If you follow me on Instagram, you know I’m a super fan of home fitness. Don’t get me wrong, I’m one of those freaks who loves the gym, but the gym just isn’t convenient. Plus, I’ve learned that for me personally, I need to be following a program to see real results. Every time I try to do things “on my own” it never works out the way I want it too. For example, the pic below. The picture on the left was from the end of 80 Day Obsession and the picture on the right was taken after doing random fitness for the summer. Clearly, I’m more fit in the first picture. So, I’ve learned that home fitness programs are just something that has to be a part of my life for me to achieve the fitness goals I want. And I’m definitely okay with that!
So, Why Choose a Home Fitness Program?
A home fitness program, such as 100 Morning Meltdown or 80 Day Obsession, is like having a personal trainer in your own home. You get all the knowledge and intensity of having a trainer, but you can press pause if you need to take a breath.
Doing a program at home allows you to do things are your own speed. You don’t have to worry about whether you can keep up or if you look “silly”. You can wear what you want, so who cares if your clothes don’t match, or if you’re working out in a sports bra. When you do home fitness you get to focus on you without any distractions.
Home Workout Tips:
Plan Ahead
I can’t stress enough how important it is to plan your workouts and your meals. The importance of meal planning is obvious, to ensure healthy meals. However, many people overlook the importance of planning their workouts ahead of time.
Planning your workout the day before, or at least a couple of hours before, will make the odds of completing your workout much higher. Things to plan for are:
- Type of workout or exercises including sets and reps.
- Equipment needed
- Location
- What you’ll eat beforehand
It’s important to plan for the above to ensure a successful workout. If begin your workout and plan on winging it, chances are you’re not going to get a well-rounded workout. Also, without planning it is difficult to track progress and tracking your progress is what will help keep you motivated.
Remember the old saying, fail to plan is to plan to fail.
Want to have most of the planning done for you? Click on Get Fit At Home to contact me about trying a home fitness program.
Have A Defined Workout Space
If you are able, try to have a defined workout space within your home. I talk about how to set up a home workout space in this post. It’s important to try to have a dedicated space to exercise that is free from interruptions. Personally, I have a dedicated workout space in my basement. But other people have a space in their garage, living room or bedroom. It’s about what works for you and the space you have. Your space doesn’t have to be big or fancy but enough room for you to move around in. Overall, having a defined space to exercise will help put you in the right headspace during your workouts.
Have Your Own Equipment
It’s hard to be successful at home fitness if you don’t have the equipment that you need. Constantly modifying workouts because you don’t have what you need can be demotivating and stall progress. Modifying a workout because of difficulty is okay, regularly modifying because you don’t have the right bands or weights is not.
You don’t need to have a full gym set-up but there are some basic pieces of equipment that are generally needed to be successful at home fitness.
Some home fitness programs require steps, pull-up bars etc but those things aren’t a must-have for most fitness programs and can be purchased as needed.
Wear Shoes
Some people may disagree with me and that’s okay but I’m going to say that it’s very important to wear a proper pair of shoes while exercising. I cringe every time I see someone exercising on Instagram in bare feet.
Firstly, you significantly increase your chance of injury by not wearing shoes. Shoes provided stability for your feet and ankles, and cushion the impact made by exercise. Not only that, but a good pair of shoes can actually help your performance, with better agility, for example.
Exercise With Distractions
Want to make your home fitness program go by more quickly? Exercise with distractions. This could mean blaring your favorite playlist or playing your favorite tv show on a separate screen. Regardless of what it is, try to give yourself something else to focus on during what feels like endless sets and reps. I go back and forth between watching tv and listening to music, it really depends on the workout. When I’m doing cardio I need a hard and fast playlist but when I’m lifting weights at home, I’m probably also watching tv. Exercising with distractions helps make the workout more enjoyable.
Get It Over With
Want to be successful in your home workout program? Learn to just get it over with. Adopting a “just get it done” attitude goes such a long way. I’m often asked about motivation but the truth is, I just have a get it over with attitude.
I no longer subscribe to this idea that fitness needs to be enjoyable or fun all the time. Yes, some of the time, it is nice to enjoy exercising. But on the whole, I do it because it is good for me, not because I like it. Getting rid of the idea that you have to “want” to work out and getting used to the idea that you “have” to workout will make you way more successful in your home fitness program.
Make It A Part Of Your Routine
Similar to the idea of “just get it over with”, making your workout a part of your routine will help ensure the workout gets done. During the summer, my kids are home and our routine is much more relaxed than during the school year. I’ve learned that, for me, getting my workouts done in the summertime is a challenge every single time. This makes exercising in general a challenge and, as a result, my fitness went from exercising 5-6 times a week to 3-4 times a week during the summer months. But during the school year, I’m able to make fitness a regular part of my routine and my success rate goes way up.
Add fitness to your daily routine and it will quickly become a habit that is just a part of your life.
Have you given home fitness a try?
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