Let’s (finally) use that exercise bike
If they add to the arm and leg exercises 15 minutes of exercise bike per day and this routine is repeated 5 times a week «excellent results are obtained», says Sgadari, also in terms of «endorphin production, which reduce anxiety and depression “caused by isolation. «It is not necessary to do who knows what volume of activity to have benefits – adds prof. Sgadari – you just need to do little every day », and this pandemic« can be an opportunity to introduce physical exercise among our daily habits ».
Fitness apps
If you want to take an online course, you are spoiled for choice. For adults (and not only) there is MyFitnessPal, the free app that tells us how many calories we burn with each exercise and helps us plan the most suitable diet, or Nike Training Club, which offers tailored training programs and which for the health emergency has created a community of home athletes. Urban Sports Club, the app that allows you to train in over 8 thousand gyms and fitness centers in Italy and Europe, has made available online classes for all ages and for all needs: from zumba, to pilates, up to yoga during pregnancy.
Train on Youtube and Instagram
On Youtube there are many fitness “gurus” who, today more than ever, post their video lessons. The list would be very long: among the channels in Italian there is that of Sergio Chisari, personal trainer that in addition to the exercises also offers video recipes for feeding before and after the workout, by Benessere360 is FixFit. The trainers of the trainer are very popular Umberto Miletto, who created an ad hoc program for the quarantine, is Fabio Inka, athletic trainer and creator of the Impacto program. Among the international gurus there is Joe Wicks, English trainer who since the outbreak of the coronavirus emergency has started offering every day half an hour of live gymnastics for children on his Youtube channel: an initiative that has been very successful, with almost one million people connected every day. Very popular (and good) too Kayla Itsines, guru of millions of followers on Youtube and Instagram and creator of the Bikini Body Program, e Cassey Ho, among the most popular fitness influencers in the world, than on its channel Blogilates (also present on TikTok) has collected over 500 million views and 4 million followers. Almost 4 million subscribers also for the channel PopSugar Fitness, which offers a wide choice of workouts: short-term or more demanding, for experts and beginners.
Yoga and meditation against stress
What’s better than yoga to deal with the stress of social isolation? The question is absolutely rhetorical, because yoga and meditation are a great resource for the well-being of body and mind and this period of quarantine, which forces us to stay inside our homes, can also be an opportunity to look “inside” ourselves and find balance. Here too the offer is vast: from platforms offering streaming lessons to yoga studios which, forced to close, have “reconverted” their offer with lessons (also) live on social media and on Zoom.
Practice on the web
On Ekhartyoga.com, portal of 1 million followers with an archive of over 3 thousand lessons, the founder Esther Ekhart, yoga teacher known all over the world, has launched a free yoga and meditation program (in English) to combat stress during the pandemic: the lessons are suitable for everyone and are also accompanied by tips to deal with anxiety and fear. For those who prefer driving in Italian there is Yogare, platform with over 430 yoga classes offering a 7 day free trial, and Reyoga, who with the #loyoganonsiferma initiative offers three free lessons per day. Among those who organize online activities for their members there is Ryoga – 3 studios in Rome with over 2 thousand square meters dedicated to yoga, bars and pilatesc- which offers its program for almost 6 thousand members a program of live lessons on the web conducted by their teachers. It does the same Baliyoga, Milanese reality with 5 studios in the city, who created BaliYoga @ Home on its website, a virtual studio with interactive lessons from Milan, Bali and Barcelona.
