If, like many people all over the world, you are currently stuck in lockdown in your home, then there are many ways in which this is likely affecting your life. One of the main areas of your life that might be struggling with all this is your health and fitness. It can be hard to keep this going strong during such strange times, especially if you are being restricted to staying in your home. However, as long as you are keen to remain fit and healthy, you can still do so, even if you are barely allowed outside. Let’s take a look at how you might do that, so you can carry on looking after yourself even during this troubled time.
Stress: The Main Enemy To Health
It is not an exaggeration to say that stress is one of the primary enemies to good health that you need to try and do something about. The bad news there is that, of course, we are all very stressed at this current time, with everything that is going on in the world. It is harder than ever for many people to be able to deal with and manage their stress levels, and that means that people are struggling to keep their health under control more generally too. However, there are always ways to manage your stress, as long as you know what you are doing.
The first thing is to learn a little mindfulness. This doesn’t mean tuning out from the problems of the world, but it does mean that you are able to pay attention to the contents of your mind with greater precision and honesty. That, in turn, generates an ability to create space around a thought or a feeling, and the wise, warrior-like ability to allow your thoughts to come and go exactly as they do without, as the Zen adage goes, ‘serving them tea’.
It’s important to bear in mind that you don’t need to follow a particular religion or spiritual tradition to practice this – and that good mindfulness is cohesive and conducive with still participating in the world as normal. But it will definitely help to reduce your stress, and that in turn will mean that you are going to be looking after your health much more directly during this time.
Exercising At Home
One of the main ways in which you can hope to keep stress at bay is by exercising, but of course this is something that we are all finding hard to do at this time. However, as long as you are determined to exercise, you will find that there are always ways to do so. In fact, now is probably a very good time to look into developing some kind of a regular exercise schedule and routine, so that you can really get to grips with your own health in this big way and hopefully find yourself exercising with much greater regularity.
The first step is to draw up a schedule, based on some realistic goal that you are looking to hit. That could be getting down to a certain weight, or it could be developing muscle, or it might just be that you want to look a certain way in the mirror. Whatever it might be, you need to make sure that you are clear on that goal, so that you can then work towards it much more honestly and vigorously. You will then want to draw up the schedule, which will need to be fairly easy to start with and then get gradually harder as time goes on. Think about what you hope to achieve in the first month, and work towards that to begin with. If it turns out to be too easy or too hard, you can always rectify it later – but having it down on paper is going to help get you started, and it’s something that you should definitely focus on for that reason.
You will then need to think about how you are going to practically approach exercising at the current time, what with being on lockdown and so on. The good news is that there are plenty of ways in which you can exercise at home. You can see out some fitness trainers online and do their exercises from home, for instance. This is one of the better methods, as it is a way of getting all the benefits of a personal trainer but without having to go anywhere. Alternatively, you could simply use YouTube videos and the like and follow along. There are some great videos out there, and while they are free, you are not going to get quite as much as you would from a personal trainer.
Remember that you should also be allowed outside in order to do one form of exercise in the day, so make sure that you make good use of it. If you run twice or thrice a week and walk the other days, that is still getting some good exercise – and then you could come home and do some HIIT in your living room to round it off with some cross-training. All of that should lead to a much more healthy way of being, helping to keep stress away and to keep you in shape and healthy too.
Keeping The Diet Healthy
If you are worried that this quarantine is going to be affecting your health – or if you have noticed that it already has – then you will want to make a point of trying to keep your diet healthy. If you have struggled to find the food you would normally find at the supermarket, you might have to compromise and be a little inventive, but there should always be something you can do here. You can also think about getting a veg box delivered from your local farm – many are doing this, and would be more than happy to oblige. That way you can support a local business during a tough time while also supporting your own attempt to be healthier.