We all know that making the habit of exercising regularly has incredible benefits not just for your physical health, but also for mental and emotional health, productivity, and overall happiness.
One benefit of the global pandemic has been to teach many of us how to workout from home effectively. In fact, home workouts are easy, budget-friendly, and also time-saving.
However, staying consistent with working out at home is a task that many people struggle to achieve. Staying at home can often lead to laziness, distractions, or no accountability, which can make physical activity a challenge.
However, with our limited time during the day and a plethora of personal and professional responsibilities, many Americans find that working out at a gym or going to a fitness center is not always a possibility or financially feasible.
So, what should you do to make working out easier at home? How does one maintain consistency? Here are some easy at-home workout tips that will help you achieve your fitness goals, even if in the midst of the restrictions you may face during the pandemic.
1. Set Aside A Designated Space
The first thing that you should do is set aside a space for you to workout. It could be your garden or your living room or even your balcony. Ideally, the space should be suitable for all kinds of daily workouts, but if you know the style of workout you prefer, then dedicate the space for those activities. Dedicating a fixed space ensures that once you enter, your mind is immediately triggered to get in the mindset to work out.
It’s best to avoid creating a workout space in your bedroom if possible, as your mind will struggle to identify that space as one for physical activity rather than rest. Thankfully, even in a small home space, you can typically find enough room for a yoga mat, which will give you hundreds of workout options using just your bodyweight or small handheld weights.
2. Plan Your Workout
Try planning your workout a day prior. This will help the activity be more automatic, reducing the time you spend trying to decide what activity to do, and the likelihood that you procrastinate or find excuses not to exercise.
Many people advise working out first thing in the morning, before the business and chaos of the day creep in, leading to procrastination, excuses, and laziness. Plus, morning exercise will give you a boost of physical and mental energy and focus, endorphins to improve your mood, and a sense of accomplishment and productivity to carry into the rest of your day.
However, if your mornings are busy, you can always set aside any time of the day for this, but make sure you schedule it into your day, and even write it down and set a reminder so you don’t let the day slip away from you. Remember, the worst workout is the one that didn’t happen.
For planning workouts in advance, you can always download an fitness app like Peloton, FitOn, 8fit, or many others that help you plan different exercise routines. Many YouTube channels, like Pamela Reif, will also offer free fitness classes, often instructing you which classes to do each day to get a full body workout routine.
3. Dress Appropriately
One thing that people usually ignore while working out at home is dressing appropriately for it, because it seems easy to try to workout in your loungewear or pajamas. Instead, be sure to always dress up as if you were going out to the gym. Putting on some workout clothes instantly changes your mood and makes you more motivated to finish your routine and push yourself.
Investing in some nice workout clothes is also a good way to motivate yourself to start working out. Choose your outfit the night before, and then feel great putting on your clothes as you prep to exercise.
4. Buy Some Simple, Versatile Equipment
When you start working out from your home, do not hesitate to invest in some good quality equipment such as a pair of lightweight dumbbells, a heavier kettlebell, a yoga mat, and a resistance band. Often you can find alternatives for other equipment if you don’t have it at home, but having the right equipment will make you feel more invested in your at-home workouts and more excited to participate.
5. Stay Away From Distractions
One thing that can hinder working out at home is various distractions. This is especially challenging if you do not live alone. So, make sure that you exercise at a time and at a place where you will find no distractions. That might mean waking up extra early, putting in headphones to cut out background noise, or inform your family members or housemates to not disturb you while you work out.
Another common distraction while working out is your phone. So, avoid any calls or messages during your workout sessions. Anyone trying to reach you can wait for 30 minutes or an hour, and you deserve to dedicate this time to taking care of yourself without distraction! If you are using your phone during your workout, make sure to mute your notifications or put the phone on airplane mode, and focus solely on your exercise.
6. Try Out New Exercises to Find What Works
Doing the same kind of routine everyday can become boring and might lead you to skip your daily exercise. Hence it is always better to keep alternating between different forms of exercise. You will find all kinds of exercise videos on YouTube such as aerobics, yoga, barre, boxing, HIIT workouts, weight training, and more. The best part is that many of these kinds of workouts are easy to do at home, without a gym or expensive equipment!
If you find that you’re hating to do certain workouts, try something new until you discover one you love. Just because your friend likes yoga classes doesn’t mean you will, and just because you used to love doing HIIT training doesn’t mean now you’d prefer to do barre.
Keep your exercise routine exciting, varied, and fun for you, and you’ll be much more likely to stay motivated!
7. Have A Workout Buddy
If you struggle with feeling lazy working out alone, try and find a workout buddy. You can ask your family members or housemates to workout with you so that you enjoy your sessions, or if your buddy lives far away, simply set a time to check in with each other daily to make sure you’ve both done your workouts and discuss the experience. Having a workout buddy can keep you in check and also help you stay motivated with your fitness goals.
8. Try Running
If you do not have the means to workout from home or to visit a gym, try running, jogging, or walking instead. Running or walking outdoors is often very meditative to people, especially when otherwise working from home or staring at a computer screen all day.
Running, or even walking or riding a bicycle for 30 minutes or an hour, is a great full-body workout. It's also often enjoyable for people who don’t like more traditional “exericise” methods.
Pick a great playlist or put on an engaging podcast, get yourself a good pair of running shoes, and plan out a scenic route based on the distance of the route or the time it would take you to complete the route.
9. Focus on Consistency
Always remember that no matter where you work out or what kinds of workouts you do, consistency matters most. That means that even if you move your body for as little as 10-15 minutes a day, this makes a huge difference in the long-run, and helps you build life-long sustainable habits. It’s much more effective to build a workout routine based on doing 15 minutes of movement daily, rather than trying to do a long and intense workout and only accomplishing it once per week.
Your Fitness Goals Are More Achievable Than You Think!
It’s easy to skip out on workout when at home because of the various distractions, the ease of procrastination, and the lack of motivation and accountability. However, if you set a designated time for your workout, dress up appropriately, plan in advance, and set up some accountability, it won’t be difficult for you to find motivation and get in great shape soon!
You may even find that working out at home saves time and money even when your gym reopens after the pandemic. Make your fitness goals accessible and achievable to you, work toward consistency, and you’ll be sure to to reap the benefits.
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