Lockdown daily exercise routines

Daily exercise routines you can achieve from the comfort of your own home

We absolutely need to exercise, every day whether we are on lockdown or not. Under limitations we may not be able to follow our normal exercise routines and get to the gym, go out for a run, or grab our bikes and head out for a long ride, but we can all find a space within our homes and gardens to keep up our fitness levels. We are making the best of a difficult situation and making sacrifices for the greater good, but exercise is definitely not something we should give up.

The following are four different exercise routines that anyone can partake in, at any level. The first one focusses on the whole body, the following on the abdominals followed via a gentle cardio workout and finally one to focus on the legs. If you’re home with children get them to partake alongside you. You’ll also find that post-exercise everyone’s moods will be lifted and a new sense of calm and peace will be flowing. So get the tunes blaring and get everyone in the mood for some moving. Above all, ENJOY!

Lockdown exercise routines: Nº1

Full body workout

• Upper body twists: Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and slightly bend your knees. Strengthen your core and put your hands close to your ears, elbows out to the sides. Now twist your upper body from side to side fifty times keeping your hips and legs in position.
• Punching twists: Stay in the same position and add a punch with each twist allowing your fist to pass across the body. Back to centre and repeat on each side twenty times.
• Squats: Place feet shoulder width apart and keep the upper body straight as you dip your hips as low as possible (below the knees if possible) and return to standing – repeat 50 times.
• Knee twists: Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and raise both arms (use weights here if you have some) raise your left knee and lower your right arm to meet it. Repeat 40 times on each side.
• Redefined Burpee: Get into plank position, either on your knees or with legs extended, do one press up, lower on to your forearms and hold plank for ten seconds. Return to extended plank (hands to the floor in place of forearms), and walk your feet towards your hands, then stand. Repeat all of this ten times.
• Side Plank: Return to plank position and lower onto your forearms. Put your weight onto your right side making sure your shoulder is above your elbow. Keep your legs extended with one foot on top of the other, and raise the left arm (with a weight if you have one), hold for twenty seconds or raise and lower the arm to chest level for twenty seconds. Switch sides and repeat three times.

Once you have completed the whole sequence you can repeat as many times as you feel fit enough for. Once may well be enough to begin with, but as you go forward you should be able to either add repetitions or increase the number of reps or time per exercise.

Lockdown exercise routines: Nº2

Beginner abdominals – repeat the sequence up to three times

• Knee lifts: Stand with feet shoulder width apart, slightly bend the knees and raise each knee to chest alternately ten times.
• Sit Ups: Lay down on your back and raise your knees so your legs are bent, feet flat on the floor, hip distance apart. Place your hands close to your ears and do 12 sit ups, try to touch your elbows to your knees each time you raise. When you are laying back down don’t let your shoulders touch the floor.
• Hip Dips: Get yourself into side plank position on your elbow, keep the body and legs as rigid as possible and dip your lower hip to the floor and then raise as high as possible. Repeat ten times.
• Mountain Climber: Move into extended plank position on your hands and alternately draw your knees to your chest in a running motion, repeat thirty times.
• Bicycle: Lay on your back and raise your legs and hips until you can rest your back on your hands, elbows to the floor. Keep your body and legs as straight as possible and move your legs in a cycle-like motion twenty times.
• Leg Lifts: Stay on your back and slightly lift your knees with feet placed flat on the floor, now raise your knees as close to your chest as you can, keeping the legs in a fixed position and return towards the floor but don’t touch it. Repeat twelve times.
• Sliders: Stand up straight, feed hip distance apart, hands to your sides. Slide your right hand down your right leg towards the floor and return to standing. Repeat on the left. Do twelve of these on each side.

Lockdown exercise routines: Nº3

Quick cardio blast – repeat sequence up to three times

• Star Jumps: you know what to do! Do it thirty times.
• Plank: on your hands and hold for thirty seconds.
• Heel taps: Lay on your back with knees bent, feet on the floor hip distance apart and tap alternate heels with your hands. Repeat twenty times on each side.
• Mountain Climber: Get into full plank position (on your hands) and keep the pose while ‘running’; lift each knee to meet your chest, repeat thirty times.
• Commando: Stay in plank position and lower to your elbows one arm at a time, then raise back up to your palms one arm at a time. Repeat sixteen times.

Lockdown exercise routines: Nº4

Leg Burners – repeat this sequence up to four times

• Sit squats: keep feet hip distance apart, and lower your bottom as if you were about to sit on a chair, before you hit the ‘chair’ stand back up straight, repeat twelve times. Keep your back straight and your head pulled up towards the ceiling.
• Sumo Squats: Place your feet further than shoulder width apart, turn your toes to point out diagonally, tense your core and thighs,  bend the knees into a squatting position and touch the floor with the tips of your fingers.
• Donkey Kicks: Go on to your hands and knees and kick each foot out to the side by raising the knee up out to the side and then extending the leg to almost straight. Do twelve on each side.
• Rebound Lunges: Jump from standing into a lunge – right foot forward, knee bent, left leg back knee bent, try to almost touch the floor with both knees. From this position jump and swap legs to be in the same position with the left leg now forward and the right one back. Repeat ten times on each side.
• Butt Lift: Lay on your back, feet hip width apart and raise your buttocks up until your body is in a straight line with your thighs, and lower to the floor. Repeat twelve times.
• Snap Jumps: Get into extended plank (on your hands) and jump your feet out to the sides at the same time, then jump them back together. Repeat ten times.
• Stay safe, stay home, stay healthy!