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Making fitness gains from home

Body weight exercise routines St. Albert trainers compiled that people can do from home
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Ryan and Kathryn Morrow have begun a new online fitness regime to help others stay active and keep fit while practicing social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pair have a long history of fitness and nutrition instruction and added they would like to see more of this type of online exercise. CHRIS COLBOURNE/St. Albert Gazette

Can’t make the mad gains you were on track for, while gyms across St. Albert are shut down to prevent virus transmission?

Do you miss you favourite spin instructor pumping you up to spin faster and faster to the beat of their bops?

Or are you just going stir crazy in the house and need an outlet to release some of that pent-up energy?

The fitness community in St. Albert has you covered, with many personal trainers and yoga instructors going digital, hoping to do their part in helping community members stay healthy.

For those who are used to training with heavier weights, there are always adaptations laying around the house – it just depends how creative you can get. From bench pressing your toddler, filling up milk jugs with water, to curling some soup cans or doing a rice-sack-in-a-backpack squat, the options are endless.

The Gazette spoke with a few local personal trainers and compiled a couple of accessible daily home workouts, designed to activate large muscle groups in the body and mostly utilizing body weight.

Underneath, you can also find a list of online resources for free daily fitness, nutrition and yoga classes.

Nutrition and fitness duo Ryan and Kathryn Morrow, who own Rhino Nutrition and Fitness and KJM Nutrition, emphasized it is important to keep to a good routine even if you are not leaving the house.

“In a world where so much is out of our control, right now, one thing we can take control of is our health and fitness,” Kathryn said. She added properly fueling our bodies, moving, sweating and detoxing is what will really keep us healthy at this time.

(A note on lingo: repetitions, or “reps,” are the number of times you perform an exercise within a “set,” which is a cycle within an exercise.)

Seven-day lock down challenge

Kylee Andresen, a personal fitness trainer at the Sturgeon Valley Athletic Club and Servus Place, said sometimes people only need 20 minutes to get moving and raise endorphin levels.

The seven-day workout routine Andresen has compiled is accessible to everyone and can be modified to the participant's ability.

For each day, people are given three to four exercises and are encouraged to do three sets – or cycles – and the seventh day is a rest day.

“I'm giving you things that you can do that you don't need any weights or anything, but you can always add weight,” Andresen said.

For any help understanding how to do each exercise, there are plenty of resources online.

Day 1: 15 squats, 12 jump lunges, 12 push ups, 25 second wall sit

Day 2: 15 mountain climbers, 12 bicycle crunches, 12 tricep dips, 1-minute plank

Day 3: 15 burpees, 12 sumo squats, 12 push-ups, 30 second wall sit

Day 4: 15 mountain climbers, 12 jump lunges, 12 triceps dips, 1 minute plank

Day 5: 15 squats, 12 bicycle crunches, 12 push-ups, 30-second wall sit

Day 6: 15 burpees, 12 sumo squats, 12 triceps dips, 1-minute plank

Day 7: Rest!

Andresen plans to update her social media pages (@ky_fitandwellness) with more weekly challenges.

Simple home body weight routine

This program is brought to you by private personal trainer Josh Kelly, with options to regress and progress each exercise, making movements either a bit easier or more challenging.

Kelly suggests doing the routine two to four times a week, just something to “get your sweat on.”

If participants want to make the routine even harder, Kelly suggested cutting down on rest periods, or looking at “active rest time.”

That means, instead of just catching your breath and sipping water in between repetitions and exercises, when you jump out of the exercise go straight into mountain climbers or jumping jacks.

“Just anything that keeps that heart rate up and you know, keeps you a little bit gassed,” he said.

1.Basic air squat. 3 sets x 10-15 reps. Regress: use an object or wall to provide stability. Progress: squat jump thruster (hold an object out at throat level, when exploding up thrust object above head)

2. Simple push-up. 3 sets x 10-15 reps. Regress: change the angle (i.e. against a counter or table). Progress: lift leg or clap at the top of movement

3. Walking body weight lunge. 3 sets x 20 reps/leg. Regress: take out walking, stablilize on something. Progress: add weighted object in each hand.

4. Around the world. 3 sets x15 rounds. Hold a small weighted object with hold hands and rotate it around your head at ear level. Regress: change movement to shoulder press. Progress: slow time of revolution and ensure reaching entire range.

5. Single leg hip thrust. 3 sets x 15 reps/leg. Sit with back against wall or chair, knees at 90 degree angle with ground. Stick one leg out and thrust up until hips and stomach are flat. Regress: both legs at same time. Progress: add pause at top or slow, add weight to hips.

6. Body weight plank. 3 sets x 1 minute. Regress: increase angle. Progress: take one limb off ground.

Kelly is available to answer at [email protected].

Other online resources

Yoga

  • Yoga In My School – found on Facebook; provides yoga classes for kids and teens
  • Mishleen Khoury kids daily yoga @ 11 a.m. on Facebook

Fitness classes

  • Kylee Andresen two-week lock down challenge: Instagram and Facebook @ky_fitandwellness
  • Rhino Nutrition and Fitness – request to join private Facebook group “Exclusive Rhino Accountability Group” for daily 10 a.m. classes
  • Sit, Stay Squat – providing daily activities folks can do with their dogs. Join the Facebook group “Isolation Fitness & Enrichment for Dogs”

Other

  • Phoenix Taekwondo Club – daily live videos
  • Sabrina’s Dance Instruction – daily live dance party 12-12:30 p.m.
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