I've grown up being very active and have always enjoyed exercise. Not only is exercise beneficial to your physical health, but it has also shown to significantly benefit your mental health and well-being. For this reason, I've always tried to incorporate exercise into my weekly routine.
While I was at university, exercise became particularly important to me as it helped to increase my energy levels for studying and also reduce stress. I often found my routine changing weekly due to balancing uni classes, assignments, and working shifts at my cafe job. When I moved to London and started working full-time, I was able to form a more consistent routine and now I can commit to exercising 4-5 times a week. Realistically, the busyness of life does sometimes get in the way of a planned exercise routine, but I always have a goal in mind to keep me motivated.
My normal exercise routine tends to consist of going to the gym (I'm currently a member of Gymbox in London - highly recommend!), however since lockdown began, myself and many others have had to adapt to working out at home. With everything going on, I've still been very consistent with exercising 4-5 times a week, so I thought I'd share a bit of insight into how I stay motivated and what I've been doing at home to stay active.
Staying Motivated
Being motivated to exercise can be one of the toughest hurdles to overcome for many people. Here are a few tips to help shift your mindset and get motivated when it comes to working out:
Decide on the time of day you would prefer to exercise (AM or PM)
Dedicate a set time to exercise during your daily routine and block it out in your calendar (e.g. 5:30pm for 1 hour)
If you struggle to motivate yourself, ask a family member of friend to join you for a workout session outside (or virtually)
Find a style of exercise that you actually enjoy (if you don't enjoy running as a form of cardio, try something else!)
Focus on how you will feel after the workout - your future self will thank you for putting in the hard work now in order to benefit from the results later
If you have a negative mindset towards exercise, work to change this into a positive one
Follow some motivational fitness accounts on Instagram to get you inspired
Have a dedicated 'workout playlist' of songs that make you feel good or get you pumped up to exercise.
Cardio Training
I personally enjoy many different forms of cardio exercise, so I use this to my advantage and change up my cardio routine in order to keep things interesting. When I'm at the gym, I tend to do a mixture of spin classes and HIIT classes. If I'm not up for a super intense workout, I'll hit the treadmill or elliptical to get my heart racing. Since working out from home, I've had to give up the spin classes and focus on running and at-home HIIT workouts. I'm certainly no marathon runner, so on days that I do run I tend to aim for 5-10km depending on how i'm feeling. Usually, I'll end my running session with 10 mins of high intensity exercises or an ab-focused workout.
My absolute favourite form of exercise is high intensity interval training (HIIT). I tend to do this form of training 2-3 times a week and love how much it has increased my fitness levels. The best part about this form of exercise is that you don't require any equipment for it to be effective, so it is perfect to do at home. There is also such a varying range of exercises you can incorporate into the routine itself, which makes it a less tedious training style (compared to running, for example).
I change my HIIT workout routines all the time. Here is an example of one I've really been enjoying the past couple of weeks - no equipment required!
Warm Up (1 x circuit, repeat twice, 30 secs on, 15 secs rest between sets):
Toe taps
Skaters
Body squats
Mountain climbers
HIIT Routine (2 x circuits, repeat each circuit 3 times, 30 secs on for each exercise - continuous for whole circuit, 45 secs rest between circuits):
Circuit 1:
Star jumps
Fast feet
High-knees
Power jacks
Toe taps
Circuit 2:
Star jumps
Hand walk-out
Jumping squats
Lunges
Plank with hip dips
Strength and Resistance Training
On the days I am not focusing on cardio, I do strength and weight training in the gym. I tend to break these up between upper body and lower body sessions. Unfortunately, I don't own any weights at home so I've had to adapt to body weight training and using resistance bands.
Using resistance bands is a great way to build muscle and get stronger at an affordable price. You can buy them online (I get mine from Amazon) and there are loads of videos on YouTube that can guide you on how best to use them.
Here is an example of a lower body exercise routine that I do, focusing on using body weight and resistance bands:
Lower Body Exercise Routine (1 x circuit, 45 secs on each exercise, 10 secs rest in between, repeat twice for longer workout):
Body squats (with resistance band)
Leg extension pulses right side (with resistance band)
Leg extension pulses left side (with resistance band)
Right leg lunges (body weight only)
Left leg lunge (body weight only)
Bridge hip lifts (with resistance band)
Bridge knee squeezes (with resistance band)
Donkey kicks right leg (with resistance band)
Donkey kicks left leg (with resistance band)
Fire hydrants into straight leg kickback right side (body weight only)
Fire hydrants into straight leg kickback left side (body weight only)
Yoga
I've only just started incorporating more yoga into my routine during the past few months, but I've learned to love it. I choose to start my day with a yoga practice that lasts for about 20 minutes. Yoga has definitely helped me to become more flexible and to properly stretch out the muscles I use during daily exercise.
I am certainly no expert when it comes to yoga, so I use an app called 'Down Dog' to guide my yoga practices. There are also tonnes of YouTube videos online that are available for free - I recommend Yoga by Adriene!
The Importance of Rest
Resting is an extremely important part of any healthy exercise routine. Give your body at least a couple of days to rest each week and refrain from any intense exercise (I usually rest during the weekends). If you feel as if you still want to get your body moving on rest day, then simply going for a walk is a great option.
Resting your body is required in the training process to effectively build muscle, strength and endurance. Rest also helps to prevent injury and over-training yourself. Your body requires rest in order to re-energise and also rekindle the hunger for exercise without exhausting yourself.
While on the topic of rest, I feel like it's important to note that if you ever experience a day where you've planned to exercise but just don't feel up for it, that's completely normal. It's important to listen to your body and not push yourself too hard. You are allowed to have days where you might feel too tired, unmotivated, or just want some extra time to sleep. But if you let this happen too often, it can begin to impact your routine and the habits you've formed. It's all about finding the right balance!
I hope this blog post has inspired you to get moving and perhaps try a different form of exercise you haven't tried before. Getting some fresh air is always an added bonus to exercising, so try performing your routine outdoors if you can. If you are feeling a bit down or particularly unmotivated, try shifting your mindset and thinking about the end goal. You'll thank yourself later for getting up and pushing yourself!
Until next time;
peace and love,
Tina
Commentaires