Regular exercise has a multitude of physical and mental benefits. It increases your energy levels while decreasing your risk of chronic illness. It’ll even make you happier. With quarantine and social distancing considerations, it is harder to exercise in the traditional way- gyms are closed, and group sports aren’t encouraged. Unless you like running, it can be hard to motivate yourself to stay active from home, or find workouts that suit you. Hampton Roads Orthopaedics Spine & Sports Medicine shares some workouts you can do from home that will improve your health.
HIGH IMPACT VS. LOW IMPACT
A high impact workout traditionally involves both feet leaving the ground at the same time. Running, jumping, and burpees are some examples of high impact exercises. These tend to pose a greater challenge and burn more calories, but are also more difficult on the body. If you have joint pain, especially in your knees, or you don’t want to disturb your neighbors, you may want to opt for a low impact workout when you exercise at home instead. Yoga, pilates, and cycling are low impact because there is no jumping involved.
WORKOUTS FOR BONE HEALTH
Bones, just like muscles, are live tissue that becomes stronger with physical exercise. Keeping bones healthy is important to prevent osteoporosis and other bone problems later in life. Resistance training is the best way to improve bone health. Resistance exercises are characterized by the body fighting against some kind of resistance. This can be resistance from gravity, which is the case in hiking and climbing stairs. It can also be resistance from weight lifting. If you don’t have weights at home, you can use pans, water bottles, or heavy books to strengthen your bones.
WORKOUTS FOR CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH
Aerobic exercise and strength training are both great for heart health and circulation. Aerobics include cardio exercise like running, brisk walking, swimming, and dancing. You can find cardio routines online that are specifically designed to be done at home. These all increase your heart rate for a longer period of time, which strengthens the heart. Strength training helps you lose fat, a risk factor for cardiac disease, and gain lean muscle mass, which increases metabolism. Combining both resistance training and aerobic exercises into your schedule is ideal for heart health.
There are plenty of ways to perform aerobic exercise and strength training at home. Follow along with hundreds of pilates or yoga videos on YouTube, or use household items as weights for lifting. No matter what you do to stay active, you’ll be strengthening your body and improving your fitness.
Hampton Roads Orthopaedics Spine & Sports Medicine offers educational tools and guidance to help you find balance with your health and wellness routines. If you’ve got questions about bone health, exercise, or general orthopaedic needs, contact us! We are always happy to help!
