Exercise At Home To Boost Weight Loss
Eating healthily is key to helping you boost weight loss, but making the effort to exercise several times a week will really speed up your results too.
However, when it comes to exercise, we often end up making excuses instead.
The two most common reasons for not exercising are a lack of time and a lack of money, but you can solve these two problems in one by working out at home!
Here we have some great ideas for how to make the most of your time and boost weight loss by exercising in the comfort of your own living room!
Going To The Gym vs. Exercising At Home
Although gyms offer a range of machinery to build muscle and burn calories, as well as fun group classes and often a swimming pool too, they can be expensive, and even more so if you end up not going.
While some people enjoy exercising at the gym, others can find it boring, or just not very convenient for their lifestyle.
But, if a gym membership is out of your price range or just not for you, this doesn´t mean that you can’t reap the benefits of exercise to boost your weight loss.
Exercising at home is a lot more convenient than going to the gym as there’s no travel time, and you can just do a quick five or ten minutes of exercise when you have time, rather than having to set aside an hour or so for a trip to the gym.
It’s also free, and you don’t have to worry about other people.
And, if you think you won´t achieve the same results by working out at home, then a quick look at the story of British mom Gemma Howden, who lost 140lbs in 18 months by exercising at home, should change your mind!
How To Exercise At Home
You have to be motivated to work out at home as there’s no instructor telling you what to do, and unlike when you go to the gym, there are plenty of other things to do at home other than exercising.
Your workout plan needs to include the three Cs – convenience, consistency, and commitment.
Exercising at home is already convenient, but you need to make a plan and commit to it, which means scheduling exercise, just as you would with anything else in your day.
And, as it has to be convenient, if ten minutes when the kids have gone to bed is all you can manage, then don’t worry – it’s better to be consistent with small amounts of exercise as this helps to boost weight loss more than sporadic longer periods of exercise.
Gemma Howden’s example also shows how you don’t even need to buy any equipment to see real results as she just used what she had at home to design her own ‘boot camp’, but comfortable clothes are a must, as is a good soundtrack to make your workout more fun!
Lastly, once you’ve decided on your schedule and how long you can devote to exercising each day, you need to devise a routine that will keep you interested.
Your Home Workout Routine
To keep things interesting, we recommend changing the order and the number of times you do each section.
To give you some ideas, we have designed a routine to get you started, but once you know it well enough, you can mix it up a little, so you don’t get bored – and to keep your body guessing, making it (and you) work harder!
The routine lasts 10 minutes, so you can repeat it if you have more time or add more exercises as you get more confident.
After some stretching, you’re ready to go!
1. Jump Rope: 2 minutes
Your ceilings may not be high enough for you to swing a jump rope around indoors, so do the same moves but without the rope; stand with your legs slightly bent, your arms bent, and your hands out to your sides.
Begin jumping, leaving only a few inches between your feet and the floor as you hop. At the same time, rotate your shoulders and arms as if you are jumping rope, but without the rope.
2. Alternate-leg Extensions: 1 minute
Holding a bottle of water or a tin of food between both hands, stand with feet wider than hip-width apart and turned out to 45 degrees.
Bend knees; push butt back and squat (keep knees over ankles), bringing the weight to the floor between feet.
Push into both feet and rise back up, extending left leg back and arms overhead to the right.
Return to center squat, touching the weight to the floor; repeat on the opposite side to complete one rep, and then continue this move for a minute.
3. Advanced Plank: 1 minute
Place your elbows on the floor, then stretch your body out behind you and put your toes on the bottom step of a flight of stairs. Pull your stomach muscles in and keep your back flat.
Hold this position for about 60 seconds – if you can’t do it all at once in the first try, have a breather and continue until the minute is up.
4. Overhead Triceps Extensions: 2 minutes
Hold a bottle of water, a tin of food, or some hand weights in both hands and lift your arms above your head. Lower your forearms behind you by bending your elbows.
Avoid allowing the weight to hit the back of your neck. Raise the weight overhead again by extending the elbows. Repeat.
5. Push Ups: 30 seconds
Get in traditional push-up position, with your feet a few inches apart, your arms straight, and your hands near your shoulders (it’s fine to start on your knees until you get stronger).
Your body should form a straight line from your head to your heels.
Keep your abs tight and drop your body straight down by bending both arms. Return to starting position and repeat as many times as you can in 30 seconds
6. Diving Push Ups: 30 seconds
Begin in the Push-Ups starting position, then widen your feet about 11/2 feet and point your butt toward the ceiling. Lower your body to the floor slowly by bending your arms and slightly dragging your chest across the mat.
Press your body upward until your arms are straight and your lower back is arched backward. Reverse the move to return to the butt-in-the-air position and repeat as many times as you can in 30 seconds.
7. Jumping Jacks: 2 minutes
Stand with your legs together and your arms down at your sides.
Keeping your arms and legs straight, separate your legs about 3 feet and raise your hands above your head in one jumping motion.
Return to the starting position and repeat the move for 2 minutes.
8. Knee-Lift Jogging: 1 minute
Jog on the spot, but lift your knees up in an exaggerated way to really work the muscles in your butt.
Once you get the hang of all of the exercises, try to build up by doing more reps within the time, hold tins of food or hand weights in your hands while you’re jogging and doing jumping jacks, or add in some moves of your own, such as running up and down the stairs or even dancing to some music videos.
The main idea is for you to keep the routine motivating and interesting, so have fun with it and watch the pounds come off, just like Gemma did!
Are you inspired by Gemma’s success? Let us know how you exercise at home to boost weight loss by commenting below!
