5 Keys to Exercise at Home During the Coronavirus Isolation

Staying at home, as well as exercising at home, are great ways to contribute to your own health and the health of other people. Here are some recommendations for this quarantine season.

Coronavirus has already spread around the world, and most of the affected countries have already taken steps to try and prevent this. One of the preventive actions during the coronavirus outbreak is isolation; to mitigate the effects of this quarantine, experts recommend we avoid going to the gym and work out at home instead.

Isolation or quarantine isn’t a bad joke. It really is necessary to abide by the norms and recommendations that each local government has issued.

Staying at home can be a difficult experience for many. For this reason, exercising at home is recommended as an option to distract yourself during the quarantine, while allowing you to stay in good physical shape.

Why take isolation measures for the coronavirus?

It’s important to know what the coronavirus is to understand the world situation a bit better. According to the Spanish Ministry of Health, “coronaviruses are a family of viruses that normally only affect animals, although they can sometimes be transmitted to people”.

This same source adds: “SARS-CoV-2 is a new type of coronavirus first detected in December 2019. This new virus can affect people and cause COVID-19 disease.”

The most common symptoms are:

• Fever.
• Cough.
• Shortness of breath.

The symptoms are usually mild, which is why we must be extra careful. Noting its fast expansion around the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Coronavirus a pandemic, and that’s the main reason for isolation.

Keys to exercising at home during the coronavirus isolation

Apart from isolation, some government authorities have also taken the measure of closing gyms. This leaves us with only one option: working out at home.

To deal with the situation regarding the coronavirus, here are some useful tips. We hope you can put them into practice!

A proper warm-up

To work out at home, you still need to warm up properly. Spending approximately 15 minutes of warming up helps to prevent muscle injury or cardiovascular problems.

The best option is to perform dynamic movements of specific muscle segments, as well as the surrounding joints.

Use plyometrics

Even if you’re not an elite athlete, starting with the basics of plyometrics is an excellent key to work out at home. In general terms, plyometrics are about using jumping exercises. These types of movements contribute to improving the strength and endurance of different muscle groups.

You can either do dynamic or passive jumps. For dynamic jumps, you should move at least 30 to 60 cm away from your starting point. For passive jumps, stay in the same place and avoid any displacement.

Don’t forget to stay hydrated during the coronavirus isolation

Even though we’re not training outdoors, in the sunlight or with all the machines that make us sweat endlessly in the gym, we also lose electrolytes and mineral salts when working out at home.

Working out at home can definitely cause us to be dehydrated. It may be to a lesser extent than in other settings, but it still happens. That’s why one of the tips revolves around replenishing these nutrients in the appropriate way.

Consuming drinks with high mineral content is a great way to stay hydrated. It’s important to avoid any type of decompensation when exercising at home.

Disinfect your workout equipment during the coronavirus isolation period

Most home workout routines don’t require equipment. However, items such as mats, dumbbells or anything similar can be very helpful.

In case you use any of those tools, it’s very important to disinfect them. The goal isn’t to spread panic or paranoia, but to prevent the spread of viruses and bacteria. Using antibacterials or similar cleaning products will help us with this important step.

Resting after a workout

Home workouts are an alternative to avoid abandoning healthy habits and lifestyles. Changing the environment in which we exercise doesn’t mean that our bodies will also change drastically. Resting after a workout is something that we also have to do at home, just as we do at the gym.

The goal is to avoid the build-up of lactic acid in our muscles (excessive fatigue) and the appearance of muscle cramps.

In summary, the isolation due to coronavirus shouldn’t be a reason to abandon habits or customs that we’ve previously built. Therefore, exercising at home with the help of the tips we discussed here will be a great help to get through this situation while we keep moving.