COVID-19 Home Fitness Program
In my previous post I showed a video on how to tolerate self isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic which stressed the importance of maintaining good health and fitness. In this post, I’m going to go in to more detail on how I structure my home fitness and martial arts program now that going to an external gym or swimming pool are impossible at the moment. So is the possibility of any group type of exercise activity. I’ll break my program down into the various exercise categories.
Martial Arts At Home During COVID-19
I have two different martial arts workouts at home. One is with my martial arts weaponry and the other is without. The workout with my weapons is with my bo staff which was my main martial arts weapon during my competition years. Since the bo staff is a long weapon, I need to be outdoors in order to practise with it so it is a weather dependent one.
Usually I’ll go to my backyard area where I have lots of room and during this workout, I’ll go through all the moves from my bo staff form which is the martial arts routine I used during my competition years and it is shown in the video below as well.
If the backyard is currently in use by another resident of our townhouse complex – usually other dog owners bringing out their pets – I’ll either wait until they are done or go to the front of my house where the driveway and laneway are since I want to maintain proper social distancing during this COVID-19 pandemic. When I’m out in the front of the house, anybody walking along the sidewalks as well as inside the cars passing by can see me but I don’t really mind. I’m sure that many folks will be caught off guard by some guy waving a martial arts weapon around outside but I’m not shy about it since I know what I’m doing with my bo staff!
I try to do this martial arts workout twice per week on Tuesday and Saturdays at around 5 pm when I schedule most of my home fitness workouts. It’s a great way to end my day before dinnertime.
My other martial arts workout is without weapons so this is the one when I practise my empty hand forms (called empty hand because I’m not holding any weapon). Again, I do mostly the main form I used back from my competition years since it’s my favourite one. For this workout, I can do it both outdoors as well as indoors since I don’t need as much room as my bo staff workout so it’s not weather dependent. I’ll do this workout on Mondays and Fridays but if one of my weapons workout days happens to rain, I will switch that workout to this one and try to do my bo staff the next day as long as the weather clears up.
In addition to doing my form or martial arts routine, I’ll also do some self defense techniques plus some balancing drills. I’ll end my martial arts workouts with flexibility stretching. Both of these martial arts workouts will be my main cardiovascular exercise during this corona virus self isolation replacing my usual swimming.
One very important thing to note about cardiovascular exercise is that it has been shown to not only benefit heart health, but also mental health as well. When your heart rate is elevated over a sustained amount of time, natural endorphins circulate in your brain which in turn helps ward off depression. This is extremely beneficial especially during this corona virus pandemic when many people in self isolation might be prone to depression. Now of course you don’t need to do what I do for cardio, ie., martial arts, but just do any form of exercise whether it’s running, cycling or even dancing at home to a video in order to get the heart rate up for both your physical and mental health.
Because of COVID-19, I’ll be doing martial arts four days per week now. Unlike other standard forms of cardiovascular exercise like running, cycling or swimming, doing my martial arts routines, both weapons and empty hand, will also benefit me mentally since I need to remember all the moves in my routines as well as work my coordination skills. This all shows the many benefits of martial arts even when one is doing these types of workouts alone and because of such benefits, I will continue to practise martial arts into my old age.
Strength Training With Weights During Corona Virus Pandemic
As shown in the video from my previous blog post, I already have my weights set up at home so I’ll do my strength training twice per week on Thursdays and Sundays also at my usual 5 pm workout time. I usually end my strength training workouts with some power stretching which are designed to increase flexibility. Unlike my usual stretches during my martial arts workouts, these power stretches takes my physical effort so I do them only twice per week.
Outdoor Exercise With Dog During COVID-19 Pandemic
My martial arts and strength training workouts will take care of six days in any given week. The 7th day is a purely outdoor exercise one on Wednesdays with my Lhasa Apso dog Roxie. Although I’ll take Roxie outside for her dog walk daily if the weather is nice, we’ll stay out longer on Wednesdays. Our usual dog walk is about 30 minutes long but this one on Wednesdays will be longer at about an hour. These longer dog walks can be local or sometimes we’ll get in the car and drive to a quiet nature trail somewhere. Of course this workout outing is weather dependent and unlike my other workouts which start at around 5 pm, we go out at about 2:30 pm which is around the usual time Roxie’s dog walks start anyway.
With the exception of our longer Wednesday dog hikes, all other of my workouts during the week last about 30 minutes. When you look at the various activities spread throughout the week, you can see that my COVID-19 self isolation home fitness workout program covers everything I need in order to maintain decent fitness and health. Hopefully this will give you an idea of what is possible for yourself during these difficult times at home too.
Mondays – martial arts empty hand forms
Tuesdays – martial arts weapons
Wednesdays – longer dog hike
Thursdays – strength training
Fridays – martial arts empty hand forms
Saturdays – martial arts weapons
Sundays – strength training
