2020 has definitely necessitated us all having to learn how to start a home fitness routine thanks to Covid-19!
With gyms having had to close down people were forced to have to work out at home and for some, going back to the gym now seems pointless if you can get an epic workout done at home.
This is definitely the case for me as I much prefer to do my training in the comfort of my own space where no one else has to see me turning as red as a tomato and in a puddle of my own sweat.
If there is one thing that has benefited me greatly with everything that’s happened this year, it’s having a regular exercise routine. Not only for my body and health but also for my mind.
So if you’re not yet exercising regularly I would encourage you to get a routine going asap!
In this article, I look at how to start a home fitness routine, best home fitness equipment to use, my fave home fitness apps and best home fitness programs — so whether you’re an avid exerciser or just starting out you’ll find value in this!
*Please always consult your healthcare professional before beginning any exercise routine.
How To Start A Home Fitness Routine
1. Assess Your Fitness Level
You may already have some idea of how fit you are, but I always find it super useful to assess and record baseline fitness scores as these can give you benchmarks against which to measure your progress.
To assess your aerobic and muscular fitness, flexibility, and body composition, consider recording:
- Your pulse rate before and immediately after walking 1 mile (1.6 kilometres)
- Time it takes to walk 1 mile, or how long it takes to run 1.5 miles (2.41 kilometres)
- The amount of standard or modified pushups you can do at a time
- How far you can reach forward towards your toes while seated on the floor with your legs in front of you
- Your waist circumference, just above your hip bones
- Your body mass index
2. Design Your Fitness Program
Having a set plan is so helpful especially if you have certain goals you want to reach.
If this is the case I would definitely recommend speaking to a professional who can help create this for you or look at doing one of the programs I suggest further below run by a certified professional.
Some points to keep in mind:
- Consider what your fitness goals are — do you want to lose weight or build muscle? Or are you looking to prepare for a marathon? Having clear goals can help you gauge your progress and stay motivated.
- Create a balanced routine. For most healthy adults, the Department of Health and Human Services recommends getting at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity a week, or a combination of moderate and vigorous activity. The guidelines suggest that this be spread out over the course of a week. More exercise = greater health benefits, but this doesn’t mean you have to go crazy and workout for 2 hours a day. Even small amounts of physical activity more often are helpful. Being active for short periods of time throughout the day can add up to provide health benefits.
- Always start slow and progress carefully, especially if you’re just beginning to exercise. If you have an injury or a medical condition, consult your doctor or an exercise therapist for help designing a fitness program that gradually improves your range of motion, strength and endurance.
- Finding time to exercise seems to be many peoples biggest challenge, so I encourage you to build this activity into your daily routine. Schedule this time into your diary if you have to, but make a commitment and stick to it!
- Keep things interesting by switching things up and including different activities. Doing this (cross-training) can keep exercising fun so that you don’t feel like you’re doing the same thing day in day out. It’s also said that cross-training using low-impact forms of activity, such as biking or water exercise, can reduce your chances of injury or overusing one specific muscle or joint. So it’s a good idea to alternate among activities that use different parts of your body, such as walking, swimming and strength training.
- Allow time for recovery in between sessions for your body to rest and recover.
- Write your workout routine on paper, this may help and encourage you to stay on track.
3. Get Your Equipment
Depending on your workout regime, pick your equipment accordingly.
A good start would be getting a decent pair of trainers that will last you. Make sure to select the right pair of trainers designed for the activity you have in mind.
For example, running trainers are lighter in weight than cross-training shoes, which are more supportive.
When investing in exercise equipment make sure you choose things that are practical, enjoyable and easy to use.
Take a look at my list a little further below of best home fitness equipment that will help you with what to get.
4. Get Started
Now you are ready to get going! As you begin your workout routine, keep these tips in mind:
- Always start slow and gradually build up to more extensive workouts. It’s so important to give yourself plenty of time to warm up and cool down with light walking or gentle stretching. You can gradually increase the amount of time you exercise as your stamina improves over time. Work your way up to 30 to 60 minutes of exercise most days of the week.
- Break your workouts up if necessary. You don’t have to do all your exercise in one go, you could also weave in activity throughout your day. Shorter but more-frequent sessions have aerobic benefits, too. You may find that shorter sessions throughout the day work better for your schedule than a full 30-60 minute session. Do what works best for you, just remember that any amount of activity is better than none at all.
- Get creative, you don’t always have to do the same workout every single day. Look at varying your activities with walking, cycling or swimming. Look at what activities you could do with your whole family, such as hiking etc. Make sure these are things you enjoy doing — it’s supposed to be fun.
- Always listen to your body and don’t push yourself past your edge. There’s a difference between being uncomfortable or feeling intense discomfort or pain. If you feel any pain, shortness of breath, dizziness or nausea, take a break and stop what you’re doing. You may be pushing yourself too hard. Give yourself time to recover and if you have any concerns, consult your doctor.
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5. Monitor Your Progress
Just like you had done at the beginning with assessing your fitness level, you can do this again six weeks after you start your workout routine and then again every few months.
If you find yourself losing motivation and drive, set new goals or try doing a new activity for variation.
I always find exercising with a mate (Zoom workouts work too) can be a lot of fun and it helps to have someone else keep you accountable or you can just be accountability partners doing the same workout routine.
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Best Home Fitness Equipment
Gojiny Yoga Mat
This is an essential piece of equipment for your home fitness routine. A yoga mat is incredibly versatile and can be used for any bodyweight exercises such as yoga, core work, gentle stretching etc.
TRX Suspension Trainer
The TRX suspension training system allows you to work both your upper and lower body while helping you develop core stability. If you don’t have access to a trainer to walk you through it, TRX’s website has instructional videos, as well as 30-minute video workouts that are updated daily.
Resistance Band Loop Set
These bands are portable, come in a range of sizes and tension levels, and work for all levels of athletic ability. They are the perfect go-to item for home and travel workouts and you can easily switch between working your arms, core, and legs without changing equipment.
Xn8 Neoprene Dumbbells
Xn8 have multiple weights from sets of 1kg dumbbells all the way up to sets of 5kg dumbbells. These are so great for any workout especially if you are wanting to dabble in weight training.
Metis Neoprene Kettlebells
Kettlebells are a killer piece of exercise equipment to have and they can also be very versatile making them a good addition to your home gym. Metis have kettlebells ranging from 4kg to 20kg so there’s something to suit everyone and every training day.
Manta Foam Roller
This firm foam roller is perfect for releasing your fascia and rolling out post-workout tension and sore muscles for a faster and fuller recovery.
Reebok 0.5kg Ankle Weights
Burn baby burn! Take your leg raises to another level with a set of ankle weights — add some extra oomph to exercises that tone your legs and glutes. This is another brilliant addition to add to your home gym kit!
Heveer Slider Discs
Sliders are perfect for amping up any lower body workouts. They are also versatile, compact and affordable addition to your home fitness kit. This simple but powerful piece of equipment can give you the burn you are looking for without you necessarily having to invest in heavy weights or expensive equipment.
4 Top Home Fitness Apps
Home fitness apps are one of the best ways to workout from home and thank goodness for them because personal trainers and gym memberships had to be put on hold this year.
These apps make working out from home so easy and convenient you wouldn’t want to go back to the gym again!
There are a variety of apps available that can help with pretty much any aspect of your fitness regimen from running to yoga.
Apps can help you create a personalised fitness plan, focus your workouts, plan your goals, track your success and more.
1. Aaptiv
Aaptiv combines the instruction of a personal trainer with high-beats-per-minute playlists. If your favourite indoor cycling class is booked, a trainer’s voice can guide you through a studio-style session with great playlists, to boot. Choose from hundreds of classes like running, weight training, yoga and meditation.
2. Yoga Down Dog
Down Dog offers a brand new yoga practise every time you hop onto your trusty yoga mat. If you don’t want new, feel free to choose from over 60,000 other options offered by the app’s six teachers.
3. Sweat with Kayla Itsines
Kayla is well-known for her #BBG program that went viral a few years back. She now has an app called The Sweat with Kayla app and this is where all the magic happens. With an active subscription, you can use the app to follow daily gym-based or targeted workouts based on where you’re at in the program, keep track of your progress, and connect with other #BBG members.
4. Sworkit
Sworkit provides easy-to-follow videos with adaptable workouts and plans that can fit into anyone’s busy life and fitness levels. Choose your workout and how long you have to exercise. Then, Sworkit shows you exactly what to do. You’ll find workouts like cardio, Pilates, stretching, yoga and strength training. Everything is equipment free and each workout offers video demos, verbal cues and instructions.
5. Forever F.I.T
The Forever F.I.T app from Forever Living is the perfect tool for those who are on the Forever F.I.T. program. Whether you’ve started on the C9 Cleansing program or are following the F15 fitness program, this app is so useful for tracking your progress. It also offers support and encouragement while providing you with all of the Forever information at your fingertips.
Achieve your fitness goals with the Forever F.I.T. App and track how you are shaping up with your body transformation.
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Features Include:
– Challenge and compete with your friends
– Access your workout routine and follow along from anywhere
– Follow your C9, F15 and V5 product pack progress
– Track your weight and measurements
– Find delicious recipes easily
– Update your water intake with the swipe of a finger
– Check off your supplements in the interactive schedule
– Unlock awards
– And more…
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3 Of The Best Home Fitness Programs
1. Alo Moves
What it is: Fresh workouts every week, from yoga to Pilates to meditation.
You’ll find thousands of different workout options here, for people of all different levels of fitness experience: beginner, moderate, intermediate, and advanced. (Classes are sorted by fitness level, as well by length and style, so you’ll be sure to easily find what you need.)
There are lots of types of yoga classes — from Ashtanga to Vinyasa — fitness classes like HIIT or barre — and even skills-based classes.
Plus, you can take your workout with you wherever you go (beach or park), since you can download the routines for offline use.
Cost: $20/month.
Try it: www.aloyoga.com
2. P.Volve
What it is: The P.Volve fitness method uses resistance-based, high-intensity (but low-impact) moves to help build functional strength.
With P.Volve’s streaming platform, you’ll have access to more than 200 workouts (with new ones added weekly), that you can search based on things like body parts worked or length of time.
The plan is fully customisable and based on your goals, the app will actually suggest workouts for you each week, which takes some guesswork out of your program.
Cost: $20/month; $135/year
Try it: www.pvolve.com
3. P90X
What it is: An intense 90-day fitness program done for one hour a day, six days a week.
P90X has got a hard-core reputation — after all, the X stands for “extreme.” Created by Tony Horton, the challenging workouts are done for one hour a day, six days a week, for 90 days. The workouts are varied, incorporating resistance training, cardio, plyometrics, abs work, martial arts, and yoga.
The program comes with 12 workouts, as well as a nutrition plan and a workout calendar.
Cost: You can join Beachbody On Demand ($39 for three months, $59 for six months, or $99 for 12 months) for access to this and other Beachbody exercise programs.
Try it: www.beachbodyondemand.com
Ready to feel fit and fab?
Cultivating a strong home fitness routine has truly been a big part of running a successful business for me.
Looking after my health is my number 1 priority and I hope I’ve inspired you to make it yours if it’s not already.
May this article serve you on your fitness journey and home workouts and hopefully, it’s inspired you to get fit from the comfort of your own space.
I’d love to hear from you, so please leave your comments below and feel free to ask me any questions or let me know what home fitness routines you’re on at the moment.
Please click the social icons below to share this article with all those in your inner circle that you feel it will bring value to, until next time.
With love,
Nat
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