How to create a space to workout at home

With gyms closing, more people are working out at home more than ever, and that change isn’t easy. Even if you normally workout at home, it’s hard to find the motivation – I get it. You’re stuck inside all day, you’re tired from it all – it’s mentally draining and that will impact your physical health and abilities. But that doesn’t mean you can’t muster the motivation to get up and do it. You can.

Your first step is to get up. Find an area big enough for you. It doesn’t need to be much, just enough for you to get enough movement in. Now you’re up I want you to stretch and warm up. This will wake your body up and tell your body that you’re preparing for your workout. Take as long as you need. Do some air punches, some leg swings, some high knee walking on the spot. Just adjust yourself to the workout atmosphere.

Stick on some music, there are plenty of ready-made playlists on Spotify, or the radio, or on YouTube. If you don’t have one yourself that will suit your workout, just find one on there. This will help boost your mood and push through the workout. It also makes it fun and enjoyable.

If you’ve got weights – great, if you don’t – it doesn’t matter. You can use anything. Go and get a few books that you can use, or a milk carton, or some tinned cans. You can use absolutely anything. I struggled to find weights online due to them being sold out everywhere once lockdown was announced, but I’ve used whatever I have at home, from tinned chickpeas, to milk cartons, to a package I received that was sat on the table in front of me.

If you struggle with knowing what to do during your workout, plan before. There are plenty of free online workouts available for you. We have workouts available here at Fit for Life Youth for you from Monday through to Saturday. That’s seven days of the week. Take your pick. If you can’t make any, there are YouTube workouts available for you. If you want a short, quick and effective workout to fit in during your lunch break, we have some for you posted on Instagram – @fitforlifeyouth. The resources and support is there for you now more than ever, you just need to put the time in yourself.

Now that you’ve taken all of these factors into consideration, you need one more thing – yourself. You don’t need a perfect, extravagant home gym. Everything else is an extra add on and bonus to help you. Only you can put the work in. What are you waiting for?