Staying at home for a long period of time during COVID-19 pandemic may be stressful for most people. Not only that you are deprived of social activities, but your body may also need to readjust to the new routine of staying inside.

Read More:

If before staying inside, you exercise routinely, you may have noticed the lack of facilities to keep exercising. However, it is very possible to keep your body fit during self-quarantine with little to no equipment involved. Here are a few tips for home workout ideas. 

1. Cardio 

Cardio is one of the easiest workouts to maintain even at home. It is always important to remember that cardio is an exercise that focuses on the increased rate of the heart. 

Burpees

You can always start with repetitions of burpees. If you are feeling a little bit more adventurous, you can add one push-up each time you come down to a stretch. Typically, a 3×15 burpee is a good way to start the workout.

Jumping Jacks

Aside from burpees, jumping jacks may also serve as a perfect cardio exercise. Usually, jumping jacks are done as a warm-up for legs exercise. You can start with 3×20 jumping jacks and increase the repetitions after doing this for some times. 

Mountain climbers

Mountain climber is a good exercise to increase heart rate while building up core and arms strength. A good way to do mountain climbers in-circuit cardio is between 30 to 60 seconds. 

Running 

Of course, when talking about cardio, running is always going to be the top of mind. Running trains your endurance, core, and stamina.

2. Abs / Core

There are varieties of core-focused exercises that you can try, such as: 

Sit-ups 

Sit up is top of mind when it comes to abs exercise. To correctly do sit-ups, you need to place your feet as close as possible to your buttocks. Try not moving your feet and slowly get up. 

If you have done several sit-ups for a few days or weeks, you can also try to add some weight to it. The easiest way is to place a dumbbell on your chest while doing your sit-ups. 

Leg raise

Leg raise is another great abs exercise that you can try at home. To do this, you need to lie down on your back and slowly raise your legs without lifting your upper body off the ground. It trains your abs muscle, and you can start with 3×20 repetitions. 

Russian twist 

Russian twist is a famous abs exercise to train your side abs. To start, you can place your body in a sitting position. Lift your legs and cross them to your shin level. While doing this, try rotating your body without moving your legs. 

You can always add weights to your Russian twist for maximum effect. 

Side plank dips 

Another exercise that focuses on your side abs is side plank dip. This exercise needs a little bit of practice if you’re doing it for the first time. 

Start with a side plank position and stabilize your body. Extend your free arm upwards, and slowly rotate your upper body until the free arm is parallel to your other arm. While doing this, it is crucial to observe that you are doing it the right way. 

3. Legs / Lower Body

For most women, legs exercises have become the most important as it builds up your lower strength. However, legs exercises are also amongst the most exhausting when compared to abs and upper body. Here are a few legs exercises that you can try at home:

Squat / Sumo Squat 

Squats are always a great exercise to start your legs workout. While doing this exercise, try to pay attention to where your feet are placed. 

In regular squats, you need to place your feet as wide as your shoulders and slowly move your body down to a squat position. Additionally, do ensure that you stand up straight, tighten your core, and point your glute out while doing squats. This creates the right posture for your body, and you end up using the right muscle for the exercise. 

A variety of squats are sumo squats where you place your feet wider than your shoulders width with your toes open while doing the squats. 

Glute bridge

To do a glute bridge, lie on your back and bend your knees. Slowly lift your hips up in repeat. For this exercise, you can start without weight and gradually add weights on your hips. 

Lunges 

Lunges can be done in two ways. One is the regular lunges, while the other is reversed lunges. To do lunges, extend one of your feet to the front, maintain the position and move your body down. You can do this with or without weights depending on your current lower body strength. 

Wall sit 

Although it sounds relaxing, wall sit actually takes up more endurance than most of the other exercises. Similar to the plank, you need to maintain it to hold still for as long as possible. With wall sit, you can push your back against the wall, and position your body in a sitting position. For beginners, a 30-60 seconds wall sit may serve as a great warm-up or cooling down. 

4. Arms / Upper Body 

We covered core, lower body, and full-body cardio, and now it is time to train the upper body parts. Here are a few exercises that you can try at home: 

Push up 

The best way to start warming up your upper body muscles is to do a push-up. There are varieties of push-ups that you can try according to your needs. A standard repetition for beginners to intermediate is 3×20 to 3×30 respectively.

Dumbbell curls 

Usually, dumbbell curls are done with increasing dumbbell weights. However, for a home workout with minimum equipment, you can still do dumbbell curls with one weight. You only need to increase the repetitions. 

Resistance band pull apart 

If you own a resistance band, resistance band pull-apart can be an excellent exercise for your back muscles. You can start by placing your arms to your chest level and start pulling apart the resistance band as wide as you can. 

Tricep dip 

Tricep dips can be done using any chair, place your feet flat to the ground and place your palms face down to the chair. Slightly bend your knees and let your glutes hover over the ground. And with your triceps, try lifting up your body and back down. 

Each workout is different for each person, depending on the person’s strength and endurance. If you are just starting out, try these exercises with low repetitions until you can increase the repetitions or weights.