Last updated: March 27, 2023
An effective workout at home does not need expensive pieces of equipment and a lot of room. Using your own bodyweight and a few key items, you can achieve great results in your personal fitness from the comfort of your own home. No matter if your goals are for flexibility, stamina or strength, you don’t need a gym membership to reach them.
Why Work Out At Home?
In these busy times, getting to the gym can sometimes be difficult. Particularly where I live, there are no twenty four hour gyms which means I am forced to visit within a certain timeframe. This isn’t always convenient, and can be stressful to fit in. I prefer to workout at home when I have the time. A gym membership can also be expensive, and you are often locked into an annual contract. This can add to the stress of getting there on time and getting in a certain amount of workouts per week to get your money’s worth. Gyms can also be busy at peak times, meaning waiting round for equipment to become free.
If you work out at home, you can do it as and when your schedule allows. It will also be much quicker as you have sole use of the equipment you use. Additionally, of course, it is much cheaper to get fit this way.
If you want to work out at home, here are the key moves and cool fitness books I recommend to get you started with a fitness regime:
HIIT Circuits
HIIT (or High Intensity Interval Training) is all about short bursts of intense exercise which maximise fat and calorie burning. It’s something that works well for me (as I discovered through genetic testing) rather than steady state cardio. The idea is a short burst of intense exercise followed by a short rest period. I like to alternate the following exercises:
Burpees
Star jumps (or jumping jacks as they’re also called)
Butt kicks
Punches
Tuck jumps
Skaters
I will do one move for twenty seconds (as many as you can in that time) followed by a twenty second rest and on to the next. I will do at least three circuits of this. It’s a killer, believe me, but very effective! You really need very little equipment for this. I recommend some shock absorbing shoes as there’s a lot of jumping around. You can also consider good quality gymnastics mats to save your floors from stress as well as your knees.
At Home Yoga
Some people may wonder why yoga is essential for fitness. It’s something I used to wonder about until I started it. Yoga not only clears the mind, but it also releases tension from the body and increases flexibility. It’s something I believe everyone should practice as they get older as it’s so important to keep the body supple. Here are some of the key moves I use which are yoga classics, and which will stretch your whole body:
Downward-facing dog
Warrior pose
Tree pose
Plank
Boat pose (amazing for core strength)
Child pose (this feels amazing after sitting at a desk all day)
You can start simply with yoga (there are lots of beginner tutorials on YouTube) and you will feel the benefits immediately.
Weight Lifting
I firmly believe that everyone should lift weights. Working muscles is essential at keeping the body strong as we age, and preventing injuries. We start to lose muscle naturally as we get older, so it is very important to try to maintain it. You don’t need a huge piece of gym equipment, even for gluteus maximus exercises.
I use a couple of adjustable dumbbells and these are great to use to help you do better. Kettlebells are great too especially when starting out. I like to split my workouts, meaning on alternate days I either work upper body or lower body. Here are some of my favourite basic moves, often using only body weight to create resistance:
Deadlifts (my all-time favourite move)
Donkey kickbacks
Press ups
Tricep dips
Shoulder Press
Chest Press
Bent over rows
Again, I use dumbbells or a barbell for these, or only my own body weight. Resistance bands are also a great inexpensive investment for muscle building, and you can do so much with them. Don’t forget to wear a waist trainer to ensure your waist stays nice and trim. Sometimes, exercising with weights can build up obliques which can make your waist look bigger.
In Conclusion
There are so many benefits if you work out at home. You will save money, save yourself time and also give yourself less of a headache trying to fit the gym in around a busy schedule. Great results can be achieved at home with just a few inexpensive items.
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Gym memberships are mostly a waste of money. Lots of people sign up for an annual membership in the New Year, and start off going regularly, then find that it is inconvenient and stop going. Gyms also make it quite hard to cancel your membership, with many of them requiring 3 months notice. It’s much more convenient to exercise at home with a mat and some free weights. There are lots of free fitness videos on You Tube and lots of blogs giving advice.
I agree – I have had countless gym memberships over the years that have just been money down the drain! I always found that, once I got home after work, I couldn’t face going back out again – especially in the winter. Much easier at home.
I usually do squats while I am cooking or waiting for the kettle to boil! Any little bit of help!
Great idea! I agree, anything helps and it’s probably less time consuming to fit little exercises in when waiting for something else to happen!
my daughter and I love to ask google to play zumba music, and we have a mad 15 mins after school dancing like weirdo’s!
That sounds fun!! Hehe I bet it’s great to unwind!
Some great ideas here. The only way I can work out is at home as the my OH is never home from work until late and we have two children. It does save money. I have recently bought myself a trampette and this is well worth the money
A trampette sounds like fun! Hard work though 🙂 which I suppose is the point!
My husband recently had a heart attack, and because he is partially disabled, its hard for him to exercise, but after going to the heart clinic they gave us exercises to do at home, so we now both do them and slowly we are upping our programme,
Oh my gosh, I’m sorry to hear that. I hope he is on the mend to a full recovery now. My other half had a stroke a few years ago and I know how frightening it is when something like this happens. Best wishes to you both x
I work out at home all the time, you really don’t need expensive gym subscriptions.
Totally agree!