Have a good head space
One of the key’s to a good home workout is preparation, and I’m talking about mental preparation. The home environment is full of distractions; turn off the TV, get some of your fave training tunes pumping, get your activewear on (yes get dressed in actual gym clothes and training shoes). Exercise time is ‘you time’ and it’s so much more satisfying when you get completely in the zone.
Your body weight is the perfect piece of equipment
Especially if you know how to use it. Use your outdoor bench seats for step-ups, dips, box jumps or incline pushups. There are several variations of lunges that are all guaranteed to get your glutes fired up; add in some abdominal work such as crunches, planks and mountain climbers paired with some star jumps for a little plyometric cardio and you have yourself a pretty tough little circuit. If you’re stuck for exercise ideas do a little research. Instagram can provide great inspiration but be careful about what you watch. I often will start with a trainer/gym’s page that I am familiar with and then see who they follow, it’s like an indirect word of mouth referral!
Want to give my go-to home workout a try? It’s guaranteed to get your heart pumping
You’ll need a deck of cards. Assign each suit to an exercise: For example: hearts = push-ups, clubs = sit-ups, spades = lunges, diamonds = squat jumps. The joker = 10 reps of each exercise. Start with the cards face down, flip over a card. The suit and number determine the exercise and the reps. So the 10 of hearts means 10 pushups, then flip the next card and away you go.
Get creative
Who needs dumbbells and sandbags when you have milk bottles and bags of rice? Want something a little heavier, grab your backpack and fill it with some household items.
If you have stairs in your house or apartment you’ve got yourself a ready-made workout.
What about your baby? They might just be the perfect workout partner. Don’t believe me? Check out this video for an awesome mum and bub workout idea.
Invest in some home exercise essentials
A skipping rope and resistance band. Seriously you won’t get much more bang for your buck. Skipping is the perfect cardio exercise to incorporate in any home circuit, not to mention it’s great for training your balance and co-ordination. Resistance bands can really intensify the most simple of exercises. They are excellent for lots of pilates style exercises that target the glutes but can be used for upper body resistance training too.
Make time for some recovery
I’m a physio remember so it’s no surprise that I believe this should form part of your daily fitness regime. Foam roller, trigger balls, stretching bands or a 15-minute yoga sequence. Whatever recovery method you enjoy, do that; and do it daily.
At the end of the day, it comes down to moving your body each and every day. Exercise shouldn’t be something you dread. Find what it is that you actually enjoy doing; that way the motivation takes care of itself and you are much more likely to keep it up.