Health and fitness are quite the ‘hot topics’ of this modern era. With sprouting health concerns and rising obesity levels, people are trying to live a healthy life. Some are shedding extra pounds, while others want to build muscle strength. Although exercise is essential to stay fit, it is not enough. When it comes to physical fitness, you have to switch to a healthy lifestyle beyond regular workout sessions. It is about taking a nutritional diet, hydrating your body, and exercising.
Unfortunately, hitting the gym is not possible due to the on-going situation – global pandemic. Therefore, consider starting a workout routine from the comfort of your home. Initially, maintaining a routine and pushing yourself to workout might seem challenging, but gradually, it will become a habit. You can get some equipment – dumbbells, exercise mats, cardio machine, and enjoy workouts at home. Honestly, these are more feasible since you don’t have to travel anywhere.
If you want to know more, let us help you get started. Here are five fitness tips to keep your body strong and healthy at home.
1. Aerobic Exercise
You want to lose weight or build muscular strength – it is crucial to get your heart racing. Aerobic exercises increase breathing that, in turn, helps in keeping the heart, lungs, and circulatory system healthy. Therefore, kick off your routine with some aerobic exercises. You can either invest in a conventional cardio machine – treadmill, elliptical, or explore better options. These days, people want a machine that balances strength training with cardio to get quick results.
If you want something similar, get a ski training machine. If you are wondering how to learn to ski at home, it is pretty simple. You have to place your hands on the machine while moving your legs in the right and left direction. It lets you hit the slopes, targets specific muscle groups, and improves endurance. Begin your workout with this machine to warm up the muscles and then move to other cardio workouts. Here is a list of exercises you must include in your training.
- Bridge – Lie on your back with knees bent and push through your feet to raise your lower body and back. It activates core muscles and helps in overcoming backpains.
- Knee-Pushups – Get into the plank position and push your upper body from hands while maintaining a 45-degree angle. It builds strength in attempting a standard pushup.
- Jump Rope – It improves hand-foot coordination while putting your entire body at work.
The duration of these exercises depends on your endurance capacity. If you are a beginner, start slow and gently increase the intervals and intensity levels. It would give your body enough time to adjust to the workout routine.
2. Perform Flexibility Moves
Since we are talking about fitness, it is impossible to skip flexibility training. It enhances mobility, muscle coordination, posture, and reduces the risk of injuries. Likewise, it increases your motion range, helping you perform exercises better. Therefore, consider incorporating it into your workout routine. You can either have a 5-10-minute stretching session in every workout or spend 45-minutes on flexibility training once a week.
You can start with dynamic stretching because it activates muscle movements. Feel free to perform shoulder rolls, extended angle side bends, chest mobilizer, and the cat stretch. It can significantly improve shoulder and upper back mobility. Alongside this, include static stretching in these exercises. Whenever you get into a stretching position, hold it for 20-30 seconds or until you feel the muscle tension. It lengthens and tightens the muscles.
3. Resistance Training
Do you know lean muscle mass diminishes with age? If you don’t start working out at the right time, the percentage of fat in your body can spread over the lean muscles. Strength training preserves and enhances muscle mass by increasing bone density. It works on a group of muscles to build strength and endurance. Here we are breaking down five exercises that you have to perform with intervals of one minute.
- Mountain Climbers: It copies the motion of climbers, making it a full-body workout. It increases strength in your arms, legs, core, back, and, most importantly, your heart.
- Plank: These are popular for toning abs and developing strength in the upper body.
- Single-leg Hip Raise: You have put your foot firmly on the floor and raise your hips. It will target the muscles in the glutes and abs.
- Pushup: It effectively works the muscles in your shoulder, back, and chest. If you want to upsurge the intensity, put your feet on a high surface, and then do a pushup.
- Leg Raises: This exercise helps boost core strength as your legs move in a controlled manner throughout.
4. Use Weights And Bands
When we talk about weightlifting and resistance bands, bodybuilders with bulky muscles instantly come to mind. Surprisingly, weightlifting offers incredible benefits for everyday people who are hoping for better health. In the beginning, start with light weights and one set of 15 reps for every exercise. You can either incorporate weights in strength training or perform weight-specific exercises. You can perform chest press, one-arm row, and overhead press with weights.
In addition to these exercises, determine your fitness goals. If you want to target your abs, perform bicycle crunches with weights to build abs. In case you find this challenging, opt for bicycle modification. Otherwise, if you are working out to stay fit, consider including weights in resistance training.
5. Incorporate Healthy Diet
Gorging on pizzas, burgers, or any other junk food can tear your fitness journey apart. All the fats you burn in your workout sessions go straight to your muscles due to junk food consumption. Thus, switch to a healthy diet and leave all sorts of munching for the cheat day. Firstly, keep track of your calories and don’t exceed the calorie count. Have a heavy breakfast enriched with proteins and fibers and follow up with a veggie lunch.
Similarly, consume minimal calories in your dinner by having whole grains and brown rice. Most importantly, include fruits in your diet. It has high-water content that can help in keeping your body hydrated. You can either replace them with your snacks or make some mouth-watering smoothies. Undoubtedly, this transition won’t be easy as you would crave junk food. But remind yourself about the healthy diet’s importance and keep going.
Final Thoughts
Believe it or not, starting a fitness and health journey from home is a lot easier than you think. You don’t have to alter your schedule to take out time for workouts. Exercising from home gives you the flexibility to choose your time and days. All you have to do is maintain self-discipline and adopt this habit as quickly as possible. Alongside equipping yourself with the workout gear and machines, make some amendments to your diet and lifestyle. With some small changes, you will feel significant improvements in your health.
