With the hustle and bustle of modern society, schedules have become more packed and breaks have become shorter. This makes it exceedingly difficult for people to coordinate a run or a trip to the gym that fits in with their schedule. Here is where the advent of home workouts swoop in to mitigate this issue. Home workouts do not require as much preparation. planning and expenses as compared to going to the gym. However, it can still help to build muscles and burn those calories. Intrigued? Read on to find out how to create the perfect home workout program for you!
Five things to incorporate into your home workouts
1. Warmup
In the first segment of your home workout, you should start off slow to engage your body’s systems. Just like how you would need to start up your car and slowly rev up the engine to get your car used to it, your body needs to get used to the workout as well. If you have a treadmill or stationary bike at home, you can start off with a slow pace on them. Or you can start by slowly pacing back and forth in one of your rooms that might allow you to take 10-20 steps across the room, and repeatedly walk back and forth until you get a small sweat going..
2. Cardiovascular workout
Next, you should look at doing activities that increase your heart rate. This is important as cardiovascular exercises help to increase metabolism and can help with shedding unwanted body fat. If you are running on a treadmill or cycling on a stationary bike, increasing the pace can help to get your heart rate up. Similarly, if you do not own such devices, you can also increase your heart rate with other exercises like jump rope, jumping jacks or running in place with high knees. For beginners, it would be good to aim for 20-30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise, three times a week.
3. Strength-building exercises
Thirdly, is to engage the muscles with strength-building exercises. Some examples of which are squats, push-ups and abdominal crunches for those who prefer bodyweight exercises for a start. If you want to increase the challenge, you can also look to investing in small dumbbells, a weight bar, or rubber bands/tubing. These can help to take your strength training to the next level beyond what some of the bodyweight exercises can do for you. If you want more inexpensive options, you could try using water bottles as dumbbells as well. Similar to cardiovascular exercises, it is recommended for beginners to do 20-30 minutes of strength-building, three times a week. Do also ensure that the exercises encompass all major muscle groups such as your upper body, lower body, abdominals, and back.
4. Flexibility
After a good workout, one very important thing to do is to stretch in order to relax the muscles and provide more range of motion. You can start off this with floor stretches, such as sit and reach, or if you are into yoga poses such as downward dog are a great option.
5. Cooldown
Last but not least, make sure you cool down the same way that you started. This is to bring your heart rate back down to a resting rate. It is important not to immediately relax with a racing heart rate. You can bring your heart rate down similarly by taking a slow walk outside, going at a slow pace on the treadmill or, on the stationary bike.
Benefits of home workouts
The main benefit of home workouts are the flexibility they can provide in your schedule. While we wish that everything in our life goes as planned, that is often not the reality. So, home workouts are able to give you more leeway in your schedule if impromptu plans were to pop up. You can shorten the exercise time by increasing the intensity thus making more time for other plans as well.
Furthermore, as you get into more home workouts, you won’t always need to plan out your own regime. You can also find many suitable home workout videos on the web or in local bookstores that range from from kickboxing to Pilates. Just take the time to find the ones that look the most fun for you to do!
The challenges of home workouts
While home workouts sound really convenient, they do face their own set of issues as well. With home workouts, the biggest hurdles are often motivation and exposure to distractions. So, here are some tips to help abate them.
Challenge yourself with a variety of exercises. Unlike at the gym, you are faced with new equipment and classes that evokes spontaneity. So, be sure to keep things fresh by constantly updating the types of workout you can utilize in your workout program.
Find a workout buddy. The idea of home workouts can often brings forth the desire to procrastinate. This is because most people associate their home with a place of rest. So finding someone to work out with can help to prevent those situations. Making plans with roommates or even live-in partners can help make workouts seem less tedious.
Make a plan and stick to the plan. Doing so would help you to feel more motivated to complete the workout, and a sense of achievement comes from accomplishing what you set out to do. It also allows you to easily reschedule should anything crop up.
Utilize a journal to take note of progress. This helps you to identify daily life patterns that make or break your day. Some examples are noting down the type of food that generally provides more energy to seize the day and what type causes an energy drain.
Set goals. If you train without a goal in mind, it is often easy to derail and stop exercising altogether. Furthermore, link these goals with rewards to motivate you to Make exercise a lifestyle. You need to comprehend that working out is not just a process to go through and it will be done once it ends. Rather, it is a way of life.
Fitness doesn’t have to mean going to a gym or buying a membership at an expensive fitness studio. There are plenty of ways to be fit, and the most important thing is to stay active and stick to a schedule. Exercise also releases endorphins, which helps you to feel less stressed and be happier! Besides staying fit, it is also imperative that you take note of what you eat on a daily basis. Eating high nutrient whole foods is always the best way to get your proper nutrition, but that is not always easy to do with a busy schedule. If you have a busy schedule, consuming superfood powder supplements is one way that you can ensure that your body is receiving all the right nutrients for your daily activities. Not to mention that these supplements can help to boost your workout regime and keep you more energized and ready to take on the world! If you’re curious to find out more about such products, take the time to read about detox organics reviews online to educate yourself.
For more great health & wellness tips, check out the other blogs on Cyber Parent.