Social distancing to stem the spread of COVID-19 may extend to the places where we exercise, but this does not mean you can’t meet your exercise goals from home. Here’s how you can use normal household items to build your own home gym.
To help slow the spread of COVID-19, we are going to be spending a lot of our time in our homes. But what will this mean for our fitness efforts?
At Vitality, our key principles are now more relevant than ever. Exercise if you’re well, eat healthy food and practise preventive measures, like washing your hands with soap for 20 seconds and practise social distancing by staying at least 2 metres away from each other.
Vitality is making it easier for you to exercise at home
This month, Vitality is making significant enhancements to our benefits to help you stay healthy and achieve your exercise goals at home. During this unprecedented time:
- Your Vitality Active Rewards exercise goals will be adjusted as restrictions on exercise continue to ease.
- Work out online and earn Vitality points with Planet Fitness and Virgin Active Learn more here.
Remember, you can earn 50 Vitality fitness points for tracking between 5 000 and 9 999 steps in a day or 100 points for tracking 10 000 or more steps in a day on your smartphone by linking your Apple Health app or Samsung Health app to Discovery.
How to exercise using household items
- Work with the space you have
When you don’t have a lot of space, pick exercises that don’t need it. Some of the good old classics are push-ups, sit-ups, squats and lunges. For a cardio blast, try throwing a few burpees into the mix, or investing in a skipping rope. - Take the stairs
Walk or run up the stairs to get your heart pumping. For even more cardio, do 10 jumping jacks when you reach the top and 10 burpees at the bottom. - Your ultimate resistance band? Your towel
Use your towel to stretch or tone up. Watch this YouTube video for a full-body towel workout.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKEV_CZdMQo - Take a seat
A chair is a great piece of workout equipment for leg raises, triceps dips, squats, one-legged squats, chair planks and more. Try these chair exercises courtesy of Working Mother. - Sweep away the calories
Use a broom to perfect those squats and hip hinges and to improve your shoulder mobility. Try these simple broomstick exercises to help support your movements while you strengthen your whole body. - Any countertop will do
You can strengthen your arms and chest by doing push-ups on a countertop. These are great to do while waiting for the kettle to boil or the bath to fill. Make sure to disinfect all surfaces to prevent the spread of COVID-19. - Weights in disguise
You can do weight training with almost anything. Use bag of rice or flour to replace a medicine ball or two cans of soup or baked beans to add some resistance to your jumping jacks. Two jugs of water with a handle can be held while doing walking lunges, bicep curl and rows/
Whatever you do, don’t stop moving. Anything can become part of your home gym – you just need to use your imagination.
Stay Home. Stay Fit. Stay Rewarded. #VitalityAtHome.
For the latest news, updates and advice, please visit our dedicated COVID-19 page.