Adapting at home: Missing your gym? This Columbia trainer is here to help

This is part of a series by The State visual journalist Joshua Boucher that features local businesses adapting to the coronavirus, and provide resources for those staying at home.

The ordered closure of “non-essential businesses” by Gov. Henry McMaster on March 31 has made it a challenge for T.J. Lyerly to continue his Columbia business as a personal trainer.

One family of regular clients helped him prepare for this strange moment in history. Long before the coronavirus pandemic, he continued to train that family after they moved to Nashville, Tennessee by calling them over FaceTime, a video chat service.

“I’m more fortunate than some other businesses in that I’ve been able to train half to two-thirds of my clients over FaceTime,” Lyerly said, who owns Lyerly Fitness.

With gyms deemed non-essential and closed to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, many are working out from home without the equipment they are used to having at their local gym. Lylerly suggests this full-body workout people can do at home.

▪ Sit ups: “There are many variations on the sit up, but I like to do one that is more or less a sit and reach. You lay on your back, sit up and reach for your feet. Contract your core muscles as you sit up and reach for your feet. Sit back down slowly, rolling your spine back on to the mat as slowly as possible. “

▪ Plank: “You’re on your elbows, and you suck your core in, almost like you’re sucking your navel into your spine. Keep your back from sinking in and hold the position for as long as you can.”

▪ Side plank: “Hold the plank on your side and then the other. If you don’t, you’ll be lopsided. Have your elbow directly underneath your head and have your feet stacked together and lift your body up and hold the position.”

▪ Squat: “You want to have your feet spread apart with toes pointed outward. Act like you’re sitting down in a chair. Just make sure that you keep your body upright and do a powerful squat, as deeply as you feel comfortable and your body will allow you to do.”

▪ Bridges: “You lay on your back and bend your knees with your feet on the ground. Thrust your pelvis up in the air, lifting your body as high as you can and lowering it until you almost touch the mat. It’s a very gentle exercise and feels good on your back, too.”

▪ Push-ups: “Spread your arms shoulder width apart. You never want to have your hands too close together because that is bad for your shoulders. If you can’t do that many full push-ups, you can do a modified push-up on your knees. I encourage people to do knee push-ups, because you can usually do more of them.”

▪ Tricep dip: “You are on your hands and feet. Bend the elbows, then press up firmly.”

▪ Quadruped: “I think everyone should do this exercise. It is a very therapeutic exercise. A lot of people have been introduced to this exercise in physical therapy or even a chiropractic office. You’re going to be on all fours, then point one arm and the opposing leg straight out. Then alternate and point of other leg and arm straight out. Doing that activates your lower back and it feels good.”

This story was originally published April 20, 2020 at 9:57 AM.