*This is a continuation of a series of workouts you can do at home. *
As I mentioned previously, earlier in the year, I wrote a post called Skip the Gym, Sweat at Home that shared one of the workouts that my hubby and I do at home. The article went viral online. It got over 20 thousand stumbles alone. This kind of response got me thinking that there are other people out there like me who value their health and want to do what they can to keep it as optimal as possible and not pay a fortune to do so.
Well, today as well as in coming weeks, I will be sharing with you a series of workouts that will cost you nothing and ones that you can do in the comfort of your home. I have said this before and I will say it again; Just like savingmoney and investing in our financial future, we need to put that same effort into investing in our health. Eating well and being active are the keys to a long healthy life. So without further adieu, get your comfy clothes and you sneakers on and get ready to sweat.
Note: Remember you should always check with your physician before starting a exercise program.
Warm-up – 5 minutes
Quad Stretch – hold a wall for balance. Bend one leg behind, knees together, and hold the foot with the hand on the same side. Look straight ahead and keep your back straight. You should feel a moderate stretch along the front of the thigh. Hold for 20 seconds and lower. Repeat with other leg.
Calf Stretch – face a wall with both hands flat on the wall and one foot in front of the other. Bend front leg and push your hips towards the wall to feel a stretch in the calf of the back leg. Head is up and back kept straight, toes pointing to the wall. Hold for 20 seconds. Repeat with other leg.
Gluteus Stretch – stand with one leg raised with the heel resting on a surface that is lower than hip height, like a step or low chair. Keep head up, arms and head in line with your body and shoulders back as you lean forward. You should feel a stretch along the back of the thigh, behind the knee and maybe up into the lower back. Hold for 20 seconds and repeat with other leg.
Spot warm-up – 50 slow jogs, 50 bob-jumps (both feet together) and 50 knee-high runs on the spot, alternately. Repeat 3 times.
Core Strength Exercises 15 minutes
Oblique crunches – Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the ground, hands clasped behind the head. Lift and twist the trunk, using your abs, and touch your left knee with your right elbow. Hold for 3 seconds and relax. Repeat with other side. Do 5 repeats, rest for 30 seconds and repeat.
Wall push-ups – stand arms length at a wall, palms flat on the wall with finger-tips pointing in. Engage your abs and lean into the wall, bending your elbows out to the side, keeping body in line. Hold for a count of 3 and return to upright. Do 10, rest for 10 seconds and repeat.
Pelvic lift – lie on your back with knees bent, feet are flat on the floor. Arms by side, palms up. Engage your abs and lift your hips so that your body is in a straight line. Hold for 5 seconds; slowly lower. Do 5, rest for 10 seconds and repeat. Do 4 reps.
Side lunge bend – stand with arms down. Step into a side lunge with the right foot, toes pointing out, knee over toes. Bend the trunk over the bent leg, raising the left arm to above head height. Contract muscles to return to standing. Repeat to left side. Do a total of 6 to each side.
Cardio – 5 to 10 minutes
Short Dash – in a hallway, driveway or strip of grass. Start at one end and run to the other, tip the wall, door or whatever, dash back again and repeat continually. Make sharp turns and repeat the dash 10 times; gradually increase to 20 times as your fitness improves.
Burpees – this 4 step exercise is great for cardio and strengthening. From standing, crouch down with hands on ground; jump feet back to be in a straight line; jump feet back to crouch; jump up to standing position with arms above head. Do 5 to 10.
Square jumps – stand in the center of a square. (this can be tiles, chalk lines or imaginary) Keeping feet together jump forward, out of the square, and back; jump left, out of the square and back; jump backwards, out of the square, and back; jump right, out of the square, and back. Repeat going clockwise. Do 5 sets.
Cool-down – 5 minutes
Walk around slowly, swinging your arms in a relaxed manner for 2 minutes. Walk backwards with the same arm action for 1 minute.
Repeat the 3 stretches from the warm-up.
Well, I hope you find this workout effective and as user friendly as the last few. Trust me, taking care of your health will feel great in the long run not only health wise but also financially.
If you are interested in previous workouts I have put together, they are listed below:
Good workout, Miss T. I’ve had to cut out Burpees, as they’re tough on my recovering calf muscles. One day, the right calf muscle stood up and waved Hello!, just to let me know about the old injury.
That’s ok. There are still modifications you can do for this exercise. Instead of jumping, try mountain climbers. They are similar and work similar muscles and shouldn’t strain your calf. Remember to work on stretching if you have an injury. It really helps heal things faster. Are you going to physio?
You could also try swimming. This is low impact and very effective. It is what I did when I had my disc herniation and was recovering.
This is another great addition to the series. I love working out at home. The conveinience alone is enough to keep me doing it because it means no excuses. I have changed my cardio routine to be high intensity but lower impact. Good stuff!!!
Nice change up on the routine. How are you enjoying it? It might be tough in the beginning but as you do it more regularly you will build up endurance which is what you want. I find high intensity short amount of time really effective. However, I do need to find time to work more on my endurance. It used to be good when I was running but I have since done a 180 on how I work out. I have had more results with my new workouts but endurance is still important.
I love the topic and as you know, I’m a big fan of working out at home. They’re just as effective as going to the gym, and you don’t even have to go through the trouble of leaving your home!
You said it best. Just this morning, I was tired and moving slow but all I had to do was put on my workout clothes and go downstairs. Not too much of a feet to get the job done. In the end, a successful workout resulted.
It would be interesting to see I guess. I do get some decent traffic from these posts. Especially the first one. My main goal though is to help people exercise.
Life shouldn’t have changed that much now that you are married. Try to use the same routine as before. Better yet, involve your wife and use exercise time as a way to bond together.
I put together a small home gym 12-14 years ago for a few hundred dollars. I also ride a bicycle every weekend! I find that simple acts such as walking or just not sitting down burns a lot of calories. All it takes is consistency.
You are right. Keeping moving does burn a lot of calories. This is one of the tactics I also use. Glad to hear you have a good set up at home that works well for you. We too have a set up at home that we love. And yes being consistent is key.
Nice workout! I have never been able to workout at home. I think I need to regularly schedule it in so it will be routine. Now, I’m using the gym at work, but in the future working out at home will be the mainstay.
I used to work out at work too. It was really convenient. Now, I do a few classes at lunch during the week but my main workouts are at home with my hubby.
What’s funny is that with our 10 year old at Woodcraft (a sort of politically correct Scouts movement) we did a keep fit series of exercises one evening. Most of the kids dropped out! The only few to finish the course were the parents (dads mainly) and a couple of lads which included, I am proud to say, our son.
It is difficult though to keep motivated- it’s not that we don’t have the space. But for this reason we both belong to a local gym even though our visits are not frequent enough. It is a hard-nut place – the owner is an Ironman and Triathlete and some, but not all, members are marathon runners (an entirely unnatural habit IMHO!) and you get a proper training programme.
An interesting statistic is that as you get older, you lose muscle much faster than you lose brain cells. And the evidence is that we don’t weaken as a result of age but as a result of inactivity. So any exercise is good for you.
I know many who have felt and feel the same way as you John. They are tired, distracted, etc. and don’t feel like working out as much as they should. However, like you shared, exercise really is important.
That is an interesting statistic you shared. Just goes to show that if we want to age well we need to exercise.
One thing that works for me is not looking at it as exercise or a to do. I look at it as a stress reliever, a mood elevator, and sleeping pill. I always feel so much better when I work out that I use this after feeling to motivate me to do it. There are days I am tired too but I love the benefits so I power through.
Glad to hear your son tried out the keep fit series. That is great to hear he is a committed little guy. That is a great skill to have.
Regardless you do have a gym membership and you do go sometimes which is definitely something to be proud of. Keep it up.
Good workout, Miss T. Some additional core exercises you could substitute into your workout would be some stabilization exercises. Exercises like the plank, side plank, ab wheel, plank on a stability ball can really maximize your core strength and ab toning results.
Good workout, Miss T. I’ve had to cut out Burpees, as they’re tough on my recovering calf muscles. One day, the right calf muscle stood up and waved Hello!, just to let me know about the old injury.
That’s ok. There are still modifications you can do for this exercise. Instead of jumping, try mountain climbers. They are similar and work similar muscles and shouldn’t strain your calf. Remember to work on stretching if you have an injury. It really helps heal things faster. Are you going to physio?
You could also try swimming. This is low impact and very effective. It is what I did when I had my disc herniation and was recovering.
This is another great addition to the series. I love working out at home. The conveinience alone is enough to keep me doing it because it means no excuses. I have changed my cardio routine to be high intensity but lower impact. Good stuff!!!
Nice change up on the routine. How are you enjoying it? It might be tough in the beginning but as you do it more regularly you will build up endurance which is what you want. I find high intensity short amount of time really effective. However, I do need to find time to work more on my endurance. It used to be good when I was running but I have since done a 180 on how I work out. I have had more results with my new workouts but endurance is still important.
I love the topic and as you know, I’m a big fan of working out at home. They’re just as effective as going to the gym, and you don’t even have to go through the trouble of leaving your home!
You said it best. Just this morning, I was tired and moving slow but all I had to do was put on my workout clothes and go downstairs. Not too much of a feet to get the job done. In the end, a successful workout resulted.
I wonder how a site just of these posts would do out on the interwebs 😉
It would be interesting to see I guess. I do get some decent traffic from these posts. Especially the first one. My main goal though is to help people exercise.
I find it hard these days after being married to work out hehe. You work all day and get home and you just want to have a beer and rest.
Life shouldn’t have changed that much now that you are married. Try to use the same routine as before. Better yet, involve your wife and use exercise time as a way to bond together.
I put together a small home gym 12-14 years ago for a few hundred dollars. I also ride a bicycle every weekend! I find that simple acts such as walking or just not sitting down burns a lot of calories. All it takes is consistency.
You are right. Keeping moving does burn a lot of calories. This is one of the tactics I also use. Glad to hear you have a good set up at home that works well for you. We too have a set up at home that we love. And yes being consistent is key.
Nice workout! I have never been able to workout at home. I think I need to regularly schedule it in so it will be routine. Now, I’m using the gym at work, but in the future working out at home will be the mainstay.
I used to work out at work too. It was really convenient. Now, I do a few classes at lunch during the week but my main workouts are at home with my hubby.
Great series Miss T. I’m looking for some cross training alternatives to riding my bike all the time. Thanks for these options.
Great. I hope they work out well for you. Yes cross training is important. Not only for fitness improvement but also for injury prevention.
What’s funny is that with our 10 year old at Woodcraft (a sort of politically correct Scouts movement) we did a keep fit series of exercises one evening. Most of the kids dropped out! The only few to finish the course were the parents (dads mainly) and a couple of lads which included, I am proud to say, our son.
It is difficult though to keep motivated- it’s not that we don’t have the space. But for this reason we both belong to a local gym even though our visits are not frequent enough. It is a hard-nut place – the owner is an Ironman and Triathlete and some, but not all, members are marathon runners (an entirely unnatural habit IMHO!) and you get a proper training programme.
An interesting statistic is that as you get older, you lose muscle much faster than you lose brain cells. And the evidence is that we don’t weaken as a result of age but as a result of inactivity. So any exercise is good for you.
I know many who have felt and feel the same way as you John. They are tired, distracted, etc. and don’t feel like working out as much as they should. However, like you shared, exercise really is important.
That is an interesting statistic you shared. Just goes to show that if we want to age well we need to exercise.
One thing that works for me is not looking at it as exercise or a to do. I look at it as a stress reliever, a mood elevator, and sleeping pill. I always feel so much better when I work out that I use this after feeling to motivate me to do it. There are days I am tired too but I love the benefits so I power through.
Glad to hear your son tried out the keep fit series. That is great to hear he is a committed little guy. That is a great skill to have.
Regardless you do have a gym membership and you do go sometimes which is definitely something to be proud of. Keep it up.
Good workout, Miss T. Some additional core exercises you could substitute into your workout would be some stabilization exercises. Exercises like the plank, side plank, ab wheel, plank on a stability ball can really maximize your core strength and ab toning results.