Search Results for: work from home

April 27, 2020 By Namrata Gullapalli Leave a Comment

Turn Everyday Chores Into Workouts

Social distancing can be really hard and not being able to burn all those calories while lying around at home is just unfair. Many of us don’t have any exercise equipment at home, so it’s all the more difficult to get a good workout. Well, a great way to kill two birds with one stone is to turn your daily chores into workouts.

If you haven’t seen it already, our GOQii Play coaches did a fine job of turning some of their chores into workouts. You can find those videos on our social media pages but for now, let’s see how we can turn household chores into workouts!

Sweeping & Mopping: Tune in to music and turn up the heat! Grab that mop and start dance cleaning like some good ol’ cliché in a movie, yes? NO! Instead throw away that mop, get down on your fours with a washcloth and start scrubbing those tiles. Now, this is where the gut wrenching part comes in. So all done yet? Well, Congratulations! You have successfully burnt 145 calories per 15 minutes. And for sweeping you don’t need a vacuum cleaner! Use a broom for that extra burn!
Cooking: Considering the fact that you are on a preventive healthcare platform, I assume that you are not on any fast, pre-cooked or any kind of junk food. If you aren’t then it is good for you, especially in this situation it’s good for you 2X times! As working on a good home cooked meal can help you vaporise 75 calories including all the cutting, pounding, whisking, stirring etc.
Dish Washing: Now that we have gone through the gut-wrenching part, let me introduce you to the back-bending section. Washing the dishes is a comparatively peaceful activity and needs to be done with a peaceful mind. Although you wouldn’t notice your stiff back until you are done with your chore. It is completely worth it when you finish your washing and crash on your sofa having burnt a total of 100-120 calories within 30 minutes. But don’t worry about your stiff back; it’s just your lazy muscles bent over the sink continuously.
Laundry: Doing the laundry will never feel the same once you know of its health benefits. You can burn up to 78 calories in one hour by just loading and unloading the washing machine, including hanging up the clothes for drying, which equals to 50 sit-ups. Those who prefer washing clothes by hand, you’ll be surprised to know that you can burn anywhere between 100 to 220 calories in 30 minutes. Besides, your arms will get toned from all that scrubbing, rinsing and twirling. Squat while washing clothes, your quads and calves will get a good workout too.
Ironing: With laundries in lockdown, you’re going to have to iron clothes yourself. There are some perks in it! Apart from burning 60 calories in 20 minutes, it tones your biceps. Also, note that standing rather than sitting while ironing your clothes will help you burn calories as well as wake those core muscles.

Now that you have read how you can turn your household chores into workouts, you’re all set for a healthy lockdown. You can help us a little by sharing these tips to your close ones and also by letting us know your thoughts in the comments below!

If you want an extra burn, you can also try these 5 workouts you can do at home.

Stay home, stay safe, get active and #BeTheForce!

March 23, 2020 By Shaeba Shaikh 3 Comments

5 Simple Exercises You Can Do At Home

Amid the Coronavirus pandemic, social distancing and self-quarantine are in full swing. With everyone locking themselves up indoors, The activity levels have seen a considerable drop. Social distancing has resulted in a 51% drop in step count in the first 15 days of march 2020 according to a recent real time data study of 5 lakh users using GOQii Trackers. This drop in percentage is only likely to increase in the coming days as the fear of spread of this deadly virus is only increasing by the day. However, don’t let the lockdown make you fall into the recesses of a sedentary lifestyle. Get back up and get active at home with these 5 simple exercises!

Start Your Day Right With These 5 Simple Exercises

1.Push Ups: A great upper body exercise to begin your day. Start with lying down in a prone position, place your arms with your palms facing the floor shoulder width apart. Bend elbows and upper body to do a Push Up. Repeat the push ups for 8-10 reps.

2. Balancing Table Pose: This pose is perfect for improving balance, posture, concentration and memory. Start with a kneel down position, while breathing, lift your left arm and adjacent right leg parallel to the floor and exhale, hold for 30secs. Repeat with the other hand and leg. Do this for 5-7 repetitions on each side.

3. Butt-Kickers: As the name suggests, it is simply kicking your Glute (Butt) muscles. Start by standing with your feet about hip distance apart, bring your right leg behind your buttock contracting the hamstring muscles, and touch your Glutes with your right leg, repeat the same with your left leg. Continue doing it by alternating the legs. Do it for about a minute and repeat the exercise for 3 sets.

4. Wall Sits:Start with sitting against a wall with your back supported by the wall and your feet about 2 feet apart from the wall. Sit in such a position that thighs are parallel to the ground forming a 90 degree angle. Hold the position for 60secs. Repeat for 3 sets. Great exercise for the core muscles, Glutes. Quadriceps and Hamstrings. It is a fantastic lower body workout.

5. Surya Namaskar or Sun Salutation: We all know it, we all have heard about it. It is one of the most impactful and easiest full body stretches to loosen those tight muscles and to energize the body instantly.

Start with a standing position with hands in Namaskar position, bend backwards with hands still in namaskar position, breathing out, bend forward touching the toes, Breathing in, push your right leg back, as far back as possible. Bring the right knee to the floor and look up. Then while breathing take the left leg behind and form a straight line. Gently bring down your knees and let the chest, chin, hands, feet touch the floor with the hips slightly raised, then slide forward and do a Cobra pose, lift your body and bring yourself in an inverted V pose, then bring the right knee forward in between the two hands, left knee should be on the floor and press the hips down and look up.

After this pose, get into the standing forward bend position, and then breathing in, roll up the spine. Raise the hands up and bend backward a little bit, pushing the hips slightly outward. And finally end it with the starting position of a standing Namaste. Start off with 5 repetitions of this exercise everyday to yield benefits.

We hope this article on 5 simple exercises helps you stay fit at home. For more home workouts, tune in to fitness experts on GOQii Play.

#BeTheForce

March 20, 2020 By Richa Sanghvi 2 Comments

What You Should Eat After a Workout

workout With the recent self-quarantine due to the coronavirus in full effect, most of us have been working out at home. We understand that exercise is important to keep ourselves fit, healthy and build immunity but one thing that we need to watch out for is what we eat after a workout. Eating the right food post workout is important for several reasons.

When you exercise your muscles use glycogen as a fuel to provide you optimum energy. This results in partial depletion of glycogen from your muscles. Some of the proteins in your muscles also get broken down and depleted, especially when you do strength training. After you workout, your muscles try to replenish these stores within 30-45 minutes of workout. That is the reason why you should eat after a workout so that muscle recovery happens quicker and less wear and tear of muscles occur. This ultimately leads to muscle growth, which is our main goal.

The Right Nutrition

Not only eating but also eating the right food is important. Proteins, as discussed above, get depleted. Thereby, eating the right amount of protein (0.3-05 gm/kg body weight) just after workout gives your body the amino acids required for muscle recovery and growth.

Glycogen is used as a fuel by body therefore eating carbohydrates (1.1 – 1.5 gm/kg body weight) within 30 minutes of workout helps in glycogen re-synthesis. A combination of both carbs and proteins helps in maximizing protein and glycogen synthesis.

Don’t shy away from including some fat in your meal as well. A little bit of it will not harm your recovery. In fact, fat is required by your body to absorb all the fat soluble vitamins.

Last but not the least, you should keep yourself hydrated always. As drinking enough water will help in better recovery and next day’s performance.

What Should You Eat After a Workout?

Brown bread and Peanut butter
Egg whites and toast
Chocolate milkshake (Avoid sugar if you are aiming at weight loss)
Chicken, brown rice and veggies
Quinoa with plenty of veggies or like a salad
Sweet potato
Cornflakes and milk
Banana milkshake
Fruit smoothie – Fruit of your favourite choice + Yogurt
Salad containing seeds like chia, sunflower and flax seeds

Don’t let social isolation or self-quarantine hamper your routine! Try these foods after a good home workout to strengthen your body and your immunity. If you need guidance for home workouts or more tips to build your immunity, tune in to LIVE classes on GOQii Play.

Let’s get stronger and #BeTheForce against COVID-19 together.

June 9, 2018 By Anusha Subramanian Leave a Comment

No matter what age, if you are determined to change your lifestyle, all you need is to work hard and not give up

extreme rt- Ilyas and his mom Extreme Right: Safiya Begum doing plank exercise with the other active Sunday participants

At 58, she is one of the most active members of the ‘GOQii Active Sundays’ held at Powai, Mumbai thereby proving that age can never be an impediment to start anything in life. If you are determined and have the will to put in hard work and bring about a change for yourself, then nothing is difficult. Safiya Begum has just done that. Here is her story…

Safiya Begum travels all the way from Mankhurd to Powai every Sunday morning along with her son Mohammad Ilyas. “The transformation in her has come in the last one year,” says her son and since then there has been no looking back for her.

She had a lung issue way back in 2016 for which she had to be hospitalized. After she was discharged from the hospital in her hometown, her son Ilyas had to get her to Mumbai and admit her again in Hinduja hospital in for a thorough check-up and she was categorically told that she had to control her weight and the lung issue was due to thyroid, Sugar and BP. She underwent 1-year treatment thereafter but, was not active and was on medication.

Ilyas had decided that he had to get his mother off medication and follow a routine of walking and some exercise. he got her to follow his routine which his GOQii coach had given him. The routine was to take walks outside. She started enjoying this routine and started going for regular walks.

Ilyas says, “There has been no looking back for my mom. She goes for a walk 3 times a day. Once in the morning, afternoon and evening. I have even got her a GOQii tracker now so she can see her step count”.

Exactly six months ago in December, we got a check-up done. Her Thyroid medication has been reduced, Sugar levels are at normal level, BP is also under control. She has been asked by the doctor to take medication for BP only if there is a problem. Since January 2018, she started attending the GOQii Active Sunday sessions and she is thoroughly enjoying the sessions. She has made friends with many of the active Sunday players and hence enjoys her group exercise sessions.

Safiya Begun has proved it that no matter what age if you are determined to change your lifestyle and be active, all you need is to put in efforts and not give up. There are no shortcuts to life.