One of the New Year’s resolution staples is to get in shape. However, when February comes, many will have abandoned the idea.
Every gym in your area will be vying for your bucks, eager to lure you into a membership. But hold your horses before you sign that contract, you need to make exercise a habit and as a habit, it should become part of your every day or weekly routine.
There are several possible reasons for not joining a gym: time, pricey membership fees, or fear of judgment from gym goers. But these shouldn’t hinder you from exercising. You can start a workout routine in the comfort of your home to address these problems and working out will become easier than you might think.
If you want to make this year the time you finally work out again, the answer may be to ditch gym memberships and begin exercising inside the four corners of your living room.
A study conducted by Statistics Canada suggests that Canadians may be exercising less than they believe. Having hectic schedules, it’s no question how many people don’t have adequate time in the day to hit the gym and perform a solid workout.
However, if you use your living room or bedroom as your “gym,” you’re earning back time you could’ve spent on a commute. If you can’t carve out at least 30 minutes a couple of times a week, try to track how you spend your time and determine chunks of time you may have been spending on TV or social media.
Working out at the gym or enrolling in a spin class or yoga studio can be expensive, but doing home workouts is absolutely free.
Regardless of the exercise routine you create, it’s important that you enjoy doing it. After all, the best workout routine is the one you can stick with. It will be difficult to make workouts a habit when you dread it. Start off with working out two or three days each week. Once you get used to your workout, increase your frequency. Make sure to start your workout with a good warmup and cool down to prevent exercise-related injuries.
It may be tempting to splurge on branded and expensive gym equipment, but you may not need these when you’re just starting out. You can already build the home gym you need with just a yoga mat, a kettlebell or two, and resistance bands. You can set up your home gym in an open space and fill it up with other necessities like towels, speakers, and a TV where you can watch video tutorials. The key is to make your mini gym difficult to ignore so you’ll always have a motivation to use it.
If you desire to improve your mini gym or try out a different home workout (e.g. cycling), you can tap into your DIY skills to create a cycling experience for a tiny cost. For instance, you can use a second hand road bike and bring in some rollers to create a cheap spin bike. And then you can watch free cycling tutorials through your phone or tablet.
You can do strength training without using weights or equipment, there are exercises that can harness your strength, including push ups, squats, planks, tricep dips, lunges, toe touches, and supermans.
When selecting bodyweight exercises, ensure that you choose those that are balanced across different body parts. For instance, if you want to do push ups to get your chest in shape, also do back exercise. This helps prevent muscular imbalances and potential injury.
If you want to train your heart, running is always the best exercise. Just lace up your running shoes and head out for a jog. But the weather doesn’t always cooperate and it isn’t always feasible for a lot of people. Instead of putting off cardio exercises until spring, why not do high intensity interval training (HIIT) at home?
HIIT workouts only take 20 minutes tops. For added efficiency, group movements together and do short quick rest times. For instance, you can do 20 jumping jacks, 10 pushups, followed by 10 squats, and rest for about 30 seconds (then repeat).
You can also do pure cardio. For 45 seconds, try executing high knees in place, then rest for 15 seconds. Repeat this five times.
What’s amazing about HIIT is that it can improve your athletic performance and it’s an ideal alternative extended cardio sessions. In addition, it can help lower your blood pressure.
If you’re looking for a great exercise to perform at home (or wherever), yoga is the perfect one for you. If you’re into longer routines, it may be best to get a yoga mat or do the movements on a carpet.
A lot of people may think that yoga is only a de-stressing exercise, but you’ll be surprised to know that it also doubles as a great strength exercise. YouTube is a treasure trove of free yoga videos featuring routines that aim to build your strength or help you relax after a busy day at work.
The age of the internet and smartphones has afforded us easy access to a library of various videos, including exercise tutorials. Just download the YouTube app and watch tons of fitness videos for free. You can get your hands on tutorials on dancing, home boxing workouts, ab workouts, and a lot more. You can even watch them while you’re busy doing house chores.
If you’ve tried ab workouts in the dining room or yoga in your backyard and you figured you can’t stick with it, don’t lose hope. There’s a lot of ways you can bring the fun into your workout without resorting to quitting.
Try doing cardio exercises using a pair of rollerblades and explore your neighbourhood. Or groove to the latest hits, gather your friends and family and have an instant dance party in your living room. If you love swimming, drive to a local pool nearby and strap on a mermaid tail. Use your workout routine to live out your childhood fantasies.
If you need assistance in developing a workout routine that takes into account your fitness level and goals, it may be best to consult with an expert. The sports science therapists of PARC of Ontario can help you design a routine you can stick with. We have the expertise and resources to help our clients make the most out of exercise and nutrition to get the body and life they want. Call (905) 579-9938 (Oshawa) or (416) 445-2075 (Scarborough), or check our contact page for more information.
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