How to Get the Most Out of Your One-Hour of Outdoor Exercise

Melbourne’s in stage four lockdown and anyone living in the city needs to follow strict restrictions including nighttime curfews, mandatory use of face masks, and limits on shopping and exercising outdoors. Given you can only workout for an hour outside, here are some tips to make the most of your time.

The Metropolitan Melbourne area entered stage four restrictions on Sunday 2 August. Among the valid excuses for being outside is exercise but that’s limited to 60 minutes and only within a five-kilometre radius of your home. If you’re having trouble figuring out the invisible line you’re not allowed to cross, here’s a list of tools to help you out.

Considering a second lockdown is bound to cause fatigue both mentally and physically, it’s good to have the option of exercising outside, even if it’s for an hour. However, it’s important to remember that if you’ve been asked to self-isolate, you cannot go outside.

Here’s a rundown of the rules from the Victoria government before we jump into our tips for utilising your full 60 minutes:

• You must not travel more than 5km from where you live to exercise.
• You can exercise with one other person you live with or a friend or family member, as long as neither of you travel more than 5km from your home. Please use common sense and limit the number of people you see in person right now. It is safer to connect with friends and family using phone calls, social media and video calls. If you are exercising with someone else, you should keep 1.5 metres distance between you. Don’t hug, kiss or shake hands.
• You must limit your exercise to once a day and for only one hour.
• If you are a parent or guardian who is caring for a young child or someone who cannot be left unattended then they may accompany you.

Now on to our tips but please note these are just general guidelines and will differ depending on each individual’s preference and capability.

Warm up and cool down at home: Whether you’re going for a run or taking to the park for an interval training session, keep your stretches, push-ups and sit-ups for home so you can max it out with more movement when you’re outside.

Plan your workout beforehand: Don’t waste time figuring out what to do once your clock’s started ticking. Keep your notebook or notes in your phone ready with the day’s exercises so you can make the most of your 60 minutes and get in a good sweat, especially if you’re using fitness equipment.

Download an app to keep you pumped: There are loads of fitness apps for you to try out but the one I’ve absolutely fallen in love with is Aaptiv. Now it’s not a free-to-use app and will set you back USD$15 per month or USD$100 for the year. But that’s not too bad if you aren’t spending on your gym membership anymore. The only downside is its seven-day free trial is only available for the yearly membership and I find that to be a bit crummy. My friend sent me a guest pass so I was available to use it for free for a short time before committing to it long-term.

Alternatively, you can check VicHealth’s Healthy Living Apps Guide to find a suitable app for you.

Switch it up: While doing HIIT or cardio for a good heart-pumping workout may be the ideal goal if you only have an hour outside, it’s also a good idea to mix it up. On some days you could spend the first 30 minutes of your time walking or doing a light jog and the other half hour meditating, doing yoga or just stretching. If you want, take the full hour to relax your body and mind because mental health is as important as your physical wellbeing.

Again, make sure you do all of this within the five-kilometre radius of your home and you don’t exceed 60 minutes as you could get an on-the-spot fine of $1,652.

Stay healthy, stay safe.

If you’re living in Melbourne and are using the one-hour time to exercise outside, tell us in the comments what you’re doing to make the most of it.