Staying Active Indoors

With winter upon us, and perhaps another variant of the Coronavirus causing going out in the world unnecessarily to be a risk, we must look to the four walls around us to work as our gymnasium.

• Create a routine: Some exercise is better than no exercise. It is recommended for most adults to get at least 30 minutes of exercise a day. While there are perhaps pros and cons to exercising at various times of the day, there is no “best” time in which to do so. What that means is it’s up to you to fit that time in your life, so you can choose when works best for you. And remember, three 10 minute blocks of exercise throughout the day is just as good as one 30 minute block.

• Find something you love: While running and cycling are hard to replicate inside without specialized equipment, there are still plenty of exercises you can do inside with little space and little to no equipment. Yoga, for example, takes only the space taken up by a yoga mat, roughly two by six feet. And there are plenty of calisthenic exercises, like pushups, squats, lunges, and more, that need nothing more than the weight and mechanics of your own body.

• Set small, measurable goals: Trying to bite off more than you can chew is setting yourself up for failure. By starting with a small goal, you can more easily reach it, and then build up to it. Jumping right in off the bat with the intention to do 30 minutes of exercise every day might be too much. Try for 10 minutes, or 30 minutes every other day, and work up from there.