Working out at home. Indoors and Out.
Back in March much of the world around us shut down. Without much notice many of us were working from home, cooking every single meal at home and trying to navigate our fitness routines without a gym. You may have found yourself in the same situation I was, I knew what to do but the equipment I needed or wanted wasn’t available to buy anywhere. The equipment that was available seemed to be overpriced compared to before the COVID lock down. Now depending on latitude we are quickly facing cold weather and outdoor workouts might be limited. Here are just a few ideas of what we can do without a gym as the weather turns and my suggestions on a few things you can find on Amazon to level up your workouts at decent cost.
Though the options seemed limited, what we are able to do at home is very valuable for our health. Body-weight exercise, banded resistance, suspension trainers and getting that heart rate up in any way that you like and will keep up with can do more than just maintain our fitness.
Using our own bodies as our gym is an amazing way to improve our movement, connect how our brains work with our bodies (and vice versa). The good old push-up has been the go to exercise for soldiers since, well, since soldiers. Body weight squats will improve your knees, hips, and strengthen your legs and more. If squats seem too easy you can go faster, or even better, go as slow as possible. If what you want in a workout is to feel a burn, hit some really slow body-weight squats and really slow push ups.
Adding some bands to the workout can add resistance to the classic body-weight moves and increase the number of pulling movements you can do in limited space. A suspension trainer like the TRX will expand the repertoire of body-weight exercises you can do at home to a nearly unlimited amount of choices.
Here is my starter shopping list with links to both Amazon and Amazon Canada. Note: this is not an endorsement of any product, the links are to make it easier on you. So follow the link and the browse for what will work for you.
Bands. There are two kinds of bands, super bands which can be used for rowing, loading up a squat, pressing, etc. and mini-bands that can go around legs, hands, and arms to add resistance to movement. There is not a lot of difference in bands, the folks at Perform Better do a lot to educate the fitness industry so I like to support them when I can.
TRX. A suspension trainer can be attached over a door or to anything super sturdy that cannot be pulled over. The TRX can make push-ups tougher or squats easier. The number of things you can do are seemingly endless.
Sliders. Add a movement challenge to your push-ups or hip bridges. Another tool that is only limited by imagination.
