Fitness at home and on the go: Tips for a more active lifestyle
Modify your everyday lifestyle, take a break from worrying, work off the daily stress – with regular physical exercise you can do this. If you want to focus on your training without distraction and pursue your athletic goals according to your personal schedule, you can try out various types of training. Whether you love running yourself into the ground or hop on your bike every day or you prefer a good mix of home workouts depends on your personal training goals and preferences. If you are looking for new ideas to spice up your everyday routine, you can find valuable information and tips in our guides.
Every step counts: How to stay fit every day
With regular exercise and just a few changes in your daily routine, you can increase your fitness: A more active lifestyle and making a conscious effort to exercise more will improve your health considerably.
Everyday fitness tips
Regular exercise as part of your everyday routine will have a positive effect on your daily energy turnover and your health. Strenuous tasks such as cleaning, or gardening contribute considerably to the prevention of cardiovascular disease – an effect that regular physical exercise will boost even more. To stay fit every day, keep in mind the following tips:
Take the stairs as often as possible and avoid using elevators or escalators.
Choose more active ways to commute to work: If you have a short commute to work, then try walking or cycling. If you take public transport, then take an earlier stop and walk the remaining distance.
For small shopping trips and running errands, you can also leave the car behind for a change and walk. If you must take the car, then try and find a parking space a little further away from the entrance.
Make a point of spending time with friends more actively. Instead of merely going for a coffee, you could first choose to go on an enjoyable, long walk. Ideally, one of your friends will join you as a running or workout partner.
Use waiting periods for short training units: You can do squats while your coffee maker is running or jog on the spot while the kettle is boiling for your tea.
Carry your mugs one at a time from the kitchen to take a few more steps and keep moving.
Use a pedometer to track your daily movements. Take this as extra motivation to walk a few more steps than before.
If you work a lot at your desk, you should take active breaks from screen time. This will not only relax your eyes but also counteract back pain and tension.
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Bear in mind that...
If you live in a multi-family house and would like to workout at home, you should always take your neighbours into consideration. Many popular home workouts such as yoga or Pilates do not make any noise. You should avoid training routines that involve jumping or skipping or minimize the time for such exercises (a maximum of one hour may be considered acceptable) and always respect quiet times. Alternatively, move outside for these exercises. It is always helpful to speak to your neighbour in advance and decide together what arrangement would be suitable.
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Workout using everyday items
Do you feel like a spontaneous workout and have the time but no equipment? No problem – simple exercises often require no special equipment. A workout using everyday items is ideal when you don’t have access to proper fitness gear. If you carry out your exercises with good technique, then you will soon notice improvements in your fitness. Here, you can find a few examples of items that you can easily incorporate into your training:
Towel: Hold both ends of a towel with your arms apart while you carry out squats or lunges. This way your arms, shoulders and upper back need to maintain additional tension which strengthens these areas.
Water bottle: Use water bottles to replace dumbbells. You can also fill empty plastic water bottles with sand or small pebbles to make them heavier. This is how you can add an extra challenge to your full-body training at home.
Windowsill: Use windowsills or the edge of a table for push-ups to gradually progress with this exercise.
Backpack: Fill a backpack with water bottles or books until it is heavy enough to give you a challenge. Carry a backpack during exercises such as squats or lunges to increase intensity.
To enhance your fitness at home, you can turn all sorts of household items into fitness equipment. If you want to improve your strength and endurance long-term, then your muscles require new and stronger triggers at some point. You can easily do most of the exercises with greater loads. Others you can intensify by changing the position or extending the holding period.
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Make sure that...
It is normal that you would feel fatigued after a challenging training session – however, you should not be in pain. If an exercise is painful to you, you must stop immediately. If the pain continues, you should consult a doctor.
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Your own home gym: Fitness gear for at home
You can also set up your home gym without expensive fitness gear: Most home workouts only require minimal gear. Fitness equipment that makes your training more intensive and effective is ideally inexpensive, space-efficient, and versatile. In our article, you can read about what you might want to buy to get set up for working out at home, either temporarily or long-term. We also offer a collection of general tips for proper sportswear.
Home workouts: Effective training at home
Fitness at home is suitable for all sports enthusiasts who want to keep fit overall and be flexible in terms of where and when they work out. It doesn’t matter whether you work out at home as extra training or as an alternative to visiting a gym: You can choose from a wide range of training methods which allow you to set up full-body training at home. Our article tells you about the advantages of training at home and describes suitable training methods for different workout preferences and goals.
If you are looking for straight-forward inspiration for workouts at home, we have assembled two training plans for you:
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Bear in mind that...
For maximum training effects, proper execution of the exercises is just as important as discipline and endurance. If you train as a beginner at home, try to check your movements by yourself, e.g. in front of a mirror. Alternatively, you might be well advised to first seek the assistance of a professional fitness instructor to help you get started and correct your technique, if necessary, especially if you are new to working out or want to try out a new sport.
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Online fitness: Digital training assistants
Digitalisation has brought new opportunities for fitness training: Various gadgets such as fitness apps, digital fitness trackers or fitness-oriented video games offer new possibilities for keeping fit every day. Despite working out at home, you don’t necessarily need to miss out on professional training – many gyms or personal trainers now offer online training. Read our article to find out how online fitness can support you in reaching your training goals and what you should keep in mind when you choose a workout programme.
10 Trending sports: How to breathe new life into your workout routine
Regular exercise not only keeps you healthy and fit, but it makes you happy and is lots of fun. Once you are used to your workout routine and are looking for new challenges and triggers, there are always new sports you can try. To inspire you, we have listed 10 cool trending sports in our article, suitable for different workout types, which are guaranteed to minimise boredom.
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Sources:
https://greatist.com/move/quiet-home-workout#exercises
(accessed on 1st Nov 2021)
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-benefits-of-exercise#TOC_TITLE_HDR_8
(accessed on 1st Nov 2021)
https://www.everydayhealth.com/hs/weight-management-guide/easy-ways-to-sneak-exercise-into-your-day/
(accessed on 1st Nov 2021)
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