A friend recently shared with me her New Year’s resolution: 20 minutes of exercise every day. I just love a goal that’s doable, simple, and leaves room for more. It’s a brilliant idea whose time has come. As we near the one-year anniversary of the Covid-19 lockdown, the scale tells the tale of how so many of us have been unconsciously coping with the changes to life as we know it. 

The year of Covid has done more than cause its own brand of illness. It’s ignited a global trend of destructive lifestyle habits, including overeating, overdrinking, and under exercising—to name a few. Enter the internal conflict: Spring will bring a return to the great outdoors—beaches, boating, summer sports—but we’ve been inside our houses for so long that it’s hard to recapture the motivation to get our bodies moving again. Despair not. We’re one step ahead of you.

Pursoma reached out to veteran CrossFit trainer Kiersten Mueller, owner of Another Level Fitness in Easton, Maryland, to glean some tips on how to get out of a sedentary rut. “Forget the notion that you need a full hour of exercise,” says Mueller. “Start with just 10 minutes. Every little bit of movement counts toward regaining strength. And don’t worry about starting off with baby steps. Lifting any weight, no matter how light, counts toward movement. And movement is especially important for anyone 55 and older.”

Continues Mueller, “We need to get out of the mindset that ‘I’m home and there’s nothing I can do to help myself.’ During lockdown, we ran the Resilience Challenge, and participants were loading up backpacks with towels and soup cans and wearing them for at-home, weighted workouts. When we’re stuck at home, we use what we have and make it work.”

Here are some of Mueller’s at-home movement tips:

+ Squats in the kitchen while you’re waiting for a timer to go off

+ Walking lunges as you move from room to room

+ Bicep curls with soup/bean cans before opening

+ Pushups against the edge of the kitchen counter

+ Tricep dips on the side of the couch or coffee table

Another tip from Mueller to get moving while you’re at home: family walks. “Getting kids involved is important,” she says. “You need to explain to each age group in the house that exercise is important. And we really need to take our kids away from the computer and get the exercise that they need, too.”

So, here’s Pursoma “Return to Exercise” Challenge: try 20 minutes of exercise a few days a week if only to rebuild a sense of pride in yourself, to rekindle your commitment to your health. Even just small hits of movement will help you fall in love again with exercise. And as a reward for your 20 minutes of exercise, have a muscle-soothing Pursoma soak, such as Resurrection or Apres Savasana. See you on the beach!