The first day of quarantine, a few thoughts went through my head. All the snacks in my pantry are a hand’s grab away at any moment – I’m gonna get fat.  My gym is closed – I’m gonna lose all my muscle. I won’t wake up if I don’t have a reason to – I’ll become lazy!  

Day one of quarantine, I had a choice to make.  Sleep in, enjoy the down time or get up at 5:30 to workout and stick to my routine.  

Which option did I choose?

If you said the second one, you’re right.  I made the [difficult] choice to wake up, even though I couldn’t get to my gym because it was closed and worked out in my living room.  

In this post I’ll tell you how I found the motivation to keep exercising despite being on lockdown and how you can too.

For some, being active is inevitable (fitness pro’s and such).  For the rest of us, especially the 9-5er’s of the world, living in quarantine is a whole new world.  It forces us to confront the unhealthy buffering activities we might normally prescribe to while at home, like snacking  mindlessly, lounging while scrolling Instagram all day, and alcohol! Quarantine has forced us to make a decision to do the healthy stuff despite being in a pandemic.  

We are now a few weeks (or months) into quarantine.  If you are having a hard time sticking to your workout routines, here are 8 tips to get you motivated and on a healthy fitness track.  

8 tips to get you motivated to workout on quarantine

Go for convenience

Just use what you have around.  A backpack full of books or anything you can stuff it with can be used in resistance training.  Chairs, coffee tables, or socks on wood floors can all be used for home exercises. Instagram is crawling with fitness pro’s giving you home workout ideas – use them!  Search #fitnessplans #athomefitness

I’ve personally loved following along on Youtube with CorePower’s Yoga Sculpt and C2 live workouts (you can play them back later). Another one I have heard good things about is the Nike Training Club. It takes all the guesswork out of “What do I do next?” and keeps you moving at a steady pace.

Do something you enjoy or at least tolerate  

Hate bodybuilding workouts?  Try yoga. Hate working out alone?  Follow a video like P90X, dance workout videos, Insanity, or anyone remember Tai-Bo?  You know Billy Blanks can make you sweat ;).

Other ideas are mat pilates, shadow boxing, jumping rope, running, balancing (yoga-ish), there are countless online workouts to follow along with. Just Google your interest and video or live workout to see what you can find.  You’d be surprised how creative some people are!

Have your workout planned out the day or week before.

So this is a big one for me.  

It’s a huge reason I get out of bed in the morning, brush my teeth, put on my workout clothes, and get moving.  I KNOW what workout I’m going to be doing.  

My CrossFit/functional fitness style gym has workouts posted in the app we use.  Since resistance and functional fitness is my favorite way to train most of the time, as soon as my alarm goes off, I look at that workout to stimulate my brain.  

That leads me to…

Take a mini action to just start

This is my big secret to getting up at 5:30AM to workout.  I’ve noticed how much better I feel when I workout first thing in the morning.  It’s a form of self-care for me.

RELATED:  21 reasons a morning workout routine is right for you

Like I mentioned before, first I pull out my phone and look at something on my phone just to wake up my brain.  I’ll typically look at my workout and start to process what those moves will look/feel like.  

Once my brain is sorta on, I then think of the next step I need to take to wake up further – brushing my teeth.  The minty freshness does something to click on a few more connections and somehow I’m far more awake by the time I’m done cleaning those pearly whites.  

The next step is to put workout clothes on.  Once those shoes are tied, there’s no going back, just pull out the equipment, turn on the tunes, and go.    

Set a goal for the week

Something like “I will workout 3 days this week.”  Schedule your workouts in your calendar, Pretend like you have a meeting with yourself and hold yourself to that schedule.  Each time you achieve a workout toward your goal, check a box.  

Doesn’t that feel good?!

Continue to meal plan and prep

What you have in your house is what you’ll eat.  I repeat, what’s in your house, is what you’ll eat.  Even if you can’t get yourself to workout, you can choose to buy non-processed, whole foods like chicken, broccoli, sweet potatoes, blackberries, etc.  

Making a plan to eat well is how the busiest of people succeed with their nutrition.  Don’t stop meal prep just because you’re home.  And remember the clean eating rules to follow.

Plan a virtual workout sesh with a friend on Zoom

Social distancing is hard and makes working out that much harder when you are going coo-coo by yourself.  If you are home alone, make a plan to have a virtual workout party with your besties. You all will motivate each other along with some much needed social interaction.

Hire a virtual coach

Need more accountability?  This is for you. Health coaches still provide accountability with virtual sessions and can help you stay on track when you just don’t have the drive yourself.  If you are interested in learning more, email me at shay@thebodybulletin.com..

Conclusion 

While we are in a health crisis, the last thing we all should be doing is letting our health decline.  Staying home doesn’t need to equal getting fat (as I originally thought). We are humans and humans are very good at adapting.  Learn to adjust to the new normal (hopefully just for a little while) so you can stay healthy and keep moving.