Joining your local Strength for Life class is great not just for your muscles, but also for your social life. One of the benefits of our program is that we provide an opportunity to have a chat over tea or coffee after class. Many people tell us that they enjoy this part as much as the exercise!

But sometimes we can’t make it along to a Strength for Life session, and that disruption can affect the strength gains that come from regular attendance. Over time, it’s all too easy for a break from the routine of exercise to mean that inactivity becomes your new routine.

That’s why it’s good to maintain an exercise program at home. You might worry that without a trained instructor or the correct equipment, you won’t feel comfortable repeating what you regularly do in your class. The good news is that there are exercises that you can easily do at home. Best of all, they don’t need a trained instructor to supervise and they require little or no equipment!

The easiest way to include these exercises into your daily routine is to attach them to activities that are already habits. For example:

• Heel raises – Every time you put the kettle on, place your hands on the bench for support and do some heel raises. Can you increase the repetitions for the time it takes the kettle to boil?
• One-leg stands – Alternate waiting for the kettle with one-leg stands. Can you increase the one-leg stand to 10 seconds for each leg?
• Head flexibility – When working on the computer, set a timer to go off every 10 or 15 minutes, and stop to do some head flexibility exercises.
• Legs and glutes – Every time you stand from sitting, use the opportunity to work on gaining strength in your legs and glutes (bottom muscles). Can you go from sitting to standing with only need one hand to help you up? Can you challenge yourself to get up out of the chair without using your hands? Here’s a tip – try to exhale as you get up – the louder you exhale, the lighter you are!
• Armchair push-up – When you’re watching tv, try doing an armchair push-up every time there’s an ad that annoys you!

Check out diagrams of the exercises and learn more about how to be active at home. Go ahead! Make these exercises part of your daily strength training!