MD Governor Larry Hogan closed all restaurants, bars, movie theaters, and gyms in the state due to the COVID-19 outbreak on March 16. Since then, life has been different for all of us, especially for those of us who are used to working out everyday.

Now that all public gyms are closed, it seems as though working out at home is the only thing we can do to keep our bodies in shape.

A lot of people think that you have to go to the actual gym to workout, but that’s not necessarily true. Anyone can get in a good workout from home, whether that’d be in your basement, garage, or even your backyard on a nice day.

A lot of people don’t understand that you do not necessarily need gym equipment or equipment at all. For instance, if someone likes to run or walk on the treadmill at the gym a lot, and they do not have a treadmill at home, they could replace running or walking on a treadmill with running or walking outside around their neighborhood.

Every workout needs to be warmed up with an abdominal workout because it is one of the strongest and most flexible parts of the body. For an effective “at home” abdominal workout, simply find some heavy objects around the house and do sit ups with them.

I would recommend anywhere from 3-5 sets of 20 sit-ups to really get your body warmed up. If someone’s not a big sit-up fan, no worries; planks are effective as well. If someone prefers planks over sit-ups, I would say to do 4-5 sets of one-minute planks to activate your body.

For the weightlifters, the best thing to do is to keep your muscles active. When it comes to keeping your body strong at home, push ups are easy and effective. I would recommend 100 per day, at minimum. To make it easier, split it up into five sets of 20 throughout the day.

Another exercise I’d suggest has to do with the lower body.  Weighted squats will keep your lower body strong and compact. If you have weights or dumbbells, that is perfect; if not, just find a heavy item around your house. Now for squats, it all depends on how heavy you want to go in your weight. For my heavy lifters I’d suggest six sets of 4-5. For my beginners or if you just want to use lighter weight, I’d suggest eight sets of 5.

Some final tips I’d give you are: have fun with your workout, play energetic music in the background to keep you going, eat immediately after working out, and drink lots of water.