You don't have to cancel your workouts just because you can't get to a gym. There are many options for working out at home that range from low- to high-tech and fit all types of budgets. Maintaining healthy nutrition habits can also be easily incorporated into a home-based lifestyle and is a crucial aspect of all fitness goals.
Bodyweight exercises can easily be combined into an intense at-home workout. You can start doing squats, push-ups, and burpees right away—no equipment required. If this feels too easy, increase the intensity by picking up your pace and decreasing or eliminating the rest period between exercises. Your ability to do these things are useful methods to track your progress since increasing resistance might not be an option.
Incorporate a sturdy chair or coffee table into your training and you can add dips to your exercise list or enhance the push-ups. Make push-ups easier by placing your hands on the seat of the chair or put your feet on the chair to make the exercise harder.
If you can't do many push-ups at once, don't worry. Try to do five each hour. You will surprise yourself with how soon you progress to ten every hour. Soon, you'll be doing 100 daily. This hourly approach is a great way to make sure you don't stay seated at your desk for too long.
If you buy resistance bands online, you can expand your exercise options or increase the difficulty of bodyweight exercises. After looping the band under your foot or through a closed door, you can perform back rows, bicep curls, overhead presses, weighted squats, and much more. Purchase an over the door pull-up bar for even more options.
If you want to embrace some technology and bring the feel of a gym into your own space, sign up for some online cardio classes. For lower budget options, try LesMills or BeachBody On Demand. For higher-tech possibilities, invest in a new category of fitness technology like Mirror Home Gym or Peloton. The former even offers one-on-one virtual personal training.
Even when working out most days of the week, it's essential to include healthy nutrition habits into your routine. To resist frequent snacking, try limiting the number of purchases you make in this category. Out of sight, out of mind, is an adage that works wonders when it comes to curbing your sweet tooth.
Instead, stock up on smoothie ingredients like fruits and vegetables to make healthy snacks. To cut down on store trips, buy frozen fruits or freeze fresh fruit like bananas before they over ripen.
Don't get overwhelmed with smoothie recipes—keep it simple. Equal parts frozen mango and banana (or strawberry and banana) with enough milk to liquefy the smoothie to your preference is a great starter recipe. It can also help you fully meet the U.S. government's daily fruit recommendation of 2 cups. To make headway towards the recommended vegetable serving, blend up 2 cups of kale, with a 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries, and 3/4 cups of orange juice.
