Fall is finally here. For some, this season of pumpkins, more pumpkins, football and cold weather is a favorite. Who doesn’t look forward to wearing their stylish sweaters, scarves and boots again? Taking a nice long walk, gentle cold and crisp wind brushing on your cheeks as you marvel at the picturesque foliage of trees changing their color...now that’s a good idea for anyone.
As the days are now shorter and the weather is colder, you might find that there’s a change in your lifestyle as well. During this season, there’s a possibility that your mood dips a little lower as your cortisol levels are higher compared to summer and spring. What better and healthier way to counter all of that than by engaging in endorphin-releasing activities such as exercise?
One of the good things that this pandemic has taught us is that staying indoors doesn’t mean you need to pass off on being physically active. While there’s plenty of time to enjoy a cup of hot cocoa and curl up into a ball, there’s also a lot of things you can do to keep those muscles moving.
Whether you live an active lifestyle or you’re pretty much chill, staying indoors during the fall shouldn’t stop you from getting an exercise or two in your routine.
Here are some ideas to inspire you:
Exercise over Zoom
For some, exercising or staying active indoors can be a tad boring, especially when you do it by yourself. Since social distancing is still in place and highly encouraged in a lot of places, why not take advantage of your Zoom subscription and use it to organize a work out session with your friends?
Who said you can only share presentations during a meeting? Plan a workout schedule, just an hour or 30 mins a day and choose a video that you and your friends can follow together while screen sharing. With a truckload of indoor exercises content on social media, you’ll never run out of choices. This
30-min HIIT session can help you get started.
Netflix and push-ups, anyone?
As if we need more convincing to watch Netflix, right? If anything, with more and more content being uploaded in the site on a regular basis, what we need is more self-control. Didn’t you ever have that guilty feeling when you’ve spent an entire weekend binge watching an entire season (or heaven forbid, all 7 of them) of Homeland? Yes, the adrenaline rush is there as you anticipate what’s going to happen next, but honestly, didn’t you feel an “I-could-have-done-more-but-didn’t” kind of anxiety?
With the fall weather testing your faltering self-control all the more, why not use Netflix as a way to exercise? For every 30-min episode you’re watching, do a set of 5 lunges, 5 push-ups and 5 sit-ups while watching. If an episode is more than 30 minutes, do a double set. Need some inspiration on some simple exercises you can do? Here’s a
15-min complete body workout to give you some ideas.
Change up the exercises that you do for variety and increase the number as you go along. Don’t cheat! Not only have you known what’s going to happen in that next episode you’re dying to watch, you also did your
cardiovascular health and your body a favor by moving it.
Clean out those closets
If the last almost 6 months of staying at home hasn’t encouraged you at all to declutter your place, now is probably the best time to do it. You may not be a fan of Marie Kondo, but whether you admit it or not, she kind of makes sense. Only keeping the things that “spark joy” in your life, will give you more space to keep things that matter.
So why don’t you work those arms and legs and lift those heavy boxes (lift with your legs, not with your back) so you can sort through them and decide which ones to keep? 2021 is fast approaching, and you don’t want to welcome a brand new year with a whole lot of old junk.
Try an indoor sport/hobby
If you have the space (and the money) for a home gym with a few basic equipment, then good for you. 30 minutes to an hour in the thread mill can do
wonders for your health and mood. A round of table tennis or darts also sound like a good idea to quench your competitive thirst at the same time get you moving.
If you’re short on space, you can try doing
yoga and meditation to help you center and focus on your thoughts while working on your flexibility. If you want to improve on your self defense skills, try learning the
basic moves of boxing! These options aren’t just convenient, they require very little to no equipment at all.
While being “active” is often associated with movements and physical activities, it also has a lot to do with keeping your mind active. Most, if not all of what we do and whether we do it consistently, starts from our mindset. As you make efforts to keep your body active, why not use this time to reflect on your priorities and really figure out what you want to do and how you’re going to do it as well?
Whatever activity you decide to do indoors during the fall, make sure to hydrate, eat healthy and rest when you should. Daylight may be shorter, but try to soak up as much sunshine as you possibly can to help lift your mood.
Stock up on a lot of warmth, endorphins and positive vibes as it’s about to get colder.
Hero Image by Avrielle Suleiman on Unsplash.
