It was only a "Chinese problem", something that for many was too far away to care about.

Now, everything has changed.

Now, it has become a global issue, especially in Italy.

Luckily (if you could even call it that), China has endured for months and the people here have devised some coping strategies.

One of them is home fitness.

Fitness is very important to Chinese people, such as dancing in the evenings outside
(http://www.topbtw.com/topbtw-991.html),
or just socializing in communities in general.

Many meet outside in the evenings for the "Fast Walk" around residential complexes (compounds), or at the communal fitness areas found everywhere in compounds.

For many, fitness is a chance to build up the community, and establish a life with neighbors.

However, now with the new isolation regulations, this is no longer allowed.

But Chinese people haven't backed down.

Throughout these few months, I have witnessed many interesting ways to keep fit within houses and compounds, and have taken up a few of them myself.

Fitness is beneficial to keep your body, as well as mind, active and healthy.

For the record, I am now talking about preventative isolation:
those put in self-quarantine without exiting their respective houses or compounds to prevent further contamination.

Though some of the following exercises may apply, I am not talking about those in quarantine because they have the virus, as that would create a whole new set of fitness tips.
This is fitness- in isolation.

1. Tai qi

For anyone who has ever come to East Asia, they might notice that tai qi isn't just a sport- it's a lifestyle.
Frequently there will be groups of people in the mornings along rivers or in parks, practicing tai qi together to slow traditional Chinese music.

The community aspect of it is now gone, and going and staying out so long close to other people is frowned upon.

So instead, many do it on their balconies!

A few weeks ago my mom and I heard music from outside.
As we look out to our neighbors, we saw a man practicing on his terrace!
It is a timeless sport which increases special awareness and fine muscle control, without needing much space.

2. Fast walk

If you thought balconies were only reserved for sports requiring a small area, think again.
Last week just below the household practicing tai qi, I saw a lady walking back and forth in her terrace.
Wearing fitness clothes and with a determined expression, she walked extremely fast, first forward, then backwards until she hit the wall, and started again.

3. Treadmill

For those lucky enough to already have a treadmill at home, it has been easier to keep fit in isolation.
Here it is quite common to have one- perhaps not the bulky gym-type machine, but only the lower section that can be bought at XiaoMi and conveniently put anywhere in the house.
As you walk down compounds early morning or late evenings, there will be many walking on their treadmills while looking outside, chatting with their families, or watching television.
If you don't have a treadmill, there are other ways that you can practice your running.
There was a man in Beijing who ran around his bed and then around his table to practice for a marathon.

4. Jumping rope

Granted your neighbors might not be overjoyed with you jumping, so it is always better to go and ask them if you can do this and at what time.

But once your downstairs neighbors are okay with this, it could even become some type of accountability:
they expect you to jump from 7:55 to 8:00, so you will.
There are many doing this here, and for good reason:
studies show that jumping rope for ten minutes a dayis equivalent to approximately a thirty-minute sprint!

Not only does it help with calories, but it is an immense cardiovascular workout!
It isn't uncommon to see kids jumping ropes outside on paths of our neighborhood.
It can be a group activity, but it is just as much fun and fitness alone.

5. Cookie Jar Fitness

Because schools are closed at the moment, we are now learning online.
There obvious limitations of PE as students are currently scattered all over the globe, from hotel in third countries to villas in the middle of nowhere.

It took a very creative method to get students to keep up their fitness level at home: Cookie Jar Fitness.

The theory is, you find different exercises, whether that is "60-second plank" or "15 squats", print and cut them out, and put them in a hat, sock, etc.

Then for half an hour you take out these exercises at random, and do them. Once the half hour is over, you will have done an intense no-break workout.

Now of course because it is random, you might end up doing more of one thing than another:
for instance, I picked "30-second run on the spot" a ludicrous amount of times.

But in theory, this should help you keep your body in shape with varied exercises for only a small amount of time.

This can also be a fun activity to do with your family, to see who is luckiest and pick the easiest of tasks!

6. Home Workout

This is something I started on my own.
It's not a new concept, of course.
But, for those who kept their body in shape by going to the gym or group sport, it's a last resort.

Inspired by Cookie Jar Fitness, I took some of those exercises as well as things of my own, and created a workout regime for myself.

Each morning I spend about ten minutes working through different exercises, constantly trying to beat myself and do more.

Now, I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I do this every single morning because there have been many a morning where I completely gave up after 20 seconds of wall-sit and went to eat breakfast directly.

But, I do see the benefits of this daily workout. It can be brief, and it doesn't have to be intense:

it just has to push you enough to keep exercising, but not so much that you spend the rest of the day in pain because of sore muscles and exhausted.

Just like any sport, it should be regular, and adapted for you.
It's a tough time: we all know this.

But this is our health we're talking about.

By finding ways to keep your body in shape, you are essentially also reinforcing your cardiovascular system, strengthening your muscles, and hence actually strengthening yourself as a whole.

Pair this with a good diet (that you now have endless time to meticulously research and prepare), some music to boost your morale, and you're keeping healthy and strengthening your immune system while being productive and happy!

Sport is known to be an outlet for negative emotions, a perfect way to relieve stress without harming others or (hopefully) yourself.