“All progress takes place outside the comfort zone.”
As we’ve been navigating through our professional and personal lives during the Covid-19 lockdown, some fitness enthusiasts have also been driving home an important point: the importance of health and fitness. Physical fitness is not just crucial for a healthy body but imperative for a healthy mind and emotional wellbeing. While there are go-getters who always make the most of the situation at hand, and more so during quarantine when the world is finding ways to stay motivated through social media, writing, reading, binge-watching and probably even working on one’s sleep cycle, an important aspect of good health once again. Even though laziness seems the new normal amidst others ‘newness’ that staying at home has brought, there’s no substitute to self-care and fitness in every way – physical, mental and emotional.
Physical exercise has obvious benefits for the body. But did you know that moving your body and breaking a sweat also improves your mood, alleviates depression and aids cognitive abilities? That rush of endorphin and dopamine when you finish a challenging yet satisfying workout are just what you need to stay mentally and emotionally fit.
Various Facebook groups namely Fittr, Fitness2Flash, Apurvaa Yoga, Yoddhas – Indians Fighting Against Cancer, Ketogenic Diet India and even several celebrity-run and institution-run pages are working towards a healthy community that goes above and beyond being connected virtually. These Facebook pages have found an increased audience as everyone, however fit they’ve been previously, have taken to working out together while practising social and physical distancing and keeping their motto of staying fit in mind.
“COVID-19 has upended the lives of billions of people around the world. As this global public health crisis advances and more people are physically separated from their communities, we hope connecting with people on Facebook, makes it easier for people to stay home, healthy and safe,” says Facebook spokesperson.
Benefits of working out at home:
Home workouts are a great substitute for your gym sessions. There are a number of different types of home workouts/exercises:
A) Using basic equipment such as Dumbbells, Resistance Bands/Tubes
B) Using everyday household items such as backpacks, water bottles, buckets and even brooms
It’s a good idea to start with basic bodyweight exercises and gradually add progressions and increase the intensity. This way, the difficulty levels are increased slowly which helps you break a sweat and strengthen your muscles while also avoiding injuries. You can add a mix of push-ups (regular and advanced), circuit training (a series of exercises in rapid succession with little or no breaks in between) and more.
Pro tips on core and upper body exercises :
1. Push-ups
This is the evergreen move to maintain upper body chest, shoulder and tricep endurance. Push ups also teach the body to work as one interconnected unit because the feet and hands push the body away from the ground together. This move is a favourite among swimmers to help complete long workouts. Also a favourite of boxers and most sportspersons.
Beginners – 2 sets x 10 reps
Intermediate – 2 x 10 reps with feet on a chair or bench
Advanced – 3 x 15 reps with feet on chair and hands on two chairs kept shoulder width apart.
2. Superman Exercise: –
How to do Superman:
In this home workout exercise,
- Lie down flat on your stomach on a mat with your arms extended overhead so that your palms face each other and your legs are extended at a distance. Rest your head down on the mat to align it with your spine.
- After settling down in the above position comfortably, exhale deeply and raise both of your legs and arms a few inches off the floor. Extend both your arms and legs without any rotation. Hold on to this position for three seconds and do not move your head or torso, and try not to raise your head or back.
- After three seconds, gently breathe in and lower down both your hands and legs to their former position without moving your hips or lower back.
- Once you finish this routine a certain number of times, you must take on a child’s pose to stretch your back out safely.
Duration:
Holding on to the raised position for at least two to five seconds, you should do this back exercise in three sets of 12.
Difficulty:
The superman home workout exercise is suitable for beginners and can be done easily.
Body Part:
Lower back, hips, shoulders, abs, glutes and hamstring muscles are involved in this exercise.
3. Biceps Workout: – Chin-Ups
How to do Chin-Ups:
In this primary biceps home workout,
- You need a strongly fixed steel/iron bar or a rod above you to hold onto while doing chin-ups. Stand facing the rod and put your palms on it. Keep a shoulder-width distance between your hands.
- Now keeping your arms vertically straight, lift up, hanging from the rod. Keep your arms and shoulders extremely tight and rigid in order to hold on to the grip.
- After lifting yourself, pull your body up slowly till your chin is over the iron bar by using your elbow joint as a lever.
- Be in this chin-up position for at least 5 seconds and then lower your body down in a controlled manner to its starting position.
Duration:
You must do three sets of chin-ups with 8 to 12 pull ups in each set with a gap of 90-120 seconds between each set.
Difficulty:
Chin-up is a beginner’s level biceps exercise.
Body Part:
This biceps home workout involves lateral, deltoid and bicep muscles.
Equipment Required:
Doing the chin-up workout at home requires only a pull-up bar.
4. Resistance Bands for Shoulder External Rotation
How to do shoulder external rotation exercise using resistance bands:
In shoulder external rotation resistance bands exercise,
- You should stand straight and bend your elbows towards your side, close to your body so that both palms face each other. Place a mini resistance band around your wrists and stretch it by moving your forearms out to the side.
- Simultaneously, rotate your palms so that the band faces up once it is stretched out.
- Once you are done with this, go back to the starting position.
Duration:
During this stretch and rotation of the palms, you must hold for 30 seconds and then be relaxed for 30 seconds. The resistance bands exercise should be done in 2 sets of 8 times each.
Difficulty:
If you are a beginner, this exercise is easy to start with.
Body Part:
Shoulder external rotation helps you strengthen your shoulder muscles and upper back and makes you more flexible.
Equipment Required:
A small resistance band is the only thing you need to perform this exercise
Stay focused and believe on continuity
Believe in yourself and you will be unstoppable.
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