Exercise is as important as nutrition for human beings. In today’s age where people do more sedentary work than ever, it is especially important. In 2016, American Heart Association published an advisory recommending at least 150 minutes of physical activity every week. It is not an easy task to find time to visit the gym in a busy work schedule.
Stay Fit While WFH
Even if you were hitting the gymnasium regularly, the recent virus outbreak has made it difficult to visit the gymnasium. Even if the regulations regarding lockdowns have relaxed, the risk associated with visiting a crowded place like a gym is not worth taking.
It is better to rely on a home workout than take the trip to the gym in the middle of the chaos.
Benefits of working out from home
Working out at home is not easy as it sounds. It might seem like since the designated space to workout is within the house, you would be working out regularly. But this always is not true. But working out from home offers many benefits if we can overcome the challenges. The challenges of working out from home will be discussed in the next section.
Some of the prominent benefits of working out at home are as follows.
Saves commute. If you workout from home, you need not go to the gym or health club. This will save time in commuting that was not used for any productive activity. It also saves time in waiting for machines at the gym. Daily it might be a very small amount of time. But cumulatively over time, it will save a huge amount of time.
Saves money. Working out at home avoids any fee for the gym or health club. Since it avoids commute to the gym, it also saves money that would have been spent on gas and vehicle maintenance.
Privacy. At your own home, you need not worry about anyone else watching you workout and the insecurities that might arise from it. You can be comfortable and workout at home.
No time restriction. Gyms are not a 24×7 place. You have to be there at the specific time allotted for you. Due to work schedule or other reasons, it might not be feasible for you. Working out at home eliminates such problems. You will be able to work out whenever you please.
Challenges of working out from home
The other side of the coin, working out from home has its own set of challenges along with the benefit it offers. For a successful home workout, these challenges have to be overcome. The major challenges to working out from home are as follows.
Space constraints. Working out requires some space and you might have some constraints in that respect. Your apartment might be small and do not have sufficient space to stretch or work out. Here one can get creative and move workout regimen to the terrace, or basement of the building, etc.
Equipment. A gym will have a wide range of equipment for its patrons. At home there will be no equipment, you will have to rely on bodyweight exercises. You can buy some equipment, but it will cost some money in the initial stage.
Loneliness. In the gym, you will be working out with others. This will provide a feeling of belonging to a community and help each other out. The community will motivate each other to strive harder. All this will be lost while working out from home.
Lethargy. Another factor is that you will have to pick yourself up and start working out. Making excuses and procrastination are the biggest enemies of working out from home. This is a high wall to overcome.
Distractions. There is an unlimited number of distractions for working out. Television, the internet, refrigerator all are some distractions that might present themselves before you as options to do instead of working out. You will have to delay the instant gratification and push on with workouts.
Tips to stay fit while working from home
As we have seen in previous sections, working out from home offers some great benefits. But to attain this one has to overcome a set of challenges in the path. Here are some tips to overcome the challenges and stay on the path towards fitness goals.
Designated workout area
Provide a designated workout area in your home. If you are planning for working out on a terrace or outdoor, plan the same. Designate the workout space inside your mind and in the physical space where you choose.
There should be no distractions there. Just some clear space and the workout equipment you have. This will provide some clear demarcation of space. Seeing this space will remind you of working out too.
Discipline
Pick a schedule and stick with it. Even if you are time-constrained you have to maintain the schedule. Do not be tough while picking a schedule. It can be a very accommodating schedule. The regularity of sticking with the schedule is more important than the rigor of the schedule.
If the time marked for the workout is 30 minutes and only have 10 minutes on a particular day, do not skip the exercise. Workout for the 10 available minutes. Stick with the schedule wherever you might be, even if you are away from home.
Fitness oriented environment
The best thing you can do to improve your fitness regimen is to create an environment that promotes exercise and healthy life. There are many behavioral and physical steps one can take to overcome challenges and stay with the work out schedule.
Some of the changes can be a simple as getting out your workout clothes and shoes before going to sleep. The first thing you will see in the morning will be the shoes and clothes. This will kick the brain to go into a workout mode and not to skip the exercise.
Another could be not using any technology devices till the workout is complete. People get lethargic when they use their mobile phones first thing in the morning. Keeping your phone in another room before sleeping is an effective strategy.
Desk bike and standing desk
Riding a bike is an excellent cardio exercise. It has strong scientific backing for its effectiveness in fitness regimes.
Standing desks are coming up as a viable means to increase the activity level while engaging in sedentary work. Combine the two and you have an efficient system that can improve the physical fitness level while doing your regular job. Kill two birds with a stone.
FlexiSpot Adjustable Standing Desk Pro is a durable and sturdy standing desk that has features to accommodate a desk bike. Some of the features of the desk are:
- Height presets. You can save different height presets and change the setting with a single button when you are using the desk bike and using the desk without the bike.
- Dual motor system. It provides added strength to the movement mechanism. This aids the desk to carry more load even while adjusting the height. The lifting capacity of the desk is 220 lbs.
- Comes with 9 different finishes for the desktop sizes, and 5 different desktop sizes.
- Desk bike accessory can be added in a simple step.
- Low noise level. The desk even in operation produces noise less than 50 dB.
Wrap-Up
In the current scenario of working from home, working out at home is the best option. It has plenty of advantages compared to going to a gym or health club.
At the same time, there are a lot of challenges that need to be overcome. Some of the ways to overcome the challenges are to have a designated space for working out, be disciplined, and create a fitness-oriented environment.
A standing desk with a desk bike is a suitable option for keeping your fitness level while working from home.
