Many of us, myself included, have now experienced, or will experience at some point in the future, the dreaded 5 day “Covid isolation”. Although it is necessary to remain isolated within your home and to stay away from others, it is also important to stay active (especially if you aren’t the one experiencing any covid related symptoms). Being “stuck at home” can easily become depressing and have detrimental effects on both your physical and mental health, so you want to be sure that you exercise during this time.
Below are some exercises that you can do in the confines of your home without the need for any expensive equipment. The exercises I have chosen are great core and lower extremity exercises that can be helpful for many people including those experiencing low back pain, hip pain, or those that just want to get or keep “in shape”. It is important to note however, that these exercises might not be suitable for everyone, so ensure that these are safe for you to do first!
The walking lunge: a great glute, quad and core exercise, never mind the dynamic balance component. It is important not to lunge straight forward, but instead down, reduce any torsional moments through the knees, and keep a good upright posture.
The front plank: one of my favourite core exercises. Line elbows up under your shoulders, come up onto your toes and keep your spine in a neutral position. This can be done either with longer duration holds or with higher repetitions.
The bird dog: another great core stability exercise. Make sure your knees are under your hips, hands under your shoulders, engage that core and raise arm straight out in front and leg straight out behind. Ensure that you keep that neutral spine.
The side lunge: once again working quads, glutes (maybe a bit more medius in this case) and core. Keep a good upright posture, take a side step bending at the hips while having your opposite leg straight out to the side. Try thinking about sticking your bum out as you do the squat portion of this exercise.
Side plank: another greater core, oblique muscle group, and glute medius exercise. Your body should be in one straight line (on your side), elbow down on the ground, engage that core and try to lift your pelvis and leg up off the ground. The points of contact should be your forearm and your foot. You can hold this for longer or do more repetitions.
These are just 5 examples of body weight exercises that can be beneficial to many people. Some of these might be a bit too advanced for some people either due to injuries or deconditioning, so once again if it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it! If you, or anyone you know is suffering from an injury and would like to know what you can do to help yourself (and what we can do to help you) please don’t hesitate to reach out and contact us!