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How to Stay Healthy & Active During MCO

How to Stay Healthy & Active During MCO

During this MCO (Movement Control Order), we’re all staying home as a nation in an attempt to flatten the curve and keep ourselves safe by washing our hands and paying extra attention to personal hygiene (click on this link to see if you’re washing your hands properly). But self-care does not stop there. Have you noticed back pains, tight knots around the body or stiffness lately? This is due to our increased sedentary lifestyle at home and the lack of exercise. We need to invest time and effort into our bodies for us to feel our best! If you're also experiencing mental stress being cooped up at home, studies have shown that exercise is a healthy way to relieve pent up stress as endorphines produced during exercise helps you mentally relax. Here are a few things we can do to take care of ourselves and get active again.

Watch and Follow Exercises on YouTube
There is no access to the gym at this time, no badminton courts open, or any other sports facilities. A lot of us may feel like this is a great time to laze around the house. But no, having no access to sports facilities is not a free pass. There are plenty of exercises we can do at home by watching and following routines on YouTube - HIIT, yoga, dance, ballet, you name it, YouTube’s got it. Now get off your butts and get moving!

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Exercise Bands
Exercise bands or resistance bands are great to add to existing workouts. Since most of us have no access to gym equipment, we can use exercise bands to add resistance to replicate weight training! They can be used for rehabilitation, strength training, stretching, endurance training, core training and many more! Resistance bands are versatile as they come in different resistance levels. Anyone can use it - from young children to the elderly. Just choose one that best fits your ability! Click here to read up on more benefits of exercise bands and exercises you can follow.

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Multi-purpose Stretch Pad
For those who are not inclined in using an exercise band or you’d just like to mix things up and keep things interesting, a multi-purpose stretch pad may be a good alternative. The multi-purpose stretch pad helps stretch the calves, buttocks and hamstrings to help keep your muscles limber so that you would always feel relaxed and comfortable. Click here to see the kinds of stretches you can do on this useful stretch pad!

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Pedal Exerciser
A portal pedal exerciser is excellent for the elderly as it is a type of device that exercises their arms and legs. It helps to restore muscle strength, coordination and maintain or increase range of motion. The resistance of the pedals can also be adjusted to fit the user’s ability. Place it on the floor and pedal like you normally would on a bicycle, or place it on a table to work out the arms! Best practice is to have at least 15-minute sessions, 3 times a day. If the user is experiencing any neck, shoulder or arm pain, please stop and check the position of the pedal exerciser and the user's posture.

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BackJoy SitSmart
For those of us who are either working from home or are still spending a lot of time sitting, BackJoy SitSmart will help make sure that we maintain a good sitting posture while keeping back pain away! It isn’t only limited to working and sitting, but you can also use BackJoy for yoga. It helps keep our tailbone from hurting while we’re sitting on the floor and it allows you to use more of your core to keep balanced!

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Self Massage
Missing your masseuse? Dying for a relaxing massage? Or maybe there are knots that have been there for a while and won’t go away and are causing you pain and stress. Take things into your own hands and try massaging and releasing those knots with a massage ball or a trigger point massager. Pamper or treat yourself by simply rolling or pressing to soothe your aching muscles.