This year has shown us that every corner of our house has a versatility that we never imagined, they become whatever we want! In my case, the kitchen turns into a restaurant on weekends with a couple of candles and a good glass of wine, the dining room is Nico’s new school and my office, the living room, and my patio are my new gym for a workout at home! And I must tell you: I love it!
Going back to the gym… I don’t think so! How to workout at home?
If you ask me if I miss going to the gym: not at all! I have created my own gym, with my own style. Having to drive to do my workout and expose myself to share such a closed space, is something that today, I would tell you I’m not doing for a while.
Before quarantining, I already spent a few days of the week with my workouts at home and saw it as a different type of training, I concentrated more, controlled my times better and challenged myself with different implements to make my workout at home as complete as possible: the sofa, the stairs, and even the cushions became my allies.
So since these pasts months, I have shown myself and tried to make you see through my social media channels, how easy, productive, and effective a workout at home can be.
5 tips that will help you to workout at home
- Establish a fixed schedule for most days:
Find a space in your agenda that you can block for at least 30 minutes, it will be “your 30 minutes”, to dedicate them to you, to your health, without interruptions! For this reason, I love to workout at home right after I wake up, I eat my pre-workout food and I dedicate myself to that exclusive time.
Usually, I do it before Nico wakes up and my work begins, which allows me to have all day for the rest of my responsibilities because I work during office hours and I am a mother like many of you.
- Set aside space in your house, which you will call “your gym”
Choose a space to workout at home, no matter how small it is! Just make sure it allows you to do a few jumps in the same spot without hitting yourself, make sure you have good ventilation and some light.
- Stock up with basics, little by little!
Start by looking for some tools that can help you with your workout at home and make your routines more demanding. For example, a good chair that supports your weight in which you can perform some exercises for arms, legs, and glutes. As well as a couple of bottles of water that will help you add some weight, if you also have a sofa and stairs at home you can achieve a well-rounded workout.
Later on, you will realize that you need to raise the level, among the implements that I recommend the most for a workout at home. You should have a support mat, some garters, ankle weights, and a pair of dumbbells. I would tell you that in that order you can equip yourself. All these utensils can be found in my favorites on Amazon, there are the ones I recommend the most for a workout at home.
- Set yourself a weekly goal according to your leve
Something we must be very aware of, is that we do not all have the same level of resistance or the same physical capacities… So we must go at our own pace!
A person who is starting after years of being sedentary cannot train at the same pace or capacity as a person who has been practicing a discipline such as running or weight training for years. Let’s start in the right place and work to improve!
So when I structured my training programs to workout at home, I thought of them in 3 levels:
BE ACTIVE for those who first need to condition themselves to gain cardiovascular endurance and physical capacity, or for those who prefer to workout at home without any equipment.
For BE FIT a program structured for people who already have a certain level and want to be able to carry out directed routines for fat loss with basic implements, such as garters and ankle weights, and the third level.
And the last one but the harder one, BE STRONG is designed for people who like to train with weight (dumbbells) and with cardiovascular exercises with body weight, to maintain or increase muscle mass. As you can see, they all have clear and guided objectives!
- Look for a guide, a mentor, or an online coach
Leading a fitness or healthy lifestyle can be a bit overwhelming for many, as questions invade us, motivation has a short time and the frustration of achieving results can end up taking us out completely. That is why I always recommend looking for a guide, a coach, an expert ally to workout at home. There are currently thousands of options, choose one that suits you, that you can afford and that allows you to move forward. I invite you to do my free trial week in any of my monthly training sessions. You will not regret it, they will easily become part of your routine!