Here’s How You Can Safely And Effectively Train Inside Your Home

The quarantine has indeed been hard on us. But instead of focusing on the negative, our resilience has pushed us to make the most out of the quarantine and do the things we didn’t have time for before. One of the things that many have found effective in coping during these hard times is staying (or starting) to be active.

In fact, it is now that our outdoor physical activities are restricted and our mental health challenged that we should exercise more. Exercise has been known to reduce symptoms of anxiety, as well as improve sleep, mood, and energy levels. And needless to say, not meeting the recommended physical activity guidelines can lead to weight gain and lifestyle-related diseases.

Planning your fitness goals—whether you’re just starting out, or transitioning from gym workouts—may be challenging. While we know our bodies best, sometimes, having a professional guide and coach us in our journey makes all the difference. But since gyms may not be opening soon even though we’re easing out of the enhanced community quarantine to the general community quarantine, maybe you’ll find that investing in a good and effective home workout will work best for you.

Surge Fitness, the first and biggest Filipino 24/7 gym franchise in the metro, shared some pointers with us on how we can safely and effectively train our minds and bodies this quarantine.

Join free online classes

Online classes are a fun way to achieve overall health and well-being, including cardiovascular and muscular endurance, flexibility, core stability, improved mood and sleep, and relaxation. But while there are a myriad of videos online that you can follow, you’ll find it’s easier to follow workouts when they are more comprehensively explained and demonstrated by professional coaches and instructors.

This is especially crucial for beginners who are just starting to get active during the quarantine, and may find it hard to understand common exercise jargon such as downward-facing dog or cheap reps, and may forget the importance of warm-ups before kicking up the intensity.

Surge Fitness has an array of free live classes for all fitness levels: Zumba dance classes, boot camps, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), core and body weight trainings, and yoga sessions. All of these classes are led by their coaches and require no equipment. The classes are streamed via Zoom and class pass codes are posted on their social media pages daily.

Check out their live class schedules below:

Get a virtual personal coach

Are you doing your squats right? Are you increasing the difficulty of your exercise safely? Do you stick to your exercise schedule? Monitoring your own exercise routine without the supervision of an expert is challenging—and may even lead to wrong form and injuries. So if you’re just starting out on your fitness journey or if you’re looking to continue or improve your old gym regimen, Surge Fitness offers a virtual coaching program to make sure that your home workout this ECQ will just be as effective.

Surge Fitness’ Online Personal Training program starts with a standard Fitness Assessment to determine your strengths and weaknesses. It also includes a motivational interview to assess your fitness-related behaviors such as eating, sleeping, and stress management habits so the coach can design a tailored-fit workout program based on your specific needs and goals.

How does it work? If your internet connection is good, then the exercises can be demonstrated by the coach through a live video call. But if the internet connection is unreliable, the coach can send you pre-recorded videos and you’re then required to send back your own videos for immediate feedback. This sets virtual coaching apart from online classes, since your coach designs the workout especially for your needs, and can point it out when you need to fix your form.

Get a heart rate monitoring device

Metro.style previously revealed in an article that one of Shakira's secrets to staying in tip top shape at 43 is using a heart rate monitor. Interestingly, monitoring your heart rate is key in making sure that what you’re currently doing is safe for your level or hard enough to increase your fitness.

Surge Fitness has a similar device called Surge Fit Track, which is worn around the chest to track real-time changes in heart rate, calories burned, training intensity, and recovery. Tracking these during your workout is essential in designing safe and effective programs for you. If your training intensity is too low, you won't get results; and if it's too high, you can get injured, overtrained, or frustrated. The Surge Fit Track gives your coach valuable feedback on your physical performance so they can approach your training scientifically.

Working out at home has always been treated as inferior to going to the gym, but with the right programs, home workout may actually prove to be more practical, safer, and much more encouraging since you’re discovering and pushing yourself in a safe and comfortable environment.

Since we’re all still staying inside our homes, Surge Fitness is offering a free trial of their Online Personal Training, which includes their standard fitness assessment, a motivational interview, and two sessions of personal training. Send them a message on Facebook or Instagram to know more about this promotion and let’s get moving!