What you will need to know about at-home workouts

at-home workout while gyms are closed during covid-19 outbreak

You've spent countless hours in the gym working towards a better version of yourself, but the gyms are closed. Now you're forced to either complete an at-home workout or stop working out all together. Quite the pickle to be in.

What are you to do?

You've spent countless hours in the gym working towards a better version of yourself, but the gyms are closed. Now you're forced to either complete an at-home workout or stop working out all together. Quite the pickle to be in.

What are you to do?

With a little thought and planning, working out at home can help maintain what you've spent so much time working building. It can also help with continued progress as well.

When you're in a pinch, at-home workouts aren't just great for maintaining muscle, they can double as a great form of cardio as well.

I've been fortunate to have bought some weight equipment before we went into quarantine. I can tell you that I've done my far share of home workouts and it has made a world of difference.

The first thing I noticed is my cardio went up pretty dramatically, mainly because I was getting more cardio than I was. Remember, these workouts are great resistance training. They are also elevating your heart rate to the point where you're essentially getting a cardiovascular workout as well.

So what exactly is an "at-home workout"?

Not to be funny, but simply put, an at-home workout is a workout that you do at home with or without equipment. They tend to be exercises that use your body weight. Typically, use non-traditional exercises (movements not typically done in a gym because of the large availability of equipment).

Your imagination is the limit, and you have a large imagination. So where do you start?

This can be one of the most daunting tasks for people looking to create an exercise program. Most people don't know what to do, and they make it more complicated that it needs to be. An at-home workout should be simple in nature and easy to complete.

So where do you start?

Well, always keep this in mind. When you're developing a simple routine for yourself, start with movements that work larger muscle groups first. Then work your way through to smaller muscle groups.

Even if you don't have a strong understanding of human anatomy, investing a little time now will pay off in the long run. Or you could always reach out to others in the fitness community to help you out.

Warm-ups versus Workouts

This can be a little tricky because some movements you can do during your workout, can also be used as a warm-up exercise. So let's do this instead, let's define a warm-up as a set of movements done in a controlled fashion. The intent is to increase muscle temperature, gradually increase heart rate, and prepare the body for more strenuous activity.

These movements may be general (e.g., calisthenics) or specific (e.g., large muscle movements), to provide rehearsal of an activity (e.g., swinging a golf club). The choice is really up to you here, my suggestion would be to think about what your goal is and work backwards from there.

How to change it up

Changing up your at-home workout can be as easy as just swapping out exercises. You could also increase or decrease rest periods or the tempo of the exercise you are completing. There are so many options that you option are boundless, which is really nice, but can sometimes lead to confusion.

The way you change up your workouts are going to be dependent on what kind of workout program you are following. Remember, the idea here is to preserve the progress you've made in the gym, but to also keep making progress moving forward.

Here are a few other ways you can change you workouts up:

1. Change rest periods (mentioned above)
2. Change tempo, speed of the exercise movement (mentioned above)
3. Modify exercise, angle of movement
4. Use more or less weight (if it's available)

Different At-Home Workout Routines

Before I wrap up this article, I wanted to point out that there are several methods of completing at-at home workouts. Here are a few that you can set up and complete in a short period of time:

1. Interval Training
2. Circuts
3. AMRAP (as many reps as possible)
4. Cross-Training
5. Isometrics
6. Plyometrics
7. Yoga
8. Weight Training (if they're available)

As you can see, there are many different routines that you could done from home. The beauty of at-home workouts are you never have to go very far to be able to get a good workout in.

So what are you waiting for?

Now that you have armed yourself with some simple ways to begin working out at home, you have no reason to not.

Here's the deal, if you're still stuck, post a comment below and let's get the rest of the community involved. Where here to help.

Lastly, if you think you got it, let's see what kind of workout you came up with. Post it in the comments and let's trade some ideas.