It has been one-week since all non-essential businesses closed their doors here in New York City leaving everyone stuck at home. Because of this, there has been an uptick of online training programs and live fitness workouts flooding your feeds.

The amount of support and help trainers and physical therapists are offering right now is downright amazing. But with everyone offering various online training programs and live streaming fitness classes it can be a lot to take in.

You are probably trying to figure out how you are going to continue working out effectively while at home, and rightfully so, it is a major outlet for emotional and physical well-being.

Prior to this, you probably didn’t have a “real fitness plan.” Generally speaking, most people don’t. You may bounce around from fitness class to fitness class or follow some generic workout on the internet. This may be fine, but most of us don’t pay enough attention to our training volumes, intensities, recovery, or the fitness components targeted on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis (cardiovascular, strength, fat loss, mobility, etc…).

Here are some ground rules to follow ensure you are getting the most out of your workouts during this outbreak and beyond.

Rule 1: You do not need to do a HIIT style workout every single session

This may seem like the lazy, cop-out answer for someone who doesn’t like to exercise and it definitely can be. But we aren’t saying don’t work hard. We just want to make sure you are training intelligently and are accounting for recovery.

If every exercise is putting you on the floor, switch it up. Keep HIIT workouts to 1-2 times a week (depending on how many times a week you are training) and make sure you are focusing on your recovery. Eating well, sleeping well, and staying hydrated are low hanging fruits that we should all be crushing right now.

If you’re working from home or out of work; you now have time to cook, drink water, and to ensure you’re getting 7-9 hours of sleep per night. Don’t waste this precious time home (for those of us who have it) continuing the bad habits that we blame on our busy schedules.

Rule 2: Put a focus on mobility weekly

The number one reason our clients don’t perform their home exercise program is because “they don’t have time.” For those of us who are considered non-essential workers and working from home, this really isn’t an excuse anymore.

The best part is you don’t have to dedicate a lot of time to mobility. Consistently spending 5-15 minutes a day can go a long way to creating adaptation to the body.

Rule 3: Go for a walk

With states asking us to only leave our house for essential tasks we are still allowed to go out to get fresh air and exercise. Take advantage of this! Being confined to your home 24/7 is not good for you. Get up and go for a walk to get some air and sunshine in your life.

This may not seem like a workout to you, but walking does offer health benefits and it fits nicely into your routine as a recovery day and offers us a low-intensity, low-impact option for exercise.

Rule 4: Try something new

Humans are creatures of habit. With all of the free live streams out there, try a new form of fitness. Whether you take your first yoga class, pilates class, mobility class, or strength workout, doing something new can help you identify different ways of working out that you may find enjoyable. It also allows you to work on different areas of your fitness that you may have been neglecting (knowingly or not).

Rule 5: Own your bodyweight

We believe that everyone should own their bodyweight. Everyone should be able to perform bodyweight squats and lunges with ease. You should also be able to do push-ups, planks, bear crawls and a host of other bodyweight exercises with solid technique.

Rule 6: Follow a plan

For best results with any training program, following a singular plan is better than bouncing around all over the place. If you set goals and create an exercise program based around them big things can happen.

This is why we offer online training programs. These are 4-week training programs that are designed to consider all aspects of your health and fitness based on YOUR movement capacity and YOUR goals. Fill out the form below to inquire about more information on how we can help you reach your fitness goals.