These easy Lockdown fitness tips can help you stay healthy and sane

Make a few small change to your routine, to reap greater fitness and wellness

Lockdown fitness tips
(Image credit: Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels)

Safeguarding your physical and mental wellness has always been important of course, but in 2020 it’s become an even more globally pressing priority. With restricted movement and advice to ‘stay at home’, it's easy to let fitness fall by the wayside. 

While we can’t control the world we live in, we can control our diet and exercise. And the best bit is you don’t have to go hammer and tongs with HIIT workouts. Here’s some simple ways to keep fit physically which in turn will help lift the mood.

Embrace NEAT

NEAT

That's neat.

(Image credit: Photo by Dominika Roseclay from Pexels)

Neat stands for ‘Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis’. Put simply, it’s a clever way to sneak exercise into your day without actually taking time out to schedule a workout. Some ways to incorporate those is by doing some squats while waiting for the kettle to boil, volunteer to take things upstairs, do some gardening, use adverts to do some push-ups, pace up and down the house when taking phone calls. 

All these add up and decreases the time we are sedentary.

Pay for online fitness classes

Trion

(Image credit: Trion)

With gyms closed, online fitness classes are all the rage. While there is a plethora of free workouts to choose from, we recommend paying for them. Why? Because let’s face it, we’re way more committed to doing something when money’s involved. Plus, it adds a personal element and helps you feel like you’re part of a wider community – albeit it a virtual one. It’s a boost to our mental health especially as human contact is currently limited.

Here are some of your favourite PT-powered fitness apps… 

Magnoos Pull-Up-Bar “Matador“ | Buy it for £59.97 at Amazon

Magnoos Pull-Up-Bar “Matador“ | <a href="https://target.georiot.com/Proxy.ashx?tsid=8434&GR_URL=https%3A%2F%2Famazon.co.uk%2FIREALIST-Menss-Pull-Up-Brown-Standard%2Fdp%2FB01L45V6HA%2F%3Ftag%3Dhawk-future-21%26ascsubtag%3Dhawk-custom-tracking-21" data-link-merchant="Amazon UK"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Buy it for £59.97 at Amazon
Ideal for rented apartments and for people who don't like drilling concrete walls, the Magnoos Matador pull up bar is sturdy and versatile for home bodyweight training. Pull ups are as efficient for building muscle as squats for the lower body, not to mention they also improve grip strength, build biceps and help you achieve that beautiful V-taper sooner.

Head out to nature’s gym

Man-made stuffy gyms may be closed during lockdown but nature’s gym is always open. A workout in the great outdoors has a plethora of benefits for the whole body and your mood. And there’s plenty you can do from hiking and walking to jogging and cycling. Shake up your training by exploring parks, sports fields and jogging trails and use benches, trees and steps to diversify your workouts.

Sabi Phagura
Freelance Writer

Sabi is a fitness enthusiast who’s been involved in some kind of sports since school. No sport is off-limits (apart from hockey after she was scarred for life when she lost a tooth) and she will try her hand at anything that involves moving. Sabi qualified as a fitness instructor 11 years ago and teaches kettlebells, spin, women’s weight lifting and cardio. As an NCTJ-trained journalist, she travels extensively to find fun ways to be fit and healthy around the globe. She is often found exploring new trails while listening to audiobooks, baking healthy treats and upcycling furniture in her spare time. She writes about general fitness, product reviews and offers her advice and tips on following a healthy lifestyle.