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When we were children, a rainy day was an excellent excuse to skip tuition or classes. Unfortunately, that doesn’t quite cut it for fitness, as you’ll be doing yourself a disservice. It is entirely okay to skip going to the gym, of course, but in case you’re using the monsoon as a getaway pass from exercising, then here are some workouts which you can do at home.
So go ahead and laze a little extra during the monsoon, but keep your training on track as well. Home workouts are a great alternative, especially when even basic outdoor activities like running can take a backseat in monsoon.
For the runners: You might not get a runner’s high from being indoors and doing drills, but YouTube fitness page Athletic Engineering suggests a simple five exercise circuit to work the same muscles and get your heart rate up without covering any distance at all. Runners who have tried this say that a few rounds of the drill will get you up to speed with the cardio your body is used to. You also have the option to push further if you have steps and some extra area for short sprints.
Chest and tricep focused: Gym goers might complain that bodyweight exercises do not give them the pump or challenge that pushing weights do. There might be some truth to that, but fitness is such that it is better to perform exercises that replicate the loads you are used to, rather than not do anything at all. Breaking past the misconception that bodyweight exercises have to be high-rep to be effective, Saturno Movement’s slow and concentrated time-based chest and tricep workout is anything but easy. Most of the video is an explanation of how and why the exercises are chosen, before the latter part which is a follow-along routine with an easier variation also offered. Do a few circuits of this, and you’ll be surprised just how tough this workout is.
Pull workout with resistance bands: Push exercises are easier to figure out with bodyweight options, but a pulling workout at home can be brilliant with resistance bands. One can choose between two separate back and bicep exercises, but the workout below is a good balance of both, with an excellent explanation on why and how they should be done. The best part about using long resistance bands is that they offer control of how much load you will be pulling. This means that each set can be slightly more difficult than the previous one.
Pilates for a full-body workout: It’s not easy to squeeze in a full body floor workout during a gym routine. The attraction to get in another lifting workout can be too much to resist, given that it feels more like a workout than an hour long class of pilates. That is not the case though. Lifters should take time out to work on the small muscles, those which are vital in supporting the large ones. Apart from that, flexibility and mobility is also very important. You can all that and more with Nicole Kastoun’s hour-long follow-along video. All the muscles that get overlooked in the gym will be worked in this one: the glutes, hip flexors, hamstrings, all sections of the core muscles, and stamina as well.
HIIT workout with dumbbells: Saving the hardest for last, this one can be done with dumbbells of any weight simply due to the variety and intensity of this workout. With not a single exercise repeating, this workout, watched [and hopefully attempted] by nearly half a million people will have you do thrusters, lunges, curls, rows, presses, and a lot more in just 30 minutes. There are enough periods for rest in between, and you can modify those according to the weights you have at home. Heavier dumbbells means you can afford slightly longer breaks, and lighter ones mean you can eat into some rest time, if needed.
Pulasta Dhar is a football commentator and writer.
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