A little workout in the living room

The term refers to physical training with targeted exercises. Don't worry, it's neither about targeted muscle building nor about excessive efforts to get you fit for the Boston Marathon. First and foremost, you should enjoy the exercise.

For a good workout, you don't necessarily need fitness equipment, so a gym is unnecessary. It should only take place in a well-ventilated room, because your body needs oxygen to train effectively. Since you will be sweating, the ventilation should be draught-free.

The type of training depends on the training goal (endurance, strength, fat burning) and your personal fitness. In the gym there is sophisticated equipment for everything and everyone, but the fact is that you don't need fitness equipment. You can easily train strength and endurance without any equipment or with everyday objects. Fat burning is also excellent with simple exercises.

The effect depends very much on how the exercises are performed. Push-ups, for example, train the shoulders, arms and abdominal muscles, as well as the back and chest muscles, depending on the position of the arms. If you do them slowly, they are an excellent strength training exercise. They are effective for burning fat if you do them intensively for 30 to 60 seconds and continue at a moderate pace for 90 to 120 seconds. By the way, training with your own body weight is effective and easy on the joints.

You see, you don't need any equipment to start a workout. However, fitness equipment does exert a certain pressure to use it. That's why it can be a good idea to buy a few small helpers.

First think about what you want to train. Is your goal to improve balance, build strength or increase endurance? Select the training equipment according to the goal you are pursuing.

• Balance: Sensoboards, balance boards, etc. are small pieces of equipment that are excellent for training your sense of balance. It is a standing plate that is mounted in a movable way. The unstable, unstable base challenges and promotes balance and coordination. The necessary balancing movements through the deep muscles take place almost unconsciously. The body is trained to constantly respond to new stimuli and impulses.
• Strength training: Here you have a huge selection of dumbbells and elastic bands to strengthen the muscles of the entire body. A dumbbell primarily trains the arm muscles, but if you hold it in your hand while doing squats, this has an effect on all muscles in the body.
• Endurance: Classic machines such as rowing ergometers, treadmills. Cross trainers or bicycle ergometers also fit into many living rooms. But you can also be more discreet: a small stepper or a stepping board can be placed anywhere.

First and foremost, be aware of the exercises you need to do with the fitness equipment in order for the training effect to take hold. Even the best equipment won't be effective if you don't exercise with it. So before buying, think about whether you will enjoy working out with the equipment.

If you are a fitness slacker or have become one due to the closed fitness facilities, start with a workout that does not require shopping. For the following exercises, all you need is the furniture in your home.

Repeat each of the exercises 10 times and do 3 rounds.

1. Sit on the edge of the chair. Place both feet on the floor and hold the edge of the seat with your hands. In this posture extend your right leg and move your toes towards your body. Hold your leg up briefly, set it down and repeat the exercise with the left leg.
2. Remain seated in the posture and slowly raise the heels.
3. Stand up from the chair very slowly and sit down again even more slowly.
4. Now stand behind the chair. Your feet are slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and one hand holds lightly onto the back of the chair. Turn your feet outwards and bend your knees until they reach over your toes. Slowly lower your hips towards the floor as far as is comfortable for you. Slowly return to the upright position. Your upper body must be vertical throughout the exercise.
5. Stay behind the backrest and hold on with both hands. Angle your right foot and raise your right leg sideways as high as you can. Your shoulders should be above your hips. Lower the leg and tap the heel on the floor before performing the exercise with the left leg.

Important: You need a stable table that is able to support your weight and that does not tip over when you lean on one side with your full weight. The exercise is safer for two if a partner holds the table so that it cannot slide or tip.

• Lie flat under the table. When you extend your arms, they must be perpendicular to the edge of the table.
• Grasp the edge a little more than shoulder-width apart, with your fingers on the tabletop. Your heels touch the floor.
• Pull yourself powerfully upwards. Your chest should touch the edge of the table and your body should form a straight line.
• Hold yourself up for a moment and slowly lower your body back down.

• Grasp the handle in front of your body as wide as possible, i.e. much wider than shoulder width.
• With arms outstretched, slowly bring it up and then slowly down behind your back.
• After three to five repetitions, tighten your grip on the handle and repeat the exercise.

The workout for two is not a competition. The training success may also not be as optimal as with targeted solo training. The focus is on fun and a shared experience. If exercises don't work, take it with humour.

Push-ups can be great fun in pairs. Get a partner to help you. Lie across on a large bath towel. The ends of the towel must stick out from under your body at stomach level on both sides. Your partner grips the two ends of the towel. Now try a push-up and the partner lifts you with the towel at the same time.

Lie on your back in opposite directions. The soles of your feet are together and your legs are bent at 90°. Now both partners stretch the right leg while pulling the left closer to the body. Raise the upper body slightly and turn it towards the bent leg. Do not use your arms and try not to lose contact with the soles of your feet.

You can also sit standing up if your partner joins in. Stand back to back and walk forward in small steps at the same time. Make sure that your backs remain firmly pressed together. At the same time bend your knees. You are "sitting" when your thighs are parallel to the floor and your lower legs are perpendicular under your thighs. The knees are now just above the ankles. Exhausting? Then try to get back up from this position by taking small steps backwards.

As you can see, you don't need a gym or studio to do a little workout anytime. Exercise not only keeps your body fit, it also puts you in a good mood and gets your day going.