Introduce these 5 small changes to make your home your favourite space to decompress and feel amazing with exercise
Lockdown has been really hard for most people. Being cooped up inside, often in isolation from our loved ones, has the potential to affect our physical health in the long term, and it has already had a terrible impact in many people's mental health, particularly women and young adults.
However, one of the rare positives from the pandemic has been the discovery that working out at home has the potential to bring a moment of joy and self-realisation in an environment that doesn't lend itself to much in terms of accomplishment and self-improvement. The benefits of doing a yoga class with mom or being able to fit a quick workout in between meetings means that 86.5% of people have decided to introduce at-home workouts to complement their future gym work (whether using an app, connected equipment, or simply using traditional workout gear at home).
A key to successfully introducing home workouts into our routine is having an inviting set-up that allows us to simply get into an old t-shirt and dive into a workout without thinking twice. So what does it take? Let's dive in:
1- Find the right amount of space
Most exercises which can be performed using only your own bodyweight or a basic set of equipment such as elastic bands or dumbbells will only require for you to free a space to your sides, behind and in front of you equivalent to the space you take up with your arms extended. Don't take out the measuring tape just yet though. Surprisingly, most people are about as tall as their extended arms are long, so if your height is 5'4" (1.65m), that's about the length you need for each imaginary "wall" in your home gym.
There are some exceptions to the rule above. Certain strength workouts (like push ups in a circle) might require a bit of extra space. And if you're new to exercises with a heavy technique component -like yoga or pilates-, you might want to allow for a bit of extra space around you for your own peace of mind. No one wants to knock a lamplight over when transitioning from a three-legged dog pose!
2- Try to squeeze your whole body in the video
Whoever your instructor is will thank you for this one, trust us. Sometimes, professionals feel like they bang on and on about the same things, so they stop doing it. But if there's one thing which has the potential to make the experience better for everyone is being able to see what the athlete (you!) is doing with their whole body. This requires stepping back further from the camera than you're perhaps used to from your work meetings or family calls.
The reason this is so important is because it will allow the professional to see if you're doing the movement correctly, helping you avoid injuries. For example, if you're doing a squat, it's important for the professional to see if how wide you're opening your feet and whether you're keeping a straight back.
If you feel like it's hard to see what the professional is demonstrating from a distance, you can switch between different views and make their video bigger than everyone else's.
At Krew we use our motion tracking tech to show professionals really clearly what your movement looks like. As you'll see from the video below, having you in full view makes a whole lot of difference.
3- Use a big screen whenever possible
Think about it, what would you rather do in the years to come: spend 20min every couple of days trying to get to the end of a video in a small phone screen, or see friends and family having fun in a big screen? For us it's definitely the latter. That's why whenever possible we try to do our Krew workouts using a laptop, or we even stream the content to our TVs.
We have written a little guide on how to best do this. If you want the summary, the easiest way to see your workout in the big screen is to plug your laptop to your TV using an HDMI cable. Alternatively, if you have a Chromecast device or an Apple TV, you can simply stream whatever you see in your phone or laptop directly to the TV over the air, without cables. We're more than happy to help you set up if you want extra help connecting your devices to your TV, just write to team@krew.live and we will assist you!
4- Eliminate distractions
Those messages can wait! And as much as we love our dogs, they can give their humans a little bit of time to concentrate and enjoy their workouts. Interrupted workouts are more common while working out from home than in the gym or studio, so put your phone in "Do not disturb" mode (tip: most phones are set up so that if someone calls you twice in a row when "Do not disturb" is on, the second call will get through, so you don't miss out on emergencies) and ask your flatmates or children to answer the door if anyone comes around.
5- Buy a mat
If you don't have a plush carpet, a mat is often the only investment you really need for a home workout, especially if you are doing exercises involving your core.
Make sure your mat is at least 1" thick. Mats with non-slippery surfaces are particularly useful when we get sweaty.
Sources:
Richard Kirwan
James Banks
Science Buddies,Sabine de Brabandere