How to get the best from exercise at home
At this time of year when people are heading off on holiday, they want to try and look their best. Unfortunately joining a gym isn't always an option. So, can you get the same results working out at home?
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Cardiovascular work
Before any change to your training regime please consult your doctor.
Many people when they join a gym hit the cardiovascular equipment. They head for the rowing machines, treadmills, elliptical trainers, etc. However, if you're looking to train at home it doesn't mean you can't get your heart rate-up and the fat burning away.
If you're not keen on leaving the house to go for a run, or power, walk you can always look into buying your own home gym equipment. Some places even offer the opportunity to hire equipment where you can get a treadmill machine at home for less than buying one outright.
However, if you're not keen on spending money, there are many ways to get your heart rate-up and begin to burn the fat at home. To do this you may want to find a member of the family to train with. Your partner or maybe the kids would be perfect.
Why make just a difference to your lifestyle when you could change the whole family? Go out on long walks at the weekend. Maybe convince the family to take up running and train together for a fun run in your local area. You could even look into Park Runs, a free event held around the UK and Europe which offer 5k time trials once a week.
As well as running and walking you could also look into biking. Although this obviously does have a cost attached for buying the bikes, the costs are far outweighed by the benefits for the whole family in spending time together and savings on fuel etc.
So once you've got the cardiovascular part of your home work-out sorted how do you tone-up?
Home circuits
Circuit training is an excellent way not only to burn fat, but also to tone the body up. You don't always need to use weights to make a difference to your body shape. Lots of gymnasts use hardly any weights at all and everything they do is from body weight workouts. This includes press-ups, crunches, planks, tricep dips, inclined press-ups and calf raises, all of which can be done at home using different parts of the house. For example:
Tricep dips: from a chair or side of the bed
Calf raises: from the bottom step of your stairs
Inclined press-ups: off a chair or the bed
Check-out home workouts online to find something which suits you.