Quarantine Fat: How to lose the pounds with a home workout regime by Dr. Lori Shemek
The coronavirus appears to be more severe than previously thought. The Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has already begun to take drastic measures to stop the spread of the virus in our country. Since March, the country is in a state of alarm, and most of us are working from our homes without being able to go out on the streets other than what is necessary. Despite now we are entering the new normal, with businesses and workplaces back in full swing, the threat and spread of the virus is still looming at large.
Health experts also strongly suggest that you do all you can to avoid unnecessary weight gain during this historic and frightening moment.
Dr. David Buchin, Huntington Hospital’s director of bariatric surgery, states that a substantial number of patients fighting COVID-19 are obese in the medical center’s intensive care unit. It is extremely hard to care for obese patients, he said, as treatment includes constantly turning them on their stomachs to improve lung function. A new study has also found that obesity doubled the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization in patients under the age of 60.
Not being able to move barely and the anxiety that comes from being enclosed within four walls all day — plus the added stress of having their entire family at home — can make us gain weight if we don’t start taking action now.
Don’t let the coronavirus quarantine make you fat: tricks that burn calories
If you are reading this, it is more than likely that you are one of the winners of WFH (work-from-home). And so that your “quarantine” stage at home is as bearable as possible and you do not end up with four extra pounds, added to those that you have not lost yet. We are going to tell you the basic tricks that you should follow in the coming days. Additionally, we reached out to Dr. Lori Shemek for her invaluable insights on weight loss, fat reduction, and incorporating an active lifestyle. Dr. Shemek helps us develop a 10-minute home work out routine with minimal equipment and great results.
1. Indulge in housework
It seems silly, but doing housework burns a lot of calories. Here is a basic guide to the energy you consume in doing each thing per hour:
- Make the bed: 70 calories.
- Doing the laundry: 148 calories.
- Iron: 157 calories.
- Sweep the house: 161.
- Clean the dust: 166.
- Cleaning the windows: 231.
2. Dance a couple of times every day
There is nothing that clears the mind more than blasting music and dancing at home. Besides, it makes us lose weight. For an hour of dancing, you can burn between 250 and 400 calories.
3. Stay active while watching movies or series
You can watch TV and burn calories if while doing light exercise. For example, pedaling with a static pedal apparatus; lift weights with your arms or legs; work with an elastic band; squeeze a rubber ball to exercise your hands, etc.
Another exercise you can do is contract your abs as you slowly inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth until you are almost out of air.
4. Walk quickly around the house
If you have a corridor or room free of obstacles, you can move. In half an hour walking, you can burn 60 to 90 calories.
5. Stand on your toes while brushing your teeth
When you are brushing your teeth, drying your hair, scrubbing, you can stand on tiptoe to exercise your calves, always with a straight back and a contracted abdomen, and stay that way for a few seconds, with or without support.
6. Jump
Jumping is one of the complete exercises — legs, arms, and glutes are toned — and you can do it at home. You can help yourself with a rope which you can buy at any sporting goods store.
According to Harvard Medical School, jumping rope burns up to 444 calories in just 30 minutes.
7. Talk on the phone standing up
Every time you go to talk on the phone, stand up and, in the meantime, make gentle, controlled movements: bring one leg back to activate your glutes, then forward to exercise your quads; to the side and inward to maintain abductors and adductors.
8. Eat smart
There is a lot of conflicting information about diet and what you should and should not eat. Everything is quite easy, and if you think a little, you will know what is healthy to eat and what is not.
We suggest that you make smart changes in your diet, eat fewer carbohydrates (bread, pasta, rice), more proteins (chicken, fish, vegetables), and that you take four or five meals a day, as they will keep you satiated for longer.
A perfect ideal lunch or dinner would be a generous helping of vegetables (leafy greens are best) with a serving of lean protein. There is no more: in quarantine, you hardly need hydrates.
9. Force yourself to get up every half hour
To activate the metabolism and accelerate it, you must get up every half hour, at most, from the sofa or chair. And if you take a few sips of water, all the better, since drinking burns calories and keeps us active and energetic.
10. Sleep better and have more sex
All the advice we are giving you is useless if you are stressed since your body will not lose weight and you will tend to eat more and more caloric pseudo-foods.
Stress and anxiety prevent us from rest, and this makes us fat and not lose weight. A study published in Obesity Reviews showed that stress, lack of sleep, and weight gain are associated.
So, you should try to relax. And sex can be a good help for this since it releases pleasure hormones and is related to a lower risk of contagion by a coronavirus.
You can also use numerous websites that have breathing exercises, stretching, relaxation, and meditation.
The 10-minute exercising routine by Dr. Lori Shemek
As a Certified Nutritional Consultant (CNC) and Certified Life Coach (CLC), Dr. Shemek is also attributed as a bestselling author, radio show host, weight loss expert, and the Huffington Post’s “Top Diet and Nutrition Expert”. One of the fitness myths is that you must first do a routine to lose fat and tone the muscle. Try the 10-minute quarantine fat burning routine.
Although this has some truth, as you progress in the exercise, you will realize that your muscles are gaining strength and are ‘harder’: you achieve the perfect balance.
With this bodyweight routine, you will strengthen your muscles with a lot of cardiovascular work. If you want to achieve the balance between burning fat and toning, put this routine into practice without leaving your home.
Repetitions:
Complete the greatest number of sets of 15 repetitions of each exercise in 10 minutes, continuously and with the fewest possible recovery pauses. And our advice is that you first master the exercise by practicing the position and its execution. And don’t forget to warm up.
1. Jumping jacks:
A very basic but brutally effective exercise. Start with your legs together and jump, opening the compass, as well as your arms. A typical mistake of this exercise is flexing the arms. Always Keep them straight.
2. Squats
You already know them. But we ask you to lower yourself as much as you can, helping you swing with your arms extended to the front, strengthening your triceps.
3. Climber
A direct attack on the obliques, the chubby ones, and the core. With your back and arms always straight in a plank position, bring your knees up to your chest and do them as fast as you can.
4. Displacements
We think this exercise is perfect for quarantine, as you don’t have many places to go to. And after doing rudeness, it will hurt to even walk to the refrigerator. But your quadriceps and glutes will be firmer than ever.
5. Push-ups
We know they are not your favorites. But in addition to giving you the ability to support your weight, your core and chest work hard with the push-ups. Tighten the abdomen at home repetition, and you will see results very soon.
6. Brackets
If you do not master the exercise as in the image, it is worth placing your hands under your buttocks with your arms extended. Leverage will make repeats easier. Just don’t get used to it, because this is an innocent trap.
7. Abs in & out
Do you remember the frog jumps? This is a very similar but static exercise. Get into a plank position and bring both legs towards your hands. Take care of the lower back.
8. Sprawls
Modified burpees. Bring your hands to the floor, and immediately to a plank position. Once there, lower your pelvis to the floor, but with your arms extended. And return the same way.
9. Burpees
And you were not going to save yourself from the intensity of the burpees. Follow the images and make the movements as loose as possible. If you don’t master them, do them slowly, but remember to complete 15 reps and start over.
10. Shoulder press
Do you want sexy shoulders? Try the shoulder press. If you don’t have dumbbells, you can use water bottles.
11. Butterfly abs
They are very intense! But you are going to work the obliques and flexibility. If you are not very experienced with this exercise, face the wall to maintain the legs’ position, and it will be easier.
Are you ready? Do not be afraid of it and burn that fat.
