Lockdown Diaries 1: How to Train at Home
As we know from Healthzilla Podcast episode 11, potentially this time of #stayathome could be a great opportunity to create new good habits. Here we look at a three-step approach towards home workouts: set realistic body goals, full-body bodyweight workout routines, and walking for exercise. You’ll be doing plenty of air squats, pushups, and v-ups!
I have increased my candy consumption, neglected my personal hygiene, and watched more TV. So while I am stopping my good habits, I have picked a couple of new bad ones. Maybe next I should pick up smoking?
Luckily there is one good habit that has been part of me throughout my whole life and that is exercise. Although the amount of sports has varied across my life, never has there been a moment I would not have done any sports.
Although sports is a habit, that does not mean doing it comes easy. Especially when you need to alter your routine. For me, it is going to a Crossfit gym. Training with the same group daily. Having a friendly competition. Hitting PRs. Not having to think yourself what to do.
Switching it to training in your underwear without any sports equipment sucks. I am not lying.
It does not help to complain, so below is a three-step program that will keep you relatively fit during this lockdown period:
Set realistic body goals
“I write only when inspiration strikes. Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o'clock sharp.”
-W.Somerset Maugham
It is highly unlikely that you come out from this lockdown in better shape than you were before. This time is boring, stressful, and filled with the temptation of sweets, alcohol, and lying at the sofa touching yourself. So go ahead and set an ambitious goal of having a bikini body for the upcoming summer. For the majority of people (like me) having the goal of not completely deteriorate should be enough.
“80% of success is showing up”
-Woody Allen
True masters love the process of doing things, output is secondary.
So after setting the goal of just showing up, you need to select something you can do no matter what are the conditions.
I have settled on two forms of exercise: three simple bodyweight exercises and walking and doing them every day.
Full-body bodyweight workouts
If you have a body, you are an athlete.
That also means that there are no excuses for not doing bodyweight exercise. Also, you pretty much can get full-body exercise with only three movements. My weapons of choice are the following:
Air Squats (video)
Push-ups
V-Ups
What I do every morning is a sort of variation of Tabata training (20s hard work, 10s rest).
First, start with Air Squats for 20 s, then “rest” in the squat hold.
Do this until you cannot do squats anymore or you feel like time is running out.
Then switch to push-ups for 20s and 10s plank hold.
Again do until cooked and switch to V-ups. 20s v-ups and 10s V-up hold.
Go to shower, start your day. Or end it.
The benefits of this set of exercises are the following:
Does not take too much time (Depending on how hard I go, this can be anything from 15 mins to 30min, even less is still beneficial)
Works the whole body
Combination of active movements and static holds
You can do this anywhere
If you want to add difficulty to movements, but still roughly work for the same muscle groups, you can do the following (again no equipment needed):
Pistol squats
Handstand push-ups
Reverse burpees
Full disclaimer: I have not done the exercise with those movements, but on the paper looks like an awesome set. Tell me how it feels.
Walking for exercise and activity
Reluctantly, I have become a walker.
As the amount of conference calls has skyrocketed during the COVID-19 crisis, I have made it a habit of going for a walk when our 6-month old baby is ideally having her nap time. You can easily get nearly 20k steps a day, progress with work, and spend some time with family. Keep that social distance if you are going to walk in crowded parks.
So there you have it: strength training and cardio with quite minimum time spend that should keep you relatively healthy during the lockdown.
Riku Vassinen is a member of the Healthzilla advisory board. Normally living in Nairobi, but is currently locked up with his family in Helsinki, Finland.
You can get your sweat on even while quarantined