Fit and thriving from home
MOVEMENT, nourishment and rest are crucial to maintaining physical wellness while isolating in your own home, according to personal trainer, Sarah Harrison.
The Fernwood Ballarat team member said it’s an ideal period to forge a positive relationship with exercise and the body, revaluating health and fitness goals for now and the future.
Without access to a formal gym environment, there’s plenty of room to look around the house and be creative with anything you have.
“If you are limited in your equipment, think outside the square. 10 litre water containers from the supermarket make for excellent weights for front squats, deadlift and press variations,” she said.
“What can you attach to a broom or shovel to make yourself a barbell? Load a backpack with books or rice, and add more resistance to your outdoor walk by finding hills, steps and inclines.”
Ms Harrison said it might be easy to underestimate the power of body weight training, but it’s just as beneficial.
“A simple resistance band can enable a great full body workout whilst really honing in on the mind-muscle connection. You can even try other levels of exercise variation. Use pre or post exhaustion methods to take your body weight workout further.
“Add pauses in the concentric, or hard, phase of exercises. Add pulses, drop sets and insufficient rest periods in. Play with your training and give it a twist,” she said.
“The key here is to look for opportunity in adversity and be as resourceful as you can. Your body and mind will thank you for looking after it when it needed you the most.”
With more downtime than ever, people can brainstorm ways of advancing their already established training, asking what they could do better or strip back to basics, to improve overall technique and achieve optimum muscle-group activation.
“Basic technique training, with simple, functional movements can bring outstanding long-term results,” Ms Harrison said.
“Not only for increased muscular and strength gains, but for posture and injury risk management.”
Fernwood Ballarat owner, Lee Squire said maintaining a sense of community and support is also just as important for health and wellbeing, and she’s working to ensure her clients aren’t alone.
“We have rented out our equipment for members to continue to work out at home, and our trainers are going live in our members’ Facebook group with classes and workouts to keep the energy flowing,” she said.
“Your gym and trainers want to see you thrive during this time, and we are doing what we can to still provide outstanding service.”