Fitness Training from Home

When people ask me, “So what can I do at home for a workout?” I tell them their options can be limitless.  For those who have child care commitments, irregular working hours, or just may be a little shy about working out at a gym, there are many opportunities for you to reach you fitness goals while working out from home.

Imagine challenging your body to its limits to get better results just by adding a little variety to your home workout.  The number of exercises and programs available requiring little or no equipment is virtually unlimited, and everything can be done at home.  Ones own body weight can provide a sufficient amount of resistance for many exercises including pushups, body squats, lunges, and hip raises.  The use of a stability ball, small dumbbells and some tubing can be acquired for about $50.00 and can truly make your workouts more challenging and fun by adding variety and stimulation to get better results.
A stability ball can be used in place of a bench for such exercises as chest press, hamstring curls, or a dumbbell tricep extension.  Pushups can be made more challenging by putting your hands or feet on a stability ball.  A body squat can turn into a single leg squat, and lunge is harder when lunging onto a Dynadisc or even a pillow.

Resistance tubing can be purchased in different color coded resistances and will allow you to engage in many exercises that can be easily incorporated into a home program.  The tubing provides resistance that dumbbells cannot by allowing you to move through multiple angles of movement.  Exercises such as bicep curls, squats, and lateral raises can be done with tubing, but close the tubing in a door and add movements such as torso twists, a combination of a squat and row, or simulate multidirectional integrated  movements such as swinging a bat, sawing a log, or throwing a punch.  All three will work the hips, legs, abs and upper body.

Exercises can also be made more challenging by taking away some of your leverage or ability to balance. You can do exercises while standing on two feet and get a good workout, but stand on one foot and do the same exercise and now you begin to work a whole new set of muscles in the hips and legs you didn’t use before.  Perhaps try a dumbbell shoulder press or bicep curl while standing on one leg, or try a dumbbell row while standing on one leg and bending forward.

Many simple exercises can be progressed by adding a little creativity.  The result is you are creating more challenge and muscle stimulation, stronger and more stable muscles and joints, and you can burn more calories while working the entire body at once and therefore get better results.