4 creative ways to stay fit if hitting the gym isn’t for you

If working out in the gym seems like an impossible fitness choice, here are four ways of working out in or around the comfort of your home.
staying sane while working from home
Learn the art of working out in the comfort of your home. Image courtesy: Shutterstock
Aishwarya Chopra Updated: 25 Feb 2020, 14:14 pm IST
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In the pursuit of keeping up with the modern warfare of our fast-paced lives, picking up the phone from the dresser seems to be the only set of crunches most of us do. Whilst revolting against the constraints of time, getting fit is often not on our to-do lists.

According to a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) published in the Lancet Global Journal, every second woman in India doesn’t get enough physical activity to stay healthy. With a staggering percentage of Indian women not getting enough exercise, working out at home presents a promising alternative to gym and other fitness classes. 

If you are also a part of this unfortunate statistic (pun intended), here are some ways with which you can make your home an arena for becoming fitter and stronger.

1. Convert your home into a fitness studio with YouTube tutorials
Technology has blessed us with unlimited access to various forms of exercises. With limitless choices of fitness tutorials, ranging from Pilates and Zumba to high- and low-intensity cardio accessible with a single click–using YouTube tutorials or apps to get fit is great for your body and your pockets.

Here’s another benefit: You don’t have to stick to just one type of activity. The varied choice of fitness videos also helps you shake up your routine–allowing you to customise your workouts according to your mood.

workout at home
When fitness comes first for you. Image courtesy: Shutterstock

2. Break up with the lift and start taking the stairs
With ticking time constraints leaving very little opportunities for staying fit, stairs can help us bid adieu to our lethargic groggy selves. However, taking the stairs isn’t a magical pill for weight loss, as it can assist in increasing cardiovascular activity and keeps us fit–but it won’t do much for weight loss.

3. Choose to walk as you shop
If you wish to go grocery shopping or buying trinkets from the local market, just ditch the tempting choice of taking a rickshaw and walk instead. You can convert it into a fun game and count the number of rickshaws that pass you by or count the number of steps it took you to reach each shop.

Also, read: I started walking for just 15 minutes after every meal and lost weight

4. Give your daily chores a health upgrade
Brushing your teeth or filling buckets of water can often seem like mundane tasks. Two to three minutes of brushing can be converted into a muscle toning exercise if you squat in the process. And while you’re waiting for the bucket to fill, play your favourite music and dance till the bucket runneth over.

While our ticking clocks and jam-packed planners constantly push us to throw fitness out of our priority window–it’s time to take a sigh and grab every little minute of opportunity to become our fitter selves.

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Analysing the intricacies of life is my forte, from the matrix of books to anonymous stories of people's expressions and signatures. Everything is a mystery waiting to be uncovered. ...Read More

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