Go ahead, stay home! Does exercising at home mean a second-rate workout? Not anymore! - editor’s letter

Posted by on September 26th, 2007 at 12:46am

We already know that a lot of Shape readers yearn for information on great home workouts. You have a variety of reasons: child-care commitments, no gym nearby, odd working hours, even shyness about exercising in front of strangers.

Home workouts have their own special challenges, though. First, there’s the equipment issue. Without the gym machines to prompt you, how do you know what to do? And then there’s the distraction factor: At home it’s just harder to stay focused.

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With all that in mind, we’re giving you two fun, yet effective, home workouts (”Get a Hard-Core Workout at Home,” page 152; and “5-Minute Fitness Fix,” page 166), plus ideas on how to step up the intensity. Neither workout requires much equipment, yet both deliver solid results. As for any mental hurdles you might have, here are five keys to working out successfully at home.

1. Set aside space, preferably with a mirror so you can check your form. If you have to move furniture or pick clothes off the floor every time you want to do your workout, you won’t. Keep your exercise tubing, weights, stability ball or whatever tools you plan to use handy.

2. Block out the time. As the standard advice goes: Treat your workout like a nonnegotiable appointment. And that means at home too!

3. Have a plan. Use this issue, or our past Target Training cards that don’t require gym equipment, get a copy of contributing editor Suzanne Schlosberg’s Fitness for Travelers (Houghton Mifflin, 2002) or our new book, Do It Right: The 75 Best Body-Sculpting Exercises for Women (shape boutique.com)–anything that gives you a routine to follow so you don’t lose time deciding what exercise to do next.

4. Dress the part. You don’t have to coif and groom, but at least put on fun, appropriate workout attire–maybe even something sexier than you’d wear to the gym! And select the right shoes too. Just because you’re at home doesn’t mean you can put on your old, worn-out sneaks.

5. Reward yourself with fun. Include something in your workout that you enjoy. For me, that’s a few minutes on my Pivit, a balance board that simulates skateboarding (gopivit.com). For you, it might be a video like Hula Workout for Weight Loss or Tamilee Webb’s Fit to the Hits: Rock Hard Assets (see our reviews, page 112). And you don’t have to be good at whatever you choose, because no one’s watching!

Anne M. Russell, Editor in Chief

Anne@Shape.com

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