5 Tips For Working Out At Home
With some states slowly reopening due to COVID-19 cases decreasing, all of the gyms will open again as well. However, if you’re like me then you might want to keep holding off for a while or at least try to get into a consistent flow before going back to the gym anyway.
These last two months have been very odd for me. I had a great start to 2020 and was consistent with my fitness goals and making better progress than I had seen in recent years. However, when my local gym closed down due to the virus, I lost all motivation. I tried working out from home for about two weeks but since then I stopped caring altogether. I’ve gained weight and lost my self-control to every Oreo in my pantry.
I have slowly regained ideas and motivation to start working out at home again and would like to share them with you. I have been into fitness for almost 6 years now and have been an athlete for the majority of my life, so I have definitely learned a lot on the way.
Don’t feel bad if you’ve given up on your fitness goals or have been stress-eating due to being quarantined. Your mental health is much more important than how much you can bench press or how fast you can run a mile.
We all need a little push sometimes to help us go in the right direction, so I created these 5 tips for working out at home. I hope they can help motivate you or give you some ideas on what you should do to get back on track.
1. Buy the bare minimum of equipment you need.
If you don’t have the extra money around, then not buying equipment isn’t a big deal because you can always makeshift things to work. However, in your head you can easily think that you’ll be fine with just push-ups or air squats. Or using a towel as a yoga mat. If you need help with your motivation and help with more exercise variety, try to buy a few different pieces of equipment to try to meet your fitness goals.
For example, bodybuilding is my preferred type of exercise with 2-3 cardio days. I purchased some Push-up handles with a rotating base some 15 pound dumbbells (all I could find in stores), some resistance bands, and a yoga mat. This variety of equipment helps me enough, so I can target all my muscle groups and be able to perform different exercises. As far as cardio, I’ll do HIIT workouts or ab workouts on my yoga mat.
2. Go on YouTube to find new workouts to do.
Luckily, so many people post their daily workouts on YouTube along with tips, tricks, challenges, and even full workout plans. If you have trouble finding a routine to stick to, try searching a new workout plan or specific muscle group workouts to implement at home.
There are really endless amounts of content you could find on home workouts there. I personally like to search for new ab workouts on YouTube because I can easily find different ones, so I can switch up my routine more often.
3. Prioritize your mental health.
Next time you eat a whole pint of ice cream and feel bad, remember that it is a tough time because of the virus and you need to do what makes you happy. However, physical activity such as working out is very important and does affect your mental health as well. Find a good mix.
The best tip I could give on this is to really just get on a specific routine of exercising and eat what you want for the most part, unless otherwise instructed by a health professional. Physical activity every day is really important in releasing many hormones that can directly affect your mood and mental health.
4. Do a little bit every day.
If you’re having trouble starting or feeling like you don’t have the time to workout at home, then just a little physical activity every day. Even if it’s only 10 minutes a day. If you can give all you got for 10 minutes a day, be proud of it.
I often struggle with this. I often feel like that if I don’t feel like doing a 45-minute workout then I might as well just not workout at all. However, the “gains” aren’t as important right now compared to just being healthy and active again. Do what you can do and be proud of it.
5. Plan ahead.
Do some research and start planning on what types of workouts and when you want to workout for the week. I recommend doing a two-week stretch of workouts and changing it up after that to avoid boredom while having to use limited equipment.
I personally like to have an idea of what I’m going to be working out instead of just “winging” it. I can often “wing” it at the gym because there’s more to do but if I don’t hold myself to a standard at home, I know deep down that I won’t do it unless I have a goal to hit. Try to find a plan that works for you.
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