Home workout to keep you fit and safe

With the current surge in Covid-19 cases it is probably best to do a home workout. The third wave is upon us and now we are back to level 3 lockdown, with further restrictions having been placed on us. I foresee more and more people going into self-quarantine for safety’s sake.

If it is not due to exposure, I am of the belief that the best thing you can arm yourself with is exercise.

It will not only ensure continued blood flow to your brain so you can continue to function well, it will curb weight gain.

Arm yourself with an exercise plan – 30 minutes a day is more than adequate.

Variety is important because if you do the same thing over and over, by the end of the first week you will be bored and it will be difficult to stick to the plan.

This is the time to remind you: 30 minutes a day for five days is 2½ of 120 hours – a mere 2% of each day.

For those working from home, you don’t have the excuses of “I leave for work early” or “return home late”.

You now have your bedroom, living room, garage or backyard at your disposal as your training grounds.

Preparation for keeping healthy and maintain fitness

-Decide on where your exercise area will be.
-Choose a time. It might be easiest to exercise at the same time every day.

-If you have any exercise equipment – yoga mats, light weights, skipping ropes, ab wheels, Swiss balls, therabands etc – dust it off and prepare to use it.

Note: if you don’t have any equipment it doesn’t mean you can’t exercise.

There are a lot of functional body exercises.

Below is a 30-minute routine that requires no equipment and can easily be done in any space you choose in your home.

Make sure you only do this routine if you don’t have any muscular or bone-related injuries.

If you don’t know the name of an exercise, look on YouTube for a demonstration video.

Perform each fitness routine as many times as possible in each minute without losing form or posture.

Functional home workout

Warm up: five minutes
– 1 minute – run on the spot.
– 1 minute – jumping Jacks.
– 1 minute – buttock kicks (running motion).
– 1 minute – squats.
– 1 minute – high knee jumps.
Stretching: five minutes
-30 second – quadriceps stretch(left).
– 30 second – quadriceps stretch(right).
-30 second – hamstring stretch (left).
-30 second – hamstring stretch (right).
-30 second – calf stretch (left).
– 30 second – calf stretch (right).
-30 second – side stretch (left).
-30 second – side stretch (right).
-30 second – triceps stretch (left).
-30 second – triceps stretch (right)

Exercises: 15 minutes

Note: the exercises have intermediate and basic options.
– 1 minute – standard push-ups or modified push-ups (on your knees).
– 1 minute – jump squats or basic squats.
-1 minute – burpees or mountain climbers.
– 1 minute – full crunches or half crunches.
– 1 minute – plank with leg lifts or basic plank.

Note: Repeat this sequence of five exercises three times to make up the 15 minutes required.
Stretches: five minutes

Repeat the stretches you did earlier.

Now you have no excuse. The above routine is inclusive of beginners and intermediate fitness levels.

Choose the one that suits your fitness level and complete as many repetitions as you can within the time required.

If you only manage five pushups in the minute today, the next time you may be able to do six.

If you manage to do 30 pushups in that minute, that’s great.

Push yourself to do more with each session.

Good luck, keep warm and keep moving.