Gyms are closed. Outdoors is basically closed. Instead, we’ve been assigned corona quarantine and social distancing. But! Spending days on end cooped up at home doesn’t mean you can’t stay fit. Here are our favourite tried-and-tested home workouts.
Berlin’s sports association and broadcasting service team up
Yoga, children’s dance, zumba, all-round fitness: Berlin’s Landessportbund (state sports association), in partnership with Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (Berlin-Brandenburg’s broadcasting service), has found a way to support sports clubs and trainers hit by the crisis. All while bringing a varied sports programme directly into German living rooms. Online sports classes take place daily at 9.15am and 2pm. Watch them via the livestream on www.rbb24.de and the rbb Sport Facebook page.
Check out the plan for the next few days (in German).
Equipment rental: a sports club in Weißensee loans out its equipment
Dokan-Sportclub in Berlin-Weißensee doesn’t want its gym equipment getting rusty. The solution? They’re renting out their machines, weights, and every thing you need to stay fit at home. The terms for loans are negotiated individually.
More information on their Facebook page (in German).
Peace Yoga Berlin and yellow yoga stream online
If you want to take part in classes by Peace Yoga Berlin or yellow yoga, you’ll usually find the two yoga studios in Neukölln. But, thanks to corona, they’re currently closed. Peace Yoga Berlin is now offering online yoga classes, for which you can register via their website. Yellow yoga’s classes are starting soon, too.
Registration and more information at www.peaceyoga.de and www.yellow-yoga.com.
ALBA BERLIN starts daily sports classes for children and teenagers
Berlin’s basketball club ALBA started online sports classes for children and teenagers last week. From Monday to Friday, ALBA releases a sports programme for the smallest and not-so-small ones: 9am for Kita kids, 10am for primary school kids, and 11am for secondary schoolers. Apart from exercises to take part in, they also deliver knowledge on everything related to training and movement.
This way to the YouTube channel by ALBA BERLIN (in German).
CYBEROBICS: free app for the corona crisis
The virtual sports app CYBEROBICS produces diverse, high-quality workout videos to keep you fit at home, from yoga to cardio to intense muscle exercise. Now the developers announced that they want to unlock the app for everyone in Germany — for free! To enable people to “keep a bit of normalcy during this extreme situation.”
All classes available for free on www.cyberobics.com.
And now for some more general recommendations on how to stay fit at home and simultaneously slow down your mind.
Meditation: calm your mind
Meditation perfectly supplements exercise in these tumultuous times, and can even help you maintain your emotional equilibrium during quarantine. Apps like headspace, Calm and Insight Timer are especially helpful for beginners.
Calisthenics: stay fit by using your own body weight
Calisthenics are also known as “street workouts”. Why? Because they root back to New York’s streets around the turn of the millennium. The exercises that make up calisthenics can be done easily at home without any equipment. Good for those who don’t want to lose their muscle tone during quarantine and while Berlin’s gyms are temporarily shut.
Calisthenics utilise your own bodyweight to generate an effective workout. Classic exercises are, for example, push-ups, squats and leg lifts. If you have a pull-up bar at home you can make us of that, too.
Pilates: keep a clear mind during home office
Flowing movements strengthen the body. Intense twists aid body awareness. And controlled breathing helps with every form of exercise and contributes to a calm mind. Pilates is inspired by both yoga and martial arts and particularly strengthens the core — i.e. the stomach, pelvic floor and back muscles. Particularly useful when you’re spending more time at home and sitting or lying down a lot, pilates can strengthen the muscles quickly and bring relief.
Dancing: stronger muscles and good vibes
Feeling frustrated by the current situation? Consider a dance workout. During a good dance session, the ‘happiness hormones’ dopamine and endorphins are released into the body. Additionally, coordinated movement stimulates the brain. New neurological connections! So if you dance daily in your quarantine, you might just become fitter — and more intelligent.
Yoga: quiet in the face of panic
Yoga keeps you fit and helps to find inner balance and calm. As apocalyptic news updates come a dime a dozen right now, it might be a good idea to get some physical and psychological rest. Beginners shouldn’t aim for perfection at first. What’s right is what feels right. On YouTube, there are many channels providing good classes for beginners and advanced practitioners.
Rope skipping: the calorie killer
If you want to care for your muscles and improve endurance, try to skip ropes for 20 minutes per day during this period of isolation. Hard to believe: you’ll burn about as many calories during a ten-minute rope skipping session as during a 60-minute run! And, just like during dancing, your brain will work hard, too.
Translated by Aida Baghernejad
Need more #corona home entertainment? Berlin’s clubs have launched the collective streaming platform you need.
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