By Charlotte Carver, Match Day Reporter
Gyms have been shut for a very long time, meaning lots of us are now well versed in the art of the home workout. However, some of us may have been doing the same workout routine from home for almost a year now and might be looking for new ideas.
Whether you are wanting to increase your fitness through cardio exercises, or if you want to build muscle through strengthening ones, there are so many options available to adapt your workout to the space of your home.
The University of Bristol Sport app provides free workouts every day which you can fit into your daily routine.
Creating your own workout is great because you can work to your own fitness ability and slowly adapt it over time as your fitness improves.
If that doesn’t take your fancy, we have some recommendations. A cardio workout is a great way to build up fitness and there are a variety of exercises that you can do for this.
A personalised option for a home cardio workout is to create your own high intensity interval training (HIIT) routine. You could pick a few exercises such as star jumps, burpees, mountain climbers, high knees, or jump squats. After selecting your chosen exercises, you can choose the number of reps and sets you want to complete. For example, five 30-second reps of exercises for three sets, allowing yourself 15 seconds of rest in between each repetition.
Creating your own workout is great because you can work to your own fitness ability and slowly adapt it over time as your fitness improves.
If your main workout goal is muscle-building or toning, there are plenty of things you can do at home which will contribute towards your muscle gain.
The wide range of equipment available at the gym is one aspect you might be lacking in your own home. However, there are ways to get around this. Home weight sets are readily available online for a reasonable price. A low-cost alternative is to think creatively and use items you can find in your kitchen such as tinned food, juice cartons, or a milk bottle.
Once again, a great option is to create your own personalised muscle-building circuit. This could include push ups, bodyweight dips, lunges, squats, squat pulses, planks, side planks, donkey kicks, wall sits and sit ups. You can incorporate resistance bands and weights for an extra challenge, or you can just use your own bodyweight.
Doing each exercise in sets is one way but if you fancy a bit of a different challenge you can try ‘each minute on the minute’.
For ‘each minute on the minute’ you take a certain exercise, such as burpees, and do a set number of them as the minute starts. The aim is to try and complete the set number as quickly as possible, and then spend the remainder of the minute resting.
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The great thing about this type of workout is that it is so versatile. You can choose to do the same exercise for the whole block or change the exercise each minute. You can challenge yourself by increasing the set number of the exercise, for example from 10 burpees to 15 burpees, as your fitness increases. It is also great as you can design it to suit your own goals, whether that is muscle gain or just general fitness.
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There are so many options when it comes to working out from home. So, even if you are desperately missing the gym, as you almost certainly are, there are many ways to maintain your fitness goals.
Featured Image: Charlotte Carver
