What fitness activities can I do with my partner?

Question

So, my life has changed pretty drastically over the past year. Both me and my fiancée have gotten new full-time jobs, and have moved into the country.

However, this means that our lifestyle has become very sedentary, as we now both work in offices.

Before this, we both went to the gym regularly, and were getting reasonable fitness levels. But since then our fitness has dropped drastically.

I'm quite used to this, as I get sick quite a lot, so I'll have periods of months where I do a lot of training, but then it will stop suddenly for a while, so I have no worry that I can get back into it again.

My problem is that I want to encourage my fiancée to get back into it. She wants to get fitter, but without access to a gym there aren't a lot of things that she likes doing.

We don't have a lot of room in our apartment to keep equipment like rowing machines etc. but there is enough room for other exercises.

Living in the country, there are also a lot of nice routes for jogging/walking, however she is entirely against jogging. For me this was the only thing I could think of to build an exercise regimen around, so now I'm stuck as to what things we can do together.

Walking is fun, which we already do, but hopefully there can be other things we can do whilst walking that will be a little more intense and fitness building.

My question is, without jogging, what exercises can we do together that don't involve bulky equipment, that I can build a balanced exercise routine from?

They can be indoor or outdoor, but I'm looking for a range of different things we can do for an overall balanced regimen.

Answer 1

You could try doing some circuit training while out on your walks. Things like push ups, sit ups, box jumps(if you find a rock/bench or something to jump on), there's so many things you could add in.

Could maybe also try some HIIT(bit different to jogging as it's done in short intense bursts).

Also could give yoga a shot. This can be done pretty much anywhere with minimal equipment.

Answer 2

Calisthenics (body weight exercises), my friend, is one of your best options. Most calisthenic exercises do not require a lot of equipment and are very effective as they're combinations of cardio and strength training.

Not only can you perform them at home, you can even perform some of them at work, right by your desk.

Of course, the most famous ones are pull ups, push ups, dips, jumping, jumping jacks, knee jumping, crunches, etc.

I can give you a whole list of regimen to perform; however rather than doing that, I'll let give you just a sample list; give them a try and select the ones you love.

Performing calisthenics won't make your bulky (because of the limitations in the weights); however, performing them often (and improving your diet) will keep you shredded :).

Answer 3

Burpees

This can be fun while working out with your partner. Face each other and do burpees. This exercise is a combo- cardio and muscular development at the same time. Try to beat the partner.

If I were lucky to have a training partner I would do jumbees with her (read pronouns as you wish, I am straight male)

Next I would go for squat, and then some bench.

The other day I would do deadlift and row.

It depends on what your routine is. Mine is simple. Squat, Bench or Deadlift, Row. I would finish each with arms and abs.

If you can't do these basics lifts, I would substitute squat for bodyweight squat, bench for push ups, deadlift for carries, row for chins or pull ups.

Answer 4

Running is one of the most enjoyable activities, but unfortunately your partner doesn't like it. One of the best workouts to do at home is hiit cardio if you don't like it you can do pilates.