Realistic Tips For Working Out At Home + How I’m Moving My Body Right Now

Anyone else getting used to working out at home right now? I’m not going to lie, it feels super weird for me. Even though I’m a certified fitness professional, I’ve always preferred hitting up group fitness classes rather than doing my own solo thing. Obviously group fitness classes are not happening right now with the COVID-19 pandemic. In the words of Tim Gunn, I’m having a major make it work moment and I’m making the best of working out at home.

Before diving in any further, I do want to put a MAJOR disclaimer on this blog post: This post is not in any way me shaming you that you should be working out right now.

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There are a lot of awful memes and messages going around right now talking about gaining weight during this time. I find it awful, even if it’s meant to be funny. That’s not what this is about.

Working out and moving my body has always been important to me. I love it so much I made a whole career out of it. With that said, working out to me is NOT about weight loss. It’s about taking the time out of your day to do something for YOU. It’s about finding freedom through movement during a time that feels scary and claustrophobic. For me, it’s been a way for me to manage my own anxiety and mental health issues over the years. And right now it’s a way for me to maintain some sense of normalcy and routine during a time that feels pretty chaotic and crazy.

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SO, with that being said, today I wanted to give some super realistic advice and tips for working out from home from my own experience so far. I also want to share what I’ve been doing from home too.

How I’m working out + moving my body right now:

Bar Method Live Stream:

The Bar Method is my workout of choice — I typically take 5-6 classes a week at the studio I teach at. I already miss the studio and the people so much. The NYC area studios (including mine!) have joined together to offer both live streaming and IGTV options on instagram.

I’ll be teaching a few classes there over the upcoming weeks if you want to pulse it out with me 🙂 I can promise really bad cheesy jokes and hopefully a good workout…

To join the NYC Livestream feed email noho@barmethod.com for more info!

 

Obé Fitness:

Obé Fitness offers live and on-demand workout classes through its website and mobile app. They have a variety of different styles and classes from yoga sculpt to high energy cardio dance. Most workouts are 28-minutes long making it pretty easy to squeeze in a workout when you can. They have a pretty extensive archive of videos to choose from too, so don’t worry about getting sick of the same video over and over again.

At this point, I’ve only taken two Obé classes, both with the delightful Alex Scolari who I used to teach with at CorePower Yoga. The first class I took was a yoga sculpt class super similar to what I used to teach at CPY and I also took a super fun, super sweaty, cardio boxing class.

I’ll do a full review after I get to take a few more classes, but so far I’m enjoying it way more than I thought I would. Something about the classes being 28-minutes means I don’t have time to lose focus or steam which is something I struggle with during at-home workouts.

I used the code SWEATSANDCITY from Sweats and the City for a free month. And yeah I’m a blogger sharing another bloggers affiliate link, you’re welcome.

 

Walking:

This one is pretty boring and self-explanatory, but every day I’ve been making an effort to go for a long walk. I pick a podcast (usually something from the Bad On Paper archives) sometimes pick a destination (lately it’s been Bryant Park for some reason) and I GO.

I will say some pockets of the city that are typically safe have been extra quiet due to the current situation, so as always stay alert and be smart if you’re going out for a walk. And of course, keep 6 feet away from other people 🙂

My (Realistic) Tips for Working Out at Home

Remove all distractions (AKA your phone)

In college, I used to go to the gym because it was the only place my phone didn’t work. I’d savor that hour without people texting me to meet up for rehearsal or whatever. For reals, that’s a true story.

Just because you’re home and can be texting mid-workout doesn’t mean you should be! Challenge yourself to use that time to disconnect from your phone and social media. You’ll feel SO much better (and more focused!) if you do.

 

Get creative with your props

No weights, no problem. You can also use:

• water bottles
• cans
• wine bottles 🙂

For heavier weights for things like squats you can fill a canvas bag or backpack with textbooks or heavy cans.

I don’t have some fancy ballerina barre in my tiny apartment so I’ve just been using my kitchen countertop as a makeshift barre. Is it the perfect setup? No. But it gets the job done.

 

Keep it fun

I gotta admit, I’m having fun with Obé doing classes that I don’t typically take. Cardio boxing? SO FREAKING FUN, especially when you need some stress release like I did yesterday. I’m so hyped to take some cardio dance classes, something I love but don’t get to do very often anymore.

Instead of focusing on the workouts you miss right now, focus on having fun with the options that are available to you from home. Maybe you’ve always wanted to try a dance class but were always too nervous. Now is your chance to dance it out in the privacy of your own home.

 

Keep yourself accountable

I know I’m personally struggling with accountability right now. If you’re in the same boat find something that keeps you accountable:

• find a workout buddy and plan to stream the same class together… from the comfort of your own homes.
• sign up for a streaming platform that’s a financial investment. I hate wasting money on something I’m not using! Or Venmo a teacher that’s streaming a class so you feel financially obligated to participate.
• post about your workout to social media. Ain’t no shame.
• participate in a challenge — I’m currently doing one where I’m trying to walk 10K steps every day. Although TBH it’s currently sleeting in NYC so I’m not doing so hot with the challenge today.

Also, if you’re not feeling it right now that’s okay too. We’re living in weird times and maybe working out isn’t what your body needs at this time.

 

Know that it won’t be perfect

Unless you have a glorious home gym and tons of space (I’m gonna guess you don’t live in NYC if so 😂) you’re probably working out in a less than perfect environment.

Every time I’ve worked out in my apartment so far I’ve had to remind myself that it’s not going to be perfect. My counter isn’t the best height for every Bar Method exercise. Doing yoga sculpt in my living room is a bit dangerous because I end up kicking my couch 20 times. I don’t have all the right props for the workouts I’m doing. And I’m trying to keep jumping to a minimum as to not piss off my downstairs neighbors.

I can get past these things though. Even though each and every one of my home workouts has been far from perfect, they’ve still left me sweaty and in all honesty sore. So even though it’s not the perfect scenario or set up, it’s still movement.

 

Something is better than nothing

The truth is, taking a yoga or Bar Method or 305 class at home isn’t going to be the same experience as being in a studio. Duh, if it were why would we bother going to these studios in the first place?

I’ve been reminding myself that something is better than nothing right now. Is every workout going to be the best, most fun, most uplifting, greatest workout ever? Nah. But am I moving my body, smiling and doing something good for me? Fuck yeah, and that’s what really matters right now.

 

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