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Finding yourself staring at your tennis shoes and avoiding at-home workouts? Even if you’ve been on a good fitness streak, it can be hard to keep the motivation going when you’re inside the house most of the day, without access to gyms, studios and trainers. Still, all hope is not lost. There are plenty of exercises you can do using your own bodyweight, and once you get into the habit, the motivation will come easily.
We talked with Naples’ Burn Bootcamp team to provide some tips to keep moving and in shape during a stay-at-home order.
Get Your Head in the Game
Just like when you are establishing any workout routine, the first thing you have to do is get in the mindset. A good way to do this is by preparing, so your mind is primed for the workout to come. Burn’s owner, Holly Strickland, says the same guideline given for when you’re trying to get motivated to go to the gym or go for a morning run, applies here: “Set your clothes out the night before, wake up and put your shoes on,” she says. “That is the key to a successful workout routine.”
Mix It Up
It also helps to keep your workouts fresh each day. Miles Cumming, head trainer at Burn Bootcamp, suggests alternating between total body, upper body, lower body and cardio routines. Combine that with a great music playlist that includes a variety of genres, and you’ll have a powerful workout.
Exercising in the same spot in your home or apartment may also dampen your motivation. For this, Cumming says to change your scenery. Get out of the house and go out to your backyard. Find a park or a green space and find a spot (away from other people) that will be your new designated workout area. Skip the park gym equipment, though—you don’t know who has been there lately.
Improvise
If you don’t have weights at home, no problem: Grab a couple jugs of water, laundry detergent, other types of cleaning supplies, a suitcase or even a pillowcase stuffed with miscellaneous objects. “The sky’s the limit. Just look around, and pick something up,” Cumming says.
A Perfect No-Equipment, At-Home Routine
Not sure where to start? Here’s one solid routine the trainers at Burn swear by, along with videos for perfect execution. The exercises here target every muscle in your body. Do these one right after the other, with short breaks in between, and you’ll get a solid cardio workout, too.
Complete 3 rounds with 1-minute breaks in between:
- 50 high knees
- 40 squats
- 30 sit-ups
- 20 push-ups (You can also modify it to do knee push-ups)
- 10 Superwoman lat pulls
Burn Naples focuses on 45-minute, high-intensity interval-training (HITT) exercise routines that combine cardio and strength-training for efficient and highly effective workouts. The gym—where the trainers also offer ongoing support, including nutritional counseling to help clients better achieve goals—is currently taking reservations for a 14-day free trial upon reopening. Sign up today.