Workout routines at home
There are so many excuses for not exercising. Sometimes we think it’s too difficult and sometimes they feel really intimidated to get into a gym. I have worked with some beautiful women who are a little overweight, and they tell me that when they walk into the gym and they see all the knuckles dragging muscular heads grunting and sweating, they are intimidated to even approach any of the weights. It makes them feel like they don’t know what they are doing.
Actually, those musclemen are very nice guys. They know that you have to start somewhere and cannot judge them. In fact, they would be happy to help if you asked a question. Regardless, I tell my clients that, and they still feel nervous about hitting the gym on their own.
Therefore, there are many exercise routines that you can do from home. You can always take the most popular exercise DVD and do it on your own. And there is always the fitness channel. Those are the easiest to do, because you have someone you can follow. Find something you enjoy and stick with.
I’ve even seen some videos that incorporate holding your baby for the new mom. Mom exercises and baby enjoys it, because they are enjoying valuable playtime with Mom.
I used to travel a lot, so I call this routine at home the ‘hotel exercise routine’. Something I could do in my hotel room without the need for weights or additional fitness equipment. I start to heat up. If I have some stairs somewhere, I could warm myself up and down the stairs slowly at first, and then eventually as fast as I can. I do this for about 20 minutes. If there are no stairs, I just warm up with some jumping jacks, squats, push-ups, and jumps as if I had a jump rope. I call them no jump ropes.
After a sufficient warm-up, I like to do a little stretching. I take a deep breath as I raise my arms above my head, and as I exhale, I bring my hands up to my toes. Feet are slightly wider than shoulder width. I press my lower back towards my legs and stretch the back of my legs. (Hamstring muscle group). Then I walk it up my right leg, then my left leg, then back to the middle. I walk in with my feet together from there, so that I still touch my toes. I bend my right knee and stick my hips out, then alternate my left knee and back and forth until I feel stretched enough. I roll my vertebrae up slowly, one vertebra at a time until I am standing.
Now for the hardest part of the home exercise routine. I start with 20 push-ups, 20 sit-ups, 20 squats, and 20 lunges on each leg. If I have something that I hold onto, like a desk or bench, I will do 20 tricep presses. You are sitting on the edge of the bench or chair, with your feet in front of you and your palms facing back. You grab the chair and dive in, using the back of your arms to push yourself back.
Then I do 19 of each exercise. Then 18 reps, then 17 … I think you know where I’m going with this. All the way to one of each. That should get you just about every major body part and give you a great workout!
