With the economy in the dumps, many people are looking for ways to save money. Gym memberships are usually one of the first things to go. The good news is that you don’t have to let the economy wreck your physical health. Many people are turning to simple home workout plans. Home workouts can improve your health, tone your muscles and brighten your day, all while saving you money. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you need an expensive gym membership to stay in shape. In fact, you may soon find yourself in better shape than ever. All you need is a little time to put together a simple and effective home workout program.
You’ll probably end up getting more exercise than most Americans because exercising at home provides some great benefits:
- Privacy
- Convenience
- No Commute
So how do you put together an effective home workout program? I would encourage you to think back to your school days… Physical Education class in particular. The exercises that you did back then were all very simple, but they were effective. Abdominal crunches. Push-ups. Pull-ups. Calisthenics. Weight Training. There was probably also some running or other basic cardio thrown into the mix. An effective home workout program will recreate your gym class experience. And even though these exercises seem ridiculously easy, you will be making a significant contribution towards your physical health.
To keep things in perspective, the U.S. Marine Corps has a required physical test that all Marines must pass. This test consists of abdominal crunches, pull-ups and running. That’s it. If these simple activities are the standard for U.S. Marines, they’re nothing to laugh at.
The key is to start out very simple. Also keep your workouts short. The first week probably won’t be fun. If you’re reading this article, you are probably like the majority of Americans and get very little physical activity. This is okay. Remind yourself that this is a new page in your life. On your first day perform a series of simple exercises. Push-ups. Abdominal Crunches. Stretches. Pull-ups (if you have access to a bar.) Write down all your exercises and the number of repetitions you performed. On your second day, walk or jog for around 15 minutes. You don’t have to kill yourself, but you should be breathing heavy by the time you’re done. Write down how long you ran or walked. On Day 3, repeat whatever you did on day one and continue this cycle. Strive to get 15 minutes of exercise each day, and alternate between the muscle toning days and the cardio days. Write everything down.
On the second week, you will do the same thing again, but this time you will slightly increase the number of repetitions and add a few minutes to your cardio day. This doesn’t have to be brain surgery and it doesn’t have to be super-hard. The idea is to increase the time and level of difficulty until you’re exercising for 20-30 minutes per day. Once you are in this routine, you’ll probably never consider going back to the gym.
With a little time and determination, your personalized home workout plan can make a huge difference in your life. All you have to do… is do it.