My Favorite At-Home Workouts During Quarantine
Coming to you live from Day 18 of Quarantine 2020. For context I started counting Quarantine on Friday, March 13th as that was the first day I was home from work. Friday the 13th, how appropriate...
Anyway, I'm writing to you from where I grew up in California's wonderful Capital City, Sacramento. Thankfully I was able to escape Los Angeles before the real lockdown was officially issued and I've been holed up with my dog and Mom ever since. It's only been two weeks, barely even that, and I already feel like I moved back in with my Mom only I'm a fully fledged adult with a full-time job and all the responsibilities that come with it.
Anyway, I won't go too deep into what I've been doing during Quarantine (a story for another time) but one thing I can tell you I haven't been doing enough of is writing. Time and time again I tell myself, "you need to write more," "this is your calling, follow it," "how will you grow your blog if you never write," and more internal conversations of the like however this is the first time I've sat down at my computer to...Well...Write.
Sometimes I feel like I have nothing to say and that's why I avoid pulling up my blog like it's the plague. I want to write, I want to produce content but what the heck is that content?!
What do people even care about right now? Especially right now? It's not like I'm attending any crazy cool events outside the confines of the four walls of my home so why would people care to read anything I'm writing?
Well, that's the challenge now isn't it? That's what's inspiring creatives to truly think outside the box, get creative (for lack of a better term) and produce content given strict guidelines and boundaries. Don't they say that's when the most magical things are in fact produced? Not when one is given complete freedom to do whatever they like but rather when they're given a finite set of rules and regulations.
Part of the finite rules and regulations I've found myself bound by the last couple of weeks relates to my workout routine. Post-College Casey has become Studio Fitness QUEEN and I live for a good group bootcamp class or trying a new studio class with ClassPass. (You should all know this about me by now).
Anyway, at the early stages of Covid-19, I felt like ClassPass and Studios were going to be my saving grace. I even remember saying out loud "the second fitness studios close I'm going to lose it!" Well, fast forward a mere week and guess what? Closed. ClassPass membership "on hold indefinitely."
You'll be pleased to know I did not lose it...
I'm so grateful that the fitness studios I've grown to know and love have used those strict rules and regulations I was talking about earlier to "think outside the box" and challenge themselves to still connect with their communities and bring the things everyone knows and loves about them to life in their living rooms: movement.
If you're like me, then you've been using this downtime to dedicate copious amounts of time to your fitness. I've gotten into a good routine of doing a HIIT workout every morning followed by solid stretching/mobility and either a run or walk immediately after. When you don't have the excuse of "not having enough time" why not take that 3 mile run after you lift?
It kickstarts my morning and gives me the energy boost I need to dive into the new normal of working from home life.
That being said, I wanted to share some of my favorite at-home workouts that I've been absolutely loving! I'm not kidding when I say I'm feeling like I'm getting just as good, if not an even better, workout as I would be getting if I were physically in the studio working out.
Lindsey Harrod Instagram Live/In Feed Workouts
I've been doing Lindsey's workouts 2-4 times a week. She has a great variety of workouts including bodyweight, weights and resistance bands. No matter what the workout is I guarantee you'll be SWEATING by the end of it.
Image via Lindsey Harrod Instagram.
Aubre Winters Instagram Live/In Feed Workouts
Whether it's on her own channel or she's hosting with Health House or another Studio, Aubre is a ray of light and motivation. Her workouts are high-intensity but so is her energy.
Image via Aubre Winters Instagram.
Health House Instagram Live Hosted by Various Trainers
Continuing on the theme of electric energy, let's talk about Health House. Right before Quarantine I went to a KILLER Health House class that Aubre taught and I walked away feeling like a new person. Truly. That same high-energy, high-intensity, killer workouts are now brought to you in the comfort of your own home.
Image via Health House Instagram.
Did you know that the Nike Training Club app is a free resource with hundreds of at home workouts? Not only that but the Premium version which offers even MORE at home workouts and other health and wellness tools is FREE right now?! In addition, Nike is hosting weekly Community Workouts led by Nike Master trainers on their YouTube channel every Saturday at 8am.
Image via YouTube Nike Community Workout.
Gillian Dalby In Feed Daily Workouts
My girl Gill is delivering butt kicking after butt kicking every single day to her Instagram. As a founding instructor at CAZ Training Club in Newport Beach, Gill knows how to deliver an incredible at-home workout. She challenged herself to post a new workout daily which means you have plenty of options to choose from.
Image via Gillian Dalby's Instagram.
My other beautiful friend Claire, while forced to take a break from her normal fitness teaching is posting at-home workouts only requiring your own body weight. I'll be thanking this cutie for my summer six-pack.
Image via Claire Pham's Instagram.
Julia Morgan Functional Movement + Mobility
Julia has been featured on the Health House workouts where she always ends each workout taking the audience through a few minutes of mobility work. As a chiropractor, Julia offers great tips and tricks for functional movement and manual therapy over on her page.
Image via Julia Morgan Instagram.
How I'm keeping track of all my miles! Whether it's walking or running, I'm using my Nike Running Club app to set goals for myself and track each mile I walk or run.
Image via Nike Running Instagram.
POPSUGAR Fitness YouTube Channel
This was the very first at-home workout I did and it was not only much more challenging than I thought it would be but it was really fun! They usually feature multiple people in their workout videos and always offer great modifications should you need them.
Image via POPSUGAR Fitness Instagram.
Erica Brettler (The Studio MDR Instructor) Instagram Stories, Highlights + In Feed Workouts
I ordered sliders purely because of Erica. As one of, if not THE hardest, instructor at The Studio MDR, Erica has been continuing the burn in the comfort of her own home. Not going to lie I haven't officially tried her at-home workouts yet, I've been slightly terrified, but this is the week!
Image via Erica Brettler's Instagram.
Despite the current circumstances I have been so impressed by and so grateful to these incredible instructors who have taken it upon themselves to continue connecting with their audiences by offering at-home workouts. It's been a great challenge for me staying self-motivated enough to push myself through tough workouts knowing I'm the only one who can see myself working out. Anyone else feel this way??
In times like this, it can be easy to give up, to say "oh, well," "forget it," to "take a break" from working out or being active but the reality is that's what's going to keep us sane. You better believe my Summer '20 body is being built in Quarantine 2020 - how about yours?
(Originally Published March 29, 2020)