How to Exercise at Home During Coronavirus Outbreak

There are many reasons you may want to avoid the gym. With the recent coronavirus pandemic, many people are concerned about going to the gym, while others simply want to maintain an exercise regime while they may have limited ability to travel outside their homes.

What’s more difficult is figuring out what to do. How do you set up an effective home workout? What do you do if you don’t have much equipment or space? The following series takes you through a variety of choices for exercising at home, whether you have nothing but your own body and a pair of shoes or a workout room tricked out with every piece of equipment imaginable.

Bodyweight Exercise

Option 1: Bodyweight Exercises — No Equipment Needed

The simplest way to work out at home is to use your own body. There are a variety of effective bodyweight exercises that can help you build strength, endurance and burn calories. And by circuit training (going from one exercise to the next, without little or no rest), you keep your heart rate up, burn more calories and get the most out of your exercise time.

How to:

1. Choose your workout — Cardio, strength training or a mixture of both.
2. Choose 10 different exercises — For cardio, focus on exercises with different levels of intensity. For example, you might alternate a high-intensity exercise (such as jumping jacks or burpees) with an easier move (such as marching in place). For strength training, choose pushes, pulls, front-of-leg, back-of-leg, and core movements, such as squats, lunges, pushups, and dips. Exercise ideas: Step by Step Cardio Exercises, Step by Step Bodyweight Exercises.
3. Choose the length of each exercise — Beginners might start with 10-30 seconds or 8-16 reps, while intermediate or advanced exercisers might go for 60-90 seconds or 20 or more reps.
4. Get Ready — Set up a timer or use a stopwatch, turn on some music or your favorite TV show and start with a warm-up.
5. The Workout — Do 1 circuit if you’re a beginner or short on time. Do 2-5 circuits for a more intense workout.

Sample Cardio Circuit Workout (No Equipment)

• 1 min: March in place — Lift the knees high and swing the arms.
• 1 min: Jog in place, pushing the arms overhead.
• 1 min: High knees.
• 1 min: Slow, controlled Plyo-jacks.
• 1 min: Regular jumping jacks.
• 1 min: March in place.
• 1 min: Skaters.
• 1 min: Mountain climbers.
• 1 min: High knees.
• 1 min: March in place.

Sample Strength Circuit Training (No equipment)

• 1 min: March in place to warm up.
• Squats — 20 reps.
• Reverse lunges — 12 reps on each leg.
• Pushups (on the knees or toes) — 10-12 reps.
• Dips — 10-12 reps.
• Walking lunge with arms overhead — 10-12 reps.
• Lateral leg lifts.
• Planks.
• Glute bridge.
• Back extensions.