Three fitness challenges to try at home

Self-isolation and social distancing can mean it’s easy to stop working out entirely, but your body and mind will hugely benefit from exercise.

If you’re stuck inside, either due to self-isolation or working from home because of coronavirus, maintaining your active retirement lifestyle can be tricky.

However, exercise might just be more important than ever. Not only will you need to keep your body moving to stay healthy while inside, but the endorphins rush from working out will do wonders for your mental health – particularly in these anxiety-inducing times.

Platinum Skies regularly arrange for community activities to take place at all retirement living sites, including chair based exercises, gentle yoga and Tai chi. Due to the governments lockdown measures, these classes have been unable to take place in the dedicated activity rooms and communal spaces. However, this has not stopped the Platinum Skies team arrange for online and social distance classes to take place.

Maybe your gym is limiting classes, or long runs outside are no longer an option; this is a great time to take on an at-home fitness challenge.

And just because you don’t have loads of fancy gym equipment doesn’t mean you can’t push yourself – which is what any of these feats will do…

1. Do 20 push-ups every day

If running countless laps of your living room doesn’t sound particularly appealing, there are plenty of other things you can do to keep your fitness up at home.

Challenge yourself to doing 20 push-ups a day – they don’t have to be all at once, but you can do a set whenever you feel like it. If you’re the kind of person who likes to achieve a certain number of steps a day, this is the perfect alternative to keep you moving when you’re stuck inside.

2. Improve on how many soft burpees you can do in two minutes

Most of us groan when made to do burpees, and while they might not get any easier, you can definitely improve how you do them. Burpees are the ultimate total body compound movement, targeting everything from your arms and chest to legs and core. Plus, they get your heart rate up and burn calories like you wouldn’t believe.

You can do burpees anywhere, so if you’re looking at a long stretch of staying at home, now is the perfect time to challenge yourself. Take just two minutes out of your day to do as many burpees as you can – concentrating on your form to prevent any injuries. As the days go on, try and beat your previous number, and see just how much fitter you get over time.

34. Hold a wall sit for as long as possible

Sit like you’re on a chair with your back against the wall, using your leg muscles to support you. Make sure your thighs are parallel to the floor and time how long you can stay in this position. Log your time, and try and improve it every day – it just goes to show, you don’t need to be in a gym class full of people to have a bit of healthy competition.