We all know how important exercise is to keep mind and body together in the midlife years. But working out is easier said than done when you’re stuck at home, which is why we’ve rounded up the best at-home workouts.
Surely we’re not the only ones who are finding Netflix a whole load more appealing than doing sit ups on the sitting room floor? Luckily, there are some amazing at-home workouts to get us motivated to move. Brilliantly inventive fitness trainers are using this lockdown as an opportunity to come up with digital workouts that all of us can get on board with.
Grab your handweights (or cans of beans)
First up, a shout out to #mpoweredwomen’s Annelies Harte, @harteandsoulcoach, who is running daily weights and Pilates sessions at 5.15pm, via Zoom. As a midlife woman herself, Annelies is brilliantly motivating for the rest of us, and there’s a fab community of women already addicted to her daily sessions – Team Hylda included.
“When it became clear that our lives were about to change I looked for a way to still reach out to people,” says Annelies. “I wanted to start a community to maintain connections for us all, myself included. We can’t be physically near, so we need to connect in other ways. We need to talk, move and feel part of something.”
Annelies knows exactly what workouts we need to look and feel fantastic as we go through the peri and menopause years.
“As a woman of almost 50, I’ve noticed that the need for movement is different now than it was in my 20s and 30s,” she says. “My sessions are strength based, as that is the foundation of being a human. How we get there depends on the individual. I offer body weight, resistance bands, dumbbell, Pilates and relaxation sessions.”
If you don’t have hand weights at home, don’t worry. Annelies has inventive ideas for getting around that, including filling a backpack with cans and lifting that! So do join in.
At-home workouts with Davina
Another shout out to Davina McCall, who is offering free 30-day access to her Own Your Goals Davina at-home fitness and wellbeing platform. “Now, more than ever, I do believe for all our mental health, exercise is the key for getting us through this,” she said, via a video on her social channels. We couldn’t agree more, sign us up! If we can look anywhere near a fit and fabulous as 50-something Davina by the end of this lockdown, we’ll be very happy.
A few more to try
If yoga is your thing, then @adrienelouise is the go-to home teacher. The antithesis of those irritating Instagram yogis (“look at me, balancing on my head overlooking the ocean…”), Adriene has a calming, down to earth manner that is just what we all need at the moment. Her sessions, via her YouTube channel Yoga with Adriene, are lovely – and free of charge. We have added her into our daily lockdown routine and we’re feeling less anxious already.
We also hear good things about @zannavandijk’s 25-minute ‘apartment-friendly’ workouts from her bedroom – with no heavy jumping that might annoy the neighbours. One to add to our list.
Keeping moving and keeping connected will help us all stay sane as we face the challenges of the weeks and months ahead. And when we come out the other side, we’ll have established some great new habits and practices for our physical and mental wellbeing.
Hang on in there, everyone, we’re all in this together.
Stay strong in body and spirit with lots more tips and ideas from the Hylda Wellbeing experts.
