine that is too demanding will be hard to stick to. Instead, combine aerobic exercises with balance and muscle strengthening exercises. Keep it varied and creative so you’ll always be motivated to work out.
2. Utilize technology
Improvements in technology have impacted nearly every facet of life and health care is no exception. In fact, connectivity is taking healthcare into the 21st century. Thanks to improved phone operating systems and fitness apps, working out at home has never been easier. From your lounge room, compete in a virtual run, cycle, or walk against friends or even other people from your regular gym. Take a yoga or meditation class on YouTube. Any activity that raises the heart rate is a good place to start.
3. Transform cleaning time
Being stuck at home means that you’ll be experiencing a renewed interest in keeping your surroundings clean and tidy. Cleaning and exercising might even be two tasks that simply don’t interest you. If this is the case, combine the two for maximum benefit! Break out into a side lunge while making your bed. Do some squats as you dust television stands and other surfaces. Push the vacuum around the house and complete some lunges. The options are endless and by the end of your chores, you’ll find that you actually had fun.
4. Break out into a dance
Dancing is a great way to keep active. It’s also a great method to include in a workout routine because it’s creative and can be done differently every time. One afternoon you might turn some pop music on and dance around with your kids. The next afternoon you may put on a highly motivating playlist and start boxing around the living room. You may even find an 80’s themed playlist, break out the skipping rope and skip to the beat. However you choose to move, it will be fun and physically beneficial.
5. Turn idle time into active time
Being stuck at home means that there is a lot of idle time. You’re probably lying on your bed and watching movies from decades gone by. You may even be sitting down on the couch having skype sessions with grandma and grandpa. Instead of turning idle time into lounging around time, stand up and get moving. You’ll be surprised how beneficial bicep curls with soup cans are. Especially when it can easily be done while you’re waiting for the microwave to heat up your dinner. You’ll be amazed at the number of steps you can conquer in a day when you walk around the house or garden during ad breaks on the television, or while you’re skyping and talking to family.
Keeping fit while stuck at home
When you’re stuck at home there seems like there are countless hours and days to fill. As such, it’s easy to fall into the trap of doing a little bit of work and watching a lot of tvs or playing video and board games for hours. Instead of simply filling in the hours of the day, change your mindset. Fill the day with different forms of physical activity. After a few days and weeks of consistent routine, you’ll start to feel both the physical and mental benefits. By keeping mentally and physically fit, you’re attacking each day and living it to the fullest. Additionally, you are also giving yourself the tools and energy to deal with completing home projects, remote learning, or even remote work.
