Working out at home offers numerous benefits. It eliminates the need to fight traffic, find a parking spot or deal with other people’s schedules.
It also helps to avoid exposure to germs in public places. And for many, it’s just easier to find motivation to train at home. But do home workouts really work?
Strength Training
For many people, the goal of exercise is to alter their body through building muscle. Adding strength training to your Home Fitness can help achieve this. However, it’s important to understand how this type of training works before you start putting together your own routines.
Strength training, or resistance training, involves contracting your muscles against an external force. This can be as simple as using your own body weight, or it could involve equipment like dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells, or resistance bands. Either way, to build muscle and gain strength, you’ll need to apply the principle of progressive overload. This means regularly increasing the amount of resistance or your training frequency, while still maintaining proper form.
This may not be as easy to do if you’re new to exercise or are recovering from an injury, so it’s important to work with a fitness professional to ensure your health and safety. Having a qualified trainer can also be helpful in keeping your workouts interesting. You can get a great strength training workout at home with bodyweight exercises such as squats, lunges, pushups, forearm planks, and bird dog exercises, or a short cardio workout such as jogging or jump rope.
Another advantage of strength training at home is that it can be done without a lot of space. This can be a benefit for those with smaller homes or who want to limit their clutter. It’s also a great option for those who aren’t ready to commit to a gym membership.
In addition to building muscle, strength training can improve your balance and core stability, as well as help prevent falls and injuries. It’s a crucial part of any exercise routine, no matter what age or fitness level you are.
Although there are many benefits to working out at home, it’s important to remember that there are risks involved. Always speak with a doctor before starting any new exercise program, especially if you have a history of injury or illness. It’s also wise to work with a personal trainer if you’re unsure of how to properly perform exercises or if you have any specific injury recovery goals in mind.
Cardio
Cardio, or cardiovascular exercise, gets the blood pumping and helps your body use oxygen more efficiently. It can be a key component of any fitness routine and can help improve mood, strengthen the heart and lungs and burn fat and calories. It’s important to incorporate cardio into your at-home workouts, especially if you’re a beginner or working out from home in the winter.
Many people think they need a lot of equipment to get a good cardio workout at home, but there are plenty of exercises you can do with no equipment or very little. Examples include marching or jogging in place, dancing to music, mountain climbers and burpees. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends 150-300 minutes of moderate physical activity a week.
Another great way to do cardio is turning household chores into workouts. Walking up and down the stairs instead of taking the elevator, vacuuming vigorously rather than slowly, mowing the lawn or washing the windows are all good ways to work in cardio exercise without the need for specialized gym equipment.
Keeping up with your fitness goals at home can be challenging, especially when you’re trying to fit in workouts around a busy schedule and family life. It’s easy to skip a workout when you’re trying to do other things that seem more important, like cleaning up a big mess or doing laundry. That’s why it’s important to make your at-home workouts as fun and engaging as possible.
In the early days of at-home fitness, brands focused on creating machines and other tools that would give consumers a similar experience to a gym or fitness studio in their own homes. But as demand for at-home fitness grew, companies started to offer more creative and customizable tools that could meet the unique needs of individual customers. From high-tech integrations to immersive virtual and augmented reality, there are now a variety of ways to take your at-home workouts to the next level.
Flexibility
Having flexibility training tools at home is an important part of a complete fitness routine. Flexibility exercises help prevent injuries and improve the movement of joints in your body by increasing their range of motion. It also helps reduce muscular imbalances that may contribute to overuse injuries, such as tendinitis, by ensuring that other muscles can take up the slack when one muscle gets tight.
While it may seem counterintuitive to train for flexibility in the age of Instagram fitness stars who make contortionist poses look effortless, everyone needs flexibility. Whether you’re working out at a gym or in your living room, you need to stretch the major muscle-tendon groups at least two or three times per week to see benefits. Stretching, foam rolling and yoga are some of the best flexibility-training tools.
At-home workout equipment is experiencing a renaissance, and some of the biggest names in exercise are introducing new products designed to appeal to consumers who are looking for a convenient way to get a good workout without leaving their homes. Some companies are also incorporating technology and entertainment into their equipment, creating exercise machines that offer more than just a workout, but an entire experience. Ultimately, offering at-home workouts that sync with other activities consumers enjoy can further their loyalty and engagement with a brand.
As people work out from home, they face fewer barriers to their fitness than in the past. No more class cancellations or weather issues to throw off a workout. But working out from home can also be challenging, because there’s no one to hold you accountable for showing up for a workout or to push you when it feels like you need it. For these reasons, it’s crucial for at-home fitness users to develop a strong mental fortitude to stay dedicated to their workout plans when they aren’t being held to the same level of accountability as in a public setting. This requires a lot of commitment, but it will pay off in the long run.
Nutrition
The importance of nutrition can’t be understated. A healthy diet is vital for your fitness goals. The right food and water can help you perform your best, feel great after exercise and recover more quickly. A balanced meal should include fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains, plus healthy fats. It’s also important to drink plenty of water and avoid dehydration, which can lead to fatigue and decrease your performance.
Conclusion
Home fitness first began appearing after World War Two as trends towards open-plan living and technological innovations fueled the appetite for staying fit in your own home. Visit Wichita’s locally owned and operated Home Fitness at the Tallgrass Shopping Center on 21st & Rock Road to learn more about the equipment that can help you achieve your home fitness goals.