Think you need a fancy gym membership or a lot of special equipment to work out effectively and lose weight? Think again. No matter how much space you have in your home, you can find a way to work out there and incorporate regular exercise into your day. For the fastest results and the best health improvements, combine your workout plans with a healthy diet that you approve with a physician or nutritionist.
Advantages
Regular at-home exercise has a host of health benefits, both mentally and physically. The Mayo Clinic notes that physical activity can elevate your mood, boost your energy level, help you sleep better and even improve your sex life. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, regular exercise also can help you lose or maintain weight and reduces the risk of high blood pressure, osteoporosis, heart disease, stroke, cancers, depression and anxiety.
Drawbacks
Specialized gym equipment can help you target specific muscle groups and safely push your body to its maximum limits, but it's sometimes hard to recreate the same effects at home. Though going to the gym can take a lot of time, it can also be a challenge to find time to exercise at home. If you struggle with fitting workouts into your schedule, try to move more throughout the day. Harvard Medical School encourages people to ramp up their total amount of daily physical activity by walking instead of driving, playing with kids, and taking the stairs instead of an escalator or elevator.
Balanced Plan
A completely balanced fitness plan includes elements of aerobics, strength training, flexibility exercises and core workouts, all of which are possible to do without equipment or a gym. You can walk, jog or bike around your neighborhood for aerobics, lift weights or support your own body weight for strength training, stretch before and after each workout to improve flexibility and do sit-ups, crunches, the plank and similar moves to boost core strength.
Other Factors
The Mayo Clinic stresses the importance of a healthy diet in a complete weight loss plan. You might lose weight faster if you reduce the total number of calories you eat daily, but you also can improve your odds of losing weight if you make small changes in what you eat, such as replacing sodas with water or having a graham cracker instead of a doughnut. If you have a disease or condition that makes it harder for you to lose weight, you may encounter more obstacles in the process and should talk with a doctor before beginning any fitness plan.
Results
Aside from the reduced risks of disease that come with regular exercise, the physical activity helps improve your resting metabolism, according to the healthy-living resource HelpGuide.org. People with higher metabolisms generally burn more calories, so it's easier for them to lose and maintain weight throughout their lives. If your at-home exercise plan includes strength training and core workouts, you may lose fat around your midsection and tighten and tone muscles as well.
Member Comments