More and more people are realizing just how effective and convenient a home gym really is. Rather than having to take a lot of time out of the day to go to a regular gym, a gym at home means you can work out even if you don’t have a lot of time. Plus, the money you’ll save on a gym membership can go towards the one-off cost of buying your new gym equipment.
Of course, if you decide to build a home gym, you’re going to want to use it as much as possible. It’s easy to become demotivated when you don’t see the results you thought you would, so you’ll need to make sure you do workouts that will achieve your fitness goals. That means investigating exactly which workouts are going to be the best ones for you, depending on whether you want to lose weight, build muscle, or simply become fitter overall. With that in mind, here are some of the best ways to exercise that combine a variety of different things to give you the results you’re looking for.
1. Warm Up
No matter what exercises you want to do, you’ll need to warm up first. Otherwise, you run the risk of injury, and your body won’t be able to make the most of the fitness you’re trying to give it. Although it might feel a little tedious and as though you’re wasting time (especially when you don’t have long to work out anyway), going ahead without warming up is potentially dangerous.
Warm ups don’t have to take long – just a couple of minutes of jogging on the spot and stretching are all you need to make sure your muscles, joints, lungs, and heart are ready for your workout.
2. Planking
Sometimes the simplest exercises are the best ones, or at least they should be incorporated into your exercise routine because doing more than one exercise is a good idea to ensure you’re using every muscle group. One of the simplest exercises you can do is the plank.
Position yourself as though you were going to do a pushup with your toes and forearms touching the ground. Push up, so you’re in a straight line and hold that position – that’s all you have to do. Of course, it sounds very simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s an easy thing to do. At first, you probably won’t be able to hold the pose for very long. As time goes on and your strength improves, however, you’ll be able to do more.
This will work your core and arms wonderfully, and it doesn’t actually need any equipment. While you start looking and saving up for gym equipment, it is the perfect workout. It could even then guide you into finding the right type of home gyms at Mirafit. You could focus on building arm strength, for example, and bring in weight equipment first.
3. Chest Press
If you want to start building muscle, incorporating the chest press into your workout routine is a good idea. As the name suggests, this exercise mainly focuses on the chest muscles, but it also helps with your biceps and triceps.
Using a dumbbell, you need to lie with your back on a bench and hold one dumbbell in each hand over your chest. Bend your elbows and lower the weights downward – your elbows should get to about 90 degrees. Push back up and repeat the process.
4. One-Arm Row
If you’re working your chest muscles, you also need to work your back muscles, and the one-arm row is an ideal way to do exactly that (and it will also boost your biceps as a bonus).
Put one foot on a platform (a simple step will do) and rest the same hand on your thigh. In the other hand, you need to hold a dumbbell. Keep your back flat and tip slightly forward so that the weight hangs down to the floor. Next, bend your elbow, so you are making a rowing movement; the dumbbell needs to reach your torso, and when it does, lower back down again before repeating.
5. Deadlift
Deadlifts are much more of a challenge, but when you feel ready to progress, they are a good exercise to move on to, and they are fantastic for working the leg muscles such as the hamstrings and glutes.
To deadlift, you’ll need to stand with your feet hip-width apart. Hold your dumbbells in front of your thighs and, tipping from the hips, lower the weights towards the floor. Keep your back flat at all times. Then stand back up and repeat.
Be careful with this exercise, as it can damage your back if you’re not doing it right. Take a look at some online videos or ask an expert for advice about how to deadlift and you should be able to stay much safer.
6. Join A Virtual Gym
Even with a fantastic home gym in place, some people just can’t get motivated to work out. No matter the benefits of having their own space, they just need to be around other people to ensure they do what they’re meant to do. Yet the time element is still a factor, and if you’re working full-time or you have a family to take care of (or both), finding the time to leave the house and go to the gym is just not always possible.
However, if you set up a great home gym with all the equipment you like to use, you can use it to work out while you attend a virtual gym. In other words, you don’t have to leave the house, saving you a lot of time and inconvenience, but you can work out on your own equipment with other people who are doing the same thing. You’ll be online together, perhaps with video screens, and you’ll be able to feel much more motivated. There are also virtual exercise classes you can use that will incorporate your home gym equipment as well if you like to have someone instructing you on what to do and how to do it.
