Are you wondering how to avoid turning into a lazy blob while working from home? You’re for sure not alone in wanting to tackle the conundrum of wanting to slide over to your couch for some Netflix after the workday is done, but also wanting to get in shape.

Working from home comes with heaps of health benefits, in our opinion, like being in control of your schedule and a chance to focus on healthy eating habits.

When you work from home, it’s nearly easy to let work consume you, if your home office is actually in your living room, and your living room is close to your kitchen, and your couch… we could go on and on about how easy it is to stay home when you work from home.

MacBook Pro and Apple Magic Keyboard with a bluetooth wireless mouse in a home office setup

Here are a few products to keep in your home office, to stay more fitness-focused. All of these suggestions can become a part of your home office area, or can be easily stowed away.

Apple Airpods case and 2 AirPod buds on a white table with shadows

Here’s how to stay active when working from home!

Lay out a plush workout mat in your home office

Having a mat already laid out in your home office is highly conducive to getting down and being active, all while we’re working from home.

Having a thick foam mat like our Nike training mat is good for doing sit-ups, crunches, push-ups, yoga or simple stretches when you have 5 minutes to spare between meetings.

Especially for anyone who gets a stiff back, sore feet (at a standing desk) or uncomfortable neck/shoulders from sitting in a desk chair, stretching with a good floor support is key! I think staying fit while you work from home starts with the basics, and a cushy workout mat setting the stage is a good first step.

For the longest time, we had a thin yoga mat and it wasn’t the most comfortable to use during workouts. Ever since Nike sent us the training mat, we’ve had much more comfortable home workouts.

Do online yoga from your home

Home is a great place for yoga, and it’s one of the best exercises for home workers.

If you’ve read our other tips, you know that one of my favorite work-at-home fitness tips is to leave a yoga mat and yoga blocks near your office setup. When you walk by it on your way back from the kitchen, you may feel invited to do some lunges or a push-up plank.

If your mat isn’t automatically inviting you to sit down and do crow pose, get in the healthy habit of a home yoga routine on YouTube.

Here are a few of my favorite (free!) YouTube yoga instructor channels:

What I like about doing yoga at home and with free online videos on YouTube is that I can pick a short class for the morning before I sit down to work, and can wind down with a 30-minute or 45-minute online class when I’m done.

At-home yoga classes are one of my favorite ways to get fit while traveling or on the go, as well.

Take an online pilates class

Now that we’ve discussed my love for online at-home yoga while I’m working from home, we get to discuss how Dan does pilates either in the morning before starting work, or after his evening runs.

What’s pilates? Pilates is a series of concise movements that promote core strength, muscle control and stability. While it sounds pleasant, it is certainly very hard work.

There are lots of pilates classes on YouTube that you can watch for free, ranging from classes to tone your abs, to beginner-level classes, to full-body workouts. Try these YouTube workouts from Move with Nicole.

Nurture muscles with a massage gun.

Before or after you are stretching, consider checking out a massage gun like the TheraGun. I like to have access to a way to massage muscle tension, right from my home office.

Stretching gives your joints and muscles some movement before you settle into your desk chair and take a two-hour meeting. Stretching also helps relieve joints and aches that you might get during sitting for that long. We tend to stretch throughout the day and we’ve made it a habit for at-home fitness.

Try a high-intensity workout or HIIT class from your home office

What’s cool about HIIT (high-intensity interval training) workouts is that you need very little equipment and can do them from home as part of your work-from-home workout plan.

The typical HIIT workout fan will confirm that HIIT workouts make you sweat like crazy and will keep you involved and far from bored. Next, remote workers who regularly do HIIT workouts say that they can see results quickly.

You can find lots of HIIT workouts on YouTube, where you can choose from 15-minute or 30-minute videos (free!). Try it out to see if you like the HIIT style, if you’re new to the idea.

Install a pull-up bar in a doorway

Quickly installing a doorway pull-up bar is like having a piece of a gym in your home that you can easily walk by and start a workout with.

If your home (and family members or roommates) permits, find a doorway that supports this type of at-home fitness equipment and start a habit of doing pull-ups as part of your work-from-home schedule.

Helpful Tip

Have an accountability buddy? Have a pull-up competition over Zoom as a way of staying connected.

Try calisthenics coaching on YouTube

Calisthenics is synonymous with body weight training, meaning using one’s body as the means of gaining strength. If you don’t have space in your home office or in your home to create a home gym, consider learning about calisthenics.

Calisthenics is typically performed with movements that repeat rhythmically, including push-ups, squats, dips, leg raises and pull-ups. You can find lots of free expert calisthenics videos on YouTube!

Keep a pair of weights near your desk

If you want to have weights on hand, consider some starter weights for making a home gym. Or, once again, if you are short on space, get yourself a pair of basic weights that you can use to do repeated arm movements during calls or while you’re waiting for files to upload.

Our suggestions:

  • For a starter weight set, this set of neoprene weights that comes in an A-rack. They range from 1 to 10 lbs.
  • For someone who wants wrist weights, these 0.5 lb wrist weights that have a soft neoprene covering
  • For any remote worker with a fear of commitment to a home gym, these cute pink 1-lb free weights that can sit next to your desk and brighten your mood.
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Helpful Tip

If you have limited space, you can store a set of free weights under a bed or beneath a table, or even under the bathroom sink, so that they stay out of sight when not being used.

Try body balances while you’re on a conference call

You don’t have to necessarily be sitting during a call. A way to beat the sedentary lifestyle or sedentary workday is to get up during your calls if you don’t have to type anything, and do some standing balances or arm movements. It gets blood flowing, and you don’t have to break a sweat.

Helpful Tip

Try standing on one leg, and then the other, to test your balance, but don’t let it take your mind off the content in your conference call.

Get a standing desk to avoid staying sedentary for too long

If you want to avoid sitting for too long while working from home, consider a standing desk. Having a standing desk lends itself to fitness because you’ll already be on your feet while you’re at work, if you’re using one. (Check out our best tips for standing desks.)

While a standing desk won’t literally burn calories for you, it can put you in the mood for how to stay active when working from home. It also is one of the most widely-suggested working-from-home tips for professionals who don’t want to be married to sitting in a chair for 8 hours and getting minimal steps during most of the day.

Helpful Tip

Did you run out of space in your home office nook or room? Try a mini desk riser for the effect of a standing desk.

Make sure you get steps during your lunch break

This tip is a simple one. Go for a walk on your lunch break!

You can feel free to count your steps, or walk as far as you have time for, and pat yourself on the back for having gotten in some movement rather than none. Plug in a podcast and listen through some Bluetooth headphones.

Or, go for a walk, run or bike ride before you sit down to work for the day

Are you a morning person? Take your morning coffee in a thermos (we like the Yeti Rambler) and go for a walk around the block or down the street.

Or, if you’re a morning runner, use the time during which you used to commute and use it for an a.m. jog.

If you have a bike at home, take your bike out for a spin and set an alarm for when you should start heading back home. We wrote about our experience getting a used Peloton spin bike, and that has been an excellent addition to our arsenal of workout equipment right at home.

Helpful Tip

Whether you are a speed-walker, hobby biker or leisure runner, consider that you can use ‘commute time’ to get a workout in, all before you have to be online for work.

Bike on the bridge in Brooklyn over the Gawanus Canal

Take a post-work run or jog around the neighborhood or a park

Here’s an easy idea: go running. It takes absolutely zero equipment, and all you have to do is move your feet quickly.

I used to not like running at all, but now I enjoy it as a challenge. Dan, on the other hand, loves running and has even run several marathons and half-marathons abroad.

If you’re not yet into running, consider that it’s the type of hobby you can take up, get used to and then you can do it literally anywhere. Make sure you have some good running shoes though, or your feet will start to hurt.

Helpful Tip

Dan has tried out some apparel brands that make products he can wear in a video meeting, and then wear out for a post-work run. See more at his Path Projects running gear review.

Get outside with a pet

Do you have a dog (or other type of outdoor pet? Maybe a rabbit on a leash?) that wants to get out and run with you? Playing with a dog, especially if throwing a ball or bone around will leave you both panting, is definitely a home workout for working from home!

Use a jump rope to get your heart rate up between meetings

Dan really likes jumping rope with his speed rope as a way of getting some cardio in before or after a run.

Having a jump rope or speed rope is a great way you can get your jumps in and get your heart rate up with this minimal type of at-home gym equipment that stows away in any drawer and can come with you on a trip.

Take some time to meditate with an app

While you may not consider meditation a type of fitness, consider that meditation is a way of ‘getting ready’ for exercise or activity. Lucky for you, when you are a ‘home worker’ or remote worker, you likely have a quiet space in which you can meditate freely.

Many experts are now claiming that meditation is in fact important for workouts, being that meditation can be a mood booster, can keep you being mindful (and therefore less prone to injury or overstepping your own boundaries) and is even a type of ‘mental fitness.’

Even if you don’t engage in meditation regularly, or if you don’t think it will help your at-home fitness routine, meditation is a way in which you can learn how to work from home comfortably and mindfully.

Helpful Tip

Lots of apps can help you meditate, and many people will recommend Headspace or Calm for app meditation at home or on the go.

Vacuum the floor, or scrub your bathtub (seriously)

Have you considered that chores can be ways to work out? While they may not constitute the calories burned in an entire Crossfit class like the ones Dan has taken, doing chores gets you off your chair and engaging in moving around.

The last time I cleaned our bathroom, I remember commenting that I got winded while repeatedly scrubbing the sides of the tub and the walls. This type of chore isn’t for the faint of heart!

Similarly, vacuuming various rooms in a house is also physical activity, and if you’re working from home for the day, don’t discount that this could be your work-from-home exercise while you’re taking a break.

Helpful Tip

You could actually burn around 100 calories if you’re vacuuming carpets non-stop for 30 minutes. And, bring your phone in your pocket or wear a FitBit, because you may be surprised how many steps you were able to clock in.

Climb steps, whether in your house, apartment building or local park

If you miss your stair-climber at your gym, there’s good news (unless you live in a one-floor home, I suppose): you can find stairs in lots of places, and all you have to do is climb them.

If you live in an apartment building or multiple-story house, plug in a podcast and see how many flights you can climb, while running, for a fast-paced raise-your-heart-rate home workout.

Then, get your heart-rate back down by taking a breather so that you’re not panting by the time your next meeting rolls around.

Try on-demand, with world-class trainers, all from home

For anyone who wants an on-demand work-from-home fitness routine, you can consider a on-demand workout classes, without leaving your living room or basement. Apple Fitness has some options as well as many different trainers on YouTube.

Our friends Alex and Ryan of Duo Life have lots to say about this subject!

Try a resistance bands workout routine and find resources to start

Another type of workout you can do from home as a WFH professional is a resistance band workout routine, as detailed by our friends Al and Ry.

Resistance bands like these Nike resistance bands are part of our easy starter home gym. They also stand alone as part of our work-at-home workout plan. They take up barely any space and provide tons of flexibility in how to use them.

What are resistance bands? Resistance bands are a type of stretchy elastic band used for strength training, and the benefits are many, according to Alex and Ryan.

They can also tell you how to use resistance bands to work out after a day of working from home. Here’s their sample resistance band workout routine.

Adopt a partner workout routine, complete with push-ups, planks and squats

Did you know that you can do an entire workout routine when you work from home, and you can even have it down pat with a partner?Involve every part of the body by taking this recommended routine of squats, dips, planks and burpee push-ups.

Alex and Ryan developed this awesome at-home couples workout routine for couples or roommates, and dare we say it is “home workout goals?”

Learn partner yoga poses for strength and balance

If you work from home with a partner or spouse, or any couple who tends to work out at the same time, consider partner yoga poses.

If you want a dose of ‘wow,’ you’ve got to see our friends Alex and Ryan’s guide to at-home couples yoga poses.

For couples or roommates who work from home, this is the perfect way to require very little equipment, if any, and to grow closer while working on core strength and balance.

You don’t have to be a professional yogi or even past beginner level to enjoy at-home yoga with a partner or buddy after a long day of working at home.

Some of the suggested poses in Alex and Ryan’s guide consist of individual poses that link each partner by hand for stability. The more advanced poses involve more challenging aspects like partner planking, the partner throne pose and the partner crow pose.

It seems like you may be on a healthy lifestyle binge. Have you seen our tips for how to eat healthy when you work from home?

Lastly, whether you’re working from home for the first time or even working from home as a couple, it pays to have a remote work schedule ironed out for some routine.