Buying a gym membership and hiring a fitness coach can be costly. However, working out at home is one possible and affordable alternative you can choose. In case you didn’t know, exercising in the comfort of your home provides many benefits. You can work at your own pace, feel less intimidated, and you don’t have to borrow gym equipment and be grossed out by other people’s sweat.
Aside from your physical health, exercising also improves mental health struggles such as depression, anxiety, and self-esteem. Not to mention, you get to save more money, time, and energy from traveling back and forth to the gym.
If you’re thinking about exercising from home, there are several things you need to consider first. Whether you’re a fitness enthusiast or a newbie, working out at home can still be challenging since it’s not as motivating as going to an actual gym.
Here are eight tips you can do to start working out at home:
The first step to start working out at home is to find a designated space or area in your place where you can perform all your exercises. If you have a big house or a spare room, you can build a home gym with the help of The Red Marker. Having a personal home gym can motivate you more to achieve your fitness goals, and having someone visualize it for you is more exciting.
However, if you don’t have an extra space or only live in a small home, fear not; you can use your living room, bedroom, or any area in your house that offers enough space for you to perform your workouts.
Another advantage of working out at home is that you don’t need to worry about lacking fitness equipment. Instead, you can use a few pieces or none at all. However, this may also depend on the kind of exercises you will do.
Some examples of essential equipment you will only need are a mat, hand weights, and resistance bands, and you’re good to go. These versatile pieces of equipment allow you to do various exercises, whether for a targeted area or a full-body workout. For instance, you can customize your routines by performing two or more different sets if you own weights or dumbbells.
There’s no need to break your bank account, go to a fitness store, and buy expensive equipment. However, if you do strength training for your body’s main muscle groups, you may invest in a home gym machine such as the Gold’s Gym XRS 50 or XR 55, depending on your preference.
Even if you only work out at home, wearing your gym clothes will make you feel more motivated and excited to exercise. Aside from that, it’s also essential to wear your running or athletic shoes to support your knees and feet throughout your sweat sessions.
We do not recommend you to go barefoot, especially when performing vigorous workouts. We highly suggest you wear appropriate shoes for your workout sessions to avoid future injuries.
One disadvantage of working out at home is that you can feel lazy to move since you only exercise at home. As a result, you become inconsistent and do not achieve your fitness goals. To solve this, make it a habit to plan and schedule your sweat sessions.
If you’re a morning person, you can schedule a workout in the morning. According to celebrity fitness coach Simone De La Rue, it’s best to work out in the morning when you’re feeling fresh and motivated. However, one study also shows that exercise offers the best results during the late afternoon and early evening hours when the body temperature is highest, and strength and flexibility tend to peak.
Regardless, the key is to work out a schedule that works for you.
Working out at home can be distracting for some people. Therefore, removing distractions is vital to help you stay focused during your sweat sessions. If you use a fitness app, you might want to turn your airplane mode on so people will not reach you. As much as possible, turn off all notifications from your texts, calls, and social media.
Another tip to avoid getting distracted is to play upbeat music or a workout playlist. This tip will also keep you motivated and focused on finishing your workout routine.
If you don’t have a fitness coach, there are many free workout videos on YouTube, and choose a routine you can perform for the day. You can also download an app on your smartphone that offers various programs.
There are many different exercise routines, so it’s important to know what kind of workout you want. May it be full-body workouts or a specific body area, low-impact or high-intensity. Playing your workout videos on a TV Unit is one great idea to make your home workouts more enjoyable and less challenging to follow a specific exercise.
When you work out at home, it’s also essential to set realistic fitness goals instead of diving into random routines. If you’re a newbie at fitness, you can start slowly by doing five to ten-minute workouts and commit to it. After that, you can gradually increase it to 30 minutes and add more exercises to your routine.
According to the American Heart Association, performing 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity or 75 minutes of vigorous workouts per week is adequate to keep your heart healthy and fight health conditions such as diabetes. This study can also equate three to four days of exercise a week.
While setting goals, it’s also essential to track your progress and see how far you’ve come. You don’t achieve something overnight, but monitoring your exercises every week will see how much you’ve improved each time you work out.
Working out at home has its pros and cons. However, with a little bit of discipline and consistency, you can achieve your fitness goals in the comfort of your own home. There may be other convenient solutions to losing weight or staying healthy such as sleeping eight hours a night, taking natural fat burners, or having a proper diet, but working out is a holistic way to improve our lifestyle.
As long as we prioritize and include regular exercise, we can improve our physical and mental well-being. All you have to do is get started with the help of the tips on this list to achieve your fitness goals.