The Covid-19 pandemic has made the world come to a standstill.  Many professionals have been forced to quarantine themselves and are practicing social distancing. Exercising and staying fit is one of the most important things to consider at a time like this. This is so that your body’s immune system is strong, and you stay healthy.  However, over the duration of the lockdown, many have found it difficult to maintain a proper running routine that incorporates adequate physical activity, or have they?  Slight adjustments to your normal routine will result in a viable workout.  Discussed below are just some of the main aspects of working out at home you should consider when finding the right work/life balance.

Workouts at home

There are many home workouts out there for both amateur and frequent runners. Regardless, all runners must consider two broad elements. These are the strengthening aspect of running and the cardiovascular aspect of it.

Strengthening Aspect

Long-distance running relies a lot on the muscles of the leg and your core. It is important that you make maximum use of this time to engage in strengthening muscle groups in the legs, such as the glutes, calves, and the hamstrings. For this, several leg workouts at home can be done without any sort of equipment These include exercises such as burpees, air squats, walking lunges, and single-leg lateral jumps, to name a few. These leg exercises at home can be mixed up with some other core exercises like planks, Russian twists, and bicycle kicks.  This combined routine makes it possible to create a circuit training workout that strengthens important muscle groups required for long-distance running. If you have resistance bands or simple weights, you could take it up a notch by adding this equipment into your plan.  However, it is the cardiovascular aspect of working out at home that is critical. A daily workout like this will only take around 30 minutes to one hour, which allows you to slot in a good workout at home even during a weekday.

Cardiovascular Aspect

The cardiovascular aspect of long-distance running is one of the more difficult things to maintain.  This leads many athletes to worry about drops in performance. However, there is nothing to worry about!  If you have a treadmill, an elliptical machine, or even a stationary bicycle, these machines can function as viable alternatives. But what if you do not have any of these machines? Well, there is an increasing trend of many people running various distances on their rooftops, in their driveways, and even on their own stairway to make sure that their cardio gains are not lost.  That is what you should do too! Of course, you may not build your cardiovascular fitness and this routine may be very boring. That said, you will certainly maintain your cardiovascular fitness! This makes it easier to return to peak performance once the pandemic is over. Running for at least 30-40 minutes two times a week, at a comfortable pace is more than enough for you to maintain a good base of fitness. 

Muscle soreness/leg pain

While adjusting to this new routine of yours, there might be a chance that your muscles and legs experience soreness or pain. This soreness is often caused as a result of strenuous exercise. If you do experience sore hamstrings after running or any leg pain after exercise, always make sure that you do a proper warm down and allow your legs and body to rest. This recovery can be further accelerated with Spryng SPRYNG’s patent-pending pneumatic compression helps relieve your sore muscles after running, or, for that matter, your sore muscles after any other workout.  SPRYNG’s compression helps flush out any lactic acid and other fluids from the muscles.  This allows for adequate muscle recovery on your calves and shin area. Additionally, if you do want to take care of your body as a whole, it is always important to stretch after every workout. Even if you do not engage in any sort of strengthening or running workout, stretching is highly recommended.

Stretching

Stretching is an important element to consider when you are working out from home/   It reduces the time taken for muscle recovery after running and also allows muscles to easily adapt to various other exercises. In other words, stretching keeps the muscles loose and flexible so that you can perform demanding workouts from home. The main stretches that should be done frequently are glute stretches, hamstring stretches, calf muscle stretches, and groin stretches.  By considering all this, your workouts do not necessarily have to be as long as it would normally be outdoors. This allows you to schedule a healthy routine, even in a lockdown situation!

In conclusion, maintaining a healthy workout routine whilst working from home is not that difficult.   It does not take much time and does not require any sort of special equipment.  You will only exert a little more than an hour when considering the main workout, the cool down, and the stretching. So, go ahead and find a routine that best works for you!