Keep fit and carry on!

Try these at-home workout tips from Sarah Lindsay

With gyms and sports clubs closing due to the outbreak of COVID-19, many of us are having to find new ways of keeping up our exercise routines. It’s a stressful and worrying time, but it doesn’t have to mean that your fitness levels will suffer.

“We need to look after ourselves more than ever now,” says Sarah Lindsay, three-time Olympian, PT and founder of Roar Fitness (www.roar-fitness.com). “It’s vitally important that we keep ourselves fit, healthy and well. Now that many of us will be spending more time at home, try to view this in a positive light. Use this time to plan your meals, cook from scratch and exercise every day. That doesn’t have to mean hard training. You could use this as a time to work on rehabbing an injury that you’ve had for a while or working on your flexibility or building up your cardio. Try to use this time positively and perhaps use it as an opportunity to kickstart your fitness. It’s impossible not to feel better after exercise – even if it’s just for 10 minutes.”

Sarah suggests the following workout that can be done at home with no need for equipment. It combines cardio with bodyweight exercises and will really get your heartrate pumping!

Pistol squats – Perform 20 reps, 10 on each side

Stand with your feet together and parallel. Extend one leg in front, as straight as you can. Hold your arms straight out in front of you. Keep your core tight and your spine straight, then bend the leg you are standing on and lower your body into a seated position while you continue to extend your other leg in front. This can be a bit tricky to master, so you can sit back down into a chair to make it less challenging. Straighten up, keeping your extended leg straight.

Side lunges – Perform 20 reps, 10 on each side

Begin by standing straight with your feet shoulder width apart. Then, take the biggest step outwards to the side that you can manage, keeping your body straight. Bend at the knees, lowering your body so that your knee and foot are in a vertical line. Lunge as low as you can manage, hold for a moment, then return to the starting position.

Squat – Perform 20 reps

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Either extend your hands straight out in front of you or place them on your hips. Sit back and down as if you were about to sit in a chair. Aim for your thighs to be as parallel to the floor as possible, with your knees over your ankles. Bring yourself back to the starting position.

Split squat jump – Perform 20 reps

Step one foot forward and bend both knees into a lunge with as big a distance between your feet as possible. Then, jump up, switching the position of your feet, and land in a lunge again with the opposite foot now in front. Bend down into a lunge again before performing the jump and switch movement again.

Press-up burpees – Perform 20 reps

Begin by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart. Reach down and place your palms on the ground. Kick your feet backwards so that you are in a press-up position. Perform a press-up. Kick your feet back in and then jump up.

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