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Home Workout Rules To Follow: A Fitness Trainer’s Opinion
Online fitness trainer Katya Weeks tells Wday readers how to play sports during quarantine without hurting yourself.
At home, it is easy to maintain harmony. For training, you will need a mat, a good mood, as well as knowledge about what kind of load to choose and how to do the exercises correctly.
We assess our health and choose the type of load
If you have ever studied video tutorials, then you paid attention to the comment: “Before class, consult a doctor.” This warning is intended to help you choose your workout wisely.
To begin with, objectively assess your health in order to understand whether loads are allowed for you, even with your own weight. And if pain occurs during classes, it is advisable to undergo an examination in order to establish the cause of its appearance. But in general, a chronic disease (outside the period of exacerbation, of course) is not a reason to give yourself indulgences. It is enough to know what you are allowed and what is prohibited.
With a hernia in the lower backthat does not give sharp pains, eliminate shock loading, do not use weights and do everything at a slow pace. Make sure that there is no obvious deflection in the lower back.
For arthritis / arthrosis of the knee joints minimize the stress on the joints, choose an average pace, do exercises in half the amplitude without jerking and without jumping. Pay special attention to your knees and do what the coach says. By the way, for any problems with joints and “clamps” in the body, Pilates, yoga, stretching will improve mobility and gently strengthen the body.
If you are overweight (from 10 kg above the norm), exclude running and jumping, do a high-quality warm-up (5-7 minutes) and do everything at a comfortable pace.
Now think about the last time you blew the dust off the dumbbells or removed the dry laundry from the treadmill. For beginners and people who have had a long break in class, do not immediately load yourself with intense workouts, otherwise all ardor will fade away after the first pain in the buttocks. Learn basic bodyweight exercises: squats, push-ups, lunges, planks. And perform them in a multi-repetitive mode (for a start 10-12 times for 2-3 sets). Your task is to accustom your body to the load and start moving safely.
If you often go to the gym and at home you want to spend extra calories, strengthen the heart and respiratory system, cardio load will help: aerobics, dancing, steps in different directions, jumping, jumping rope, running in place, exercises at a low pace. Your goal is to maintain the fitness you have acquired in the gym at home and, if possible, reproduce the workouts you are used to.
Exercise Technique
It doesn’t matter if you have experience in home fitness or not, it is better to start classes with an online trainer or from videos. Only thanks to instructions and error corrections (if you practice via video link individually with a trainer) can you achieve the correct execution technique. And if it is not there, there will be no result.
By the way, in some cases, due to mistakes in execution, you can completely harm yourself: provoke back pain or stretch your muscles. Therefore, there are certain rules to be followed.
Align body: head, neck, chest, pelvis, feet – everything is in one line. For example, when squatting, the body leans forward, but the head, neck, thoracic region, lower back, and sacrum remain in the same line.
Apply even pressure to the anchor points. It is important to distribute the load equally throughout the body. For example, when pushing up from the knees, it is worth pushing the body out with the base of the palm and the tips of the fingers, knees, legs and feet, that is, the pressure of each point of support on the mat is the same, then the target muscles work.
Remember the press. It is important that the back does not suffer, and the deep muscles of the trunk are strengthened correctly. To do this, you need to master diaphragmatic breathing and tighten your abdominal muscles.
With this approach, you can perform any exercise and not be afraid to harm yourself.
Frequency of classes
The next problem that arises for people who study at home is an uneven schedule: either classes every day, then a break for a week. It is advisable to hang the schedule on the wall and follow it every day. General recommendations are as follows.
Strength or high-intensity training (heart rate rises greatly) do it three times a week for 25-50 minutes. You need to give yourself three days off from an intense workout. If you are doing two days in a row, then the next two days are rest.
Low-intensity cardio (heart rate does not rise high) do anytime if the session takes 10-30 minutes. If longer, consider it an alternative to strength training, after which you need to give yourself, depending on the schedule, one or two days off.
Pilates or yoga you can do it every day: they bring the body into balance, relax and strengthen it at the same time.
If you need stretching, then it can be performed at least one hour after an increased load or the next day.
Memo: what to do before starting the lesson
1. Ventilate the room. More oxygen in the room means less dizziness during exercise and higher energy levels.
2. Prepare the water. The more often you drink between exercises, the better your circulation. Excess fluid will be excreted from the body and you will burn calories.
3. Prepare a rug or towel. This is important for better coordination of movements and body stability. It also reduces discomfort when leaning on your knees, elbows, and other parts of your body.
4. Put on a comfortable shape. Clothing should not hinder movement, so it is better to choose it according to your figure. Sneakers are essential when your workout is going to be intense. And if you’re new to fitness, running shoes will help you stay stable.
5. Find a spot in front of a large mirror. This makes it much easier to control your technique and keep you motivated.