10 Alternative Ways To Stay Fit From Home
If you want to stay fit at home without going to the gym or doing laps around the garden, you’re in luck! Being active and staying healthy doesn’t mean you need to be lifting weights or completing marathons. There are plenty of ways for you to participate in home workouts without equipment, whether you’re looking to drop a few pounds, improve your fitness levels, or boost your mood. In this article, we’re going to reveal how to get fit at home and how to be active without going to the gym. Are you ready? Let’s take a look at 10 alternative ways to increase physical activity at home.
Start with a warm-up
Before starting any home workout, it’s always best to warm up. A warm-up will help to get your muscles active, preventing injury from occurring.
How to do it: Begin by stretching out your arms and legs. You only need to do a few easy lunges, star jumps or jumping jacks. Alternatively, try jogging on the spot for a couple of minutes.
Top tip: Play your favourite music to make it more fun. You could even watch a YouTube video while you warm up.
Beginner weights
Many people who want to know how to stay fit and healthy at home need home workouts that don’t use specialist equipment. The great thing is that you can make use of what you have and still keep fit without a gym membership.
How to do it: For this, you can use tins of beans, water bottles or even milk bottles to work your arm muscles. Try doing 20 squats while lifting your makeshift weights in the air, followed by 20 bicep curls, 20 burpees (without weights) and 20 jumping jacks. Repeat the sequence 3 times, taking a 30-second break in-between. This cardio circuit will get your heart rate up, helping you to get a real sweat on.
Top tip: Blast your favourite feel-good songs to give you motivation!
Start practising HIIT
One of the best ways to stay fit at home is to start practising HIIT. High intensity interval training is essentially a cardiovascular exercise which is beneficial for weight loss and boosting your fitness. It comprises short bursts of intense exercise, followed by a short period of rest.
How to do it: Start with burpees! Begin by standing, squatting, kicking out your legs and moving into push up position. Bring back your legs and end in a jump. Do this 10 times, rest for one minute, then do 10 more.
Top tip: Remember to sip on water throughout your workout to stay hydrated.
Step up
If you want to stay fit at home, try making use of your stairs. Don’t worry if you don’t have stairs in your home – we’ve got you covered too!
How to do it: Use the bottom step on your stairs to step up and down for 5-10 minutes. It’s great for beginners or those who wish to get moving more. If you don’t have stairs, you can simply march on the spot.
Top tip: Try marching on the spot for 2-3 minutes during the ad breaks of your favourite TV show!
Get running!
Many people who want to know how to stay fit while at home assume that you need to leave the house to start running. Not so. Running inside is a great way for beginners to start exercising.
How to do it: You don’t need to live in a large house to start running. An alternative way to be fit and run is to try running on the spot. You can change pace to make it easier or more challenging depending on how fit you are.
Top tip: Try running for one song as an easy starting point.
Use a hula hoop!
If you’ve got kids, you may already own a hula hoop. Stay fit working from home by hula hooping indoors. Not only is it fun to do, it’s also one of the most simple exercises to do at home to stay fit.
How to do it: Start by hula hooping in a clockwise direction. Try to do 10 spins clockwise and then 10 spins anti-clockwise. This is great for toning your stomach and hips.
Top tip: Why not have a hula hoop competition with your partner or one of the kids? Keep the hula hoop going until there’s one person left standing – that person is your winner! If you live alone, try timing yourself to see if you can beat your personal best.
Get tidying!
If you’re looking for simple home exercises to stay fit, try this! Tidying is actually a great way to get fit and keep your house clean at the same time. Get the mop out, clean your kitchen worktops, sort out your wardrobe, the options are endless.
How to do it: Obviously this works well when you have a few bits around the house to clean or a part of the house that needs a deep clean. Whether it’s the kitchen or the bathroom, concentrate on one area of your home and add in a few dance moves to make it fun!
Top tip: Set a timer and give yourself 10-20 minute bursts with a small break in-between! Try and vary heights – reaching up high to dust cobwebs and down low to dust skirting boards, for example.
Kitchen dance-a-thon!
One of the best home exercises to stay fit is dancing!
How to do it: Just pop the radio on or your favourite Spotify playlist and spend an hour dancing. You could even get some fun multi-coloured lights to really create the disco effect. If you want to make a night of it, bring out a few healthy-ish snacks and drinks!
Top tip: Try doing this with a partner, flatmate or a friend over Zoom. It’s much more fun when you have someone to dance with!
Try a fitness class in your living room
You don’t need to pay for an exercise class to stay fit at home. Just switch on YouTube and find a workout.
How to do it: There are plenty of fitness videos on YouTube. From Yoga with Adriene to The Body Coach, a 30-minute exercise class can be taken from the comfort of your living room.
Top tip: Get the whole family involved or attempt different classes on a different day of the week to mix things up.
Say hello to your very own personal trainer
If you’re searching for home remedies to stay fit and healthy, then Alexa or Google Assistant can be your very own personal trainer. Smart speakers offer more than just the weather – they’re a great way to stay fit at home.
How to do it: Pair your speaker with an app like Google Fit or Quick Workout. Alternatively, you can use your smart speaker as a timer for fitness or voice reminders to keep you active at home.
Top tip: You don’t need to necessarily pay for an app as many offer free trials or have free features that you can make use of. You can even use your speaker to play music while you try out one of the simple exercises we’ve mentioned above.
Final Thoughts
Now you know how to get fit at home, you’ll be able to start boosting your fitness levels. Always start your daily exercise to stay fit at home with a warm-up as this will prevent any injuries and get your muscles prepared for your workout. Whether you want to simply increase your fitness or find exercises to lose weight, following our best alternatives to going to the gym will give you ample ways to increase physical activity at home, regardless of your budget.
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Indie Bornhoft is a personal trainer and watersports coach, who encourages her clients to make movement their mantra. She has coached every ability in wakeboarding, paddleboarding, SUP fitness, and windsurfing for over ten years, and is highly qualified in all disciplines. Discover more about her drive to just keep moving and be inspired to connect to the raw power of body & spirit through fitness.
