Caity Healy | Lifestyle Editor

Last school year, for the first time in my life, I found myself in a workout routine that worked for me and was incredibly effective. Then, the school year ended, and I was left without the Health and Wellness Center, or access to any gym. I wanted to maintain my level of fitness that I had worked toward, so I began doing at-home workouts.

With the start of winter break, many students are heading home. For students who are staying in Monmouth, the HWC is closed for a good chunk of break, which can throw you off of your game. Coupling this with the fact that this break tends to be associated with endless holiday cookies, candy and gingerbread, you might feel like you’re struggling to find time to worry about fitness.

If you’re in this boat, don’t despair — at-home workouts can be incredibly beneficial, and can adhere to any level of fitness. Using just your bodyweight, any weights you may have or even just using jugs of water as weights, you can still perform challenging exercises that will help you maintain a good level of activity.

Cardio:

-Running: It’s simple, and you can alter how long or how fast you run to match your fitness levels and goals.

-Stairs: Running or walking on any stairs you have access to for whatever duration of time you find appropriate will provide good cardio, but also hits your quads, calves, and glutes.

-Zumba/Dancing: To break a sweat while having an incredible time, opt for some type of dance to get you moving.

-Ice Skating: Doing this activity with friends may not seem like a workout, but soon you’ll be sweating, while laughing so hard that it turns into an ab workout, as well.

Legs:

-Squats: Doing squats with added weight will provide a challenging workout. Add jump squats or box jumps into your workout and your legs will be on fire.

-Lunges: Walking lunges, side lunges or jump lunges all provide a hard exercise that you can do for whatever amount of time or reps that you desire.

-Kickbacks/Fire hydrants: Doing these will leave your glutes and quads on fire, basically guaranteeing that you will be sore the next morning.

-Calf raises: These can be done with or without weight, on flat ground or on stairs. Do them for high reps and you’ll definitely feel it.

-Pistols/Single Leg Squats: An incredibly challenging movement that will build muscle quickly are easily done at home. If need be, use a chair to help you balance.

Upper Body:

–Overhead Press: Using whatever weight you have, doing this will provide a challenging workout for your shoulders.

-Pull-ups: You can do this exercise assisted if you are unable on your own, but they are a foolproof way to hit your entire upper body, and can be done anywhere with a high bar, like a park.

-Crab Walk: This movement will hit your core, shoulders and back. While you might feel silly doing it, it’s a multi-functional workout. Plus, you’ll get to feel like a kid again.

-Curls: If you have some sort of weight, doing regular curls or hammer curls will isolate your bicep.

-Tricep Dips: This simple workout hits your triceps hard, and can be made easier or harder depending on your position.

-Pushups: Close grip will hit your triceps, while regular will work your chest. Altering your reps and sets can make it more or less difficult, matching any goal.

Abs:

Ab workouts are incredibly easy to do at home. Some examples that don’t require weight at all are: bicycle crunches, sit ups, crunches, overhead sit ups, sprinters abs, reverse crunches, supermans, etc. You can always look up more ab workouts for more inspiration, as the choices are endless.

Contact the author at chealy16@wou.edu