How to Help Clients Stay Fit While Working from Home

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Working from home offers many advantages. You don’t have a long commute, you save money by not having to eat out every day, and you don’t even have to get dressed up. But there is one disadvantage of having a home-based job. It can be harder to stay fit.

Fitness Challenges with a Home-Based Job
When you’re home all day, food is always only a few steps away. And if you go to the kitchen for a bite or two every time you take a break, or as a way to procrastinate on your next project, the calories can really add up.

Plus, when you work outside the home, going to the gym to get in your workout is as simple as stopping on your way to or from your place of employment. Sometimes it means going on your lunch hour. But if your workday doesn’t involve getting into a vehicle, it can be harder to make it a point to go.

With challenges like this, clients may begin to wonder if it’s even possible to stay fit when their workday consists of walking into their home office. What do you say when they have this concern?

Answering the Question: Can You Stay Fit While Working from Home?
Although there may be a few challenges to creating a stronger, healthier body when your job requires you to be home a large portion of the day, working in this type of position doesn’t have to lead to poor fitness.

If a client makes a link between working at home and having excess weight or poor eating habits, it’s helpful to remind them that the two don’t have to go hand in hand. You can own an at-home business or work remotely and still live a healthy lifestyle.

One way to make this a reality for clients who work from their houses is to create an effective home-based workout they can do when they can’t make it into the gym.

Factors to Consider When Creating Effective At-Home Workouts
For at-home workouts to be effective, they must take into consideration these three things:

The client’s fitness goals. Does your client want weight loss, muscle growth, or both? Once you know what your client wants to work toward, it’s easier to devise an exercise routine to help them meet that goal. It also reduces the likelihood that they’ll get frustrated and give up because they’re not seeing the results they’d like. Get this information when you first start working together, but it’s helpful to circle back to it regularly so you always understand what they want to achieve.
The client’s schedule. Some clients work 12 hours a day, if not longer. Some work in the middle of the night to better accommodate their clients or colleagues on the other side of the world. If your workout plan doesn’t fit into their schedule, they’re not likely to stick with it. So, take the time to ask what hours they normally work to get a better idea of what type of exercise routine would work best for them.
The client’s distractions. If your client is working at home to look after small children or take care of an ailing parent, it’s important to realize that these things may distract them from getting in their workout. This also tells you how to best create a plan that considers this. For instance, you might create a family fitness plan so they can meet their health goals without feeling like they’re losing time with their kids.
Once you know more about the client’s fitness goals, schedule, and level of distraction, it becomes easier to develop an effective home exercise program that provides the changes they want most.

How to Develop A Home Exercise Routine That Delivers Results
One of the most important things you can do to help clients continue to achieve their fitness goals when working from home is to create a program that addresses their individual situation and physical health concerns.

For example, if they tend to work at the computer all day, their upper body may feel sore or stiff. To help combat this, create an exercise routine that helps relieve tightness in the shoulders and neck.

Maybe the constant computer work leads to a sore lower back. Developing a program that incorporates exercises for low back pain would be more helpful instead. The more value they see in staying fit, the more likely it is they’ll stick with it.

Also, because you’re not there to train with them, they must understand how to perform the exercises properly. Stress how important this not only to avoid injury but also to get the best results.

If possible, do a training session at the gym to show them how to do the movements you suggest. Another option is to offer online training sessions and continue to work with them via a web-based video platform.

Think also about ways to keep your clients motivated to work on their body between training sessions. For instance, wearing fitness trackers help remind sedentary clients to get active throughout the day. This is especially important for at-home workers who do a lot of sitting as Harvard Medical School shares that this has been linked to a higher risk of heart disease and diabetes, and even premature death.

An effective home workout plan needs to flexible too. Sometimes things happen that keep even the most die-hard fitness enthusiast from working out. Deadlines get moved up, children get sick, or any number of other things get in the way.

In cases such as this, it’s helpful to provide a little latitude. If they can’t do the workout you planned, encourage them to at least get out and go for a walk. Even if that walk won’t burn as many calories, it will increase their physical activity, which is better than doing nothing at all. Or maybe instead of a walk, you suggest they go up and down the stairs, stopping at the bottom each time to do a couple of squats.

Better yet, give them a list of ways to stay fit while working from home when a workout is out of the question. This gives them the ability to continue to create healthy habits when there aren’t enough hours in the day to fit everything in.

Additional Tips to Help Clients Stay Fit While Working from Home
Additional ways to help clients stay fit when they’re able to work at home include reminding them of the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Ideas to suggest include:

Starting each day with a positive morning routine. When you start the day off on the right foot, it makes it easier to continue to make healthy choices throughout the day. Positive morning habits that achieve this goal include doing your workout first thing, eating food high in protein, and beginning your day with a glass of water.
Prepping healthy snacks. If the client makes frequent trips to the kitchen throughout the day, they can keep their calories low by having healthy snacks on hand. Fruit chunks and sliced vegetables are two to recommend.
Making quick, but healthy meals. Some clients may struggle with the idea of working from home, only to transition to a different room at the end of the day, where they have to work some more. To help with this, share some quick healthy meals that are good for them but don’t involve spending hours in the kitchen. Share a few lunch ideas too.
Getting adequate sleep. When you’re tired, it doesn’t feel like there’s enough energy to make it through the day, let alone tend to your health and well-being. The National Sleep Foundation recommends that most adults get 7-9 hours of rest per night. Plus, the more rested they are, the easier it is to maintain their healthy morning habits.
Also encourage clients to socialize with like-minded people. Living a healthy life can be hard, but it’s even harder if everyone around you has unhealthy habits. By staying in regular contact with people with the same type of fitness goals, it increases their motivation as well.