Monsoon Indoor workout

As much as many of us love the rains and find it romantic, working outdoors in the rains is cumbersome and not practical. Which is the reason, many of us want to workout indoors during monsoons. Many of hard core outdoor lovers of workout, feel lost during monsoon and do not know how to workout indoors. Let me tell you that there are innumerable good and effective options to workout indoors.

Of course, we have mat based workout like yoga, Pilates, etc. and gym machines like treadmill, bikes, cross trainer. But if you want more and special monsoon workouts, here are some of the options I have formulated for you to not only add spice to your workouts but also make it challenging and effective.

1.          Foam rollers: These help in core strengthening and relieving stress from the exhausted muscles. You can even do yoga and Pilates on foam rollers.

2.          Weight training: Get some weights indoor. Few Dumbbells, barbells, may be add tubings, resistance bands and thera bands. Monsoon is the time to sculpt and tone. Go for the lean look and get those athletic cuts. Adding weight training to your workout gives you muscle mass and escalates your metabolism.

3.          Gym Ball/ Swiss Ball: Add workout with fitness ball. This definitely improves your core conditioning. You can do complete body workout indoors with just a ball. You can do push-ups, lunges, crunches, obliques, everything on this small ball. Even cardio and aerobics can be done on this.

4.          Back strengthening: If you are doing so much for the abs, do not neglect your back. Unlike in summers and winters, we do not get enough Vitamin D from sunshine during monsoon. This leads to calcium deficiency and in turn aches and pains in joints, especially back (spine). Do some back extension exercises to make it strong.

5.          Kettlebell workout: Kettelebells are fun. You can do effective core training and strengthening with kettlebells. These come in different weights. So you should choose according to your own ability and must do conditioning and toning exercises with these.

Kettlebells—cannonball-like weights with thick handles—were the weapon of choice for Russian lifters more than a century ago. The weights offer all the benefits of dumbbells plus a few more. The super-thick handles challenge your grip, and the position of the weight in relation to the handle works your core extra hard.

Best of all kettle bells, are versatile. They're ideal for explosive exercises that work major muscles, burn body fat, and build power, but they also add a new dimension to classic moves like chest presses and flyes. And you don't need a wall-length rack of them to get a great workout. One pair will suffice for this routine. Use them regularly and you'll see the body you've always wanted.

The weight of a kettlebell hangs a few inches below its handle, which makes it more difficult to control. Everything from your grip to your core has to work harder than if you were using a dumbbell, so you get more out of even standard dumbbell moves. This extra muscle activity means your body burns more calories. Couple that with exercises that target whole body and you have a formula for significant fat loss.

6.          Aerobics/Step aerobics: Both these can be done indoors with a group or individually on your own. For step aerobics, you may need a stepper. Step aerobics helps you to burn calories, shed weight and fat. It is as good as running outdoors. You may even combine step with weights.

7. Partner workout with medicine ball

So enjoy workout indoors during monsoons and emerge super fit, toned, lean and strong.