5 Best Exercises To Do At Home In Light of Gym Closures This 8 May - 30 May

Gyms closing? What now?

With the recent surge in Covid-19 community cases from the Tan Tock Seng Hospital cluster, the government has decided to tighten safety distancing measures tentatively from 8 May 2021 to 30 May 2021.

In light of the stricter safety distancing rules, fitness studios and gyms will be closed as they have been deemed high-risk infection areas, as individuals roam around an enclosed space without masks in close proximity.

If you’re one of those looking to squeeze in as many gym sessions before 8 May, Saturday kicks off but the slots are full, look no further than our list of exercises which you can do at home to make up for the shutting down of exercise areas.

You thought your city boy summer was gone? Fret not, we’re here to bring it to you.

Jumping Jacks

Jumping jacks are an excellent way to get your heart rate up quickly as a warm-up, and are extremely apartment-friendly and doesn’t require a lot of space.

This exercise targets the whole body as both arms and legs are engaged, which is a very efficient way for people to get their whole body moving without doing a whole workout routine consisting of different exercises. The drawback, however, might h be that a single exercise may be too repetitive and seem to prolong your workout.

Push Ups

The diamond, spiderman, sphinx and perhaps the military pushup, you’ve probably heard the random assortment of names given to the wackiest pushup positions, but have you tried them?

Widely accepted as one of the cornerstones of home workouts, push-ups have been done by people who work out at home for a very long time as it is an excellent way to track progress by gradually increasing the number of push-ups done. This exercise is excellent for building upper body strength and is generally a fast and effective way to do so.

Squats

While we miss the metallic smell of the barbells in the gym and the loud, clanging sounds from the metal plates, these facilities will no longer be available for a while so it’s up to us to adapt, improvise and overcome.

Squats do not require a lot of space and don’t make a lot of noise, which is fantastic if you have annoying neighbours who complain at the slightest of noises. This exercise helps to train your gluteal muscles, hamstrings and quadriceps which efficiently complements push up exercises for a full-body workout at home.

Lunges

Repeatedly bending over and trying to keep your balance may not seem like the most fun or ideal activity to do at home, but this exercise is good news for your lower body, especially with the onset of rising Covid-19 cases which would potentially spell more days at home.

Lunges are a great exercise for the core and lower body, as it helps to strengthen your lower body and increase hip mobility which is wonderful for the long hours we spend sitting down hunched over our laptop screens.

To increase the intensity of your lunges workout, try filling up big water bottles to function as makeshift weights, so you don’t lose the progress you’ve made lifting weights at the gym.

High Knees

Like jumping jacks, high knees are also an excellent way to get your heart rate up. This exercise is commonly practised in YouTube HIIT workouts as it offers more intensity than simply jogging on the spot.

This helps to work your inner thighs and outer hip areas, which is great for those who sit long hours at the desk every day. For people who want to lose weight quickly, high knees are also wonderful for helping to lose overall body weight.

As the stricter safety distancing measures loom ahead and threaten to disrupt our social lives again, the bright side of such disruptions is that we have more time for ourselves, and can engage in activities to nourish our bodies.

Health is wealth, and we only have one body!

Article written by Michelle Ang

Email: e190201@e.ntu.edu.sg