Easy exercise hacks to do in the comfort of your home

If winter is showing on your waistline and the weather outside makes heading to your gym seem like to a trip to Antarctica, then why not spend a few minutes working out in the comfort of your own home? 

Michelle Fok, Director of The CIRK, an alternate fitness concept in Johannesburg, shares some advice on how you can get fit at home.

Do more dynamic exercises:

With everyone’s busy schedule, finding time to exercise is virtually impossible. Fok says people with minimal time to exercise can focus on high-intensity exercises. These include burpees and explosive lunges. “It gets the heart pumping, as well as working several muscle groups simultaneously."

Fitness model Taryn Fleming demonstrates a burpee. Picture: Sibonelo Ngcobo

Rigorous, but oh so worth it! Picture: Sibonelo Ngcobo.

Picture: Sibonelo Ngcobo

Focus on your core muscles:

Fok says your core, which consists of your pelvis, lower back, abdomen and hips, helps with your body's posture, stabilisation and balance. She says: “A weak core could lead to quicker fatigue and injuries in exercise.” Some core exercises to try include bridges, planks, and boats.

Planking helps to strengthen your core. Picture: Supplied

Use your body weight:

For those who do not have gym equipment at home, Fok believes you can work out by maximising your body weight. Some exercises include one-leg squats and push-ups.

Fok believes you can work out by maximising your body weight with exercises including push-ups. Picture: Sibonelo Ngcobo

Always stretch:

She says increasing your flexibility and range of motion is beneficial for the body. “It reduces injuries and increases the muscle recovery rate. People should stretch before and after they exercise.” 

Stretching before and after a workout reduces injuries. Picture: Pixabay.

Focus on multi-group muscle exercises:

Maximise your time by doing exercises that use more than one muscle group. Fok recommends exercises like mountain climbers. She says full-body exercises are excellent, as you will never neglect a muscle group.

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Mountain climbers . . . #mountainclimbersworkout #variation #rotation #abs #core #fitnessgirl

A post shared by SHE Ladies Fitness Center(@sheladiesfitnesscenter) on Jul 16, 2019 at 2:49am PDT

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