Working Out At Home

Recently with the gym being closed we’ve had no other option but to work out at home but there are many advantages to home workouts and perhaps your now in a position to consider whether it actually suits you better doing your exercise from home?

I know as mother to 2 young children for many years it has worked better for me to exercise at home (yes I’ve got a gym at home now) but for a lot of years I didn’t. Being able to save on travelling time and also childcare was a huge priority.

Whatever your reason, working out at home is a popular alternative to traditional gyms and studios — and with a few tips, you can make the most of your at-home workout and build habits you can follow for the long term.

1. ALLOCATE YOUR SPACE

Find a spot in the house that will be your dedicated workout area. If you have a spare room that you can use for this then great but if not choose the same area and set yourself up to go. Maybe pushing the coffee table out of the way in the living room and rolling out a mat could be your starting point.

2. FOLLOW A PROGRAM THAT YOU CAN STICK TO

Ask yourself what you prefer to do and how much accountability you need? Do you prefer bodyweight workouts or do you like to use some equipment? Are you motivated enough to follow a workout from social media or do you want something designed a little more specific for you? Do you prefer to know other people are doing it with you? Do you need accountability from a trainer to know that you are doing things right and to give you motivation when you feel like you can’t do it? Whatever your situation, there are so many options in the current climate. Instagram workouts, virtual zoom classes, workout apps, bespoke online coaching…just choose what is likely to work best for you.

3. BUILD HABITS & CREATE A ROUTINE

I can’t stress the importance of building good habits and getting into a good routine with your exercises. Plan your week out on Sunday evening, have a look at your week and schedule in when and for how long you will do your workouts. Set them as an alert so you are holding yourself accountable. Do the same with meal planning. If possible, try to stick to a similar routine every week. If you do this consistently for a couple of weeks, I promise by the third week it will just start to feel the norm and it will actually become a priority to you to get your workout in however busy you feel your day may be.

4. EQUIPMENT

You might be someone who prefers to do cardio or bodyweight exercises and there are so many exercises you can do bodyweight that are fantastic but you also can’t go wrong in investing in a few small bits like dumbbells, kettlebells or resistance bands. They don’t take up much space and you can do lots of alternative exercises with them.

5. SET GOALS

Think small steps…set yourself a small goal each week and build up from there. Trust me, when we set ourselves goals we are more likely to adhere to a plan and get results in the long term than setting off with a half hearted attitude. Try and follow the SMART principle when thinking about what goals you will set yourself. Is it Specific?…for example; I am going to hit 10k steps at least 4 days out of 7 this week. Can I Measure it…do I have an activity tracker that will tell me how many steps I do? Is it Agreeable/Realistic? So these both go hand in hand, if you’ve set your own goal is it realistic? There’s no point setting yourself a goal that you know from the start off you are going to have real difficult in trying to get to, so break it down and start off small. If you work with a trainer are the goals that they suggest agreeable by you? If not, you need to work together to find something that is agreeable and also voice your reasons for why you don’t find the goal agreeable. I know personally for me when coaching my clients, the more I know about potential barriers the more I can coach them and make suggestions on way to overcome these barriers. And finally…Time? If the same goal keeps rolling over and over to another week, you need to question why? Set yourself a time limit on when you want to achieve this by. For example, if you want to hit 10k steps every day… but you know setting this as a starting point may be unrealistic so instead start off with setting a goal to hit it 3 days out of 7…then each week add another day on. You’ll be smashing those steps in before you know it!