My vv humbling life in quarantine has me making adjustments on the daily, but funny enough, working out at home hasn’t’ been one of them. I often went to an awesome gym on UVA’s campus when we lived in VA, and we had a YMCA membership here in La Jolla last year, but for the most part, I’ve been an at-home-exerciser for most of forever. Makes me grateful that I’m used to the gig, and at the same time, I was thinking this week about those of you who aren’t used to working out at home and I felt for you. Being gym-less, if that’s what you’re used to, would be a super hard adjustment. With my fellow mamas out there in mind, in hopes to help out a bit, I wanted to share a variety of workouts I’ve been doing at home (see below)! My sister inspired me, too, after she posted on IG about 5 at-home workouts she has found since being in quarantine, some of which I did and loved, so I’m paying it forward with this one, too. 🙂 Read on for my Top 9, rad at-home workouts that I’ve done since being in quarantine.
But real quick! I have to explain – my leggings situation in these pics — haha! That white stuff all over them is WOOL. From our playroom rug. Yes, our pretty little rug stills sheds after having her around for 5 years. Clearly I’m used to it, since I didn’t notice that I was basically our walking wool rug till I uploaded these pics. Just do me a favor and look past my “hairy legs” in this post, deal? 😉
1 | TABATA: I hadn’t done a legit Tabata workout until quarantine started. A friend talked about doing Tabata on IG, I had to try, so I looked up “Tabata workout” on YouTube, and found this one! I really like how this workout’s moves are simple and that the timer kept the workout moving. It’s also a very balanced workout — not too intense and not too chill.
2 | PHYSIQUE 57: If you’ve been around with me for a while here, then you know that I love P57. I’ve been at these workouts for 10 years this fall! Crazy. I’ll never quit them and I had to include them here. Physique is a perfect blend of muscle-lengthening (think long, strong “dancer muscles”) cardio and strength training. I really, really love Physique.
3 | 3B YOGA: My sister clued me into these online classes from my favorite yoga studio in UT — 3B Yoga! I was worn out this last Wednesday so I did “Monica’s BGentle Class” and it is definitely restorative yoga (it won’t make you sweat – it’s super chill). If you’re needing a really good stretch-out to get your stress out, or if you’re a beginner to yoga, this class is a good pick.
4 | HIGH FITNESS: Okay, I am probably the last person on earth to hop on the High Fitness train, but I finally did it and this workout is rad! I was doing their 45-minute YouTube workout in the playroom last week while the girls were playing and they said to me, “Sooo Mom, are you dancing? Or exercising?” Haha, that’s a sure sign of a good time! It kept me entertained and left me sweaty. Totally get why so many of my girlfriends love HIGH. I’m a fan!
5 | BARRE SCULPT: P57 has made me drawn to lots of Barre workouts, and this is an awesome Barre class I found a couple weeks ago via PopSugar. Its pace is just the right amount of “fast,” and it incorporates some really effective cardio moves and yoga stretches. I loved this class. It’s 30 minutes! And perfect.
6 | SWEAT: This is another super popular workout program that I caught wind of and loved using all of last year. I’m not paying for the app right now, but I had to include it in this line-up because if you’re ready to really invest in a solid exercise routine – one that will keep you organized and progressing and sweating – I 100% recommend SWEAT. It’s a solid program.
7 | TRX BANDS CIRCUIT: My friend, Hailey, posts great workout routines (and yummy food – she inspired this real good food post!) on her IG account, “Fit For Fam,” and her TRX bands workout from last week is bomb. TRX bands are an at-home workout/gym staple, in my opinion. They’re such an effective way to use your body weight for strength training. I’ve had awesome results with them!
8 | STATIONARY BIKE RIDE (W/ PELOTON APP): I’ve used a small stationary bike in my garage for a long while now, and I’ve posted about it a lot on my IG stories because it’s that handy to have around (again, another at-home gym staple!), but this is my first blog mention about that little number: I love my stationary bike (it’s gone up in price, whoa! I paid closer to $100 for mine, but this is the exact one I have). Biking is such an effective way to work up a detoxifying, fat-burning sweat without pounding out your joints or leaving your house. Peloton has an awesome app with instructors guiding stationary-bike rides, and their app is free for 90 days right now (stellar)! I like Peloton’s rides, but I like doing my own rides, too. I thought the free app option is too good not to share, though, so for what it’s worth — there ya go!
9 | RUN! No link here, because no equipment or class necessary — get out and RUN, my friends. Running doesn’t jive with lots of people, which I get 100%. Once upon a time, it didn’t jive with me, either. I worked at running for a few solid years before it became my weight-managing, stress-relieving, free therapy, and now I can’t go a few days without hitting the streets. I love how running makes me take deep breaths. I love that running gets me outside. I love that running gets me to a place of solitude and reflection, to the point of literally praying aloud as I go. Some of my best, most sincere conversations with God have been while out on my feet. I’ll never quit running because of that. My running time is soul food. A literal gift.
Okay, one more thing…
See those little munchkins up there?? Do you have some of those monkeys in your life, too? 😉 Working out at home is one thing, but seriously, working out WITH YOUR KIDS CLIMBING ALL OVER YOU is another, haha. If you can’t wake up before your kids to squeeze in some exercise (which is me 90% of the time – I’m still up a few times a night with the girls), my tried-and-true two cents for working out when your kids are awake are like so…
1) Surround yourself with lots of occupying toys. And don’t worry about the big ol’ mess that’ll be made because of them. The bigger the mess the better here!
2) Workout with your kids a lot. The more your kids hang with you while you’re exercising, the more they’ll get used to your exercise time. They’ll learn to play till you’re done! Sometimes they’ll join in, too, which is cute. Except for when you’re doing push ups and they join you on your back. We all know that that is not cute. 😉
3) Turn on a show! If I need to, like if I can’t get my workout in early in the AM or if the girls aren’t in the mood to play for 30 minutes while I workout, I’ll push my workout time to the afternoon when Chloe is napping and the big girls are having their screen time. Screen time for my kids is really precious time, and my daily exercise for me is really precious time, so making the two tango is a win-win. 🙂
Happy sweating, friends! Or stretching. Or running! Or walking or biking or whatever you’re doing these days to stay healthy and sane. I am so, so deeply grateful for a body that can move and breathe and bend and “be.” Grateful to work hard to keep this body healthy now more than ever. And for a solid line-up of good workouts. And for my super fun workout buddies. 🙂 All is well!
