Home workouts: Why you should reconsider your fitness goals this lockdown

Finding motivation to workout is harder than ever

Spent more time in your pyjamas than your workout gear this lockdown? Replaced burpees with boxsets? Or chest presses with chocolate?

We're sure you get the idea, but if you're feeling this way then you're not alone.

A survey's found that two fifths of us are doing less exercise in this lockdown compared to the first one in Spring 2020.

"If you cast your mind back to April, it was pretty beautiful every day, whereas now there are less daylight hours," Dr Ian Taylor tells Newsbeat.

He's a psychologist at Loughborough University and specialises in what motivates us when it comes to sport and exercise.

You're not the only one who never wants to see a kettle bell again

"But also it's not novel anymore. The last lockdown for a lot of people gave them a bit of time to think and do things and that element was quite energising."

That's how Chris feels- he got really into fitness at the start of the first lockdown but says this time around he "can't think of anything worse" than working out.

"I live in a house of multiple occupancy so it's really difficult to do a home workout whilst everyone else is in the house," Chris says.

"Especially when you've been working from home staring at a computer - that sounds so lazy and I hate it," he adds.

'Remove barriers'

Ian says there are a few things you can do to try and get into a positive mindset about exercise and make it seem a lot less daunting.

"Remove barriers as you'll be surprised how many of them mount up against your motivation," he says.

"Going for a walk is very easy because you don't need to change your clothes or move furniture out the way for example, or worry about your [gym] kit being spread all over the house".

28-year-old Chris has had enough of working out

He adds it might be useful to change the goals when it comes to exercise too - and think about the benefit it will have to your mental health rather than your physical health.

"What that does is reduce the time between your exercise and the outcome - if you're exercising to be healthy at the minute, that seems too far in the future as getting fitter doesn't happen straight away.

"Feeling better after exercise does happen straight away".

Chris also says seeing people on social media smashing their home workouts can make him feel down too.

"I find I'm constantly comparing myself to everyone else on Instagram: 'Oh that person's been on a run, I need to do a run'.

"I get in such a mental state about it and can't get myself out of that rut," he says.

'Everyone's journey is so different'

Someone who can offer advice on this is fitness coach Courtney Black - she could never imagine herself enjoying fitness outside of a gym environment before lockdown, but has found a way to make exercise enjoyable for herself.

"Everyone's journey is so different and it's finding what works for you," she says.

"If you're sat at a computer all day it might be nice to exercise at midday or even before you start working."

She says that sweaty fast-paced HIIT workouts aren't for everyone. If you don't like what you're doing then you won't be motivated.

"Maybe just do a low impact workout or get yourself some weights and resistance bands - find something you feel comfortable doing and enjoy rather than forcing yourself," she says.

"It's got to be achievable. Don't think, 'I'm going to do 50 burpees today' or, 'I'm going to go out for a 10k run' when you know at the minute your fitness levels are telling you you can do 2k".

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