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One simple tip and an at-home workout to keep you fit, healthy and feeling energized while working from home

Although there is no escaping the fact we are in the midst of a pandemic, it is still possible for you to become or stay healthy and fit even without access to your regular gym or normal routine.  In fact, it has never been more important to put your health first (and we don’t mean hiding away at home away from everyone).

There are many steps you can take in order to boost your health, fitness and immune system but for now we are going to focus on perhaps the simplest. It is easy to implement, costs nothing and can be done by anyone, anywhere, at any time, without the need for any fancy equipment or even any skill.

Working from home is currently the norm in many places, including Singapore and Hong Kong to comply with social distancing rules and keep employees safe.  What most of us didn’t expect was how we would feel when our daily routines were disrupted; some of us feel lost, some of us feel angry, and some have embraced the extra time we’ve gained from not commuting.  However it makes you feel, life is slightly different from normal, and will be for some time, so it is very important that we can maintain any positive habits we had, even if we can’t access our office gym or swim 20 laps before work.

With this in mind, our single most important tip to keep you physically and mentally healthy during any number of lockdown is this: Get Moving!

You may not realise, but even if you have a sedentary office-based job, your pre-COVID routine would likely have included some walking; from your home to the train station, from the station to your office, perhaps out and about between meetings and to lunch.  Being confined to your home means that your level of activity has probably dropped significantly, but it can be surprisingly easy to implement some movement into your day, and it is vitally important for your health.  Moving less and eating the same amount means that you will burn fewer calories than before, which is the perfect recipe for weight gain.

Here are 5 practical ways you can get more movement into your day:

  1. Wake up 20 minutes earlier than usual and go for a 15 minute walk before checking your phone. Even if it’s raining, just take an umbrella!
  2. Consider tracking your steps. You can get a step tracker or smart watch, but most phones now have a step tracker built in. It won’t be perfectly accurate but it will give you an idea. At first just see how many steps you take in a regular home-based day. The WHO recommends 10,000 steps per day. How far are you away from this number? If 10,000 seems impossible, aim for 8000. If you currently only get 2000 per day, try for 5000 and work up from there.
  3. Set aside short periods of time throughout the day and use that time to move. You could do 20 minutes mid-morning, 30 minutes at lunchtime and 20 minutes mid-afternoon. If you live in an apartment building you can walk or run up and down the stairs to get your heart rate up, or you can work out with resistance bands and your own body weight in your living room or bedroom. Even just using this time to walk around will break up your day – try to get outside if at all possible as the daylight will help ensure you get a better night’s sleep.
  4. Be creative! Gym equipment is designed to stimulate your muscles across a given range of motion, but that does not mean you can’t replicate the movements at home. Focus on slowing everything down rather than just getting through the movement – you want (or at least we want!) you to really feel it! Remember that 1 litre of water weighs 1kg. You can use water containers as weights, or identically loaded shopping bags – but remember that this isn’t necessary and you can get a really good workout using controlled movements and your own body weight.
  5. Here is a very simple no-equipment workout that you can do in your own home:

Perform each exercise from the sequence of 6, for 1 minute and move straight on to the next one with no rest. When you’ve done all 6 exercises, which should take 6 minutes, take 1-2 minutes rest then repeat for a total of 5 sets.

  1. Bodyweight push-ups (Regressed to your knees, if need be)
  2. Bodyweight Squats
  3. Bench Dips
  4. Split Squats
  5. Burpees
  6. Ab Plank
  7. Rest, 1 minute then repeat!

Here’s the workout – follow it as best you can, repeating the whole thing for a total of 5 times:

During the current lockdown in Singapore (July-August 2021), ATP Personal Training is helping clients get fit and healthy, and stay that way with outdoor workouts at The Fullerton Hotel.  If you want to join us simply get in touch with us using the link below:

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