5 Exercises You Can Do At Home

So if you are pretty much anyone right now, you are stuck inside because of Covid-19, self-isolating and stuck at your laptop all week! Keeping active can prove difficult when you are stuck in such a small space, especially if you are used to going to the gym after work, or don't have any fitness equipment! Here are 5 of my favourite at home exercises for you to try out to keep yourself moving and most of all sane throughout this whole crazy experience!

1. Mountain Climbers

Mountain climbers are great exercise and actually work the whole body! While you are having to concentrate on keeping your core tight, you have to balance your weight on your arms and at the same time alternate your legs whilst driving the knees up towards the chest. Do these quickly for more than 30 seconds and you will realise how hard this is on the cardiovascular system too! It gets me so worn out!

Tip: Make sure to really adopt the 'belly button to spine approach' and tuck your core in. You don't want your stomach to sag down but to remain tight and braced.

2. Lunges

If you are looking to work on your lower body, then lunges are a fantastic way to go! They help to shape the glutes, whilst building leg definition at the same time! I like to do 10 on one leg, and then swap to the other leg in order for the one leg to fatigue. Another great way of doing these are walking lunges, where you simply lunge in a straight line swapping legs as you go! Holding your hands in front of you clasped can help with your balance, as if your anything like me then you will be wobbling all over the place!

Tip: Make sure your feet are facing forward and that you are keeping your knee's straight ahead rather than turning them in. Performing them nice and slow will ensure a safe and effective form.

3. Leg Lifts

Leg Lifts are a fab way to work those abdominal muscles! All you need to do, is lay on your back and place your hand's just underneath your hips (this lifts you up slightly but can also support the lower back). Bring your legs up into the air, and slowly lower them down until they are a few inches of the floor, then tense your abs and whilst keeping your legs straight, raise them back up! Doing 20 of these makes you feel like you will have abs popping out all over the place, they are hard!

Tip: Perform these slowly, especially when bringing your legs down, to get the best results. To make them harder, pause at the bottom of the rep for a few seconds before raising your legs again!

4. SLRDL - Single Leg, Russian Deadlift

Often you would perform these with a weight in your hand, however this is not essential and the exercise can in fact be performed without one! All you need to do, is choose one leg to start with, tilt your body forwards by hinging at the hips and then keeping your back straight lift the other leg behind. What you should feel, is a pull on the hamstring of the leg that is on the floor. Tensing the glute, bring yourself back up to standing whilst keeping a straight leg and your back straight with a tucked in core!

Tip: Slow and steady is the key to this exercise. If you perform the exercise too quickly you will lose your balance, so be sure to take your time!

5. Burpee's

When I have previously taught a class and I included Burpee's this is normally the time that people groan. Not many people enjoy them! They are however a fantastic all over exercise and great to include in a home workout! All you need to do is start in a press up position, jump your legs in and then jump up in the air. You then need to reverse this by jumping back down to the floor, and jumping the legs out back to the press up position. Once you are in a rhythm of them they are easy enough to keep doing, until you do too many and feel so tired! One of my favourite exercises and a great option for any HIIT workout too!

Tip: Make sure you jump all the way up into the air and also jump your legs all the way out when in the press up position. Performing the exercise fully will make sure that you always are achieving the most effective workout.

So that's it. My 5 top exercises to do at home whilst self-isolating! Give them a go and I hope you like them!

With Love,

Leanne xx