How to stay active while studying at home

From reading to meditating; painting to baking, there are so many ways to keep busy while we’re all spending more time at home – but perhaps the most important is some form of daily exercise.

Why is it important to stay active when studying from home?

Even if you don’t do much exercise normally, keeping active has lots of other benefits – especially when you’re studying from home. Light, regular exercise can:

• improve your concentration
• help you be more productive
• give you a boost of happy endorphins
• make sure you get a proper night’s sleep

There’s no need to do a full-on bootcamp workout every day, but we’ve put together a few ideas to help you make movement part of your daily routine. This is the perfect time to try new activities – and who knows, you might find your new favourite hobby!

From barely any effort to a more strenuous workout, here are six ways to stay active while studying at home:

Stand up more

Probably the easiest and most accessible way to stay active is simply to get up and walk around a bit! At least once an hour is recommended, but do it as often as you like – just set a timer to remind you. You should feel refreshed, energised, and ready to focus on your work again.

Try a reminder-setting app such as Randomly RemindMe, StandUp – the Work Breaker Timer or Move – Daily Activity to Stay Healthy.

There are lots of other ways to increase your activity little-and-often – so little that you’ll hardly even notice it. If you’re on the phone, have a wander as you talk – and I’m pretty sure walking to the kitchen to grab a snack counts, too!

Interactive gym classes

Since the schools have closed, children around the UK are now being taught lessons at home – including gym and PE. To the delight of parents across the country, popular fitness coach Joe Wicks has been streaming interactive gym sessions at 9am every weekday via his YouTube channel.

Joe’s sessions might have started out as an activity for children, but with millions of viewers tuning in every day, they’re proving to be a hit with people of all ages! The exercises are designed to require very little space and no equipment – so they’re perfect for keeping active at home.

The 7-minute workout

Working towards a deadline, but still want to make time to exercise? If you want to get as much activity in as little time as possible, the 7-minute workout is a great option. Based on a sequence of 12 simple exercises, it focuses on high-intensity interval training – and the sequence can be altered to work different muscle groups.

If you fancy trying it yourself, there are plenty of guided 7-minute workouts to follow on YouTube – or you could download the Google app to your phone.

YouTube yoga sessions

As well as being a great way to exercise, yoga is widely believed to make you happier, improve your focus and relax your mind – all of which are more important than ever when studying at home.

Thankfully, whether you’re a yoga fanatic or a complete beginner, there are so many resources available online. Try Yoga With Adriene – a hugely popular YouTube series with more than six million subscribers, and accessible routines for all abilities.

Fitness gaming fun

If you’re lucky enough to own a gaming console, there are countless interactive fitness games available – you might even have some already! Whether you prefer Kinect Sports Rivals for the Xbox One, Ring Fit Adventure for the Nintendo Switch or BOXVR for the Playstation 4, you’re sure to find a fitness game to suit you and your console.

Get your clean on

A tidy space equals a tidy mind, so why not get productive while you move and give your room a spring clean? It might not sound like much, but cleaning increases your heart rate and burns calories – and with a sparkling space in which to work, your studying will improve too!

Vigorous housework for 30 minutes (that’s if you really work up a sweat!) has the same effect as a brisk walk for the same length of time, but you’ll have finished the washing up at the end of it. A win-win situation, if you ask us!

If you have enjoyed reading this blog you may also like to read 7 simple recipes to help you through a week of self-isolation.

Feeling social? Follow us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!