Pandemic Pandemonium: Creative Quarantine Workouts for the COVID-19 Outbreak
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Human beings are naturally social creatures. Catching up with a coworker about last night’s NBA game, comparing weekend plans with your gym buddies in the locker room, or simply fist-bumping the concierge service on the way up to your apartment may seem insignificant and even mundane. But as millions of people across the country are forced into mandatory lockdowns in the wake of the corona-virus pandemic, the absence of these ostensibly monotonous interactions is having profoundly negative effects on the American psyche.
On top of that, many of you reading this have already been or are anxiously awaiting to be laid off as businesses’ already thin profit margin suddenly careens into the red. Your retirement account is more than likely being sucked through a black hole along with all the toilet paper at the local Harris Teeter. And, as if that weren’t enough, there’s a killer virus sweeping the globe from someone slurping down a warm, wholesome bowl of bat stew.
With all this madness going on in the world, it is categorically imperative that you remain as physically active as possible. Spending seven hours a day refreshing Twitter and hammering fistfuls of Cheese Balls in the midst of all this uncertainty is a recipe for a devastating psychological breakdown, something more than a few of us have been teetering on the edge of for years now.
Breaking a sweat, releasing some pent-up aggression, and losing yourself in a quality playlist can stave off the looming cloud of depression and anxiety that is sure to inflict countless numbers of our friends and family. It may be difficult without a gym, especially if you have no equipment of your own. But, you may be surprised at what you are able to get done with your everyday household items. Below is a list of helpful strategies and tips to take advantage of during this time off.
Make your own weights with a duffle bag full of clothes, a bookbag full of books, or a cooler full of water bottles. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just safe and effective.
Until you have access to a barbell and a full weight tree at your disposal, you’ll have to be content with the lighter weights at home for your quarantine workouts. So instead of focusing on increasing your strength, focus on increasing your reps. Being forced into high-rep workouts is a great catalyst to improve your mind-muscle connection, which you can read about here.
You can perform most bicep, triceps, and deltoid exercises with nothing more than a simple 3-piece set of weighted bands that you can get online for less than $20.
Where you prefer high-intensity interval training (HIIT) or low-intensity steady state (LISS) cardio, you don’t need fancy equipment to get it done. Jumping lunges, burpees, bodyweight squats, etc. are all movements you can perform within the confines of your home.
If you are anything like the roughly 99% of Americans who spend less than 60 seconds a day stretching, then you have an incredible opportunity to refine some weak points. In my experience, most gym-goers (myself included) have perilously inflexible ankles, shoulders, and hips. Maybe during your fifth episode of The Office today you can try to change that.
We will pull through this and be better for it. In the meantime, do yourself a favor; turn off Fox News, turn off MSNBC, and try to maintain some semblance of optimism during this crisis.
Check out these articles, reviewed by our team of professionals, for a deeper dive into the subject: 30 Minute At-Home Coronavirus Quarantine Workout, How to Workout at Home During Quarantine, and Free Workouts While Quarantined.
RN, BSN, CCRN
After a brief stint in the Men’s Physique competition realm, and even winning first place in his final show, John decided to use his expertise to help normal, everyday people create the body they’ve always desired. His book, “The Busy Body: Principles for Building a Great Physique without Missing out on Life” is the culmination of over a decade of honing his craft. John is currently an RN in the Cardio-Thoracic Surgery ICU at Duke Hospital.
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