Working out at home

As it stands, we are stuck inside for the foreseeable future (and rightly so).

But that doesn't mean you need to let your fitness slip. In fact if anything, it is now more important than ever to maintain or improve your fitness. And exercise can help stave off cabin fever!

"But I don't have any weights or equipment!" I hear you shout!

That's ok! There are plenty of options when it comes to working out at home.

Tinned can be a handy substitute for light dumbbells (assuming you've been lucky enough to find any in the shops!)

Got kids at home driving you mad? Use them as weights! Just offer one a piggy back and then do some squats or lunges around the lounge! The can even sit on your back while doing pushups!

Of course there is always good old bodyweight exercises. There are near infinite combinations when doing bodyweight workouts but if you want to keep it simple, here are a couple of easy ideas.

Deck of Cards

If you have a deck of cards handy, they are a great way of structuring a workout.

Simply assign a different exercise to each suit, e.g.

Spades = Squats

Clubs = Lunges

Hearts = Push-ups

Diamonds = Crunches

Then, start working through the deck! Whatever number card comes out, do that many reps of the exercise! 5 of spades? Five Squats! 9 of hearts? Nine push-ups!

Picture cards can be 10s, or you can make it tougher and say Jacks are 11, Queens are 12, Kings 13 and Aces 14. Whatever you like!

Want to spice it up a bit? Stick both Jokers in the deck and when they come up, do 10 Burpees! (Or 15, or 20!)

Keep going until you get to the end of the deck! It will be a very random workout, you might end up doing a lot of squats in one go or it could mix up well, that's the fun of it.

Coin Flip

Get yourself a coin, doesn't matter what denomination, and write down a list of upper body/core and a list of lower body exercises. Then start flipping that coin!

Heads? Do 10 reps of something from the upper/core list! Tails? Leg exercise!

Keep flipping until you work through all the exercises (or you need to stop!) Here are a couple of lists for you to try

Upper/core

1. Pushups

2. Crunches

3. Shadow boxing

4. Bicycle crunches

5. Up and down planks

6. Leg scissors

7. Shoulder taps

8. Mountain climbers

Lower

1. Squats

2. Lunges

3. Calf raises

4. Quad squats

5. Hip bridges

6. Side lunges

7. Sumo squats

8. High knees

You can regress or escalate these to suit your ability and make them as tough as you want to, but most importantly, make sure you do something!