Blog Post

Covid-19 Free Fitness Workouts

Richard Watson • Mar 24, 2020

Keeping Healthy During Covid-19 Crisis

Beating Isolation from Covid-19
We've seen nothing this before, a virus that is so bad that it is shutting down not only this Country but the whole of the world, Country after Country are closing down andGovenments are asking people to stay indoors and isolate themselves. To stop the spread of Covid-19 we all need to keep safe and listen to expert advice.
The government has advised that we stil exercise to stay healthy, exercise has been proven to lift your mood as well as keeping you physically fit. Just 30 minutes of exercise can boost your immune system along with self-esteem, mood, sleep quality and energy, as well as reducing your risk of stress, depression, dementia and Alzheimer's disease plus many other health benefits.

What are the health benefits of exercise?

Regular exercise and physical activity may

  •     Help you control your weight. Along with diet, exercise plays an important role in controlling your weight and preventing obesity. To maintain your weight, the calories you eat and drink must equal the energy you burn. To lose weight, you must use more calories than you eat and drink.
  •     Reduce your risk of heart diseases. Exercise strengthens your heart and improves your circulation. The increased blood flow raises the oxygen levels in your body. This helps lower your risk of heart diseases such as high cholesterol, coronary artery disease, and heart attack. Regular exercise can also lower your blood pressure and triglyceride levels.
  •     Help your body manage blood sugar and insulin levels. Exercise can lower your blood sugar level and help your insulin work better. This can cut down your risk for metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. And if you already have one of those diseases, exercise can help you to manage it.
  •     Help you quit smoking. Exercise may make it easier to quit smoking by reducing your cravings and withdrawal symptoms. It can also help limit the weight you might gain when you stop smoking.
  •     Improve your mental health and mood. During exercise, your body releases chemicals that can improve your mood and make you feel more relaxed. This can help you deal with stress and reduce your risk of depression.
  •     Help keep your thinking, learning, and judgment skills sharp as you age. Exercise stimulates your body to release proteins and other chemicals that improve the structure and function of your brain.
  •     Strengthen your bones and muscles. Regular exercise can help kids and teens build strong bones. Later in life, it can also slow the loss of bone density that comes with age. Doing muscle-strengthening activities can help you increase or maintain your muscle mass and strength.
  •     Reduce your risk of some cancers, including colon, breast , uterine, and lung cancer.
  •     Reduce your risk of falls. For older adults, research shows that doing balance and muscle-strengthening activities in addition to moderate-intensity aerobic activity can help reduce your risk of falling.
  •     Improve your sleep. Exercise can help you to fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.

home workouts
Sedentary lifestyles

Inactivity is described by the Department of Health as a "silent killer". Evidence is emerging that sedentary behaviour, such as sitting or lying down for long periods, is bad for your health.

Not only should you try to raise your activity levels, but you should also reduce the amount of time you and your family spend sitting down.

Common examples of sedentary behaviour include watching TV, using a computer, using the car for short journeys and sitting down to read, talk or listen to music. This type of behaviour is thought to increase your risk of developing many chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes, as well as weight gain and obesity.

"Previous generations were active more naturally through work and manual labour, but today we have to find ways of integrating activity into our daily lives," says Dr Cavill. Whether it's limiting the time babies spend strapped in their buggies, or encouraging adults to stand up and move frequently, people of all ages need to reduce their sedentary behaviour.

"This means that each of us needs to think about increasing the types of activities that suit our lifestyle and can easily be included in our day," says Dr Cavill. Crucially, you can hit your weekly activity target but still be at risk of ill health if you spend the rest of the time sitting or lying down
healthy food to combat aging
Fitness workout plans are FREE except for a small £2 admin charge 
My Top 9 Benefits of Regular Exercise.


1. It Can Make You Feel Happier

Exercise has been shown to improve your mood and decrease feelings of depression, anxiety and stress. It produces changes in the parts of the brain that regulate stress and anxiety. It can also increase brain sensitivity for the hormones serotonin and norepinephrine, which relieve feelings of depression.

Additionally, exercise can increase the production of endorphins, which are known to help produce positive feelings and reduce the perception of pain. Furthermore, exercise has been shown to reduce symptoms in people suffering from anxiety. It can also help you be more aware of your mental state and practice distraction from your fears.

Interestingly, it doesn't matter how intense your workout is. It seems that your mood can benefit from exercise no matter the intensity of the physical activity. In fact, a study in 24 women who had been diagnosed with depression showed that exercise of any intensity significantly decreased feelings of depression.

The effects of exercise on mood are so powerful that choosing to exercise (or not) even makes a difference over short periods. One study asked 26 healthy men and women who normally exercised regularly to either continue exercising or stop exercising for two weeks. Those who stopped exercising experienced increases in negative mood.

    Summary:
    Exercising regularly can improve your mood and reduce feelings of anxiety and depression.


2. It Can Help With Weight Loss

Some studies have shown that inactivity is a major factor in weight gain and obesity. To understand the effect of exercise on weight reduction, it is important to understand the relationship between exercise and energy expenditure. Your body spends energy in three ways: digesting food, exercising and maintaining body functions like your heartbeat and breathing.

While dieting, a reduced calorie intake will lower your metabolic rate, which will delay weight loss. On the contrary, regular exercise has been shown to increase your metabolic rate, which will burn more calories and help you lose weight. Additionally, studies have shown that combining aerobic exercise with resistance training can maximize fat loss and muscle mass maintenance, which is essential for keeping the weight off.

    Summary:
    Exercise is crucial to supporting a fast metabolism and burning more calories per day. It also helps you maintain your muscle mass and weight loss.


3. It Is Good for Your Muscles and Bones

Exercise plays a vital role in building and maintaining strong muscles and bones. Physical activity like weight lifting can stimulate muscle building when paired with adequate protein intake. This is because exercise helps release hormones that promote the ability of your muscles to absorb amino acids. This helps them grow and reduces their breakdown.

As people age, they tend to lose muscle mass and function, which can lead to injuries and disabilities. Practicing regular physical activity is essential to reducing muscle loss and maintaining strength at any age. Also, exercise helps build bone density when you're younger, in addition to helping prevent osteoporosis later in life. Interestingly, high-impact exercise, such as gymnastics or running, or odd-impact sports, such as soccer and basketball, have been shown to promote a higher bone density than non-impact sports like swimming and cycling.

    Summary:
    Physical activity helps you build muscles and strong bones. It may also help prevent osteoporosis.


4. It Can Increase Your Energy Levels

Exercise can be a real energy booster for healthy people, as well as those suffering from various medical conditions. One study found that six weeks of regular exercise reduced feelings of fatigue for 36 healthy people who had reported persistent fatigue.

Furthermore, exercise can significantly increase energy levels for people suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and other serious illnesses. In fact, exercise seems to be more effective at combating CFS than other treatments, including passive therapies like relaxation and stretching, or no treatment at all.

Additionally, exercise has been shown to increase energy levels in people suffering from progressive illnesses, such as cancer, HIV/AIDS and multiple sclerosis.

    Summary:
    Engaging in regular physical activity can increase your energy levels. This is true even in people with persistent fatigue and those suffering from serious illnesses.


5. It Can Reduce Your Risk of Chronic Disease

Lack of regular physical activity is a primary cause of chronic disease. Regular exercise has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity, cardiovascular fitness and body composition, yet decrease blood pressure and blood fat levels.

In contrast, a lack of regular exercise — even in the short term — can lead to significant increases in belly fat, which increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and early death. Therefore, daily physical activity is recommended to reduce belly fat and decrease the risk of developing these diseases.

    Summary:
    Daily physical activity is essential to maintaining a healthy weight and reducing the risk of chronic disease.


6. It Can Help Skin Health

Your skin can be affected by the amount of oxidative stress in your body. Oxidative stress occurs when the body's antioxidant defenses cannot completely repair the damage that free radicals cause to cells. This can damage their internal structures and deteriorate your skin.

Even though intense and exhaustive physical activity can contribute to oxidative damage, regular moderate exercise can increase your body's production of natural antioxidants, which help protect cells. In the same way, exercise can stimulate blood flow and induce skin cell adaptations that can help delay the appearance of skin aging.

    Summary:
    Moderate exercise can provide antioxidant protection and promote blood flow, which can protect your skin and delay signs of aging.


7. It Can Help Your Brain Health and Memory

Exercise can improve brain function and protect memory and thinking skills. To begin with, it increases your heart rate, which promotes the flow of blood and oxygen to your brain. It can also stimulate the production of hormones that can enhance the growth of brain cells.

Moreover, the ability of exercise to prevent chronic disease can translate into benefits for your brain, since its function can be affected by these diseases. Regular physical activity is especially important in older adults since aging — combined with oxidative stress and inflammation — promotes changes in brain structure and function.

Exercise has been shown to cause the hippocampus, a part of the brain that's vital for memory and learning, to grow in size. This serves to increase mental function in older adults. Lastly, exercise has been shown to reduce changes in the brain that can cause Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia.

    Summary:
    Regular exercise improves blood flow to the brain and helps brain health and memory. Among older adults, it can help protect mental function.


8. It Can Help With Relaxation and Sleep Quality

Regular exercise can help you relax and sleep better. In regards to sleep quality, the energy depletion that occurs during exercise stimulates recuperative processes during sleep. The increase in body temperature that occurs during exercise is thought to improve sleep quality by helping it drop during sleep. Many studies on the effects of exercise on sleep have reached similar conclusions.

One study found that 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity per week can provide up to a 65% improvement in sleep quality. Another showed that 16 weeks of physical activity increased sleep quality and helped 17 people with insomnia sleep longer and more deeply than the control group. It also helped them feel more energized during the day.

What's more, engaging in regular exercise seems to be beneficial for the elderly, who tend to be affected by sleep disorders.

You can be flexible with the kind of exercise you choose. It appears that either aerobic exercise alone or aerobic exercise combined with resistance training can equally help sleep quality.

    Summary:
    Regular physical activity, regardless of whether it is aerobic or a combination of aerobic and resistance training, can help you sleep better and feel more energized during the day.


9. It Can Reduce Pain

Chronic pain can be debilitating, but exercise can actually help reduce it. In fact, for many years, the recommendation for treating chronic pain was rest and inactivity. However, recent studies show that exercise helps relieve chronic pain. A review of several studies indicates that exercise helps participants with chronic pain reduce their pain and improve their quality of life.

Several studies show that exercise can help control pain that's associated with various health conditions, including chronic low back pain, fibromyalgia and chronic soft tissue shoulder disorder, to name a few.

Additionally, physical activity can also raise pain tolerance and decrease pain perception.

    Summary:
    Exercise has favorable effects on the pain that's associated with various conditions. It can also increase pain tolerance.




The Bottom Line

Exercise offers incredible benefits that can improve nearly every aspect of your health from the inside out. Regular physical activity can increase the production of hormones that make you feel happier and help you sleep better. It can also improve your skin's appearance, help you lose weight and keep it off, lessen the risk of chronic disease and improve your general life. Whether you practice a specific sport or follow the guideline of 150 minutes of activity per week, you will inevitably improve your health in many ways
Fitness workout plans are FREE except for a small £2 admin charge
Sports Therapist and Functional Trainer

Richard Watson, Olympic Sports Therapist


As a functional personal trainer and an Olympic Sports Therapist I have put together some home fitness workouts that you can achieve while not at work. Choose the plan that fits your general health at the moment and follow the schedule laid out, all plans can be downloaded to your device or viewed on your PC. Each plan lasts for 21 days and includes videos to all exercises. If you are unsure on which plan to choose I would advise to go for the easier one than what you think you are capable of.



Richard has trained top international athletes and worked on major sporting events dealing with people injuries and perofrmance. Richard runs his own Sports Therapy company providing functional fitness training and inury recovery to all types of athletes.



All Plans are free except for a minimal admin charge (which we can not change).

See our full range of workout plans by visiting our fitness workout page click here
Sports Therapist Richard Watson

Richard Watson

Sports Therapist

Richard is a leading sports therapist in the Coventry and Warwickshire area, he has worked at the Olympic and Paralympic games 2012 treating the many athletes competing. Richard has been involved in many major sporting projects including treating and training a team that took on an accent of Everest. He currently runs his own Sports Therapy company providing local athletes with sports massage and personal training.
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