You don’t need to break the bank or fill an entire room with exercise equipment to get a good workout in. Check out the top 5 things to help you get the most out of your at-home workout:
1. Your own body
Push-ups, lunges, squats and burpees will get your heart pumping and build strong muscles – no equipment required. Challenge yourself with body weight exercises by increasing the difficulty (i.e. lunges, to jumping lunges or push-ups to reptile push-ups) or increasing the number of reps you do. Perform exercises back to back with little or no breaks to increase the calorie burn and keep that heart rate high! If you are looking for some inspiration, body-weight workouts are posted on our social media every week. Check facebook and instagram and search #firedupfitnessfriday
2. Jump Rope
For around $5 you can get the best piece of cardio equipment around! 10 mins of jump rope can be equivalent to 30mins of jogging while adding definition to the legs, shoulders and arms. Choose a rope of the proper length by standing with both feet in the center of the rope and pulling up the handles. If the rope is the proper length, the handles reach to your armpits. Be sure to use proper technique by keeping your upper arms close to the body, shoulders relaxed and skip at a steady pace to get the most out of your rope-skipping workouts.
Resistance Bands
Resistance bands are inexpensive and can be purchased for under $10. Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, resistance bands are for you. They come in a variety of strengths, including light, medium and heavy, and you can further adjust the intensity of your resistance-band workouts by giving the band more or less slack. You can even use multiple bands at once to increase the challenge. Resistance bands can replace the weights you use for biceps curls, or can increase the intensity of your push-ups. They take up virtually no space to store them, which means you can use them at home even if you have very little extra space. When your workout is done, simply stash them in a drawer until your next session.
Stability Ball
A stability ball or exercise ball is an effective way to strengthen your core muscles while performing exercises for other muscle groups. For example, performing a push up with your feet on a stability ball can increase the intensity of a push up on your upper body while also requiring your core muscles to work to keep you stable on the ball. Even sitting on a stability ball while working at your desk can improve your posture and reduce the aches and pains from sitting at a computer for extended periods of time.
Gymboss Timer or Interval Timer
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) describes any workout that alternates between intense bursts of activity and fixed periods of less-intense activity or even complete rest. One common HIIT workout is Tabata Training where you perform one exercise (squats for example) for 8 rounds of 20s work and 10s rest. Not only do you burn more calories during a HIIT workout, you burn more fat and calories in the 24 hours after a HIIT workout! An interval timer helps you keep track of your periods of intense work and rest so you don’t have to keep looking at your watch or a clock. Many interval timer apps are available for free on your smartphone.
Looking for exercise ideas? Check out the other articles in the blog here or find sample workouts posted every #firedupfitnessfriday on our Instagram and Facebook page
Want to know how we can help you get stronger, leaner and pain free? Click here to find out more about Fired Up Fitness and our services.