There’s a good chance you’ve spent the last few weeks in a similar position to many other self-isolated gym rats. You ordered lots of shiny new fitness equipment to fill your garage, spare room, or corner-of-the-loungeroom. You took the time to choose a home workout program, wrote your own, or created a playlist of workout videos on YouTube.
And you’ve successfully completed a grand total of about two and a half workouts in an entire month.
Let’s face it: if you’re addicted to the gym, working out at home just doesn’t feel the same.
Sure, staying as fit and healthy as possible is more important now than it’s ever been before. But if you want to set yourself up for success, you might want to make your fitness routine a little more interesting than usual.
Ready to shake things up and make fitness fun again? Here are five alternative training styles to take you from couch potato to lounge room fitspo.
Callisthenics
Thought you needed a gym to work out? Newsflash: your body IS a gym.
Seriously though, you can learn to do some super impressive moves with the right training. From splits to pull-ups to flagpoles, you’d be surprised how challenging bodyweight workouts can be— and how ripped you can get.
Not sure what equipment you might need, if any? Check out our blog post. If you’re super desperate, don’t forget you can do pull-ups with nothing more than a bedsheet and a closed door.
Why wait months for gyms to reopen when you could use that time to learn how to do a handstand?
Primal Flow
If you’re looking for something completely different to anything you’ve ever done in a gym before, you might want to look into MMA champion Conor McGregor’s preferred training style.
Primal or “animal” flow utilises unique, natural movement patterns in a way that mimics the way our ancestors moved. Think lots of crawling, squatting, and bodyweight holds. Kind of like yoga, except you’re moving all around the room.
It’s fun, creative, challenging and most importantly, will have your housemates wondering if you’ve finally lost your mind after so many weeks of self-isolation.
Kettlebell Training
Kettlebells might just seem like weird-shaped dumbbells, but they’re so much more.
These Russian weights really allow you to get creative thanks to their unique shape, weight distribution, and unusual increments. Ever noticed how kettlebells are made in odd weights? For instance, jumping from a 12kg kettlebell to 16kg, rather than 13kg?
Kettlebell training can also help you to continuously build strength without having to constantly increase the weight by small amounts. This makes them great for home workouts, since you may not be blessed enough to have access to a full range of plates or dumbbells right now.
As a functional fitness tool, they’re versatile enough to be used in a variety of workouts. You could play around with a flow circuit, bust out a sweaty cardio session with swings, or do some straight-up heavy lifting sets. The choice is yours.
Intermittent Workouts
One of the most difficult aspects of home workouts is sticking to your old routine. How was it actually easier to fit in a daily workout when you had to get up earlier, put on shoes, and travel to another location?
The solution here isn’t to willpower your way through (because when does that ever work?), but change up how and when you workout.
Rather than dedicating 60 minutes to a longer workout, break that up into smaller 20-minute sessions. This might mean 20 minutes in the morning, 20 at lunch, and 20 at night.
By sticking to these intermittent workouts, you’ll make your routine less intimidating, stave off that 30-minute-mark boredom, and be able to really focus your energy during each short session. You can finally fit in those lunchtime workouts you’ve always dreamed of.
Play
Here’s something you might not have considered: you don’t need to do a workout that fits under the definition of “exercise” to stay fit and active. Instead, focus on having fun while moving your body.
This could include:
- Running around in the backyard with the kids (or your dog)
- Learning the choreography from your favourite music video, or just putting on music and dancing
- Playing a videogame that involves lots of movement, like Just Dance
- Playing with flow toys like a hula hoop or staff
In other words, it’s time to stop mourning the loss of your local squat rack and get creative. Isn’t it about time you changed up your workouts?
We know how much of a difference it makes to have the right equipment, especially at a time when gyms and fitness studios are inaccessible. We’ve got plenty of gear to help you stay fit at home, including special at-home workout packs for any training style. Browse the range here, and be sure to keep an eye on the homepage for any restock updates.