Following multiple lockdowns and restrictions placed upon us over the last two years due to the severity of lockdown, the world is beginning to open back up slowly. It’s a great time to get outdoors, stretch your legs and breath fresh air again. It’s time to enjoy our favourite hobbies, meet friends and family as often as possible and travel. The things you may have been putting off over the last five years are now more important than ever before. There’s no need to wait for 31st December to make resolutions. Today is a new day and a blank canvas.
Make a promise to yourself to change one thing that you feel has been holding you back or making you unhappy. This could be competing in sport at a decent level or just for fun, improving your strike rate when making predictions at the best sports betting sites in Canada, watching your favourite team in action, soaking up the atmosphere or enjoying a tour of the stadium. Perhaps you’re not sports-minded. You could join a gym, start a diet, and stick to it. The possibilities are endless, and nothing is stopping you from getting started right now.
If you do have the aim of getting fit, building lean muscle, shedding unwanted lbs and enjoying the increased mood and levels of confidence that comes from fitness, you may have thought about signing up for a local gym. Perhaps, you have one in mind and are about to pay the first month’s subscription, or maybe you are a complete newbie without any experience of the exercise industry and aren’t sure where to start. That’s where this article comes in handy.
Gyms can be expensive to join, and once you are there, you may feel uncomfortable or even anxious. The great thing about building fitness is – and the fitness industry won’t tell you this – you don’t need to join a gym to get in shape. There are a few basic but effective exercises you can do from home that are either free or easily affordable to all.
Here are my three favourite workout routines that will help you achieve the results you are after, taking the lbs off your waistline while keeping the pounds in your bank account.
Walking
You may have noticed that distance running has become popular during the lockdown, with people taking to the streets to jog out the miles. That is a great workout, and all you really need is a comfortable pair of shoes. If you are new to fitness, you have to start somewhere, and a 5-mile run, isn’t it. Begin by walking, either yourself, with a dog, a friend or even the children. Set aside the time every day to enjoy a light to moderate walk. You’ll quickly feel yourself getting fitter.
When you do, you can continue to ramp up the distance or up the difficulty levels. Throw in a hill or some stairs to really work those thighs and burn calories. If you have the goal of running a certain distance – 5k, for example – you can walk it at first, then add in a few short runs, all the time increasing the time you spend jogging. The aim here is to get to a point where you are jogging the entire 5k or jogging more than you’re walking.
Yoga
You don’t need much to get started doing yoga. Get yourself an inexpensive yoga mat online or find a comfortable place in your home. There are hundreds of online yoga tutorial videos that are free to watch and are designed for beginners.
There are even kids yoga videos you can begin with or invite your children, grandchildren, nieces, or nephews to enjoy. Yoga is great for improving your posture, flexibility, and even mental health. Give it a try today.
Circuits
Clear some space in your home or garden and enjoy a round of circuits. You can work for three-minute rounds, changing exercise every 30 seconds, or you can do less, depending on your current fitness. This is a fantastic way to get fit fast with the interval training burning through the unwanted weight while building lean muscles that are easy on the eye but also serve a purpose.
When you begin to feel the circuits getting slightly easier, you can add small weights to continue testing yourself. This can be anything from a tin of beans to hand weights.
Alicia Saville did her degree in psychology at the University of Edinburgh. She is interested in mental health, wellness, and lifestyle.
