Create A Quarantine Workout Style

It’s been a while since I have posted but nursing school, work, and a wedding had literally taken over my life this year.  The one part of my life I have kept intact during all of this chaos is my workout routine and that is because it is the one thing in my life that keeps me mentally sane, increases my energy to get through the day, improves self-esteem and confidence.  You simply have to prioritize something that impacts your life this positively.  So, with that being said I have had to do some serious tweaking this week to create a quarantine workout style that will provide me with everything to continue receiving all these health benefits I depend on.  

The question I have been getting a lot with all the stress and anxiety of this Corona Virus is “Where do I begin”?  For many of us our home is now our office, a school for our children, and now we have to add a gym to the list.  This is enough to overwhelm any one of us and since we are going to be quarantined for some time now we need to be creative and utilize what we have available to us.  

Here are some simple suggestions to help you get started:

¨     Keep a workout Journal, get an app on your phone, or use your apple watch for tracking (This will give you a baseline and a visual as you progress each day)

¨     Create your own tranquil space (if you can), preferably a space in the house that you can shut the door for privacy so that you can transport yourself mentally into a gym state of mind.  

¨     If you have little children that need to be supervised they have excellent music and movement channels for children you can put on so they can get moving too and this could be a daily routine to break up the day for the entire family.  

¨     Essentials to your workout space: weights (whatever you can find or use your own body resistance), yoga matt or carpet, resistance bands if you have them, music, diffuser, lights, plants for ambiance if you are into that!  

¨     Since we are homebound get outside as much as you can!  Look at the weather for the week and create a little plan.  (Set time aside for yourself, family, and pets to all be outside and active).  I have personally been going for a run, then I come home and get my dogs and husband and go back out for a cool down walk).  This breaks up my workout and maximizes it.  Spend some time doing nature walks with the children, scavenger hunts, gardening, adventures with the fur babies or your spouse.  This will keep your workout interesting and also help you mentally get through this quarantine.     

¨     On rest days do some yoga, meditation, and always a family walk if weather permits it.  When you put in effort to increase muscle tone and endurance you want to also stretch and recover those hard-worked muscles while still acquiring your 30-minute minimum of movement per day.  

¨     Resources are thankfully right at our finger tips to work with our different schedules and fitness levels.  (Pinterest, YouTube, Amazon workouts, Direct TV, Beach Body apps, DVD’s, or freestyle it). 

What I have learned over the years is what works for me is not going to work for you because we have all different levels of fitness, schedules, family dynamics, and interests.  However, the commonality is we need to start somewhere, we want to improve our health and our bodies, and we need to now do the majority of it from home. 

Now that you have some suggestions on how to create your own quarantine workout style it’s time to implement it.  The goal is to do something every day that gets you and your family moving, it needs to be a part of your daily lifestyle because it is going to be very easy to fall into unhealthy habits during this quarantine if we are not on top of it. 

Follow me on Instagram #4theloveofhealth_and_beauty and #4theloveofhealthychildren for ideas, motivation, and support!

Everyday goal:  Inspire & be Inspired

Mantra: I am strong, I am Beautiful