HEALTH+WELLNESS
QUARAN-TONED:
The importance of exercise during lockdown
BY EVELYN DURO
REGULAR EXERCISE IS MASSIVELY IMPORTANT, WHY ELSE WOULD OUR HOUR-LONG FREEDOM
FROM LOCK DOWN HAVE BEEN AUTHORISED? RIGHT NOW EXERCISE IS EVEN MORE
IMPORTANT THAN USUAL, AS ASIDE FROM HELPING OUR PHYSICAL WELL BEING IT IS
ESSENTIAL FOR OUR MENTAL WELLNESS TOO.
Exercise, and thinking about your nutrition too, can
help you to stay motivated, to feel you are still a part
of a community (albeit a new virtual version), to
release stress and can even help you sleep better. If
the mind and body is balanced then we feel better,
importantly this helps us to stay positive when
thinking ahead to the future, and of course, shredding
some extra pounds and achieving a toned body can
improve our body image, which can all add to a
happier mood.
Yet as we embrace our new “normality”, for some
it can be hard to figure out how to establish an
effective exercise regime that goes beyond dragging
Fido out for another hour or that fits the constant
juggle of our new home/life or home/home balance;
so where do we start?
Find a great virtual class & instructor:
For me, like every other furloughed fitness manager
and instructor in the country, exercise is my life, I
needed to not only look at new ways to do my own
regime, but also to maintain a connection with my
clients and friends, who I had promised before
lockdown could continue to exercise outside of the
gym, and who needed advice and support to establish
or maintain their own exercise programmes.
Putting myself out of my gym-based comfort zone,
I, like many others, have joined the new normal of
virtual exercise classes, setting up a new group page,
Whatsapp-ing supportive messages and designing
an accessible timetable of classes including HIIT,
barre, pilates, and stretch and tone sessions; that can
be done at home, that I now deliver live via Facebook
and Instagram totally free of charge.
In little over a week, I started to receive amazing
feedback from my virtual class participants: “it’s
keeping me sane”; “my aches and pains have
disappeared”; “I feel less anxious”; “I have lost 3
pounds in 3 days since working out with you!”; and
amazingly “I feel so motivated and cannot wait for
the next day.”
But be warned, whilst the nation may have embraced
Joe Wicks as their new PE hero, there have also
been a host of other virtual instructors popping up
on screens up and down the country, and it can be
really hard to find a good one. Make sure that you
can trust your virtual instructor to deliver a safe,
effective and, at the same time, fun class for you.
My experience and insurance is an indicator of my
safe practice…and this is why I am happy to deliver
my classes online, as well as this, I am there to help
my participants…any time.
high intensity interval training (HIIT) session by
doing each set at full energy for 30 seconds with a
10-15 second rest between exercises - either way,
get the blood flowing, the energy levels up and boost
your mental and physical health!
1. Squats (wide or narrow)
2. High knees / jog on the spot / march on the spot
3. Press ups (box or full press ups / triceps or chest)
4. Crunches
5. Leg raises
6. Plank (full or half)
7. Jumping jacks
To aid your motivation you can keep a diary, monitor
your inch loss or happy thoughts and set yourself or
your workout buddies mini-goals such as how long
you can hold a plank for.
Make exercise part of a new routine:
Whether you are a die-hard gym-bunny, an exercise
class aficionado, or a team sports player that has
been forced to adapted your regular exercise regime;
or have, (like most of the team at iK), decided to
embrace an at home exercise regime to give you
some time out and combat the excessive baking and
eating that seems to be filling our days; as well as
getting online and joining a virtual class or two,
embrace some core simple yet effective exercises
which you can do anytime.
Evelyn’s Top Seven
These do-anywhere and anytime exercises require
no equipment, can be done in isolation or turned
into a 20 minute metabolism boosting, fat burning,
For more information about exercising safely at
home or to join a virtual class visit
www.facebook.com/evienessfitness
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