The eternal conundrum – you want to work out, you want to feel healthy, but sometimes doing cardio doesn’t feel much better than having a full-blown panic attack – and not everyone is built for the muscle-and-protein-powder laden halls of the weight room. Knowing that your health is partially dependent on exercise while lacking the energy to regularly hit the treadmill can be a stressful problem to deal with, and in between work, play, and hobbies, it can be difficult to find the time. Fortunately, social media users have bound together to find an answer, whether you want to workout in fresh air or while binge-watching Netflix – and increasing your fitness in a comfortable way is the best method to tackling any higher-impact workouts you might want to do in the future. For the girls that love the runner’s high and hate breaking a sweat, we have the guide to dip your toes into enjoyable, pleasant, low-impact workouts you can do in any environment, but especially from the comfort of your home or bed.
A timeless method of exercise with unprecedented benefits. According to the Mayo clinic, regular brisk walking can help maintain healthy weight, improve heart health, strengthen your bones and muscles, and improve your energy level. Generally, 150-300 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic activity a week is recommended - which could roughly translate to easy-breezy, half-an-hour hot girl walks five days a week. Especially if you’re not used to more intense exercise, walking is an excellent foundational workout that you can use to springboard to running (ever heard of #runnergirly TikTok?). According to the New York Times, regular 25-minute runs or 105-minute walks extends the lifespan – but runners and joggers were typically 30% more fit than walkers. Either way, the key here is consistency. Walking more often means getting more fit, so brisk walking, jogging, and running may come more easy to you - especially if you alternate them in quick bursts with your classic hot girl walks.
What if I told you you could get your 10,000 steps in and binge Hulu’s The Bear all in at once? The TikTok viral walking pad lets you do just that. The Washington Post reported that one social media user pledged to walk a half-marathon in a day, while another woke up at 5:00am to start watching The Kardashians and start a walk from the comfort of her living room. Walking pads can even be used at desks – especially if you’re a WFH girlie – which turns a traditionally sedentary job (linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and depression) into an active one. According to the article, early research has found that walking pads can reduce stress and anxiety, while increasing productivity, mood, and happiness. Vogue has also endorsed the walking pad as a “revolutionizer” in the work routine, allowing people to knock two birds – work and working out – with one, time-effective stone. Using a walking pad also conveniently eliminates the struggle of pulling on a puffer jacket to brave the cold weather, or finding a pal to stroll the avenues with.
Pilates, a low-resistance strength training method to which the likes of both Hailey Bieber and Madonna are devotees, isn’t exactly easy, but has been dubbed by TikTok as the quintessential lazy girl workout, with video variations on how to talk, text, and watch television while doing exercises (just give it a quick search bar peruse.) It’s a much lower-impact way to tone your body and increase flexibility. Different exercise are repeated continuously to strengthen the muscles without tiring them out too much. Mat pilates can be done at home or in class, but reformer pilates -- not for the weak -- intensifies the workout with resistance ropes and pulleys. Pilates has been found to improve your muscle endurance, soothe chronic pain, and reduce depression and anxiety. In particular, pilates can help pregnant and postpartum women strengthen their pelvic floors. Pilates won’t give you bulging muscles, or increase your cardio, but it will tone your muscles and make you look stronger and leaner. In addition to your 150-minutes-of-exercise-a-week, Pilates fits nicely into your two recommended days of strength training a week.
