How to Play Sports so Your Neighbors Don’t Want to Kill You
Home workouts are convenient but can be loud. You can jump and stomp as much as you like in fitness and dance classes, or even throw a barbell if you’re in the right gym. But at home, your neighbors downstairs or a sleeping baby may not approve. Instead, tailor your workout to your environment.
Look for low-impact workouts
Many workout videos are labeled “low impact” to better perceive the knees of people who have difficulty running or jumping without pain. But since they mostly just do bouncy movements, they are also great when you would rather get into place than jump up and down.
Some dance and HIIT videos offer low-impact options as part of the workout (for example, getting in and out of a lunge instead of jumping lunges). Once you’ve seen a few typical modifications, you can apply them to any video you watch.
Train in a carpeted room
If you have a room with wall-to-wall carpet, it usually has extra padding. These layers help muffle the sounds of your feet footsteps or dumbbell strikes on the floor.
Whether you have a rug or not, you can add rugs as well. Durable rubber rugs on the carpet will provide you with a solid footing. And if you have to train on hardwood floors, soft foam rugs can absorb shock and noise.
Wear headphones
We often think of headphones as a thing to wear at the gym, but you can use them for home workouts as well. Bluetooth headphones are especially good for watching videos of music or a loud instructor cheering you on.
If you have a sleeping child or partner in the next room, work on their hearing environment as well. Set up a white noise machine for them to block out any quiet sounds you’re still making.
Wear socks
Even if you are trying to be quiet, it is easy to forget about yourself and step on the floor while you exercise. But the socks have some tactile feedback. Without the cushioned sole of your sneaker, you will naturally walk a little quieter.
Find a soft spot to lower your weight
Lifting weights is fairly quiet; it puts them to sleep, which can be loud. Therefore, if you are lifting something from the ground, try to lower it as gently as possible.
However, it is easy to forget about the silence when you are losing weight to move on to the next exercise. So mark a spot where you can lower the weight between sets. It could be a folded yoga mat, or even a milk crate with a pillow. Get into this habit and you will eliminate one of the biggest sources of random noise during exercise.