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Perhaps gyms haven’t reopened yet in your region, or maybe you prefer the privacy of working out without onlookers. It could be that you hesitate to sweat with a group out of legitimate anxiety surrounding COVID-19. Whatever your motivations, you want a workout you can do at home.
Home gyms can come with an impressive price tag. However, you don’t have to be wealthy to exercise in your living room. Read on to discover nine of the easiest at-home workouts to try without parting with a lot of cash.
If you love hitting the club, you might feel sad, given recent events. Return the smile to your face by doing cardio dance at home.
Don’t worry if you have two left feet. You can find plenty of free videos on YouTube. You can also find ample apps that contain exciting new dance forms like Masala Bhangra. In the latter, you combine the beats of the Dhol drum with smiling and lots of Bhangra and Bollywood-inspired moves.
Resistance bands cost relatively little. You can find many brands online for less than $20. Plus, they’re small and lightweight, so if you travel frequently, you can take them in your luggage and get a workout on the road.
You can perform a full range of strength training exercises. Keep them under your couch or in a storage ottoman to whip them out and do biceps curls during commercial breaks.
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) lets you get vigorous in a short period. Most workouts are 30 minutes or less, but you still enjoy a considerable calorie burn. This workout style emphasizes bodyweight movements, so you won’t need any equipment at all. You’ll alternate challenging activities like burpees with rest intervals of marching in place.
Who said that you had to invest in an expensive weight rack? Hand weights offer considerable advantages over machines, such as moving through a broader range of motion and engaging more muscle groups. Plus, they don’t cost as much as machines — in most cases, they are priced less than $2 a pound.
Do you need to burn off some pent-up aggression? Turn to cardio kickboxing. You’ll jab, roundhouse and hook your way to a lean, toned body.
You don’t need any equipment to do a cardio kickboxing workout. You’ll find ample free videos on YouTube, or you can invest in a fitness app like DailyBurn to find this style of exercise class.
AMRAP stands for “As Many Reps As Possible.” It’s a style of resistance training that pushes your limits to the max. You can use weights or your body to race the clock to see how many squats or pushups you can perform. This form of training contains a cardiovascular component by default — when you’re trying to do as much as you can in a short time, your heart rate will increase. Talk about a two-for-one deal.
If you prefer a mind-body style of workout or have chronic pain conditions that make high-impact movements painful, try tai chi. This ancient martial art form puts minimal stress on muscles and joints, making it ideal for people with arthritis or older adults. Because the practice contains a mental component, you’ll also learn valuable skills for managing your emotions when you find yourself stuck in traffic.
Walking is an ideal form of exercise because it’s free. All you need is a pair of supportive shoes to protect your joints and a place to go.
If you are stuck inside due to inclement weather, you can get a killer quad and hamstring workout by walking up and down your stairs, which amps up your heart rate. Another option is to head to your nearest indoor shopping center — please remember to follow mask and hygiene rules.
Yoga is another mind-body activity and is one of the easiest at-home workouts. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t challenge yourself. If you can make it through the Ashtanga fourth series, you have officially entered an elite territory few can match.
However, don’t think you have to tie yourself into a pretzel to get the full benefits of this practice. Gentler styles, like yin yoga, work to increase the flow of hyaluronic acid in your body and reduce adhesions in your connective tissues that make you feel stiff.
You don’t have to go to a gym when you can perform the easiest at-home workouts in your living room. Try out the eight activities above to improve your health, boost your self-confidence and feel more comfortable in your clothes.
