With just a little bit of equipment, you can improve your overall fitness by working out regularly at home. A complete exercise program is one that improves all of the major components of fitness, including muscle strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, cardiorespiratory endurance and body composition. To do this, it should include strength training, cardiovascular exercise and stretching.
Strength Training
A gym membership is not necessary in order to receive an effective weight training workout. You can do many exercises without any weights at all, although if you purchase a set of dumbbells, you will be able to perform a significantly greater number of exercises. A basic, at-home strength training routine includes push-ups, squats, dips on a chair, lunges, wall sits, calf raises and abdominal exercises. If you have access to a set of dumbbells, you can significantly increase the intensity of your workout by also incorporating chest presses, rows, shoulder presses, biceps curls and triceps kickbacks. Complete two to three weightlifting workouts per week, with at least 48 hours of rest between sessions.
Cardiovascular Exercise
There is an array of choices of cardiovascular activities that you can do at home. If you're able to work out beyond your home, running is an effective option for burning calories and developing your cardiovascular system. If you must stay in your house, jumping jacks and jumping rope are both able to elevate your heart rate and burn calories. Following workout videos that incorporate cardio kickboxing moves is also a quality option. If you're trying to build and maintain heart health, complete three workouts per week at 30 minutes apiece. If you're trying to lose weight, complete 60 minutes of cardiovascular exercise on most days.
Circuit Training
A good way to incorporate both strength training and cardiovascular exercise into one workout is to do circuit training. Circuit training involves completing one activity for a short period of time, then immediately jumping to the next, and continuing in that fashion until you've completed all of the exercises. For example, you could start with five minutes of jumping jacks, then move to 20 body-weight squats, then on to 20 push-ups and finishing with 40 crunches. You would complete four to five sets of that routine for your complete workout.
Flexibility
Although typically overlooked, incorporating flexibility work into your workout routine will improve function and prevent pain associated with muscle tightness. Static stretching, which involves holding a mild stretch for 30 seconds, is very effective at improving flexibility when done consistently. Results from static stretching are better when you do it while your muscles are warm. Therefore, stretching immediately after your cardiovascular workouts is ideal because your muscles are warm and you're stretching routine will be consistent.
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