Weight-Loss Workouts that You can do Anywhere - Featuring your Lounge Room and Backyard.

COVID-19 has affected everyone. It’s also the reason why all gyms have closed Australia-wide. This poses an obvious obstacle to working out, losing weight, and keeping extra weight off.

So should you just stop working out until the pandemic is over?

You probably shouldn’t. Working out not only helps you lose body fat % but also helps you stay mentally healthy, and boosts your immunity – two things that are important during this pandemic.

This article will walk you through the basics of weight loss, and how you can still workout and lose weight from your bedroom and backyard during these coming months.

How to Actually Lose Weight

I’m sure you’ve seen those You-tube advertisements that have a really muscular and fit person claiming that they have a method to reduce your belly fat and only your belly fat (also called spot fat reduction) in a very short amount of time. Well, unfortunately, there’s actually no evidence to back such claims. In fact, there are studies that disprove fat spot reduction.

In other words, doing 100 sit ups every night or 300 squats a week won’t make belly or thigh fat disappear.

The only scientifically proven way to reduce belly fat is to do things that will decrease your overall body fat %. Things like exercising, eating healthy, sleeping well, reducing stress, etc. Unfortunately, these won’t remove excess belly fat overnight, or in a week, but they really do work.

Exercise is one of the best-proven ways to decrease body fat. Fat-loss is not to be confused with weight-loss however. Studies show that exercising improves body composition, and doesn’t necessarily lead to weight-loss.

Explained simply, exercise generally doesn’t lead to weight loss, but instead decreases the amount of fat on the body while simultaneously increasing muscle mass. This leads to usually no loss in overall weight but instead a loss of fat.

An exercise program of both cardio and strength training is optimal to decrease your body fat and stubborn belly fat.

Exercise should also be supplemented with diet change. Lower caloric intake is proven to decrease body fat. Studies show that restricting up to 500 calories a day produces significant fat-loss, especially when lowering carbohydrate intake. Beware of restricting too much though, as this may lead to many health risks.

Sleeping well is also important for weight-loss. Studies show that a lack of sleep leads to significant weight gain, and especially if you sleep less than 5 hours nightly (I’m talking to you Mums).

So now you know some basics about fat loss, and tools you can use to lose fat like exercise, diet changes, and sleeping well. In the next section, we’ll walk you through a strength training and cardio routine you can do with practically no equipment.

Workout 1 - Strength Workout

The goal of this workout is to gain muscle, and it’s not a cardio workout. You should feel slightly fatigued after the workout, but most of the fatigue will probably come on the day after the workout.

Here is a sample strength workout program that you can do at home with practically no equipment.

Try this routine, from 1-4 times a week. Allowing 24- 36 hours of rest between workout days. Rest 1-2 minutes after sets and do not rest between exercises.

Warm-up

Jump-rope for 5 minutes, or speed walk at home or outside in your backyard for 10 minutes.

You should do this warm-up at an intensity that is hard enough to make sweat drizzle, but not enough to tire yourself out.

Workout

Body weight squats 10 reps or however many you can do for, for 3 sets. If these are too hard you can use a chair and simply sit down and up.

Wall push ups. Hands just outside shoulder width apart. Stand on the balls of your feet and lean in to the wall like a plank, abs sucked in tight, squeezing your butt checks. 10 reps or however many you can do for 3 sets.

Burpees with a chair. Instead of lowering yourself to the floor, place your hands on the chair and jump back into plank position, then jump back to return to standing position.

Try 10 repetitions for 3 sets. If this is too hard, then walk the legs out and back. Practice the positioning of your body and hold the plank for 3 seconds.

Plank on elbows. Ensure your wrist and shoulders are in alignment. Squeeze your butt checks tight to protect your back. Hold for 20-30 seconds, for 3 sets. Drop to your knees if you feel any pain or you cannot maintain a solid trunk positioning.

Workout 2 - Cardio Workout

The goal of this workout is to burn as many calories as possible, and you should feel tired immediately after the workout.

You can do this sample cardio workout with almost no equipment.

Try this workout routine for 3-5 times a week, right after the strength workout but it’s recommended to do a couple of hours after it.

Workout

Go for an half-hour long walk. Start the first 5-10 minutes slow in order to warm-up and then increase your speed for the rest of the duration.

Skip-rope high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Only for those with a fitness base, not beginners. Start by skipping slow for the first 5 minutes slowly in order to warm up. Then after finishing the warm-up alternate between 15 seconds of very intense skipping, and 45 seconds of slow skipping for 10 straight minutes.

Caution: HIIT training is an intermediate exercise that isn't recommended for beginners and especially for people with arthritis, heart disease or pregnancy.

No skipping rope? Beginner? Then try this for 30 seconds each exercise, and repeat twice for beginners and add on Rounds if you still feel great, maximum 5 Rounds. Take a drink breaks as required :

Running on the spot

Star Jumps ( squeeze your glutes tight to help protect your lower back and pelvic floor)

Star Jacks ( similar to start jumps except your legs are doing scissor motion forward and back)

Wall push-ups or floor push ups for experienced.

Glute Bridge ( lift and squeeze glutes)

Plank

Conclusion

There you go, a couple of workouts you can do at home to stay healthy and in shape while you’re stuck at home.

Working out is a great way to keep mentally healthy, help boost your immune system, and keep in shape.

Did you like the routine? What didn’t you like about it? Tell us in the comments below…

This is not medical advice; this article was created for informational purposes only. This is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Do not delay seeking medical advice or disregard it due to any content on this website or included in this post.