The pandemic drove New Yorkers toward remote work, and away from the gym. With 90 percent of Manhattan office workers now working from home, and the fitness industry going through a transformation, New Yorkers now have the option to bring the gym home along with their work. Here is a look at 5 of the ways New Yorkers can mimic the intensity, range of motion, and versatility of a gym workout, right at home. Hint: A little creativity, and a lot of online resources, are key.
Consult online videos.
The appetite for online workout videos has exploded during the pandemic: One study found that the percentage of people interested in online exercise grew from 7 percent to 80 percent during the early stages of the pandemic. To keep up with that demand, online exercise offerings have also exploded: New Yorkers can now choose from hundreds or even thousands of options from their phones, tablets, or computers. What can you do online to stay active and break a sweat like you used to do in your favorite gym? Here is just a sampling:- Pilates
- Yoga
- Strength training
- General fitness training
- Cardio workouts
- Dancing
- Zumba
Include family members.
Another trend creative New Yorkers are adopting is turning their favorite people into their favorite workout partners. Just because you have to exercise at home doesn’t mean you have to exercise alone. Partners can do more than just provide encouragement during a video session of Zumba or a particularly intense HIIT training session. They can become part of the exercise routine as well. For example, AcroYoga, also known as partner yoga, gets you and your partner into poses together. There is nothing like strength training and trust building alongside your favorite family members. Some range of motion exercises can also be accomplished with a partner, who provides the resistance needed to really improve your abilities and your strength.Use whatever is at hand.
Early in the pandemic, New Yorkers were often stuck at home, and stuck with shortages of everything from weights to exercise bikes. That didn’t stop them from exercising then, and not having room or money to purchase exercise equipment does not have to stop you now. Embrace your small New York apartment and the exercise potential therein with some creative use of whatever you have lying around. For example, don’t have weights to do Pilates or need to lift weights to build muscle tone? Canned goods or water bottles can suffice. Toilet paper also has many workout uses, from providing you something to balance to serving as a useful tool during squats, crunches, Pilates poses, and more. Plus, many exercise videos give you the option to workout without specialized equipment: Simplicity does not have to mean easy when it comes to building fitness and range of motion at home.Build exercise into the work-at-home routine.
Getting out to the gym provides an intrinsic motivation to workout. When you are at home, with your work, all day, it can be a little harder to get moving. In addition, many New Yorkers found that their commute, which often involved long walks up and down stairs or to and from subway stations, disappeared during the pandemic. Out gyms and commute, New Yorkers can still get exercise into their routine. They just have to be a little more creative about how. One woman assigned herself exercises to complete every time she walked into the kitchen. Others choose to walk up and down the stairs to and from their apartments, or even just take a 10-minute walk outside. Find a few minutes in your day that is a natural part of your routine and start fitting in a few exercises into that space. With many online videos that are less than 10 minutes long, it can be easy to discover short but impactful workouts to get fit without getting out of the house.Bring hobbies indoors.
You don’t have to skip your hobbies because you are working at home. There are many ways for New Yorkers like you to bring your hobbies into your home. Here are a few ideas:- Buy a compact exercise bike to use in your apartment.
- Practice tennis inside with the right videos.
- Dance to any music you like!
- Find ballet videos and tap into your inner ballerina.