The Best At-Home Workouts to Get Your Body Moving

 

No matter how you like to exercise, these workouts will help you stay healthy and in shape at home.

The world of at-home workouts has been evolving — turns out, Peloton was just the beginning. In many states gym owners and gym goers have been forced to get creative with many gyms offering at-home solutions for members and new clients alike. Fitness experts agree, the options are endless. And since now, more than ever, it’s important to get moving, we've rounded up some of the best at home workout solutions available right now.

Why You Should Work Out at Home

Being stuck at home automatically lends itself to being more sedentary. Altered schedules and new responsibilities also mean disjointed workout times. Rachel Darden, owner and head coach F45 Training in Fairfield, CT reminds us to get motion in wherever you can. “All movement is good movement," she says. Right now, fitting in an hour of exercise in between homeschooling and housework might feel impossible, but you can break it up. "Working in three 10-minute sessions is just as effective and much easier to schedule and manage.” We can all find time to make that happen!

Lauren Seib, NASM certified personal trainer and postpartum corrective exercise specialist, comments on recent events and gives it a delightfully optimistic spin. “The fitness industry has been forced to make an epic pivot into the fully virtual realm ... and I truly believe this space will forever be altered in an incredible way," she says. "Fitness fanatics and newbies alike have been using this stuck-at-home time and there’s no better time to hone in on feeling great.” Much like your favorite restaurants, Seib also encourages folks that can afford it, to keep paying their gym memberships. “Support your favorite spots by donating or keeping your memberships to ensure they’ll be back once things clear up!”

The Best At-Home Workouts of All Kinds

From Pilates to HIIT training, there’s something out there for every type of exercise enthusiast — many of these gyms also offer kids’ programs! Many of these services are free and for-pay services are offering deals. Check their websites and social media channels for more details.

Rowing

If at home equipment is your thing, Hydrow brings the water to you with virtual, coach-led erg sessions. The newest at-home exercise set up is getting rave reviews.

HIIT Training

One of the hottest forms of interval training has gone virtual. Many HIIT training studios are live-streaming classes to members. Orange Theory and Self Magazine are turning things up using YouTube, social media and their apps to post videos and full workouts. F45 Training is sharing post workout pics of members across the world and even offered a live workout with celeb F45 devotee, Mark Wahlberg.

Yoga, Pilates, Barre

Your favorite yoga and Pilates instructors are stretching their namaste and putting out all kinds of workouts. Reach out to your local instructor to see what they are offering or search your favorite online platform. From gentle meditation to Solidcore to hard core bar barre with BarMethod workouts, you can find ways to push yourself or simply decompress.

Swim

While you may not be able to swim in public pools at the moment, free workouts on SwimOutlet on Instagram and Fitter and Faster feature dry land workouts from swimming pros.

Peloton Recalling Treadmills Over Safety Concerns

Key Takeaways

• Peloton announced voluntary recalls of its treadmills after several reports of injuries and a child’s death.
• The announcement is a reversal of the company’s initial reaction, which it called a mistake.
• The recall affects about 126,000 treadmills in the United States, the UK, and Canada.

Peloton announced voluntary recalls of its two treadmills, Tread and Tread+, which represents about 126,000 machines.

The move comes after the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) noted in early April that consumers should stop using the Tread+ if small children or pets are nearby. In March, the company disclosed they had learned about a 6-year-old child’s death related to an accident involving a Tread+.

In a letter posted to the company’s website at the time of that incident, CEO John Foley suggested that treadmill users should put additional safety strategies in place, such as keeping children and pets away from the machine at all times. He did not, however, issue a safety recall at that time, or when the CPSC issued its advisory a month later and wrote in another letter that “[W]e have no intention of doing so.”

In a recent statement, Foley expressed regret for that approach, saying, “I want to be clear, Peloton made a mistake in our initial response to the Consumer Safety Commission’s request that we recall the Tread+. We should have engaged more productively with them from the outset. For that, I apologize.”

The CPSC noted that it had received 72 reports of adults, children, and pets being pulled under the Tread+. The commission released a video of a child getting stuck under the device as it was running, to demonstrate how easily it can happen. In that case, the child was able to get out without injury.

Why Tread+ Is Different

Unlike most treadmills that use a continuous belt, the Tread+ has rubberized slats that move on a ball-bearing system. That design, as well as the amount of clearance under the machine, has increased the risk that people and pets can get pulled beneath it.

Another significant concern is that the touchscreen on the Tread model—which was only sold between November 2020 and March 2021 in a limited release, and only represents about 1,000 machines—can potentially become detached and fall. The commission reported there have been 18 incidents of that happening.

For those who have a Peloton treadmill, the company suggests immediately discontinuing its use and contacting Peloton for a full refund. It is currently working on a repair that will be offered to treadmill owners within a few weeks. For example, it’s expected that a new software update will automatically lock the Tread+ after use and require a passcode to unlock it.

HEALTH AND FITNESS: Let’s agree to agree about food

Eating a healthy diet is a goal for many people to help them treat or prevent disease, improve exercise performance, or maintain a healthy body weight. If you pay attention to news about food and nutrition you have probably noticed that there is a great deal of controversy about what constitutes a healthy diet. It’s easy to find lists of foods to avoid and things to eat every day. Unfortunately, lists from different sources may not be the same or, worse, a food that is on one “never eat” list is on another “always eat” list.

There is a different approach you could take to plan the foundation for a truly health way to eat. Instead of focusing on what is different, think about what recommendations are shared among most “healthy” diets. Here is some diet advice that almost everyone agrees on.

Eat your greens

Green leafy vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals and fiber and should be part of almost every meal. There is some debate about how to prepare these vegetables, whether they should be eaten raw or cooked and what to put on them. If you eat an abundance of vegetables, sometimes raw and sometimes cooked, sometimes with dressing and other times plain, you are on the right track.

Berry good

Fruit is a delicious way to get vitamins, minerals and fiber in your diet. However, some people believe that the naturally-occurring sugar in some fruit makes it unhealthy, especially if you eat a lot of it. But almost everyone agrees that berries are a fruit you should eat. High in antioxidants, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries are nutritious and delicious.

Go nuts

Eating nuts can be a tasty way to make your diet healthier. Nuts are beneficial because they are rich in healthy unsaturated fats, fiber, natural plant sterols and essential vitamins and minerals. Although the specific nutrients vary among different nuts, all nuts are thought to be healthy. This includes tree nuts such as almonds, macadamia nuts, walnuts and pecans, which have the most research to support their health benefits. Look for plain nuts, as seasonings and coatings on many varieties also include added salt and sugar.

Eat less added sugar

Added sugar is probably the biggest problem most people face when it comes to the way they eat. Beyond the extra calories and the direct health effects of eating too much sugar, adding sugar to food otherwise healthy food like fruit and grains serves to make it less healthy. This is the case for most processed food, which is almost always high in added sugar. Cutting as much added sugar from your diet is something everyone (except for the food industry!) agrees is a smart move.

Drink water

Water should be your drink of choice at all times! Water provides hydration without added sugar and calories, something that is important for weight control. Ideally, this means plain water, but flavored water is better than sweetened beverages like soda, sweetened tea, sports drinks, and many fruit drinks. It’s fine to have other drinks during the day, but water should be your primary source of hydration throughout the day.

These tips can go a long way to improving the quality of your diet and fit with recommendations that almost everyone agrees on. Keep in mind that a person touting the “best” diet to improve your health is likely doing more than just eating healthy; they are almost certainly exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, and, maybe, taking medications properly to address specific health problems. To achieve optimal health, you will need to do these things, too.

Follow this diet to bring down your blood pressure

01/6Diet and blood pressure

In this fast-moving world, we all are suffering from some or the other health issue. The most common of all is, high blood pressure, and the credit goes to our diet and lifestyle. According to a recent study, flavanol-rich foods and drinks, including tea, apples, and berries, could lead to lower blood pressure. Scroll below to know more about it. (Image: istock)

02/6​The Study

According to a study published in Scientific Reports that studied the diet of more than 25,000 people in Norfolk, UK and compared what they ate with their blood pressure and it was found that the difference in blood pressure between those with the lowest 10% of flavanol intake and those with the highest 10% of intake was between 2 and 4 mmHg. In contrast to most other studies investigating links between nutrition and health, the researchers did not rely on study participants reporting their diet, but instead measured flavanol intake objectively using nutritional biomarkers -- indicators of dietary intake, metabolism or nutritional status that are present in our blood. (Image: istock)

03/6​The fact file

This is comparable to meaningful changes in blood pressure observed in those following a Mediterranean diet or Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet. Notably, the effect was more pronounced in participants with hypertension. (Image: istock)

04/6​Expert’s take

Professor Gunter Kuhnle, a nutritionist at the University of Reading who led the study said: "Previous studies of large populations have always relied on self-reported data to draw conclusions, but this is the first epidemiological study of this scale to objectively investigate the association between a specific bioactive compound and health. We are delighted to see that in our study, there was also a meaningful and significant association between flavanol consumption and lower blood pressure.

"What this study gives us is an objective finding about the association between flavanols -- found in tea and some fruits -- and blood pressure. This research confirms the results from previous dietary intervention studies and shows that the same results can be achieved with a habitual diet rich in flavanols. In the British diet, the main sources are tea, cocoa, apples and berries. (Image: istock)

05/6​What’s more?

This is one of the largest ever studies to use nutritional biomarkers to investigate bioactive compounds. Using nutritional biomarkers to estimate intake of bioactive food compounds has long been seen as the gold standard for research, as it allows intake to be measured objectively. The development, validation and application of the biomarker was only possible because of the long-term commitment of all collaborators. In contrast to self-reported dietary data, nutritional biomarkers can address the huge variability in food composition. (Image: istock)

06/6​Final words

An international team from the University of Reading, Cambridge University, the University of California Davis, and Mars, Incorporated studied 25,618 participants from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC) Norfolk study and found that the biggest difference was observed in participants with the highest blood pressure. This suggests if the general public increased its flavanol intake, there could be an overall reduction in cardiovascular disease incidence. (Image: istock)