Because of COVID-19, gyms and other fitness centers remain closed or unsafe across the country. However, you do not have to leave the comforts, and safety, of your own home in order to build muscles. You probably already have chores that you have been putting off. You can hit two birds in one by tackling home improvement projects that can also double as strength training.
Here are a few home improvement projects that can keep your muscles strong during the quarantine.
Take on the Challenge of Landscaping
Landscaping is not an activity for the weak. Most tasks involved in transforming a dreary backyard into a lush garden involves serious work that requires strength and flexibility.
Carrying sacks of rocks for paving or mulch to make the ground conducive for growing plants will work your muscles out. Bending and squatting so you can sow seeds on the ground or trim the shrubs surrounding the area can promote flexibility.
The task has the capacity to make you break a sweat and keep your heart rate up at the end of the day. Lugging around heavy materials and digging soil for several hours will wake up all the important muscle groups. It would feel like you went to the gym and had the most intense strength training you have ever had as well as be able to enjoy a relaxing outdoor space once you are done with the project.
Work Those Biceps and Triceps by Repainting Your Ceilings and Walls
Painting may not look like a very difficult task. After all, you only have to apply color on a surface evenly which anyone, including young children, can do.
However, painting the walls and ceiling of a large room is definitely a challenge that will make the muscles in your arms burn.
Moving a paint roller on the surface for hours is a good workout for your biceps and triceps. Trying to reach the high portion of the walls and the ceiling will keep the muscles of your arms engage.
Those paint cans are not light, either. Transporting it from your car to the inside of your house will be like lifting free weights at your favorite gym.
Painting is a full-body workout, so stop putting it off.
Increasing Lean Mass Through Carpentry
Carpentry is a lot like going to the gym. In some cases, construction work burns calories as much or even more than working out.
It is an intense activity that requires and builds strength and stamina. You have seen workers carrying beams of wood or sacks full of sand in a construction site.
Subject yourself to the same physical benefits of manual labor. Start with the treehouse that your child has been asking for for years or the tool shed that you have been planning to do for quite some time now.
Lugging around wood, smashing nails with a hammer, digging the earth, and other tasks will make you use all the important muscle groups throughout your body.
Tackle That Flooring
If your flooring has started to look shabby and not in a chic way, it is time to have it replaced.
You do not have to hire a professional for this. You can save money and work out at the same time by doing it yourself. Lifting those floorboards and then carrying them outside will give your arms, shoulders, back, core, glutes, and thighs the exercise they need.
Remember to Stretch
Similar to weightlifting at the gym, before you do any of these exercises, you should do stretching exercises. You still will be using your muscles to lift heavy objects. These tasks can cause serious injuries if done incorrectly.
You should observe safety precautions, too. Always check that your form is correct. Do not carry any object that is beyond your capacity. Ask for help every time you need it. Having your partner or a friend hold the ladder will ensure that are safe throughout the activity.
Most importantly, listen to your body. Once you feel pain, you should stop. Take a break when you are tired. The last thing you want to do is to be rushed to the emergency room from injury and become bed-ridden for the next couple of weeks or months.
These activities obviously cannot make you a bodybuilder, but each one does require and build strength. They also force you to get up from the couch, stop watching television, stay off social media, and become physically active. With a virus still going around, exercise is necessary to fight off infection.
