Working Out at Home

By Team Beachbody

It's dark when you leave for work and dark when you come home. It's raining, or snowing, and cold. The last thing you want to do is drive across town to the gym, where parking is sure to be a pain and there's always a line on your favorite machines.

Gyms can be great. They offer the latest in equipment, state-of-the-art classes, and fit, well-accessorized bodies for motivation. But in winter, that often isn't enough to counteract your desire to just go home and get warm and comfortable. That's why you need another option, a home gym.

This doesn't mean that you need the same equipment you're offered down at the local 24-Hour Fitness. It simply means that you need to create a space in your house where you are comfortable, and more importantly, used to working out.

Create a space in your home where you are comfortable moving and getting on the floor. You only need enough space to take two broad steps in each direction. Carpeted floors are great for stretching but an exercise mat will work if that's not an option. Since workout tapes offer easily accessed instruction and motivation, it's good to be able to set-up a television in your space, as is the ability to access your home stereo, in case you need to block out external noises such as kids or roommates.

You don't need to have any equipment, but a set of dumbbells or an exercise band will allow you more variable workout possibilities. You can get a good set of adjustable dumbbells up to 25lbs each (sufficient for about 90% of the population) for about $50 and exercise bands are even cheaper and have more resistance options then the five pound increments of weights.

Working out at home is great for many reasons. One of the best is that you save so much time. A 40-minute workout at home takes 40 minutes, where a comparable workout at the gym might take 3 hours when you consider driving time, parking, the locker room, waiting in line, etc.

But a home gym is not without its own problems: distractions. It's easy to come up with something-almost anything-that seems more important than working out. So, you need to treat your home gym time as if you are at the local club. The family needs to understand that this is your time to take care of yourself. And even on days when you're less than motivated to workout at home, you will find that once you get started you'll feel great, even if you only do half your routine. That's the best part about working out at home—the commitment in time is so little that even a set of sit-ups has benefits, but doesn't require a drive across town to get in gear.