23 Mar The Couch Looks Inviting but an Exercise Space in Front of TV May be in Order 

Many corporate apartments like the one you see in California Corporate Housing’s website look like the fancy spreads you see in Architectural Digest. In Silicon Valley, where tech workers’ salaries range from $200,000 to $500,000 or even higher, that is not unusual. Which is also why California Corporate Housing also customizes furnished homes to suit a guest’s personal taste; a fresh coat of paint on an accent wall, for instance, with the usual centerpiece — a sofa, in the middle of it all. 

In this pandemic, though, the sofa or couch — a staple in every home for receiving guests — may need to take a break from the living room, if one is spending too much time there and you have no visitor to speak of. Of course, it’s normal for people to keep the standard sofa and humongous TV right in front of them, for the nightly assignation to Netflix or Hulu, the latter one of many perks offered by California Corporate Housing. 

Still, if one has been idle in quarantine for more than two months, it might not be such a bad idea to move things around a bit, even the sofa, to impose some level of control on your bad couch-potato habits. 

In short, being in quarantine should not make you quit your exercise regimen from your missed gym, nor should it stop you from starting one. Perhaps what you need — global mobility professionals and their assignees — is redecoration. 

Moving the couch for you to create space for exercising in front of the TV is one way of staying fit, or bringing your gym to your home. For high-impact exercises and classes that you missed at the gym, for example, online versions can help you catch up. YouTube has dozens of certified, qualified physical fitness instructors. 

Physical exercise is important, especially during this time when you are on lockdown and can only do a few trips outside. It can keep you healthy and prevent a slide into obesity, which in itself can trigger more health risks, like the development of diabetes and a cardiovascular condition. Did that scare you enough to think of moving furniture to accommodate a treadmill, yoga mat or set of weights? Just don’t show anyone what you did to your living room until life is back to normal.  

Online exercise videos also create a virtual community with others who like the same kind of activities that you do. And it’s not too cliche to say, a daily exercise routine can drive away the blues and block an onset of depression, which most of us are prone to during crisis situations. In short, again, thirty minutes on your stationary bike or dancing to that aerobics disc can do wonders for your mental health.

Beyond the COVID-19 updates and announcements, the World Health Organization (WHO) is there to promote good health. It recommends “150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity throughout the week” for adults; if the exercises are more rigorous, then 75 minutes would be enough.

WHO names other more relaxing and entertaining ways to stretch those muscles and stimulate your blood circulation sans treadmill and/or the lifting of heavy weights: cycling (the aforementioned stationary bike or around your neighborhood, if possible), dancing, gardening, walking, and swimming (to those who have access to a pool). 

If all that sounds routine, the WHO adds doing household chores and playing games with your kids to the list.

There are other forms of exercise designed to clean up your home. Now, if the thought of cleaning an already cramped home makes you sigh, add a bit of creativity to keep your spirit up, says the Obesity Medicine Association. In sweeping or vacuuming the floor, do a few lunges while whipping the appliance or the broom around. Junk the electric power mower and instead push the manual lawn mower to trim your lawn. Your knees, legs, and arms will all get a workout at the same time.

Excelsior Orthopaedics gives a couple of fairly easy suggestions that you can do inside the comforts of your neighborhood. Walking your dog around the block or the nearest park within the area of quarantine will not just let you breathe fresh air and stretch your muscles; it can also be a time of bonding with your pet. 

If your house or apartment building has stairs, allot 15 minutes a day to walk them up and down. Doing it in rhythm with the music or podcast that is streaming through your phone can even make it fun. Integrating health, fitness and wellness supersedes the temptation of the sofa and the passive activity of binge-watching; not to criticize anyone’s entertainment cravings, but all things in moderation can go a long way.