According to CNN, currently, more than one-fifth of all Americans have been ordered to stay home in an effort to flatten the curve of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. The stay at home order is in place in California, Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York. Residents have been instructed to stay home unless they are seeking an essential need or performing essential work. So, with gyms and fitness centers closed for the foreseeable future, how are you supposed to stay in shape? How will you stay fit during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic? After all, staying in the house day after day with nothing to do but eat while binging on Netflix has never been a good health idea. What if we could give you 5 ways to stay fit during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic stay-at-home order?
5 ways to stay fit during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic
Go for a walk, run, or bike ride
In general, the stay-at-home orders that have been issued include these basic forms of exercise as essential activities, as long as you practice proper social distancing guidelines. That is, ensure that you are at least 3 – 6 ft. away from the next closest person (unless it’s a member of your own household).
Eat less
Being cooped up in the house the majority of the time (except for those, walks, runs, and bike rides!) means that we are moving way less than we are accustomed to. In fact, if you wear a fitness tracking device, you can attest to how great the drop off in your activity level has been since you’ve been ordered to stay at home. To put this as simply as possible, because you are moving less, you need to eat less. If you continue to eat at frequency and quantity you did pre-pandemic, your scale will have a surprise for you before you know it.
Track what you eat
If you really want to understand how much food you’re consuming (and trust me, this would be a really good idea right now), there are some apps that make this relatively simple. The runaway favorite is likely MyFitnessPal, but if you wear a Fitbit then you may want to use their built-in meal tracker. When calculating your energy (calorie) needs, be sure to set your activity level to not very active or sedentary to reflect the sweeping stay at home orders during the pandemic.
Exercise
Exercising at home is challenging under normal circumstances. It’s going to be even more challenging if you’re confined with your children, other family members, or roommates. So how can you manage to exercise in order to stay fit during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic?
If you have children, try having a dance party! If there’s one undeniable fact about little ones, one universal truth that transcends time, space, and culture, it’s that children love to dance! So try putting on some kid-friendly tunes and let’s get it started! Also, if your children are anything like the official vegan children of Plant Powered Fitness, then they love animated feature films. While all animated movies aren’t created equally (we’re looking at you Alpha and Omega), they generally all end with a musical ensemble that kids love to dance to. So, while you’re enjoying a Pixar Studios marathon, be sure to break out your dancing shoes in-between showings.
Find a time and place in your home, garage, or yard where you can exercise without being interrupted. This might mean that you need to get up earlier than everyone else (or stay up later). You don’t need a bunch of equipment either, in fact, your own bodyweight will suffice! If you want to ramp up the intensity of your workouts, you can add a few components like an exercise mat, dumbbells, and a stability ball.
Discover a new hobby or dust off an old one
It’s a well-known fact that people tend to snack (or graze) while watching TV. So if you are snacking while channel surfing or streaming, it’s likely that you won’t even realize how much you’re eating. And since that runs counter to earlier points 2 and 3, we know that this is not how you stay fit during the coronavirus pandemic. Instead of spending your extra time at home in front of the TV, you’ll want to identify some hobbies that you’ll be happy to pass time with. Some great ideas are finding some eBooks to read from your local library (while the physical locations are closed), or learning a new skill like blogging, coding, or drawing. There are so many online resources available to learn new things that it will require a separate post!
Conclusion
So how do you stay fit during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic? First, get outside for those essential walks, runs, and bike rides. Then eat less and track what you do eat. Then add in some home exercises (including having dance parties). Lastly, now is as good a time as any to build some good hobby habits. Also, be sure to review what you should know about the coronavirus.