Are you going through cabin fever? Feel like you are glued to the couch or your favourite chair? Sometimes our biggest barrier to get moving can be ourselves. However, it’s important to remember that a good workout can not only help you feel accomplished, but also it can help with your physical strength and your mental health.
The great thing about kinesiology exercises is that you can do them at home yourself and they don’t have to be boring. The following creative indoor kinesiology workouts can be done from the comfort of your home, and you can take them to the gym with you as well.
1. Get in Your 10,000 Steps
Our lifestyles cater to our lack of standing, for most, we sit all day at work, then come home to sit on the couch and watch our favourite show.
We know walking is good for us, for our heart, strengthens our bones, burns fat, tightens our glutes, quads, and calves. You can track your progress with an app, Fitbit, or a simple pedometer.
Here’s how you can get in your recommended 10,000 steps without leaving the house:
- Walk a few laps around the kitchen table while waiting for your food to heat up.
- When you must go upstairs, go back down, and walk back up again.
- When binging on your favourite show, pace the living room or walk a treadmill.
- As you’re brushing your teeth, walk around. You’ll get to do this twice a day.
- Working from home? Set an alarm for once every hour on your phone to get up for a 5-minute walk.
2. The Alphabet Game
How about a fitness activity for family game night? This is the alphabet game.
Every letter of the alphabet becomes a different movement or activity. Get everyone in the family to make suggestions for the selection process so everyone gets something they like doing. For example: A is for airplane yoga pose, B is for bouncing a ball, C is for crab walk.
Everyone is to spell their name or the person on your right picks the word you must spell though exercise. This is great for competitive families and/or where you have a variety of ages and fitness levels playing.
3. Card Shark
This can be another creative and fun way for the family to get fit together.
Grab a deck of cards, then assign an exercise to each suit. Select a card from the deck, the number of reps you must do is the number on the card. Everyone takes turns until you complete the deck.
4. Create Your Own HIIT Workout
HIIT stands for high-intensity interval training. This increasingly popular workout typically involves 3-4 exercises for 8-12 repetitions, 3 times in a row without a rest.
Here’s an example of a 10-minute, any fitness level, HIIT workout:
- 30 seconds for each: squats, push-ups, lunges, plank
- Low intensity: ½ squat, counter or wall push-ups, on a step- step up and step down, plank from knees. Start off with 20 seconds instead of 30.
- High intensity: jump squats, tricep push-ups (elbows in), shoulder tap planks. 45 seconds instead of 30.
- 1-minute active rest
- Low intensity: march in place
- High intensity: jog in place or run up and down stairs
- Repeat 3-4 rounds
If you have extra energy, super-set the below workout immediately after finishing the one above for a full body workout, which in as little as 15 minutes incorporates cardio, strength, and power.
- Squat jumps or tuck jumps
- Mountain climbers
- Skater lunge jumps
5. HIIT Jump Rope Circuit
This routine should take about 8 minutes to complete. If you’re feeling bold and energetic enough, you can do it a second time.
- 1 minute jumping
- 30 seconds of push-ups
- 1 minute of backward jumping
- 30 seconds of triceps chair dips
- 1 minute of skip jumping (high knees)
- 30 seconds of quats
- 30 seconds of jumping on your left leg
- 30 seconds of mountain climbers
- 30 seconds jumping on your right leg
- 30 seconds of bicycle crunches
- 1 minute of butt kick jumping
- 30 seconds of flutter kicks
6. Take on a Plank Challenge
Are your friends and family stuck at home like you are? How about a virtual plank challenge?
Using Skype, Zoom, or FaceTime to meet with your plank challengers, agree on a time of day that works for all of you. To make it more entertaining and get a few laughs, come up with creative places to plank, like your kitchen table (be aware of weight limits and do not try this on glass) or next to your family pet.
On day one, start with a 10-second plank. On day two, increase the plank time by another 10 seconds, and each day add 10 more seconds. By the end of the week you may be going over a minute. Set your challenge to last between a couple of weeks to a full month depending on your fitness level.
By starting small, you build up your tolerance. For those who can’t do full planks, you can do knee planks instead. If you’re feeling ambitious, you can add side planks, and so on.
7. Body Weight Exercises
It is as simple as it sounds. You’ve got a body, and these will help tone you from your shoulders to your calves. They help improve your balance, flexibility, and strength. Make sure you’ve got your water bottle nearby to stay hydrated.
Pick 3 of the exercises below and do 5-10 reps of each:
- Push-ups
- Mountain climbers
- High knees
- Jumping jacks
- Burpees
- Planks
- Side planks
- Wall sits
- Lunges
- Squats
- Calf raises
- Tricep dips
- Arm circles
- Flutter kicks
- Crunches
- Bicycle crunches
8. Next Level Chores
Take your chores to the next level by incorporating your exercise routine within them.
Laundry: When you go to switch the laundry from your washer to dryer, first do 5 squats. 5 more squats once you close your dryer. Take extra trips when you put away your laundry—grab your towels and put them away, then grab your kids’ clothes, and put those away and keep going.
Dishes: Try doing 10-20 calf raises while you’re washing the dishes. Get in those extra steps while you’re drying (hand drying), grab a dish, get it dry, then put it away. For the most steps do one at a time. If you’ve got a dishwasher, when loading, do a squat between putting each dish inside. When unloading, do a calf raise for each dish.
Vacuuming: Your vacuum cleaner becomes your machine for steps. To ensure maximum possible, do every room you can, burning as many as 90 calories. As you pull the vacuum back and forth, you’ll feel it in your arms as well.
Sweeping and Mopping: While you sweep and mop those tile and hardwood floors pull your abs in tightly. While working those arms as well, you can burn over 200 calories while doing this chore.
9. Living Room Ninja Warrior
This is your chance to be a ninja warrior, like the TV show, only scaled down to your personal fitness level and safety. Create an obstacle course in your living room and/or other parts of the house.
Stairs are great for cardio, and tote bags can be used for bicep curls. Get creative and keep your safety in mind.
This course should include targeting all areas of your body, and ensuring there’s cardio too.
10. Virtual Workouts
If you can afford to invest in a stationary bike or turbo trainer, treadmill, or roller, you can download virtual running and cycling apps. Enjoy outdoor, overseas views without leaving your living room.
Or if you’re wanting simple workouts, without a machine, we offer online kinesiology sessions with our practicing kinesiologists. Through our personal training, we can create a personalized kinesiology workout just for you and show you exactly how to do each movement.
Bonus: Book a Kinesiology Session
At Nova Active Rehab, we offer in-person kinesiology sessions as well as over Zoom (online). If you need some clarification on some of these creative exercises or you’d like to have a more personalized kinesiology workout and learn from a professional, feel free to book a session with us by:
- Booking online here: https://novaactiverehab.janeapp.com
- Calling us at 604-783-8300
- Emailing us at info@novaactiverehab.com
We are here for your kinesiology needs. Don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have regarding kinesiology or these exercises.
