Working out at home is cheap, it can be a lot of fun – and sometimes it’s necessary, especially during the COVID-19 period. When you can’t or don’t want to go elsewhere to keep fit, there are plenty of options for working out at home. 

There can be a risk of feeling demotivated, however, or of getting bored of doing the same workouts. When you decide to work out at home, it doesn’t have to be dull. 

You can use a range of techniques to make your home workouts fun, exciting, and varied, and to stay motivated. Get your home workouts right by using the following tips to make them fun.

Follow a Motivational Instructor

If you’re not used to working out independently, it can be a struggle to stay motivated. When you’re missing the feeling of having an instructor encouraging you through your workout, you can simply look for a replacement. 

There are different ways to find someone to get you motivated during your home workouts. You can find plenty of ready-made workout videos by talented instructors. They might not be talking to you directly or giving you personalised advice, but they can still be beneficial to follow when you need motivation.

Another option is to consider an online personal trainer. They can help you individually, watching you during your workout and giving you advice, as well as pushing you to do your best. 

They can even provide you with a complete training programme to help you achieve your goals. If this sounds a bit too involved for you, you could consider a training app…

For example, Couch to 5K can be downloaded to your phone and will get you running. You can choose from motivational celebrity voices to help you to complete your fitness goals. Failing anything else, get your partner, children, or a friend to shout encouraging things at you.

Get Some New Equipment

You don’t need to have fancy equipment to work out at home. In fact, you can use anything you find around the house as weights and other fitness equipment. However, it can be helpful to have some equipment that is designed for helping you to get fit. 

There’s no need to have a lot of space in your home or a dedicated home gym. You can buy small pieces of fitness equipment that are easy to stow away when you’re not using them. However, you also have a range of larger pieces of equipment available to you, from bikes to rowing machines.

Useful Home Equipment Checklist:

• Resistance Bands
• Adjustable Dumbbells 
• Ab Roller
• TRX suspension trainer 
• Yoga Mat
• Medicine ball
• Ankle Weights 
• Sandbag – check out these 20 Sandbag Exercises
• Weighted Vest 

Boost your workout music

Listening to music during your workout can be a fantastic way to motivate yourself when you’re working out. If you’re missing the music from your gym, there are some options to help you replicate it. Download some spin instructor music for your next workout on your exercise bike for some extra motivation. 

You can look for workout playlists on your favourite streaming services too. Think about what sort of music gets you motivated when you work out. It won’t necessarily be what you like to listen to at other times. You might be surprised by what sort of music gets your blood pumping.

Vary What You’re Doing

Doing the same thing, again and again, can certainly get tedious. While it’s good to have a routine, it’s not so good to get stuck in a rut. And when you’re stuck exercising at home, it can be easier to feel like you’re stuck. 

If you want to avoid this, you should try to vary what you’re doing. That might mean that one day you spend some time on your exercise bike, while the next day, you use your workout time to do a little yoga. You could also do the same type of workout, but mix up the specific exercises that you do or choose different workouts to follow.

Variety is the spice of life, and whenever I get bored I look for new ways to help me get fit and follow different styles of training to challenge my body. For example, recently i’ve started doing sledge hammer workouts, hitting a tractor tyre (very therapeutic!) with a sledge hammer. I also like to do kettlebell exercises. I get my workout ideas from the likes of this home fitness blog and magazines such as Mens Health, Muscle and Fitness and Flex magazine. There are lots of great resources online – feel free to message me for ideas.

WARNING – I think it’s good to stick to the same workout routine for 8-12 weeks, before changing. You need variety BUT you also need consistency…one BIG mistake I see people make is chopping and changing their program every week. If you have a very specific goal i.e. to be a bodybuilder then you may need to stick to the same plan for longer (12-24 weeks!).

Workout With Others

Working out at home can be lonely. Many people prefer to workout in a class or at least alongside others at the gym. If you’re bored with working out alone at home, you can do it with other people instead. There’s no need to invite anyone over or go elsewhere. You can work out with your family or people who live with you if you want to do it with people in person. 

Alternatively, you can find ways to connect with people online. Connect with friends or family members using video chat for one way to do this. Or look for online classes and communities that allow you to join in with others who are working out at the same time.

Schedule Your Workouts – and Remove Distractions

Are you struggling to work out at home? When you’re finding it difficult to stick to a routine, it makes sense to create a schedule for yourself. It will help you to maintain your routine and consistently complete your workouts. 

It’s also smart to remove the distractions that disrupt your workouts. Whether it’s your dog trying to join in, your kids shouting at you for a snack, or people interrupting you by walking into the room, find yourself a quiet space and the right time to complete your workout.

Set Goals

Remember that it’s important to have fitness goals. Without goals, your workouts will have no direction. When you set fitness goals for yourself, you will be able to work towards them, and it will give you the motivation to keep going. 

When you’re choosing fitness goals, think of goals that you can measure. You should be able to see that you are getting closer to your main goal or measure a small goal with each workout. 

You could choose goals such as losing weight, running a certain distance or lifting a certain amount of weight, or even just completing a certain number of workouts. With clear goals to aim for, you keep up your fitness routine and give your workouts a purpose.

Working out at home can be fun, and you don’t have to lose steam. Stay motivated by mixing things up and trying different motivational techniques.

Nick Screeton