3 Inexpensive Ways to Workout at Home

As a self – employed mum, I know first hand what a challenge working out can be. Whether it is leaving the house, budget, weather, transport, lack of time and energy… there can be many reasons why it just isn’t working for you. But we can’t let these reasons become “excuses”, and we just have to use what we have! Believe it or not, but there are effective ways of exercising without leaving the house or owning any gym equipment. I have compiled three inexpensive ways to workout at home below to give you some inspiration!

1. Plyometrics

Plyometrics essentially means “jump training” . Plyometrics exercise involves quick burst, high intensity, high impact type movements, where the body contracts and stretches.

Some examples of plyometric exercises are; squat jumps, burpees, lunge jumps, mountain climbers and jumping jack plank.

No equipment is needed for these exercises. A yoga mat can be handy if you find you are slipping when you land, but carpet should be sufficient.

You can do a circuit of each (or some) of the exercises mentioned above by going through 45 seconds of the activity, 15 seconds of rest and repeat. Go through the exercises multiple times if you can. You will see yourself improve as time goes on and be able to go harder for longer.

2. Towel Core Workout

This point is based on Natalie Jill’s workout video on youtube, it’s such a simple technique! She uses a towel on a hard floor surface like wooden floors or tiles, which creates more resistance to get more out of the simple workout moves. This simple but effective workout works the stabiliser muscles (back, glutes, legs and core) using your own body weight and can also improve your balance.  If you don’t have a hardwood floor and only have carpet, Jill suggests using a paper plate under your towel (genius!) to allow it to slide. And if you don’t have towel… well I can’t help you 😉

3. Free Apps

Now this point is assuming you own a smartphone, tablet, computer or smart TV. There are a plethora of free apps available to you for working out. YouTube which has so many great resources including the video I mentioned above. I have compiled a post on the Best Free Online Fitness Videos that a lot of my readers have found useful. Some of these I put on with headphones at the gym to do too. The Nike Training Club app is my favourite as you can put your own empowering & motivating playlist on.

Please make sure that when you are working out at home, that you don’t skip the things in between, such as warm up, stretches and cool down. Not completing any of these things properly can cause some really serious damage, potentially affecting your work out abilities in the long term. Some ideas for a quick home warm up would be jogging on the spot, star jumps and squats for a couple of minutes (about the length of a song), then some stretching before you begin your exercise routine, which is then followed up by a cool down. Yoga can be fun to incorporate into your cool down, here are some simple yoga poses to get you started!

I hope you have found these tips useful! If you would like any other advice or workout ideas, don’t have hesitate to contact me through eatprayworkout.com and for more healthy living tips with workout ideas, healthy recipes and spiritual welfare, follow along on my Instagram or Facebook pages and don’t forget you can get ideas just like this sent to your inbox weekly by subscribing to my newsletter.