Gym memberships are expensive and hitting the gym can be a flat out waste of time and money. If you’re truly serious about working out, a gym membership is a reasonable investment, but for the rest of us here are five ways to get fit without hitting the gym!
Ab workouts are a pain to do but are luckily extremely easy to do from home and are a quick burn for lasting gains. If you’re just starting out, start simple and set a goal for reps that you can build off of. I’d recommend a simple workout consisting of sit-ups, crunches, and planks. Do 20 sit-ups, 15 crunches, then a one minute plank.
After completing each rotation take a 1-2 minute break and repeat 3-5 times depending on how you feel. Don’t push yourself too hard and don’t be upset if you aren’t able to do as much. With time and practice, you should be able to add in more exercises and more reps.
Push-ups have been around since the beginning of time and can be done theoretically anywhere. Do as little or as many as you want; Each push-up will help you grow stronger and work your fitness level up. Start by trying to do sets of 10, then 15, then 20, and make sure to space your sets out throughout the day. Even 5-6 sets of 15 push-ups a day will add up to close to 100.
If you want to change things up, feel free to try inclining or declining pushups for an all-inclusive bicep, tricep, and chest workout. The most important thing is to make sure that your form is good because without proper form the pushups won’t be as helpful.
Running can be done anywhere, and people oftentimes find that running outside is a lot more satisfying or engaging than running on a treadmill at the gym. With scenery passing by running seems to go by a lot quicker, without the added stress of constantly looking down to see how many miles or what speed you are at on a treadmill. Like any other exercise, running will be difficult for those just starting out, but after getting over the first hump, will become easier and can be the most effective way to become fit in the shortest amount of time.
Using ordinary household items can look silly, but who’s there to see? A 25-pound stack of bricks weighs the same as a 25-pound plate found at a gym, it’s just not as conventional. Get creative and find some ways to use everyday items as weights.
The only thing a gym has to offer that a home generally does not is its variety of weights and exercise machines, but with homemade weights, your home will be as close to a gym as possible, and getting fit will be just that much easier.
When conditioning it is easy to forget about the legs and strictly focus on arms and core, however, leg exercises are equally as important and easy to do from home. Wall sits and squats can be done in small sets throughout the day and are beneficial to strengthening your legs, however once again double-check to make sure you are using proper technique so that you get the most out of these exercises. Find an open area or wall in your house and get on your grind. As you advance feel free to add more weight for an additional challenge.
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