January may be over, but trying to reach your fitness goals does not have to be. Getting ‘fit’ is relative, and however you want to define that for yourself it’s a lifelong journey and may fluctuate as your life continues on. Getting started can sometimes be tough, especially with all of the life things you may have going on such as recently graduating, getting acclimated to a new job as an entrepreneur or in the corporate world, plus balancing life, friends, etc. It can seem like a lot to try fit health and fitness within your current routine, but you only have one body so treating it the best you can is important.
If you’re short on time, not interested yet in going into a gym, or just want to move your body a bit more, working on getting fit with the help of at home workouts and healthier eating can be a game changer.
Starting your fitness journey doesn’t have to revolve around a gym. In reality you can get fit right at home, especially since you can’t outwork a bad diet, there’s a lot you can improve just within your kitchen.
If you’re looking to get fit at home there’s a checklist you can use to create a plan to start at home workouts and healthier eating. Consistency and discipline is key, especially since your focus will be at home, but progress can absolutely be made without attending a gym regularly all depending on your goal.
To get started and prioritize consistency you’ll want to make a plan using the following steps:
Fitness Journey Checklist
1. Identify your goal
First you’ll want to identify your main goal. You may be saying “well i want to get fit” but in what way? Is it weight loss? Weight gain? Muscle gain? Be able to run a mile in a certain amount of time? Etc. Try thinking about your higher active self. What do they look like and how do they workout? That vision with help you with categorizing your overarching goal to make sure you choose the right routine and at home workouts that will best help you reach it.
2. Figure out the types of workouts you like
Next, there are a ton of different at home workouts that you can do. Depending on your goal there are some that may better align to your goals but others just may be interesting to you and helpful to incorporate. Remember becoming “fit” and more active can be fun!
3. Create or buy a program to follow
Once you know your goal and the types of workouts you like you can create a routine and a workout program. Figure out how many days you want to workout and what times. Since you’re working out from home you may able to squeeze in a 45 min workout between work meetings or you may prefer working out first thing in the morning. Whichever it is make sure it’s at a time you can repeat to build the habit.
Once you have a routine you can incorporate an actual at home workout program. This should align to your goals and the amount of available workout time that you have. For example, if you want to incorporate yoga for mindfulness and strength training build your legs then you may have 2 days for yoga and 2-3 days for leg workouts. Look for workouts focused on the body parts you want to workout and that you can get affordable at home equipment for.
Finally find workouts to incorporate with online resources from Apple fitness, YouTube or a trainer. Don’t be quick to take just anything from offline but align them to your goals. For example, if your immediate goal is to build your legs, then you may not need as many workouts focused on upper body, but it will give you a great starting point.
4. Evaluate your relationship with food
When it comes to getting fit at home, or even the gym, food is very important. In reality the amount of calories you may burn in a workout is nothing compared to what you might be eating. If you’re eating more than you burn daily and or it’s very processed and sugar heavy it may lead to a lack of results not even related to your workouts. As you start getting fit at home really assess your relationship with food. How often do you eat? What kind of food are you eating? Is there a lot of protein or more starches/carbs? What types of food do you like? Getting your food-ish together is hard but a necessary part of getting fit at home. This doesn’t mean you need to follow a crazy diet, but really looking more so to re balance your lifestyle.
5. Buy equipment if needed for at home workouts aligned to your program
Once you know what workout program you’re going to follow you can buy any necessary equipment. If you’re planning to do mat Pilates you may want to buy a yoga mat and a Pilates ring. If you’re doing strength training or high intensity interval training you may start with body weight then will want to incorporate free weights/dumbbells or resistance bands to make your workouts more challenging.
Now that you have a plan let’s get fit. Here are 12 ways to get fit at home related to workouts, even for beginners.
12 Ways to Get Fit at Home
1. Strength Training With Body Weight
- Strength training is a type of exercise that causes muscles to contract against outside resistance
- Resistance can be body weight, especially as beginner and you won’t even need to buy any extra equipment. This may limit the ability to challenge yourself, but is a great starting point
- Examples of strength training with body weight are movements, like squats and lunges
2. Strength Training With Resistance Bands
- Strength training with resistance bands is a great way to add more challenge to body weight exercises and expand to other types of movements
- Resistance bands come in various levels, such as heavy or moderate and can be used for warming up or for your actual workout
3. Strength Training With Dumbbells
- Another type of resistance is the use of dumbbells. These can be used for a variety of different workout types or programs, helping you to build more more muscle, and create a more challenging workout even at home
- Incorporate similar movements from your body weight and resistance band exercises such as lunges, squats, chest press, shoulder press, step ups, glute bridges, etc.
4. Mat Pilates
- Mat Pilates is low impact workout that focuses on building core strength, flexibility and strengthening through controlled movements on a mat
- Mat Pilates is an easy way to start being more active especially at home. There are tons of free videos and online classes with certified instructors
5. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
- High intensity interval training combines both attributes strength training and cardio into a series of intense timed workouts between a few seconds and a few minutes
- Examples of these types of workouts and exercises may inclyde repeated sqaut jumps for 2 mins, 30 seconds of rest then repeating that same cycle a few times.
- You can combine HIIT with body weight exercises or dumbbells but remember that this workout type can be pretty intense so it doesn’t need to be something that you do daily in a rush to “get fit”
6. Online Zumba
Zumba is a dance inspired workout that is cardio focused and Latin inspired. You can easily complete this workout from home to move your body by just propping up your phone, tv or computer to watch free videos from instructors online.
7. Kickboxing
- Kickboxing is a great “no equipment necessary” workout that you can do from the comfort of your home
- It’s a high intensity cardio workout to help with balance, coordination, blood and heart flow
8. Outdoor Cardio
To add in some fresh air and sunshine, take some of your at home workouts outside, whether to your neighborhood park or your backyard.
9. Walking
Whether you want to purchase a walking pad or take it outside, walking is a great exercise that’s typically overlooked as being helpful. To incorporate this exercise you can increase your daily steps by adding in a daily 20-30 minute walk into your routine.
10. Full Body Circuit Training
- If you’re short on time, full body training is a great way to workout multiple parts of your body in one day
- You can incorporate exercises that work multiple parts of your body into a circuit where you alternate and complete each one 2-4 times in a certain time period
- Examples of full body exercises include squat to press and walking lunges
11. Core Workouts
- Core workouts is about more than building abs, but if your goal is to increase strength in that area (which helps with other exercises), or you want those abs for aesthetic purposes, core workouts should definitely be added into your routine
- You can get creative with your workouts beyond just crunches and sit ups to build your strength with exercises like standing marches, planks, and leg lefts
12. Jump Rope
- If you’re looking for another form of cardio at home with the most cost effective equipment possible, jumping rope is a great choice
- Jumping rope in between meetings is a great full body workout to get your heart rate up and build your speed and coordination all within just a few minutes of your day
13. Daily Movement
An at home workout should also be supplemented by daily movement to help you stay active through out the day especially if you have a job that requires you to sit at a desk. Ways you can incorporate daily movement are getting up from your desk every hour, using a walking pad or taking a 10-30 min walk outside twice a day. If you already take a daily walks try increasing your speed or walking time for a challenge.
No matter how you define getting fit for yourself, there are a ton of different ways for you to get more active or start working towards your goals at home using some of the examples above and creating a combination that works for you. With the variety of free online classes and access to equipment via Amazon and other retailers, all you need to do is start and see what sticks for you
Take it slow if you need to, try experimenting with different workout types to see what you like, and most importantly build a routine that you can be disciplined and consistent with based on your lifestyle.
