If you are one of the many home-bound professionals taking refuge from the outside pandemic, you are probably looking for ways to stay healthy and whole while in the confines of your home. The good news is that this is completely possible and might even be more convenient than how you were previously getting in a good sweat!   

With or without a large selection of exercise equipment, you can stay in shape and properly exercise at your house. To ensure the maximum efficacy of your efforts, here are some of the top tips home-bound athletes should keep in mind! 

1. Set Goals  

Setting goals is the best way to maintain your course and improve your health in the long term. Goals can be a minimum of 30 minutes of vigorous exercise each day (on average), the capacity to complete a certain number of pushups or pullups, or even a specific amount of weight you would like to lose. Giving yourself goals to work forward to removes the tedious uncertainty of choosing and committing to your exercise program. As you see progress being made toward your goals, no matter how small, it will motivate you to continue on and not go back to a sedentary lifestyle you were probably living pre-pandemic. You can keep these goal records and dates as milestones that mark your progress and serve as a comparison for where you were at when you started.

 2. Don’t overspend on exercise equipment 

Many people mistakenly assume that the equipment comes first and the exercise program comes second. This is erroneous thinking. The first vital step is to commit to an exercise program that suits your needs and the type of exercise you enjoy. After you know exactly what you will be doing, you can more effectively choose exercise equipment that you will actually use, as opposed to purchasing a home gym unit on a whim, and eventually placing it in your next garage sale.   

But first, think of all the things you can do without any equipment at all. Stairs are one of the best exercise machines available. They are great for warming up, developing cardio, and even building leg and muscle strength. So much so they have modeled expensive workout equipment entirely around a stair-cardio workout! Use chairs and a sofa to do triceps dips, the floor is great for planking and a whole slew of core abdominal exercises. If you have actually completed all that and still feel that you need a specific piece of exercise equipment, you can rest assured you will get good use from it.   

3. Always warm-up and stretch  

Don’t think because you are nice and cozy at home your muscles will not be properly warmed up for your exercise program. Begin each exercise session with a minimum of 10 to 20 minutes of solid warm-up. Remember, warming-up is designed to fire up the muscles, loosen the joints and prepare the body for action. When you have finished your exercise program, it is equally important to cool down with relaxing stretching exercises that improve the recovery process and keep tendons, joints, and connective tissues properly optimized.   

4. Focus on form   

It is far better to do 3 sets of 5 properly executed repetitions than twice that many without the proper form. If you aren’t maintaining proper form, you can place a lot of time and energy into an activity that improves your conditions very little. Worse yet, improper form leaves you vulnerable to injury. No matter the exercise you choose to practice, it is worthwhile to research the proper execution before you engage the body. If you don’t have the luxury of a personal trainer, fret not. You will find helpful information on YouTube along with copious information on proper executions and the dynamics of each exercise. 

5. Mix up your exercise regime  

Don’t get bogged down in a single exercise routine. Whether you want to build strength, drop extra pounds or increase your endurance, your body will react best to a surprising selection of exercise techniques that target the body from all sides. This can be easily achieved by checking out websites like Fit Juggernaut- physical fitness on the internet. There’s tons of ways to mix it up and with the internet right at our fingertips, it’s tough to make an excuse not to. Strength training burns calories and cardio is essential for well-rounded strength training. Make sure you take the time to carefully plot your course of in-home exercise. This will allow you to get the most from your daily effort.