Lace Up: Your 7-Day Free Virtual Workout Plan Is Here

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Does anyone else feel like the universe is out to sabotage their gains? Or is it just us? First, there was Lockdown Level Stay Indoors And Eat Your Feelings. By the time we could go run – yay! – 6am had become the dead of night and our window of freedom was all of five minutes. And now that we can finally exercise at will in glorious daylight – with three friends, nogal! – it’s winter. And not even the joy of escaping the house is going to get our rapidly-expanding butts outside when there’s frost on the ground.

Just in case you feel the same, we’ve lined up a week of virtual workouts that we can all do at home, in our socks, with the heater going. And if data’s the only thing holding you back from living your best active life, our July issue comes bagged with a Rain SIM card that gives you a week’s free unlimited data when you activate it. Got yours? Let’s get moving!

Got your July issue of Women’s Health with your Rain SIM card? CLICK HERE to activate it.

Your Virtual Workout Plan

For the purposes of keeping things simple, we’ve made day one of the plan a Monday and day seven is a Sunday. But you can start any day you choose. Just make sure you do the virtual workouts in order. Some of the workouts require equipment. But don’t worry – they’re things you probably have around the house anyway, like water bottles or a towel. The workouts were all streamed lived on our YouTube channel. So you can just press play and follow along.

Monday: Strength

You’ll need: Mat or big towel to lie on

Got your mag? Got your Rain SIM card? Awesome! Now start your week strong with this virtual workout from Nike Trainer Zaakirah Khalek. Your upper body will be feeling it tomorrow!

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Tuesday: HIIT

You’ll need: Two identical water bottles; mat or big towel to lie on

High-intensity interval training is a great way to get a cardio workout indoors when it’s just too cold to exercise outside. This virtual HIIT workout from trainer Jade Upton incorporates explosive moves to get your heart rate up, as well as functional strength moves, so you’re getting more bang for your buck in less time. To make HIIT training effective, you really need to give it your all. By the end, you should feel wrecked. So always be sure to give your body enough time to recover afterwards. Good thing tomorrow is a rest day!

WATCH: Lockdown HIIT With Unjaded Fitness

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Wednesday: Rest Day

Incorporating rest into your exercise programme is as important as the exercise itself. It’s during recovery that you actually reap the rewards of your workouts. The muscles you taxed rebuild stronger (read: get more toned). This process requires energy (burning calories). And all of this requires oxygen that your heart needs to pump around your body in your bloodstream (you get fitter). Also important: Managing stress. Cortisol is a hormone that your body releases when you’re under prolonged stress. Its role is to help you survive, but one of the ways it does that is to signal your body to store fat around your midsection. Not ideal.

As stressful situations go, a global pandemic is way up there. Today, make yourself a cup of tea and spend an hour watching this virtual interview with experts from the Palm Tree Clinic on how to cope with stress and anxiety. You have data, put it to good use!

WATCH: #WFH Social Club: The One About Coping With Anxiety And Change In An Ever-Changing World

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Thursday: Pilates

You’ll need: Mat or big towel to lie on; another big towel rolled up

Many people believe Pilates is just a lot of lying around, breathing and stretching without doing much work. Those people have clearly never done Pilates. Using time under tension, Pilates targets muscles that can easily be overlooked by other forms of exercise and builds bodies with long, lean muscle tone like a dancer. Because Pilates is a slow, low-impact form of exercise, it’s great for beginners, anyone with injuries and pregnant women (although if you’re pregnant, always chat to your doc before doing any exercise!). This virtual Pilates workout with Kedibone Matlala will give you a low-impact strength workout, no weight lifting required.

Remember to activate your Rain SIM card! CLICK HERE.

WATCH: 45-Minute Mat Pilates Workout With Kedibone

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Friday: Barre

You’ll need: Mat or big towel to lie on; high-backed chair; pillow

How are you feeling after yesterday’s virtual Pilates class? If you’re new to exercise, haven’t trained regularly in more than three months or you’re feeling really sore, you just earned an active rest day! Today, just focus on getting 10 000 steps. Then look after your mental health by watching this empowering interview with Sarah Knight, author of The Life-Changing Magic Of Not Giving a F**k and F**k No.

WATCH: #WFH Social Club: The One About Balance, Boundary Setting And Saying No

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Feel like you still have some petrol in the tank? This barre workout from Seugnet Esterhuyse is your leg day for the week.

WATCH: 45-Minute Class With Seugnet From Ballet On Kloof

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Saturday: HIIT

You’ll need: Mat or big towel to lie on

Your week of unlimited data from Rain is still going strong. Are you? If your answer is a solid yes, today is your second HIIT day for the week. Sizzle into Saturday with this virtual workout from master trainer Aneeka Buys. Remember to give it horns during the work periods and make the most of your rest breaks. Not sure you can face a workout today after yesterday’s barre class? Just aim to hit 10 000 steps today and have a rest. You’ve earned it!

WATCH: 40-Minute Monday Sizzle With Fit Girl

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Sunday: Active Rest

You’ll need: Mat or big towel to lie on

Well done! You’ve made it to day seven of your workout programme. You still have a day’s free unlimited data left, so use it for a nice, grounding yoga practice to end the week. Mindfulness is so important for mental health. And yoga is a great way to spend a few minutes of your day focused on the present moment, breathing deeply to oxygenate your muscles and brain and stretching out your stiff body. This virtual yoga class by Tarin Calmeyer will leave you feeling loose, limber and refreshed. So you’re ready to start a new week tomorrow.

WATCH: Morning Yoga Flow With Tarin

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Now that you have your activated Rain SIM card, use it to stay active and mentally stimulated through winter and the rest of lockdown. We have loads more home workouts on the Women’s Health YouTube Channel for you to try and more #WFH events coming soon. Follow us on Instagram for updates and get tickets at Quicket.