With gyms shut for the foreseeable future and a two-week extension to the nationwide lockdown announced, many fitness fanatics and health-conscious individuals are at a loss about how to stay active and healthy at home.
If you’re looking for some guidance, a bit of extra motivation, or simply want a way to make health and fitness a central part of life during the lockdown, digital technology now offers us a world of options.
According to data from the App Annie mobile data analytics platform, health and fitness app downloads surged 40% during the last week of March as many nations went into lockdown, compared to the average of the first two months of the year.
So join the digital health and fitness revolution by trying these popular options for a holistic approach to lockdown living:
Move your body(weight)
Fitbit Coach makes it easy to get and stay in shape with dynamic workouts that continually adjust to your feedback, goals, and capabilities, just like a personal trainer! The app offers users access to bodyweight, running, and walking workouts which they can customise based on their individual goals.
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Workout options range from seven to 60 minutes and can be completed using your smartphone or computer.
Fitbit Coach will recommend exercises based on your daily activity tracked with a Fitbit device, providing personalized fitness guidance to better help you reach your goals.
Personalised video workouts show you the moves and provide step-by-step coaching, motivation, and tips.
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There are hundreds of exercises available per body part to ensure you never get bored. New workouts are added regularly to keep fitness fun and fresh.
Upgrade to Premium to access an entire year of exclusive, customised programs to help you get lean and toned, lose weight, bulk-up, or gain strength.
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Available for Android and iOS.
Make the most of your kettlebells
If you’re one of the lucky few who already own or were able to buy a kettlebell before lockdown, then check out the Kettlebell by Fitify app.
This video coaching app provides users with over 5 full kettlebell workout sessions, including over 45 kettlebell exercises to help increase strength and balance and improve cardio condition. Includes clear HD video demonstrations and a voice coach to ensure proper form. Users can also create their your own workouts from the exercise library.
The Fitify ecosystem also offers apps for other common at-home exercise equipment like stability and bosu balls, TRX suspension trainers and medicine balls.
Available for Android and iOS.
Get into the right headspace
Don’t neglect your mental fitness and psychological health during the lockdown, especially if you’re isolated from family and friends.
Get into the right frame of mind to survive lockdown with the Headspace app – a personal meditation guide with over 500 themed meditations that will help you focus, breathe, stay calm, perform at your best, and get a better night’s rest through the life-changing skills of relaxation and mindfulness.
In just a few minutes a day, you’ll learn how to train your mind and body for a healthier, happier, stress-free life.
The guided breathing exercises can promote mindfulness and have been proven to improve focus. There are exercises on everything from managing anxiety to stress relief to breathing, happiness, calm, and focus.
Even if you’ve never meditated before, the free Basics course will teach you the essentials of meditation and mindfulness.
In the Sleep by Headspace experience, you’ll find guided meditation for sleep, relaxing sounds, and relaxing music for sleep, sleep melodies, and sleepcasts to relax your mind.
Available for Android and iOS.
Don’t gain weight, lose it!
The Lose It! app has been designed to help users lose weight in a healthy, sustainable way with a simple, easy-to-use calorie tracking program that helps keep users within their daily calorie ‘budget’.
Lose It! allows a user to set a daily calorie ‘budget’, then tracks food intake and exercise, empowering users to make smarter choices and achieve their goal. This is the easy way to avoid excess weight gain during the lockdown when calorie consumption normally goes up and daily activity levels drop.
You can also use the app to track your daily water intake to make sure you’re getting the recommended amount daily.
Available for Android and iOS.
Stay supple and mobile
For CrossFitters or those looking to improve their general mobility, the GOWOD app will allow you to test your mobility to establish a general mobility score, zone by zone. The app then providers a personalised mobilisation protocol to help improve your mobility.
Premium users enjoy a monthly mobility test, integration of your most profitable weakness to improve, and unlimited custom pre/post WOD and daily mobility protocols.
Available for Android and iOS.
If you’re looking for a tempered-down option, consider the Pocket Yoga app. Choose between different practices, different durations and different difficulty levels. Whatever your skill level and time availability, there’s something for you.
Pocket Yoga recreates the experience of being in an actual yoga studio. A soothing voice will guide you through your entire practice while soothing music plays in the background. You will even get directions on when to inhale and exhale. It also includes an extensive dictionary of poses that is categorised and easily searchable.
