Exercise

Are Home Workout Routines Better Than the Gym?

December 17, 2010
By Andrea G Stein

It’s that time of year again. Just after New Year’s just about everyone you know will get all fired up about hitting the gym. And then a few weeks later, after signing up for a costly membership plan, they will start going less and less frequently until they don’t go at all – but they’ll still be paying for it. This year can be different. Commit to a home workout routine and you’ll save money and exercise for longer. Here are some home workout routines, no gym membership required.

Running – Running is free. It may not be easy, but you can start out slow and work your way up to longer distances. It works just about all the muscle groups and gets your heart rate and breathing up so you move from an aerobic workout to a fat burning phase. Not so keen on running on the streets around your house? You can always find a park or perhaps the track at a local school to run around.

Walking – For some, running is just not possible, but walking is and it’s great exercise. You’ll get a lot of the same benefits as from running, but it’s not as hard on your joints. And you can definitely start this workout routine slowly and then pick up the pace. It’s also great to do with an exercise buddy – someone to keep you accountable and make the whole experience of “exercise” more enjoyable.

Freeweights – Many people think that the only exercise worth doing is aerobic. But strength training or weight lifting is an important part of any home workout routine. If you want to be toned, as opposed to bulking up, try doing more repetitions with less weight. Using weights will allow you to build muscle and which will in turn speed up your metabolism and help you burn more fat.

Exercise Videos – Just about any exercise program you can think of, from Pilates to kickboxing has a DVD on it. You can use different types of videos to create a varied home workout routine that will never get boring. And you’ll be able to learn all the moves in the privacy of your own home,

By using trying these different home workout routines, you can skip the gym and keep more money in your pocket, all the while staying fit and rich.

Andrea Stein is the founder of HotMamaSecrets.com, a beauty, health and wellness resource for moms. Unleash your Inner HotMama today.

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