One aspect of your lifestyle you won’t have to sacrifice when you move into a studio? Exercise. Even if you enjoy getting your blood pumping within the judgment-free confines of your own home, a studio is still the perfect place for a workout. Here are four ways to keep slim in your studio:
1. Yoga.
Just slide your furniture around to make space for a yoga mat, and you can get to work building strength, improving balance and toning, and increasing flexibility. According to the American Osteopathic Association, yoga also boosts athletic performance, respiration, circulation, and energy, while decreasing your odds of injury and helping to shed those extra pounds. What more could you need?
2. And More Specifically: Hot Yoga.
A studio is an efficient place to heat, so why not crank up that thermostat, blast your humidifier, and wait until all 400 square feet are a balmy 98 degrees to go into downward dog? According to WebMD, The high heat relieves stress and can further increase your flexibility by encouraging bloodflow to your muscles. Just be sure that you’re fully hydrated before you begin, and don’t wipe away your sweat — it’s your body’s best way of cooling itself down. (You might want to put some towels down over your new rug.)
3. Cardio Believe it or not, you can do cardio indoors without an elliptical. It’s also possible to get your heart rate up without running, bouncing, or anything else that might have your downstairs neighbors readying their broom. For example, take some of the punch out of your burpees and add in-between steps: Instead of dropping into a plank, take a little quiet step down, and then take a little step back up instead of springing onto your feet. (Don’t worry, you’ll still feel the burn.) For a few more moves, Fitness Blender has a video dedicated to quiet apartment workouts, including torso twists, slow squats, and deadlift jacks. No jumping involved.
4. Chair Work
But it’s not just space that’s the problem with working out in an apartment: It’s also a lack of equipment. The New York Times reports that by using only a chair and your own body weight, you can still meet the recommended standards for high-intensity effort. It might initially remind you of the old PBS gem “Sit and Be Fit,” but it can be pretty rigorous. A series of 12 exercises outlined by the American College of Sports Medicine “essentially combines a long run and a visit to the weight room into about seven minutes of steady discomfort — all of it based on science.” The routine starts with jumping jacks and ends with side planks, touching on wall sits, push-ups, chair step-ups, tricep dips, lunges, and a few more exercises to leave you utterly exhausted.
Sam Radbil is a contributing member of the marketing and communications team at ABODO, an online apartment marketplace. ABODO apartments was founded in 2013 in Madison, Wisconsin. And in just three years, the company has grown to more than 30 employees, raised over $8M in outside funding and helps more than half a million renters find a new home each month.