I’ve always tried to stay active in whatever way I can and recently I’ve been doing group fitness training with David McIlwaine of Fit4Dreams and Mum Squad. Now that that option is on pause for awhile I’ve been trying to figure out effective ways that I can still work out from home, and I’m sure I’m not alone in that regard. Recently I asked David to share his tips for keeping exercise a part of my daily routine, and here’s what he said.
Why is it important to keep on top of your fitness regimen during this time?
“Training is a great way to feel like you have done something for yourself.
With so much happening from day to day and conditions changing at every turn it can be really stressful. It’s easy to feel like things are out of your control and that can take a toll.
Once you have done a good workout though, you have done something positive for yourself. Nothing can take that away from you and it gives you strength to take things in your stride knowing you have done what you can to stay #fit2fight.”
If you’re stuck indoors, with limited or no equipment at all, what are some of the best workout moves you can do?
“When you’re stuck indoors with limited or no equipment at all, it’s hard to beat the classics.
Exercises like push-ups, lunges, squats, the plank and sit-ups are great.
On top of that, you can use a chair to work on the backs of your arms with tricep dips or stand on cushions or close your eyes to introduce a balance challenge to your squats or lunges.
If you’re starting out, you might like to begin doing push-ups on your knees and then build up to doing them on your toes.
As you get stronger you can prop your feet up on a cushion to lift them up as you take on the push-up position and make it hard to balance as you lower your chest to the floor. This really really encourages you to engage your core as you do your push-ups.”
What are your suggestions for a workout routine that can be done outdoors if you’re lucky enough to have a backyard to work out in?
“If you’ve got a backyard you can designate a workout zone on either side.
Then you can run between them.
So you might start with 24 push-ups on one side of the lawn, run to the other side and back and then do 20.
You repeat that going down by 4 push-ups at a time ie 24,20,16,12, 8 & 4.
That means you’ll be running across the yard 6 times. You can use that as your exercise system and just change the exercises or the repetitions and if you want to make it harder you can mix it up a little.
Try running up and back across the yard to double the distance.”
What if people want to up the intensity?
“Lie down and get up again on the turn around and see how much harder the exercises are when you get to them.
Remember when you add the extra run, you just do your exercise on one side and the lie down and get up on the other.
Once you finish that you call it your first round and take a minutes rest.
Then you can do it with the plank with say a 24 sec hold then 20, 16, 12, 8 & 4 second hold to finish. Running across the yard and back in between each.
If you’re looking for an even higher level challenge when you finish your plank you can jump two feet at a time across the lawn instead of running. This will really get your heart racing.
You can also try lunging across the yard, do 24 squat jumps when you get to the end and then run across the yard and back, ready to lunge across the yard again and do a set of 20 squat jumps. You keep doing that and reduce your squat jumps by 4 at a time.
As you get fitter, you start reducing the set of exercise by 2 at a time or even double the number for each set..
Then to finish off the workout you can sprint across the yard and back twice and then add in different stomach exercises while you’re still puffing from your run.
Just sprint across the yard twice and get straight down and do:
- some crunches,
- sprint then do a set of hundreds,
- sprint and on to leg lifts,
- sprint and then it’s mountain climbers and
- finally sprint and compete your Russian twists for your core or abs.
You could also try this workout or this one for other alternatives.”
How can people adapt their workouts so they can still get a good workout at home?
“You might just concentrate on doing more or lifting heavier weight when there is lots to gain in doing every exercise properly and to the best of your ability. So much improvement will come from being able to concentrate on the details of your exercise because it’s easier to focus on that when you are on your own at home.”
What are your suggestions for ways people can keep moving right now?
“Some easy simple suggestions keep moving during the current coronavirus restrictions are:
- walking
- walking on the soft sand at the beach
- going for a ride
- running
- running on the soft sand at the beach.
- doing some stair repeats or
- finding a nice steep hill to run up.
Fit4Dreams is still doing personal training sessions at this time but also they have just launched group sessions online. If you’d like more information or to sign up you can email David at [email protected] or give him a call on 0414 138 778.