5 Best Summer Workouts to Get Lean and Boost Your Immunity

Quarantining at home can make your body lethargic and sluggish. It’s time to sweat out your worries and get that summer body you’ve always wanted. Try these 5 summer workouts to get the best results.

While living amidst a global pandemic, staying healthy and boosting up your immunity has become the need of the hour. Working from home has naturally made our bodies lethargic as our movements are restricted. Along with physical health, our mental health has a high chance of taking a hit as our normal routines have been disrupted.

So what can you do to escape the stress of daily life at a time when it’s impossible to go to the gym?

 In this article, we’ll list out simple ways that will help you sweat out the negativity while staying at home or in the vicinity of your neighbourhood. By following any one of our tips, you are bound to feel better and more positive.

1. Yoga

If you’re someone who wants to work on both mental and physical strength coupled with slow exercises, then yoga might be ideal for you. All you need is a yoga mat to get started with beginner yoga that comprises of poses like downward dog, cobra, cat-cow and tree pose.

Once you feel that you’re ready to advance to higher forms, you can choose from Hatha, Ashtanga, Vinyasa and Bikram yoga. Each form uses different methods to build focus, lean muscles and rid the body of negative energy. With consistent practice, yoga can make you feel lighter, both in your head and in the body.

2. Swimming

Are you eager to workout but don’t want all that sweat? Then swimming is the answer you’re looking for. Along with being a great full body workout, swimming is an activity that de-stresses your mind. You can do it with your family or enjoy your time alone while working those muscles.

Swimming increases your lung capacity, enhances and tones your muscles along with helping you burn calories. Swimming for 30 minutes can burn up to 250 calories. Make sure you have your swimming equipment ready before you begin.

3. Zumba

Have you always found dance to be the best way to sweat your worries out? Then you will love incorporating Zumba in your daily schedule. Zumba uses fun dance moves and mixes it up with cardio so that you shed those calories and enjoy every second of doing so. It’s like a high-energy fitness dance party that you can do with your roommate or your family. It will leave you panting, sweating,  and definitely happier.

4. Belly Dancing

If you’re aiming for a flatter stomach but are not fond of crunches, then belly dancing will rescue you from boring workout regimes. In fact, Belly Dance can help you achieve your fitness goals and more. It involves moving abdominal and pelvic muscles that aid in digestion, reduce back pain, strengthen the core, and improve sleep and posture. And the whole bending and rotating torso helps to tone the midsection.

Swaying in the figures of the eights and moving your hips to the sound of music will work wonders to give you the summer look.

5. Tabata

Tabata is a high-intensity interval training program specifically designed to increase your heart rate over a short period of time. High-intensity exercise helps to target a wider range of muscle groups compared to other traditional exercises. Tabata training not only helps keep you fit, but also burns more calories during and after your workouts. These workouts can help you burn 15 calories a minute. As it is a high-intensity workout, you need to remain focused and attentive, helping to improve your efficiency. It gives a boost to your endurance and increases stamina.

6. Resistance Workout

Resistance training contributes to all kinds of advantages, including improving the connective tissue, stronger muscle contractions and increased joint stability.

All you need to do is add a resistance band to a stable poll or something similar and you can do the following exercises –

·       Band Rows in which you stand facing the poll and pull the bands to your stomach).

·       Band Pull-Aparts where you grip the two ends of the band and move them apart.

·       Band Squats by locking the band around your knees and doing a standard squat with your body weight.

Carry out 4-5 sets, rest for 60 seconds, then switch to the next one. Resistance workouts, when done consistently, are bound to give you that summer body in a month.

7. Walk

Walking is an excellent way to improve or maintain your health. Brisk walking for 30 minutes daily can increase cardiovascular fitness, strengthen the bones, reduce excess fat, and increase muscle strength and stamina. Walking has a low impact, needs limited equipment and can be performed at your own speed at any time of the day. Without worrying about the risks associated with more forceful exercises, you can go and walk.

Walking is also a great way of physical activity for those who have been overweight, are old and unhealthy. The number of steps taken can be measured by a smartwatch or fitness tracker. You can use it for measuring and comparing your movement to other days so that you cover more distance each day.

5 Tips for Exercising Safely:

·       Take your warm ups and cool downs seriously. Before beginning any high intensity workout, remember to start small and start slow. Similarly, once you’ve finished working out, relax and let your body cool down for at least 10 minutes.  

·       Be mindful that too much or too often workouts can lead to overuse injuries such as stress fractures, steep or weak joints, muscles and inflamed tendons and ligaments. Sports that lead to regular wear and tear on other parts of the body, for instance swimming (shoulders), jogging (knees, ankles and feet), tennis (elbows), are often to blame.  A combination of various types of activities and enough rest is safer.

·       Learn to listen to your body.  Skip working out when you feel sick or very tired. Cut off if you can't complete a workout, feel weak or exhausted after workout, or experience constant pain and soreness in joints post exercise.

·       Drink plenty of water to compensate for the loss of fluid from your body due to sweating. You can also try other fluids that contain electrolytes if you’re into high intensity workouts.

·       Choose your clothes and shoes that are ideal for your workout. As cushioning wears out, change the shoes every six months.

Some frequently asked questions:

1. Is it good to exercise in summer?

Exercise is definitely good throughout the year, and the exercises you do depend on the goal. In summers, particularly, the temperature outside is slightly higher, and when you exercise – the body temperature rises and you sweat even more.

2. Is it OK to do push ups every day?

Pushups are a fast and efficient strength building exercise. Pushups can be effective every day if you are looking for a consistent workout. If you do pushups on a regular basis, you will probably find improvements in upper body power.

3. Is it possible to transform your body in a month?

 You can still make positive changes to your body that you will notice. Fortunately it works – and you could lose 1-2 pounds of body fat a week if you work out consistently. Do that for four weeks successfully, and being 5-8 pounds lighter in 1 month is absolutely feasible.

4. Can I get toned in 8 weeks?

Some of the best abdominal exercises are planks, crunches, bicycles and scissors, or leg lifts. Complete two sets of 20 to 25 reps of each exercise three to four days a week over your 8-week period, and you can tighten and tone your abs if your body fat is low.

While we’ve mentioned some basic workout regimes that can be tried by anyone, it is still recommended to consult an expert before you begin exercising. It is important to know whether your body is ready for high intensity workouts or just basic stretching.

Along with sweating out your worries, try eating clean by incorporating the right amount of greens and proteins in your meals. Eat more fruits, drink more water and avoid processed sugar.

Furthermore, start small and stretch your body’s limits progressively instead of wanting to get toned overnight. While working out is important, getting enough sleep is also crucial. Make sure you have enough time left after finishing your work and working out so that you can get enough rest to recharge yourself for the next day.

Hard work and consistency are the key factors that will help you stay fit and healthy this summer. So choose your favorite workout regime and start today!