TOP TIPS FOR STAYING HEALTHY THIS LOCKDOWN!

Written by Katie Dunk, a With Attitude Partner and owner of Crossfit Lutterworth

A really common struggle for a lot of people right now in terms of exercise is having the space and equipment to do it at home during lockdown. There are so many positive benefits to moving, even just a little bit, every day and now, more than ever we need to keep those good endorphins flowing! If space, equipment and motivation is holding you back, try to set yourself a daily challenge! I have a few examples of some really great daily movement challenges that can help keep you motivated, engaged and moving a little bit every day! These are all one month challenges:

1. Squat Challenge #1: 50 squats a day – simples!
2. Squat Challenge #2: starting with 5 squats on day 1, then 10 squats on day 2, 15 squats on day 3 etc adding 5 squats every day for a month.
3. Press-Up Challenge #1: start with 1 press up on day 1, 2 on day 2, 3 on day 3 etc until you reach 30 press ups on day 3! These can be done on your knees, elevated onto the couch or stairs or full chest-to-floor press ups!
4. Press-Up Challenge #2: choose a rep scheme, either 50 or 100 pressups to complete every day! These can be spread out over the course of the day, they do not have to be done all at once!
5. Burpee Challenge: 100 burpees a day for a month – same as the press up challenge above, these can be spread out over the course of they day, you don’t’ have to do them all at once! The burpee is an incredible, whole-body exercise and would be a great way to keep fit and moving!

Last January I did the Burpee Challenge for the first time. I had a one year old, hadn’t been able to get back into exercise properly yet for a lot of different reasons, and felt really unmotivated, bummed out about my body and fitness levels and generally struggled to get motivated. I chose the burpee challenge because I KNEW that it would be A) more exercise than I was doing at the moment if I did the burpees every day, even if I spread it out over a full 12 hours and B) that it would be a mental challenge too. I needed to get my headspace back into a place where I embraced and accepted physical and mental challenge. So this was the perfect choice for me! The first few days were TOUGH. Every burpee felt so hard! And I was super SLOW. But, as the month went on, I got more and more comfortable with the movement; I could do larger chunks of burpees before needing rest, and was feeling more muscular, my clothes were getting a bit looser and I was feeling a LOT more positive with my body and mind! By the end of the month I had made HUGE fitness strides (baring in mind I was pretty much starting at ZERO) and was really PROUD of myself for having stuck with it!

I’m doing the challenge again this year for all of the same reasons! I have been training hard for months now, so my fitness is a lot better than it was last year, I don’t’ have as much weight to lose, but of course, post Christmas I definitely have some! And my mental game is stronger BUT I am already feeling so much more motivated to DO IT and to keep doing it and it’s helping me to get more focused on other areas like my nutrition consistency, work-ethic and knowing that I can do just about anything I put my mind to!

All of these challenges are a great way to get yourself moving, to se yourself a target that is achievable, has a timeline, allows you to see progress and is accessible to anyone, anywhere with no equipment needed! Get a calendar or a journal, write down your movement task every day and tick it off when you are done! The satisfaction of getting the work done every day, especially on those days where you really don’t want to, is HUGE! Helping to shore up your mental resilience as well as getting your body moving is a no-lose situation for us all right now; so pick your challenge, and get started TODAY!

We would love to hear your thoughts on how you are keeping active and healthy this Lockdown and whether you've set yourself daily challenges. Tag us in your posts on social media (Instagram - @with_attitude_activewear or Facebook - With Attitude Activewear).