by Clare Tourtelotte, Sports Reporter
Graphic by Amanda Fu
Locked in our homes, with no end to extreme social distancing in sight, motivation to be active may be hard to find. After overcoming the initial battle of getting off the couch and into workout clothes, however, staying fit through quarantine can be simple and easy, especially with newfound free time:
Try a workout class from your favorite yoga studio or gym, or choose from the thousands of videos on YouTube. Lately, trainers, gyms and yoga studios have taken to Zoom and are hosting free classes. Now is a great time to break out of your workout slump and try something new, so take advantage of all the opportunities online. Try a free Pure Barre class, or livestream a mock swim class from your local YMCA. Yes, you read that correctly: mock swim. You could sign up for yoga classes from Artemis Yoga, and although their classes aren’t free, this is a perfect way to support a local business that may be having a hard time.
Go for a run around your neighborhood. Length and rigor aside, you’ll instantly be 10 steps ahead (no pun intended) of everyone at home watching Netflix. To make one of the most treacherous and boring activities of all time — running — slightly more palatable, set some goals for specific distances or paces you want to hit. Don’t forget to make a great hype playlist!
Team up and make a workout plan with your friends. Rather than wallowing in the pain of missing your friends, get a group together (preferably not actually together, though) and make a plan — this way, by sticking to your fitness goals, you’ll also be setting aside time each day to see your friends. Each day’s plan can include a few workouts around your house and a walk or a run. There are infinite workouts to do inside, from jumping rope to running up stairs to doing wall sits, and there are infinite make-shift weights to use, from soup cans to water jugs to wine bottles. Get creative!
Take out your bike, dust it off and go for a ride. It’s as simple as it sounds: just bike. It’s good for you and relatively easy. Challenge yourself to rediscover your favorite childhood routes. It’s okay if it’s been a few years … it’s just, well, like riding a bike after all!
For a low-intensity activity and a relaxing way to get outside and be active, start a garden. You might already have a garden, or at least a patch of land in your yard that your family calls a garden. Redo it! Plant your favorite flowers, pull out the weeds or make a vegetable garden with green beans, tomatoes and peppers. If it is not the season for your plant to grow, no worries! Just weed out a section and designate that plot for you to seed later. This one has a dual purpose — you get to be active and secure a food source in case this really does turn into the apocalypse.
Stand up while you do your schoolwork. Find a place in your house that is the perfect height: it could be a bookshelf, a dresser, a countertop or even a stack of books. If you stand while you do your online work, you can stay healthy rather than just lounging around in your bed for hours on end. This is a nice starting place and a simple way to burn some calories if you can’t find the time to go for a run or do another form of high-intensity workout.
If you’ve turned into some sort of couch vegetable over the past few months, good news! (or bad news) for you: there are so many different ways to get active.
