Before the official Christmas festivities begin, you have to prepare your body for the food battle. Vaccinations against COVID-19 may have rolled out, but the threat of the virus still persists, especially with the outbreak of new variants. This means that working out at home is a safer option, even though you won’t be in the company of fellow gym rats. Don’t worry, because you can always stay connected with your peers who are also into fitness while you all work out at home.
Home exercises were one of the trends that boomed back in 2020, and up to today, more people exercise now in the comfort of their homes. They soon realized the power of the digital era to connect us. Even though there is a physical distance, the Internet was tapped as a tool to help bring the members of the fitness community closer to one another. We listed down some steps below so that you could make the most out of your home exercise sessions with friends.
1. Use an app that members of your online group workout session could all use.
Online video conference platforms rose during the height of the pandemic. Aside from work transactions, Zoom and Google Meet, for instance, were used for online workout sessions.
Your group may install your chosen app on your phones and laptops. Even social media messaging platforms such as Viber, WhatsApp, or Messenger also allow video group calls. Discuss amongst yourselves what’s the best schedule that you are all free to have the group workout session. It’s difficult to workaround at first, especially with different work schedules to consider, but once the date and time are final, all you have to do is set the meeting and send the link to the whole group. Now, you’re all geared up!
2. Prepare your exercise from the home set-up.
The environment plays a major factor in motivation. Make sure that you pick an area at home with enough space for your exercise mat and your body when it’s at full stretch mode and shouldn’t be knocking over any furniture. For your convenience, put your water jug, towel, and weights (if any) within arm’s reach.
Since this is an online group workout session, you must find a spot for your laptop, phone, or tablet. FlexiSpot has products such as the V9 Pro Home Office Height Adjustable Cycle Desk Bike, Monitor Mount, height-adjustable standing desks, and/or Standing Desk Converters that could put your gadget at a height while you workout. The height of these products is easily adjustable and can be changed from time to time depending on the exercise that you are doing.
3. Assign roles to one another.
Relying on one person may cause delays or conflict within a call. It is best if everyone in the workout group has a role apart from just being a participant. One person should host the meeting (meaning set up the Zoom link); another one will play the exercise video that you are all following and monitor if someone in the group is requesting for a pause, and another one is in charge of keeping track of everyone’s vitals for a progress check by the end of the workout program. If there is no workout video being followed online, the most qualified in your group should be assigned to lead the exercise for everyone to follow.
4. Ask everyone to vote on a Workout of the Day (WOD).
Before the call, you should already have picked a workout to do. This will save time and energy. There are different targeted or whole-body workouts available on YouTube and other fitness apps for the group to follow. It’s important that each member is aware of their fitness level so that they can make personal modifications without bothering the others.
Your workout of the day could be based on the body part that the group wants to work on or the type of exercise you all want to do for the day. For example, you pick a high-intensity interval training (HIIT), a yoga strengthening class, pilates, a leg day, a humps day, or an upper-body day. You may also have Zumba or if each of your friends has the FlexiSpot’s V9 Pro Home Office Height Adjustable Cycle Desk Bike, you may have a spinning session at home.
Twist It Up
Once the video conference is done, you could still help one another reach your personal fitness goals together. Weight loss does not only entail exercising but also, taking care of the diet. You could be one another’s cheerleaders by helping each one in terms of nutrition and tracking progress.
Make it fun by doing daily or weekly challenges for all members of the workout group.
A good, healthy competition won’t do much harm; it might even give a sprinkle of motivation. Whether you’re competing against yourself, a sibling, or your friends, you can make your workout program exciting by posing a daily or weekly challenge. It could be to run 100 miles for 30 minutes or do one unassisted pull-up after a week or finish Pamela Reif’s 15-minute, six-pack ab workout without resting. It’s up to your friend group if you want to reward yourselves once a challenge is completed or you could simply move on to the next, more difficult, milestone.
Eat right and be one another’s accountability partners.
A general breakdown for effective weight loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise. If your goal is to look fit and toned, then you must watch out for what you eat. Of course, it’s harder to do this holiday season so as early as now, be consistent with your workouts so that when the pigouts happen, you’ll be ready to fill in your tummy with great food.
To build lean muscle, you must bulk up on protein; to lose fat weight, you must cut the carbs. Based on your BMI, eat the right amount of protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats. Eating fiber-rich food such as oats and bananas will give you more energy throughout the day and would make you less hungry. Drink lots of water, an estimated 15.5 cups for men while 11.5 cups for women.
Most people, find counting macros too tedious. This is where an accountability partner in your friend group could come in handy. All of you could pass on recipes and make meal preps together.
Exercise on your own but track your group’s progress through these apps.
Not everyone will be available at the same time all the time so you may make use of the apps listed below:
Nike Training Club. This is free to download where you could follow targeted workouts and share your progress on social media. You may also connect with other athletes by looking for them in the app. In the events tab, you’ll also see nearby activities you may join.
PumpUp. Like Instagram, PumpUp is an app that lets users post photos on their feeds and caption them. It can track your exercise, allow you to share your progress with the other fitness users in the group, and provide insights based on your app history.
Strava. The app can track any fitness activity you get into plus record your distance, pace, speed, and calories burned. You may also add your Facebook friends and contacts to Strava so that they could see your stats once you post them in the app.
Your workout friend group may use these apps to track each one’s progress. Compare your statistics after a certain period of time; it may be amongst yourself or your past vs present vitals.