It can be difficult, at the best of times, to muster the motivation to move regularly.
These, as is well known, are not the best of times.
Rain continues to pummel many parts of Australia, temperatures drop to shivering (by down-world standards), and the number of covid cases remains high. In other words, the gym has never looked so unappealing, and on many days getting there, dry, is a feat in itself.
Home workouts have also lost the appeal they once had in those early months of 2020. After the past few years, and all the ins and outs of lockdowns galore, the words “Yoga with Adriene” are enough to send even the most flexible in a spiral of anxiety. platoons do not have he had a great career either.
So what needs to be done? We turned to readers and experts for advice, asking them about their exercise routines in these wet and wild times: “exercise” interpreted very liberally.
You have your duties
It is not necessary to organize or regulate physical activity for us to experience its benefits, says Dr. Sandro Demaio, CEO of VicHealth. “There may be simple things we’ve all heard: Take the stairs instead of the escalator; walk one or two stops at the beginning or end of a tram or train ride.”
All of these activities can be categorized under the now ubiquitous concept of incidental exercise or, in Demaio’s words, “things we just do and exercise at the same time.”
But incidental exercise doesn’t require leaving the house. In addition to those common examples, many household chores involve physical exertion, light or otherwise, that can improve strength and get your heart rate up. “Very often, people will go to an exercise class that looks incredibly similar to the actions you might do with a vacuum cleaner,” says Demaio.
“And ironically, vacuuming is actually very, very healthy. Doing it a little more often, especially if you’re at home and probably making a little more mess, is one way you can definitely get more exercise.”
The added bonus, of course, is an incredibly tidy home. For those who get bored more easily (or who have more space), Demaio also recommends redecorating the house or moving your home office to a different floor so that “every time you need to go to the bathroom or have a drink, you go down another floor.” flight of stairs, which is really good for cardiovascular health.”
A Guardian reader provided a particularly entertaining tactic. “I cut firewood for an hour every few days,” Ruby Sea wrote, “not to mention lighting, hauling… [my] Arms are gaining muscle that I never knew was possible!”
Many peppy pooches also appear in our readers’ home activity suggestions. “Most days one of us goes for a run with the dog,” says Emma Coultas, whose Labrador-staffie mix is especially fast. “He has a decent run because he has a lot of energy … he runs up to 10 kilometers.”
… or do something fun
Coultas has also made a habit of throwing frantic dance parties in the living room when the sun goes down. Battery-operated fairy lights turn on, auxiliary cord is handed out to children, and limbs fly akimbo toward Meghan Trainor and Harry Styles. “I can’t choose the music,” says Coultas, “because then they get smaller if I choose.”
“Kids just jump around mostly. I also jump, but then I try to do some more focused movements: some squats and some lunges… it’s just to get them out before bed if we haven’t had a chance to get out.”
Meanwhile, Demaio relies on his vegetable garden as a supplier of endorphins. “Gardening is a great strength- and stretch-based task,” he says, even for those who may not have the physical capacity for more strenuous exercise. “Digging, planting, pruning, or bending over to pull weeds… they’re all really good and the equivalent of stretching or weights.”
Take it (very) easy
Getting around the house can be as easy as walking. Robyn, a Guardian reader who asked us to use her first name only, says she “walked every day of my life for 50 years” but lately has turned to indoor walking videos to maintain her fitness levels while recovering from open heart surgery. .
The strain he uses is from a channel called fabulous50s, and it’s a choose your own adventure routine where you can match your performance level with your own abilities. “Walk around your living room for 30 seconds,” she says. “And then you [might choose] do squats for 30 seconds. And then she walks again… You don’t even have to be seen if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Others had more extravagant suggestions. Dennis, another reader, combines his stretching with noisy vocal exercises: the tennis player method. As she reads by the fire, she says: “From time to time I stand up and stretch while making various animal sounds: deep growls and high-pitched screeches…I move my legs vigorously and stand up to place another log on the fire.” . Playing this can heal her inner child, though not her relationships with the neighbors.
trick your brain
If all else fails, just fool yourself, like Jess Ho does, with a barely awake daze. “I’m going to sound completely psychotic,” they say. “But I [go] to the gym before I’m fully awake. And I still can’t register that he’s freezing.”
Getting there so early in the morning is mainly to avoid a large sweaty crowd, they say, though it also means there’s little audience to see the messy mass of layers, gathered to warm up after the morning bite.
“You know that scene in Friends where Joey wears all of Chandler’s clothes.? This is how I see myself, going to the gym. As the shoot progresses, there is a large pile of clothes next to me.”
But not everyone can be that athletic (or disciplined). Ho also has a specific recommendation for working out at home: criticize RuPaul’s Drag Race as a feverish distraction.
“If I’m doing cardio at home, [that] is the best to see. It’s so fast-paced, fast-paced and somber… that my heart rate goes way up.
“[Drag Race] It has definitely improved my cardio.”
