A Home workout is a great way to stay both physically and mentally healthy, especially as a good percentage of the country is stuck in lockdown at the moment. In fact, for many of us, it a home workout is the only option.
ZADI Training founder and female fitness instructor, Adala Bolto, shares her at-home full body home workout exclusively with The Carousel.
Exercise is not only great for your physical fitness. It also creates endorphins, which can boost your mood, and supporting our mental health at this point in time is vital.
When training at home, opt towards performing more compound exercises, as they give you more bang for your buck. Compound exercises are the ones that work multiple parts of your body in one go, such as a squat or pushup. The reason they are so effective is that they work most of your body at the same time, while also hiking your heart rate, which helps you improve your aerobic fitness too.
Home Workout Squat
One of the most effective exercises, the squat will work your Quads (thighs), Hips, Glutes and even the Hamstrings. If your posture is good, squats will also work your abs.
· Start by standing up straight with your shoulders back and your core pulled in tight.
· Feet should be shoulder width apart.
· Push your butt back into a low squat. You want to push your knees out slightly to ensure you are toning the sides of your butt and legs throughout the exercise.
· Then push up back to straight legs, squeezing your glutes on the way up.
· Try two counts down, two counts up to begin with, but you can change your speed up as you get more comfortable with the exercise. Repeat 10 times and do three sets, if you can handle it. Remember to start small and build up as your fitness and strength grow.
Take note to also keep the knees soft at the very end of the squat being completely performed. If your back is strong and you feel up to it, add in a light kettle bell for extra ooomph!
Home Workout Push-Up
While both the push up and the squat work a lot of the body, the push up can really benefit the upper body, while the squat focuses on the lower body. They are also not super difficult to achieve.
· You can do a push up on knees or toes.
· Place your hands under your shoulders, have the rest of the body in a plank (on knees or toes). Your shoulders should be back, abs and glutes should also be tight.
· Start lowering yourself down toward the ground, have your elbows go out at 45 degrees for a basic pushup.
· Push yourself back up. That is one repetition. Start with perhaps five reps and three sets, (or as many as you can do) and slowly build up every day.
Bicycle Crunch
The bicycle crunch is a great ab workout as it also gets the obliques, and many women love to have that toned look.
· Lie on your back with your hands to the side of your head
· Put your knees up to 45 degrees over your hips
· Kick the right leg to straight, keep the left leg bent. As you do it, twist the left side of your body toward the right leg. Your arms will steer you, but make sure you are feeling this exercise in your core, not your neck or shoulders.
· Reset, then kick out the left leg to straight and twist to the left.
· Do at least 20 a side in each set of three.
Lunges
Lunges are a great exercise for increasing muscle mass to build strength and tone your body. Specifically targeting your core, butt and legs they also help improve your posture and range of motion which is a plus!
To perform the lunge correctly
· Keep your chest and head upright.
· Take a large step behind you.
· Then drop your rear knee to the floor and stand back up. Do this nice and slow to improve balance and butt strength.
· You can do all reps on one leg before switching to the other. Or to get more of a core workout, try doing alternating lunges. As you become stronger, you may wish to incorporate a light kettle bell weight to add intensity to the exercise.
The Carousel would like to thank Adala Bolto, founder of female fitness franchise ZADI Training for this article.
About ZADI
With the workouts programmed at ZADI apply the FITT principle (frequency, intensity, time and type) and safe balanced movement patterns in every session. These are the bedrock of ZADI’s workout methodology. In addition, ZADI programs the finer layers such as reps, sets, load and rest with female bodies and common fitness goals in mind.
