Working from home offers many benefits, including convenience, greater flexibility, and reduced costs. However, remote work also has its downsides. Health experts have expressed concerns over remote workers’ lack of physical exercise throughout the day, especially with 54% of remote and hybrid workers reporting that their movement during the day was reduced by 50% or more in 2022. Working from home can lead to a sedentary lifestyle, and bad habits like consistently snacking throughout the day can lead to weight gain for remote workers.
Health conscious remote workers and tele-commuters understand the importance of physical movement throughout the workday. Why? When we’re not moving, we’re adding girth to our waistline, inches to our hips and thighs and lowering muscle mass. Sometimes its easy for telecommuters to forget the benefits of commuting.
Either you’re walking to your auto, sprinting 1/2 mile to catch a bus, subway or Uber. We’ve forgotten the health benefits of trekking miles of stairway steps at least twice per day heading to a car garage, vast employer parking lot or mall super center. Now we find ourselves hunched over in our desks, bed or couch, barely moving even the smallest of our finger muscles. And it shows!
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The need to stay healthy while working from home is therefore essential. Luckily, there are different ways to stay healthy as a remote worker, such as eating healthier foods, creating a healthy morning routine like stretching and staying physically active. The purpose of this article is to present popular apps that are easy to use to help you maintain your physical fitness while working from home. Fitness and health apps can also make it easier to prioritize wellness from the comfort of your home.
Why do we stress the importance of adopting healthy life habits? The National Institute of Health (NIH) during the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic when most of the workforce were locked down, working from their homes; the majority (59.1%) gained weight!
The lure of easy fixes through pharmacological drugs seem to be the rave now (we’re not knocking their use or shading their success). But wouldn’t it be great to keep the extra pounds off by changing to healthier lifestyle habits also?
That said, here are 4 essential health apps that you can try:
Weight Watchers
If you don’t know where to begin in your weight loss journey, you can try science-backed health apps. WeightWatchers is a weight management platform that provides a healthy weight loss program through in-person or virtual workshops facilitated by expert coaches where you can learn weekly techniques for losing weight. The app also has a Points System that provides your food’s specific nutritional information to help you make healthier choices and allows you to consult with medical experts who can give you a tailored nutrition program for weight loss success. These expert-backed services can be accessed virtually, making this app a viable option for remote workers.
Nike Training Club
The Nike Training Club app is also a convenient option for remote workers who are just about to begin their fitness journey at home. All you need is the perfect workout spot and some training clothes, and you’re good to go. The app provides a diverse range of workouts, from stretches and yoga to high-intensity interval training. It also allows you to curate your own set of exercises based on your preferred level of intensity, making it a great option for beginners. You can check out its Browse section to select exercises depending on your target muscle group for the day, session length, and preferred trainers you want to learn from.
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Nerd Fitness
Exercising need not be dull, especially for remote employees who already deal with exhausting work days. Thankfully, Nerd Fitness offers a fun and engaging workout experience by combining story elements where you build a superhero persona, accomplish missions, and unlock new content as you progress on your fitness journey. The app incorporates quests or challenges that you need to conquer to keep you engaged and motivated to exercise. You can also input and track your exercise activities to check your progress and look into possible areas of improvement. With an app that incorporates gamification into fitness, you’re able to look forward to exercising consistently from the comfort of your home.
Freeletics
Freeletics provides intensive workouts based on data and knowledge from sports scientists to curate a personalized training program that suits your needs and preferences. In the app, you’re asked to rank your top three health goals and input your preferred fitness levels, which will then prompt its AI-based algorithm to craft workout routines based on your answers. You can try exercises that focus on specific muscle groups, equipment-free workouts, and guided runs that you can do indoors. There’s also a Workout of the Week option where you can follow a trainer to accomplish strength exercises. This app is another great option for remote workers who want access to personalized exercises at home.
While remote work is convenient, it also makes it easier to neglect your health through limited physical movements. Try these health apps to help you stay fit and active at home. For more tips on remote work, check out more articles on this website.