Are you trying to achieve your beach body but cannot go to the gym? Do you think about being able to fit into your favorite jeans? Did you set your New Year, New Me goals but cannot risk going outside to take a walk?
If your answer to all of the questions is yes, keep scrolling to discover work out at home ideas. Just because you can’t hit the gym doesn’t mean you can’t get in shape. You can exercise in your living room, bedroom, or even in your garage, and still achieve your fitness goals.
10. Good Warm Up and Stretch
A good workout always starts with a good warm-up and stretch. Warming up helps avoid injury and prepares the body for harder exercises. It will increase your efficiency all throughout the workout while stretches would loosen some stiff muscles.
Warm-up for 5 minutes to awaken your blood flow. Simple exercises like jogging in place and rotation of your head, arms, hips, and feet are good warm-up exercises. For the stretches, sit comfortably in the midst of your living room with feet stretched forward.
Reach for your toes and feel that stretch. Do this towards your sides to achieve muscle flexibility. Follow the warm-up and stretches from this video as you start your work out.
9. Jumping Ropes
The good old jumping ropes! Playing with the ropes is considered one of the classic workouts that you could do with the space that you have at home. With limited equipment needed, you can increase your heart rate similar to riding a bicycle for 20 miles per hour.
Working out with your jumping ropes targets your arms, glutes, legs, and back. You can also improve your flexibility while practicing proper breathing. While jumping ropes is obviously strengthening your lower body, your arms can also feel that burn.
For beginners who are having a hard time getting into the other side of the rope, try shadow jumping, where you imitate the movements done by the actual rope. As you improve and pick up the pace, try other jump variations to add a little fun.
8. Dance Workout
Dancing is one of the most fun cardio exercises that are completely possible inside your home. Sweat your way out with great music and whatever dance genre you are willing to try.
Increase your body coordination, flexibility, and agility with at least a 20-minute dance routine. Though dancing does not require lifting weights or doing high-intensity movements, it is also great with muscle toning and firming some areas of the body.
Don’t worry about not having the best talent for dancing before giving this a try. Since you are in the privacy of your own home, you can freely throw yourself in your living room and dance those calories away. Start with this 15-minute dance party!
7. Planks
Plank exercises are simple yet effective abdominal and core workouts. You don’t need any fancy workout equipment except a nice space where you can stay still on the floor. However, don’t get fooled by the simplicity of the mechanics of this exercise because it can really burn your belly fats with minimal movements.
For beginners, start with a push-up position with face down on your forearms and toes on the floor. Keep your elbows and parallel with each other. Ensure that you keep your torso straight and rigid to have a neutral spine position. Hold in this position for 20 seconds then rest.
Add another 10 seconds every day to increase the difficulty. If you already mastered the basic plank position, level up your game with plank variations like side planks, spider planks, and single-leg plank. Get inspired to do your plank with many videos you can find on YouTube.
6. Tabata Workout
Tabata is a High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) Workout that will surely burn many calories in a short amount of time. Space is not a problem for this workout and can be absolutely done in your living room.
Eight variations of exercises– jumping jacks, push-ups, jumping squats, butterfly sit-ups, pull-ups, burpees, donkey kicks, and lunges– are needed for this kind of workout. You have to perform a move for 20 seconds then rest for 10 seconds. Do this until the eight exercises are complete which will total 4 minutes.
Of course, the more sets that you could do, the better! If you are counting calories, Tabata is perfect for you which helps you to burn 240 to 360 calories per round. Completing 6 to 8 rounds is a step closer to your fitness goal.
5. Beginner Bodyweight
A bodyweight workout is one of the easiest and most accessible types of workout at home since it only requires your own weight. Exercises under this category are good for muscle strengthening and weight loss. Planks, push-ups, and lunges are examples of bodyweight exercises that require no gym equipment.
Repetition and sets are key to achieve a full bodyweight workout. If you are a beginner, you can try this bodyweight routine — 20 jumping jacks, 20 sit-ups, 10 push-ups, 10 lunges alternating left and right legs, and 15 seconds plank. Repeat this set as much as you can.
As you progress with your bodyweight workout, increase exercise repetition and sets. You can also get creative with the movements that you do but with utmost consciousness to your mobility and stability. Get inspiration from many available videos of this workout done at home.
4. The Sally Workout
Sally workout is a variation of some bodyweight exercises. The mechanics of this routine is simple yet challenging. Find the 4-minute song Flower by Moby and listen to its lyrics.
You will repeatedly hear “Bring Sally Up, Bring Sally Down.” Choose your bodyweight exercises — be it a push-up, squats, plank, or lunges.
Every time you hear the lyrics, “Bring Sally Up”, you have to engage your movement upwards until you hear the lyrics “Bring Sally Down” when you can move downwards. The challenge for this workout variation is to hold your move until the song tells you so.
3. Home Yoga
When thinking about weight loss and muscle building, yoga could be the least on your list. While it is not like other types of sweat-inducing workout, yoga can be beneficial for your flexibility, strength, and balance. Yoga is an activity that brings together your mind and body, which imposes advantages as you go along with your fitness journey.
Doing yoga at home should not be as complicated as it seems. If you are new to this exercise, you can start with five minutes, five poses, or five counts of breath. Slowly familiarize your mind and body with yoga poses and breathing and start from there.
Once you are ready to fully embrace yoga as part of your home workout routine, look for online yoga classes that you can attend to explore more and maximize this exercise.
2. Dumbbell Workout
Working out with dumbbells can help you achieve strength and mass goals. It also increases your shoulder and arms stabilization and muscle fibers hence making your exercise moves more efficient. Dumbbells are perfect for home workouts since they can help you perform exercises similar to moves that require massive gym equipment.
If your concern now is the availability of dumbbells, you can try improvising with water bottles. One gallon of water is equivalent to an 8-pound dumbbell which is a decent weight when starting a dumbbell training.
Movements like Dumbbells Squats, Dumbbell bench press, Bent over Dumbbell rows, can be your best friends with your arm and shoulder strengthening.
1. Workout Videos and Classes
With the advent of technology, hundreds of free workout videos are available on the net. Don’t be afraid to explore and spice up your usual workout routine. Following some workout videos can keep you motivated and inspired.
You can also discover new workout movements that might work best for you. Check out fitness studios that offer free streams of workout classes.
If you are willing to pay a little extra, there are also tons of online workout classes that you can try. Exercising inside your home, with coaching from an online trainer, can also help in tracking your fitness progress.
Conclusion
There are plenty of ways to maximize your own space for your workout routines. With proper goal setting, motivation, and determination, you can still work off some calories in the comfort of your own home. Always be willing to try new things to keep your workouts fun.
Also, adding variations to your exercises can keep your mind and body engaged. Do not let the limitations of not going to the gym or having the fanciest workout equipment hinder your way to your dream body. What home workout idea are you going to start today?
