Everything you need to know for a successful home workout

30 April 2020

A quick scroll of your Instagram feed reveals that social distancing, lockdown and gym closures mean that exercising from home is our new normality. The new legislation may be challenging but there are many opportunities for creating new routines, exercising and staying in shape. PT Academy thrives in challenging times so we’ve developed the ‘6 Steps To Home Workout Success’, a simple guide of what to do to keep fit at home;

1- Program Your Success

There is a wealth of free programs and routines available online. There’s also more in-depth, subscription-based programmes that target specific goals. These subscriptions tend to offer a wider variety of workouts which ensure you keep your routines varied, fun and fresh. PT Academy has an amazing online program design course that you can launch into immediately for free, helping you learn how to set up a personal program which is perfect for lockdown fitness. Click here for more details.

2- Tune In, Work Out: LIVE

Celebrities such as Joe Wicks have had a hand in keeping the public on track with their goals. Following the lockdown, Joe Wicks had over 2 million people tune in for his first workout. Our suggestion with live workouts is variety. As there is a wealth of influencers running these live workouts, mix up the sessions you take part in. PT Academy offers live sessions on Instagram every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8 am. We also recommend you check out the following online sessions on Instagram and Facebook: Street Gym and Barry’s Bootcamp.

3- Get Creative, Get In Shape

Lockdown means that it’s time to get your creative juices flowing. You may not have fancy gym equipment but your house has a variety of items that could aid your workout. Solid objects such as chairs are great for incline and decline press-ups. Footstools and coffee tables can also be used for reverse dips. The only limit is your imagination so get creative and get fit! If you happen to live on a farm, nothing beats a good old ‘Rocky’ workout, chasing chickens. We feel obliged to discourage the use of livestock in your workouts

4- A Helping Hand

The gyms might be closed but the personal trainers are still active. Due to the rise of success for apps like Zoom, HouseParty, FaceTime and Skype, many PT’s have taken to remote, one to one sessions. We have experienced some online sessions and were not one bit disappointed. This method of training doesn’t have to be geographically convenient either. You could select a PT from your hometown or even Australia, making this experience even more fun. The most important part is to ensure you have a reliable internet connection as you will not want to be disconnected in the middle of a session. We suggest a consultation with your trainer prior to a workout, to access the strength of your connection.

5- Mix it up

So we know you’re on lockdown but it doesn’t mean you can’t get a change of scenery. Training in different rooms of your house or even in your garden can help keep things fresh but can also help set yourself a little challenge and boost motivation. Create a fitness circuit and complete the circuit in each room of your home. Try to improve your time in each room, implement drop sets or use different types of furniture to complete your circuit. It may sound like a simple suggestion but a change to your environment is proven to enhance your overall performance.

6- Eyes On The Prize

We’ve all seen the great feats of strength, agility and athleticism that have gone viral on social media. Handstand press-ups, breathtaking spin kicks, clap press-ups and door frame pull-ups. These are all achievements that didn’t happen overnight. Practice makes perfect and now is the time to practice and gain perfection.

Lockdown has given us some unexpected time on our hands so use it wisely to attempt to achieve some of these impressive bodyweight exercises. We suggest that you browse YouTube and look at instructional videos and follow the advice and instructions given. Try to remain determined, ambitious and positive. To truly develop a skill, experts suggest doing something 30 times a day for 30 days.

Overall…yes, we are in lockdown but it doesn’t mean you should be locked out from achieving your fitness goals. There is a multitude of options available to you so take advantage of these tools and achieve your true potential. What are you waiting for?