Workout At Home: 18 Exercises That’ll Help You Stay Fit During Lockdown

“Overpower. Overtake. Overcome,” world-class tennis player Serena Williams said once. Have you ever thought of what makes these sports players emotionally and physically strong? Besides, of course, constantly practising their game, a dedicated workout regime is what keeps them going. 

Irrespective of whether you are an athlete or not, it is extremely important to be fit and regular exercising is the best way to do so. It not only changes your body but it also changes your mind, your attitude, and uplifts your mood. And it’s only a misconception that one must exercise only when they wish to lose weight. Working out is a way of life as it helps you rejuvenate, process things and is extremely important for your overall mental and physical wellbeing. 

Now that we are cooped inside our houses owing to the lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, many have started taking fitness and health more seriously. And now that there’s hardly any scope to move around except your living room to bedroom, we do want to stay fit. And working out regularly is the only way we can do that. Bollywood celebrities too are giving us some major inspiration by sharing their home workout routines on social media, we aren’t complaining at all. And in case you thought you can only work out in a gym, we’ve got you a complete guide to the best, no-equipment exercises you can do at home. Because even after the lockdown gets lifted, we don’t know how safe it would be to go and work out there. For the time being, exercising at home is the best option we have.

Workout At Home For Beginners

Exercising for the first time and don’t really know how it works? Don’t worry. As a beginner, it is important to not push yourself too much and do the exercises at your own pace. Work out for a duration of 20-30 mins to start with. Here are some best suited lower body, upper body and full body exercises for beginners at home and all you need to do these exercises is your bodyweight.

• Lower body exercises
• Exercises for upper body
• Exercises for full-body toning

Lower body exercises

At-home workout for women is extremely important. I’ve listed three exercises you can do to strengthen your lower body. 

Do 15-20 reps for each exercise. Take a 10-second rest before you move on to your next move. You can repeat the lower, upper or full body exercises thrice, whichever you choose to do.

•  Bodyweight squats

 How to perform:

 

Benefits: Body weight squats help increase strength in your leg muscles, improve hip mobility and eventually lead to the burning of calories.

•  Walking lunges 

How to perform:

Benefits: Lunges improve core stability, strengthen your back, improve body balance, and help sculpt and tone your glutes. 

•  Side Lunges

How to perform:

Benefits: Side lunges improve your body balance, stability, and strength. They target your inner and outer thighs.

Exercises for upper body

Many people want to learn how to workout at home because they wish to increase their stamina and strengthen their core by doing different upper body exercises. 

• Push ups 

How to perform:

Benefits: A great exercise for building strength in your upper body, push ups work the triceps, pectoral muscles, and shoulders. Begin with doing 10 push ups every day.

• Plank tap 

How to perform:

Benefits: The plank shoulder tap strengthens your core, arms, wrists and shoulders. It also helps to reduce lower back pain. Begin with 30 seconds of plank tap.

Exercises for full-body toning

Any form of workout at home is incomplete without going for a full-body routine. Here is an at-home workout for women that can do wonders to your body.

• Plank 

How to perform:

Benefits: This exercise strengthens your core, builds up strength in your arms, shoulders and wrists, heightens metabolism and improves overall balance of the body. Start with holding the plank for 15 seconds, try to do it twice during your workout

• Jumping jacks

How to perform:

Benefits: Jumping jacks is a perfect cardio exercise to burn those calories. It uses oxygen to meet the energy demands and, therefore, results in the stimulation of your heart muscles. Start with doing 30 reps and two sets.

Remember to do some cool-down stretches after your workout. Post-workout stretches help muscles to get back to the original length and reduces soreness.

Advanced Workout At Home

 

If you’ve already been working out, here are a few exercises that you can do regularly at home. You can either start by targeting a specific area every day as segmented below or you can also go for full body workouts.

• Exercises for toned abs
• Exercises to tone your legs
• Exercises for toned arms
• Exercises for lower back

Exercises for toned abs

 

Who doesn’t wish to have flat abs? We all do! Here is the perfect workout at home that you should opt for to burn stubborn belly fat.

• Mountain climbers

The best part about mountain climbers is that they can be done anywhere and you don’t need any equipment to perform this move. The exercise helps tone your abs as well as target your triceps, strengthens your legs and glutes too. 

Duration: 60 secs

How to perform:

• Crunches

Crunches are the most common form of exercise as far as toning your abdominal muscles is concerned. However, many end up getting confused between sit-ups and crunches. So here’s the correct way to perform crunches.

Duration: 45 secs

How to perform:

• Straight Leg Crunches

This exercise focuses on strengthening and toning abdominal muscles just like the classic crunches. However, it is believed to have more benefits as opposed to regular crunches. It helps you tone your belly and creates a foundation towards getting those abs! The vertical leg lift while doing these crunches can also strengthen your lower abdominal muscles.

 It is also relatively easy to perform for those who have difficulty in lifting their upper body while doing crunches. 

Duration: 45 secs

How to perform:

• Flutter kicks

This exercise looks extremely easy, but it’s quite intense. It not just works on toning your abdominal muscles, but also reshapes and tones all of your lower body. Flutter kicks help you shed cellulite from three different areas: belly, hips, and thighs. 

Duration: 30 secs

How to perform:

Exercises to tone your legs

 

It is very important to keep your legs healthy and I’ve listed some exercises that’ll help you do so.

• Outer and inner thigh kicks

All you require for this exercise is a chair to maintain balance and you’ll feel the burn in your thighs and legs when you perform outer and inner thigh kicks.

Duration: Do 4 sets of 10 reps each.

How to perform:

• Boat pose

Often considered as just an exercise to tone your abs, boat pose is also very helpful for challenging hip flexors and building strength in your legs. It also stimulates kidneys and intestines, which further results in improving digestion. 

Duration: 30 secs

How to perform:

Exercises for toned arms

 

All of us wish to have toned and strong arms. But we do need to put in some effort for that. Here’s a workout at home regime that’ll help you.

• Up-down plank

One of the most challenging exercises, up-down planks help you strengthen your core, arms, wrists, and shoulders. Woah! That’s a lot of target areas for just one exercise! One of the long term benefits of this exercise is that it helps improve your posture and also boosts weight loss.

Duration: 45 secs

How to perform:

 

• Wall push-up

This exercise is similar to doing push ups, except you are not doing them on the ground but against the wall. What makes this exercise more challenging and effective is that it focuses on your chest along with toning your arms and shoulders, and improves your body balance.

Duration: 60 secs

How to perform:

 

• Criss-cross arms

There are three different versions of this exercise- horizontal, vertical and palms up. This exercise will be a break from your rigorous workout routine. The rotation will work wonders for your shoulder blades and for toning your arms. 

Duration: 90 secs

How to perform:

Exercises for lower back

 

Most women complain of back pain and therefore, these exercises should become a part of your routine as a fight against lower back issues.

• Pelvic tilt

This is a very good exercise for you to get rid of lower back pain and strengthen your spine. Recommended by a lot of physiotherapists, to perform a pelvic tilt you need to comfortably sit on the edge of a chair, a bed (without mattress) or a stool.

Duration: 45 secs

How to perform:

• Standing forward bend: Though this exercise comes across as a simple one, it is one of the most challenging ones as it targets your entire back. It helps open up your hamstrings and reduces strain and tightness in the back. Other benefits of this exercise includes: helps relieve stress and anxiety, gives a good  stretch to your calves and hips.

Duration: 45 secs 

How to perform:

Repeat this routine for thrice and end with cool down by performing shavasana where all you have to do is lie flat on your back, keep your arms at your side and your palms facing up. Just close your eyes and breathe deeply and slowly through your nostrils.

Note: If you have lower back issues, please consult your doctor over phone before performing any of the exercises mentioned above.

So, what are you waiting for? Grab that mat and get ready to exercise at home. If you’re a beginner then start with the easy exercises. Remember it’s important to take out a few minutes and exercise regularly as working out also helps build immunity. And it’s all that we need in these uncertain times. If you are a beginner, start with the beginner’s routine for 10 days and then move on to the advanced workout eventually. If you have been hitting the gym for a while then you can straightaway start with the advanced workout. You can also experiment with different exercises by watching workout videos by fitness experts. Ready for a killer at-home workout? Get, sweat, go!

 

Read About some more Exercises here

 

Dumbell Workout : Dumbbell exercises for women stand out as a doable and effective version to improve your lifestyle. Checkout these easy dumbbell exercises to get started right away.

Benefits of Pilates: Pilates helps to strengthen your core and focuses on all your body parts. To get more strength and activeness Pilates has been helping people get fitter and healthier for almost a hundred years.

Health Benefits of Skipping : Can’t go to the gym & looking for ways to stay healthy? Here are some of the health benefits of skipping that you might just want to know right now!

Shoulder Workouts: Here we have many interesting shoulder workouts for women that can help you achieve the perfect structure and look. Go on, scroll ahead!