5 Home Workout Mistakes
One of the drawbacks of a workout routine in home program is that you’re doing it all on your own. You don’t have a personal trainer or fitness there to guide you.
Hopefully, you’ve done your due diligence and put together a good exercise plan, perhaps with advice from a fitness expert. You have incorporated a variety of great exercises to effectively strengthen and tone your body, help you burn fat and boost your cardiovascular health.
But without a professional actually there with you, there are a few common mistakes you could be making that can really screw up your workout.
Here are five common in home workout routine mistakes that you need to beware of.
Signs That You Are Overtraining
Overtraining or following a very high-intensity exercise program can exhaust your body and cause exercise burnout not to mention injury.
Overtraining or intensifying your workouts too quickly can sometimes even cause a serious injury that may require some recovery time.
Yet, many people fall into this trap because they think that exercising more or more intensively will get them quicker results. It’s no wonder that these people often fall off the wagon and just lose their motivation and energy.
The best option is a workout plan that brings you more slowly towards your goal. Always increase the intensity of your routine gradually for long-lasting and much safer results.
Watch For These Weightlifting Mistakes
This is a mistake the professional trainers cite often. They advise against rushing through exercises that involve weights as this is a common cause of injury.
Remember to always stabilize your core when exercising with weights. Do the movements slowly and steadily, keeping your body balanced.
Another common workout routine in home mistake is that people tend to curve their backs when doing deadlifts. Your back should always be very straight and taut.
Why Is Form Important In Exercise?
Home workouts don’t require equipment. They rely mostly on bodyweight exercises like planks, squats, pushups, lunges and sit-ups. Many home exercisers tend to overlook the correct “form” when doing these types of exercises.
For example, doing planks with improper form can cause long-term issues with the lower back, or even immediate injury.
The best way to pay attention to your form is to watch the exercise being done by a pro. Just type in the name of the exercise on YouTube and watch a couple of videos by a training professional.
Pay attention to the trainer’s form, such as the position of his or her back, the position of the legs and feet, how far the legs are from each other and so on.
Next, film yourself doing the exercise to make sure that your form is correct.
Don’t Be Stubborn
Sometimes, it’s just too hard to do a specific exercise. No matter how hard you try, you just can’t get it right.
If this is the case, find a variation on the exercises that’s easier, or a different one that targets the same muscles.
Benefits Of Listening To Your Body
Another mistake you may be making is not listening to your body.
How do you feel after your workout? How do you feel the next day? It’s normal to feel tired after a workout but excessive soreness or pain could mean you’ve over-trained or injured yourself.
Are you making any of these five mistakes? If so, it’s never too late to fix them.
Stay mindful while you’re exercising to ensure that you stay safe, practice moderation and get the most out of your workout every time.
Can Home Workout Be As Effective As Gym?
Sometimes, even the most health-conscious person neglects to stay in shape because they can’t get to the gym regularly.
Sometimes, we just can’t be bothered to drive to the gym then drive back home after a strenuous workout. Sometimes, it’s we just can’t fit regular gym workouts into our busy schedules.
Whatever the reason may be, a workout routine in home program may be a better option. If you think working out at home vs the gym is not as effective, check out these simple but powerful exercises. They’ll give you the benefits of a great gym workout from the comfort of your own home.
Push Ups Work What Muscles?
Nothing beats good old-fashioned pushups because they work so many muscles of the body.
Watch This Proper Push Up Video
- Start the exercise in a plank position with your elbows bent, your core pulled tight and your body balanced on your toes.
- Lower your body until it’s almost touching the floor then raise it again until your arms are stretched straight.
- Keep your elbows as close to your body as possible while doing the exercise.
- Complete a set of 10 pushups, rest for a few moments then repeat two more sets.
How To Do Lunges Right
This exercise strengthens your core as well as thigh, leg and hip muscles.
Watch This How To Do Lunges Video
- Start with your feet shoulder-width apart, arms against your sides.
- Step forward with your right foot, bending your knee until your thigh is parallel to the floor.
- Push hard with your right foot and “lunge” back to the starting position.
- Repeat with the left foot.
- Repeat 10 times, alternating between your right and left legs.
- Rest for a few moments and repeat twice more.
Single Leg Deadlift With One Dumbbell
This is a powerful exercise for strengthening balance and toning leg and thigh muscles. You will need a light dumbbell for this exercise.
Watch This Single Leg Deadlift Video
- Stand with your knees bent slightly, holding the dumbbell in your right hand.
- Kick your left leg so that it’s straight out behind you and lift it as high as you can, keeping it parallel with the floor.
- Lower your right hand holding the dumbbell to the ground.
- Hold the position for as long as you’re comfortable.
- Slowly return your leg back to the starting position.
- Repeat 10 times with the left leg then repeat with the right leg.
Squats Strengthen What Muscles?
Doing squats correctly are a good way to increase lower body strength and flexibility.
Watch This How To Do Squats Video
- Stand with legs a little bit further than shoulder-width apart.
- Put your arms out in front of you and drop down until your thighs are parallel to the floor.
- Make sure your bent knees remain in position and that they don’t lean inwards or outwards.
- Hold the position for one second and return to the standing position.
- Repeat 20 times, rest, then do two more sets.
Sit Up How To Do
The lowly sit-up often gets ignored but it’s actually one of the best ways to keep your abdominal muscles tight and trim belly fat.
Watch This Sit Up Exercise Video
- Do 3 sets of 15 sit-ups each.
- You can do them with knees bent or legs stretched straight, or with arms either folded behind your head or straight above it.
- There are several ways to do sit-ups and all of them work great.
Burpees Work What Muscles
This is a challenging exercise but well worth the strain as it does wonders for cardiovascular health, balance and core muscles.
Watch This How To Do Burpees Video
- Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and arms at your sides.
- Slowly bend down until your palms are touching the floor.
- Kick your legs back, bring your body into a pushup position and perform one pushup.
- Pull your feet up towards your body until they are straddling your hands, or as close to them as possible.
- Leap back to the starting position.
- Repeat three sets of 10 burpees.
How To Do Glute Bridge Exercise
This is a perfect exercise for strengthening your whole bottom area and toning your glutes.
Watch This Glute Bridge Exercise Video
- Lie down with your arms beside you, palms flat against the floor. Bend your knees.
- Raise your hips from the ground by pushing on your heels and clench your abdominal and glute muscles tightly.
- Hold for 1-2 seconds and return to the starting position.
- Complete 10-12 reps for 3 sets.
These 7 fundamental exercises, if practiced regularly, are guaranteed to keep you super fit. When combined together, they will create a powerful workout that’s equal to a typical gym routine.
If you practice the workout twice weekly, you can expect to see results within 30 days. You will enjoy improved muscle tone, better balance and endurance and a trimmer, leaner figure.
Even better, this simple but powerful routine saves you the cost of a gym membership and the trouble of having to fit gym into your schedule. You practice them on your time, in your own home, and without spending a dime!
How To Start Home Workout – 6 Easy Steps
Are you thinking of staying fit by creating a proper home workout routine?
Are you wondering where to start?
A workout routine in home has helped thousands of people not only achieve their fitness outcomes but to consistently lead healthier lives. The key to a great home workout plan is in laying the groundwork.
Here’s how you can do that in 6 simple steps.
Step #1: How To Choose Exercises
A good workout plan contains a variety of exercises that enable you to work all of the body muscles to burn fat and build strength.
Avoid exercises that you absolutely hate so that working out doesn’t become a dreaded task. For example, if you hate running, choose jumping rope or using a stationary bike for your cardio exercises, and so on.
Your plan should contain the following at home workouts routines:
Make a list of 8 or 10 exercises under each category so that you have a decent variety of options to work with and interchange in your plan.
Step #2: How To Schedule Workout At Home
The key is to be realistic. Determine how many days a week you can commit to and loosely determine the time of day (this is not mandatory but the more stricture you have, the better).
If you’ve already been exercising for a while, 3-4 days a week is realistic and doable. For beginners, 2-3 days a week can work best, with one day for cardio and 2 days for strength exercises.
Make a schedule of your workout days and the exercises you will practice on each day. Make the commitment to stick to your schedule if you want to see results.
Note: Exercising 6 or 7 days a week, no matter how passionate you are is neither realistic nor recommended. Rest days between strength training are vital to give your body time to recover.
Step # 3: How To Target Specific Muscles
There are basically two ways you can work out.
Full Body Workout: This is where your routine targets all of the major body muscles. You can do this in rotation, with 6-8 exercises for the upper body one day and the same number for the lower body on the next workout day. Or, you can do 4 exercises for the upper body and 4 for the lower body in one session.
Problem Area Workouts: the second method is to target specific body areas. This is where you incorporate more exercises targeting problem areas while doing a full-body workout just one day a week. It’s important that while working on specific areas, you also don’t neglect your overall body strength.
Step 4: Choose your weights, reps and duration
If you’re a beginner, play around with different weights to find which is the most comfortable for you.
Light to medium weights are best for beginners while heavier ones should be used if you’ve been exercising with weights for a while.
Next, determine the number of reps for each exercise. Two sets of 8-12 reps are realistic for beginners, while 3 sets are recommended for the more experienced. You can gradually increase the number of sets as you intensify your routine.
This is something you can experiment with as well to find what works best. Your workout routine in home shouldn’t be too easy or too hard. You should feel tired at the end of your session but not totally exhausted and burned out.
Step #5: Do You Need Workout Equipment?
Start small by investing in a set of weights or dumbbells and an exercise mat. Consider if you want to invest in any other equipment that you feel will help you. This is not mandatory but if you want to start creating a small home gym by gradually adding equipment, whatever works best for you.
Step #6: You Need A Workout Schedule
All of the steps above should be written down and organized into a final work out schedule that includes workout days, exercises for that day and the intensity. From this foundation, you can easily add more days, switch exercises around and increase the intensity of your workout.
Working out in the privacy and comfort of your own home is absolutely doable for a complete beginner. Build your customized workout routine in home plan using these 6 steps and in no time, you’ll be on your way to becoming fitter and healthier.
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