Plus, you’ll be working on multiple different aspects of fitness at the same time. You’ll be more excited to try something new rather than return to the same thing you’ve been doing all week. It will keep your body burning calories and keep your brain from burning out. Changing the type of workout you do every day is important. Michaels recommends changing your pace every 2 weeks so you avoid plateau and really get the results you want. Trade your weights for something a little heavier or make the switch to a different type of workout all together. If your workout is starting to get too easy, it’s time to switch it up. Plus, they’re tons of fun and will leave you feeling really accomplished. Not only will you shed calories, but you’ll strengthen your cardiovascular system at the same time, says Michaels. If you’re looking to burn baby burn, focus on HIIT intervals and circuit training. You can do kickboxing, yoga, pilates, weight training, and HIIT training easily without being in the gym. When you feel ready for something a little more than just the basics, find a class you love and tune in. Michaels’ app has plenty of workouts you can access and power through. Workout classes, gyms, and trainers are posting their favorite workouts online (and some for free!) for you to do from home.
They “work perfectly despite how obvious they are,” she says. If you’re looking for some inspo, Michaels suggests doing pushups, planks, supermans, lunges, squats, burpees, jumping jacks, and mountain climbers in your living room or in the backyard.
If that doesn’t motivate you, find something that does, like a buddy you can FaceTime as you hold planks and work on your pushups together. I am a goal oriented person, so I like to set a goal for myself that I can work toward in a fixed period of time. Rather, you have to do what works for you. There is no “best” workout you can do from home. But if you’re feeling like an overachiever, be sure to work in at least one day of rest per week. If you can’t get to 4 days a week, try for 3. That means exercising 4 times a week for 20-30 minutes each day, says Michaels. Even though it might feel far from normal, do what you can to treat your workouts like you would your normal gym routine. It’s an excuse to log off of devices and connect with yourself while lowering your levels of stress and keeping your physical body healthy. Try not to think of it as work, but rather a break or an escape from the at-home boredom you’re probably facing. Just getting that start and increasing your heart rate can do wonders for your mind and your body. Jillian Michaels, health and fitness expert and creator of the Jillian Michaels Fitness App lays out all you need to know about sweating out your stress and working out from home during the coronavirus pandemic. I decided to consult an expert on how best to push through, and I’m not keeping her secrets to myself. I’ve tried to make it work myself, alone in my living room with a crappy selection of hand weights from Amazon and running sneakers that are giving me calluses… No surprise, I’ve been feeling discouraged, but I know I’ve got to work out if I want to keep my endorphins up. I’m at the point now where I’m really missing the sweat of my next-bike neighbor hitting me in the face at SoulCycle, and my favorite Orange Theory instructor’s dulcet screams helping me make it through another round of jump squats. If you were to ask me, I’d say that working in a workout is actually much more difficult than perfecting the ideal home office set up, but of course I don’t have young kids to entertain and educate, either.
While millions of us are working from home, far fewer of us are taking the time to work out from home.