Your Killer Home Workout Plan
We all know that we need to exercise more. Hell, being physically inactive has been called the greatest health risk in the 21st century. Well, that seems like a pretty big deal, huh? So why are over 35% of us physically inactive during our leisure time? That’s over 110,000,000 people in the United States not even trying a home fitness plan… What gives? Why are so many avoiding a gym or a home fitness plan?
Give this home workout plan a try
Is it because we don’t want to spend the only free time we have sweating our ass off doing burpees?
Is it because we don’t want to drive to the gym and deal with that guy that won’t quit talking to you? Is it because you frankly ain’t got a clue what to do besides crunches? Most likely it’s a combination that equates to a 3 headed hydra that keeps you in your gym shorts but securely on the couch!
This year it’s time to change that and that’s why we wanted to give you an actual program you can do anywhere (home, office, gym, outside…etc.) to help get you on the healthy path and ditching those God-awful excuses!
So we took some pages from our DIY Guide eBook to help you banish those three crappy excuses… Thanks a lot, right? Let’s break down the basics:
Home Workout Plan Breakdown
Home Workout Plan Breakdown- Strength training is key to helping build muscles, burn calories, keep you burning more calories throughout the day, improve bone strength, and improve your quality of life!
- Strength train at least 3 times a week at a high intensity (make sure to concentrate on form) in order to build muscle, burn calories, get the blood pumping, and get the workout over quickly! You’ll find several workouts, logs, and videos below.
- On your non-strength training days, STAY ACTIVE. Just because you aren’t working out doesn’t mean you can be a couch potato all day. Stay active for at least 45 minutes. Go for a hike, play with the kids in the yard, or work in the garden – anything to keep you active!
As we always say 75% of losing weight and maintaining a lean body mass is done in the kitchen, the other 25% is done exercising! Let’s dive into the info on the other 25%.
This is what I have found to be true through my own personal experience so you don’t have to go through the trials and tribulations as I did.
Strength Training Rocks!
You may think that you don’t need to do weight training because you don’t want to get “bulky”.
That’s a terrible excuse and complete BS …you need it.
Not only does having muscle give you the toned look everyone wants (where do you think definition comes from, bones?) but muscle also burns more calories than fat.
For you ladies out there worried about looking like a feminine Hulk, the widely popular fitness trainer Joan Pagano said, “The truth is that most women lack the necessary hormones to build muscle mass. There is a direct relationship between the male hormone testosterone and muscle growth: the more testosterone you secrete, the greater the tendency to build muscle mass. Women only produce about one-tenth the amount of testosterone than men, making it difficult to bulk up.”
Not only that but strength training starts a snowball effect; as you get more muscle your metabolism ramps up causing you to burn more calories and fat. You become a well-oiled machine and it’s simply awesome.
With this as the foundation, you can accomplish all of your goals with hard work and determination. That being said, there is no proven way to specifically target losing fat from certain areas of the body.
This is because when you lose fat, you lose it from all parts of your body, you can’t just burn stomach fat.
On the other hand, you can specifically target certain muscle groups to make them grow. What we need to do is lose fat from our entire body through exercise and nutrition and build up muscle mass in our weak areas to get toned.
We have to break it down (fat through exercise and nutrition) and build it up (muscle mass through resistance training) to tone up.
Home Fitness Plan Basics
Make sure you are cleared by your physician before beginning any exercise program. Likewise, make sure you warm up before beginning an intense workout.
Warm-ups are great because they gradually increase your heart rate, increase your internal body temperature, increase oxygen consumption, and increase blood /oxygen flow to your working muscles (AFAA PFT Theory and Practice 2010).
One thing I want to mention is that even if you don’t use this exercise program you need to start slow and build up your strength. You may ask yourself, “Why would this matter?” For one, if you start fast and go heavy, you are going to regret it.
You will be so sore you can barely move – as in it hurts to sit on the toilet! Trust me; you don’t want that when you first start.
Form – This is one of the most important aspects of lifting that determines how effectively you hit the targeted muscle groups (AFAA PFT Theory and Practice 2010). The correct form can be the difference between burning biceps or a hurt back. Please, none of that swinging and swaying to lift the weights, it’s dangerous. If the form is bad, use a lighter weight and do it correctly!
Breathing – I don’t know how many people I see exercising not breathing properly. Breathing is key because it’s dangerous not to breathe during the contraction stage of lifting.
Inhale during the eccentric aspect of the exercise (coming back to rest) and exhale during contraction!
A Home Fitness Plan That Torches Calories:
When it comes to burning calories, we recommend you perform strength training at least three times a week. For these workouts listed below do them on Monday/Wednesday/Friday and once during the weekend if you have time.
For these workouts keep them fast-paced and under 15 minutes in length, saving you time and keeping the workout fast (little to no rest between sets).
This will get your blood pumping, oxygen flowing and you burning a ton of calories! Check out these awesome workouts below from our sister site:
Monday:
Workout #1 Full-Length Exercise Video
This full-length workout video will have us working out together and burning calories together! Stay with me and let’s reach your goals together!
Description: This workout will definitely get your heart rate elevated (it did for me)! Join me as we do a quick (under 12-minute workout) that will help build our strength and have us burning plenty of calories. Grab your mat, towel, water, and computer, and let’s get started!
Exercises: Tic-tocs, bridges, supermans, kneeling squats, mountain climbers, calve raises
Wednesday:
Workout #2 Exercise Example Video
This quick video example (and Workout #3) shows you what to do and how to do it. This allows you to print off the handy PDF and perform the workout whenever you have time; like in your office during lunch break or outside with the kids after school!
Description: This glute workout (butt) will help give you the backside you’ve always wanted. From simple bridges to squats and everything in between this workout will help build your lower foundation. Try this relaxed workout today! Perform for 3 sets of 12 reps or if the exercise is timed, complete as many reps as you can (with proper form) in 30 seconds.
Exercises: Fire hydrants, kickbacks, bridges, stationary lunges, squats
Friday:
Workout #3 Exercise Example Video
Description: It’s time to work on our upper body foundation: the shoulders. Having strong shoulders sets you up for just being functionally stronger. Plus this workout will have you burning through the calories when conducted at a high pace! Try to perform with little to no rest between sets! Perform for 3 sets of 12 reps or if the exercise is timed, complete as many reps as you can (with proper form) in 30 seconds.
Exercises: Snatches, front press, front delt raise, side delt raise, iron cross
You Need to Remember that You Kickass
You need to make the time for exercise in your busy schedule to truly reach your full potential.
As Dustin Maher (Fit Moms For Life) said in a recent interview, “I would just first start off by realizing that you aren’t going to be the best mom, wife, employer, boss, business owner if you aren’t fit, healthy, have energy, are happy, feel confident in your own skin.
To do that you need to take some time for yourself and even though it seems selfish sometimes to maybe like give yourself twenty to thirty minutes a day to do that, long term it is the most unselfish thing you can do.”
Wrap-Up
Don’t be intimidated by any of these exercises in this home fitness plan, after doing them a time or two they will become second nature!
Strength training and staying active on your off days (at least 45 minutes) will get you the results you need, hands down.
You need to strength train to make you functionally stronger but also to boost your metabolism. Don’t believe me? Well, try it and see what happens! That’s a double dare!
You now have a good foundation in place, but keep building on it to truly be great!
- Post-Workout Meal: Getting the Most from Your Workout - January 22, 2024
- 6 Ab Exercises To Blast Your Core - December 17, 2023
- 10 Office Exercises You Can Do To Burn Calories - November 19, 2023
