For many people who’ve made the commitment to exercise regularly and get healthier, motivation isn’t the hard part—it’s time. We can all be so busy that squeezing an hour of exercise into our daily schedules is tough, not to mention dealing with traffic and low energy levels. Skip one day, and before you know it, you’re missing a week. Simply showing up for a workout can be half the battle won, so why not bring your exercise area straight into the home? Whether you seemingly have no space to spare or may still need basement finishing and remodeling for a functional gym, these ideas will help you put in a full workout anytime, without ever leaving your home.
Working out with no space
You might feel like there’s absolutely nowhere at home to execute any sort of workout, but think again. If you have space to lie down and get a good night’s sleep, you can carry out certain exercises in bed. You can do leg lifts, glute bridges, and planks that are fantastic for building core strength. Surely, you have some room to stand and walk about. Lunges, pushups, and mountain climbers are some exercises that require only a body’s length of floor space and zero equipment to perform. You can also work on different variations of squats—the invisible chair, in which you squat with your back against a wall, is great for cramped situations. Don’t forget that everyday equipment, such as a loaded backpack, can also let you do overhead presses and curls with no more than standing room required.
Clearing out a small room
Sometimes, you just need to clear out some clutter, and you’ll find that an unused room has enough space to be converted into your exercise area. Even a common area such as the living room or garage can be cleared out to give you more space for a variety of workouts. Roll out a portable gym mat in this area, and you can begin to engage in a wide variety of yoga poses, for instance. The more room you have to work with, the more equipment you can incorporate into your routines. Dumbbells, medicine balls, resistance bands, and a workout bench can be kept handy in your designated area; see to it that you’ve got sufficient storage space, so they don’t get in the way when not in use.
Setting up a home gym
When you’ve got plenty of unused floor space just waiting to be used, you can be as creative as you want when setting up your home gym. Many homeowners would look to bring in the sort of equipment you’d find at most professional facilities: treadmills, barbells, squat racks, pull-up bars, rowing machines, and stationary bikes. This gives you a lot of options with which you can hit different muscles each day, keeping the workouts varied and interesting. There are many other things you can achieve with a dedicated fitness center; handholds or ropes along the walls let you go climbing, for instance. Mirrors, some good lighting, and acoustics will give you a basic dance studio setup.
With smart use of space and a little imagination, even tight living conditions can enable you to work out at home. In contrast, big empty rooms and finished spaces can be transformed into the fully-equipped venue for your exercise commitment.
