Covid-19 has brought upon us some strange and difficult times. We are living in a reality where everything we are used to doing suddenly has restrictions. One common struggle that I have been hearing from almost everyone is that it’s impossible to stay in shape because all the gyms are shut down. I am here to offer a few simple suggestions to get people up and active.

I am a current collegiate basketball player, so one of my main tasks during quarantine has been to stay in shape. Yes, it has been hard and yes, it is a struggle to find the right tools that work for you. It is important to ultimately decide how staying in shape applies to you. A solid place to start is just to stay active in general. In many cases this may be to work on cardio and using the dreaded R word… Running. 

One of the best and hardest things anyone can do right now is to get out and run. I am one who absolutely hates running. It is awful and no one likes to do it. I like to see this work out as a “one mile gets the job done”. I don’t go run a marathon, and I even walk some of the time, but I still give it my best effort. The weather is great, and everyone is looking to get out of the house, so why not lace the shoes up and head on out? 

Now that I got the obvious and boring suggestion out of the way, let’s talk about some other options that are more appealing to everyone. A couple of activities that I’ve found beneficial to staying in shape have been things like going on bike rides. I haven’t ridden a bike in years, but now I do it almost every day! Tennis is another great activity where you can get your family out and play a quick game. There has even been a night where we broke out the old Wii fit!  That’s the thing about staying in shape--it’s all about what you want to do and how you can have fun with it. There are activities and games you can do as a family, or there’s things like running where you can go yourself. However you want to do it, all you have to do is get up and go.

Something a little more up my alley is building muscle. I know a lot of people who are worried about the work they’ve put into their bodies and are now stressed about it going to waste. What people don’t realize is the wide variety of items around your house or apartment that you can use to “lift weights”.

For some people, you may have an in-home gym or free weights laying around. Woo-hoo, good job buddy! You probably don’t need a DIY list of this stuff then… But, if you don’t have that stuff and don’t to spend money on it (like me), grab a backpack and a broomstick and let’s get to work. 

I have been filling up backpacks full of books. You can do squats, lunges, steps ups, or any leg workout with that backpack on. The key for this: high reps. If you’re not a leg guy and want that killer beach bod, you can still use the backpack! You’ll need a second backpack and a broom stick. Hang both on each end and do bench press, curls, shoulder press, or anything else you would use with a barbell. 

The main learning point with this is that staying in shape is in your hands. All you have to do is get up and go. Whether it’s working on your cardio or trying to build muscle, there are many simple and creative ways to work out. It may take a little more effort than normal, but the payoff at the end of this quarantine will be rewarding once you get back into the gym.