Over the last few years many of us have taken to exercising at home. It's a great way to keep healthy both mentally and physically In this blog, I am going to give you some top tips to help you exercise at home and to avoid injury!

Create a workout space/ reminder

Sounds simple but this is a good one! Having a space where you can work out will remind and motivate you to do it! It can be something small like placing your mat and weights in the corner of the room or placing your runners beside the door - It creates a little reminder for yourself that you have to do it and it helps to get going without wasting time trying to find this, that and the other!

Schedule time for training 

With the chaos of a work, family/home schedule - trying to find an extra 20-30 minutes in your day can be challenging.  Setting a side 20 minutes in the morning/evening (like you would if you were travelling to work or if you were travelling home.) You can use that time to do some activity, whether it is a walk, run, cycle or simply work out video on YouTube! There are loads of free options online that you can follow and within the time you have available!


Try something new

Sometimes, trying to get up and active can nearly be a task in itself! Why don’t you try something new? Trying a few different things can help you figure out what you like and don’t like! If you don’t particularly enjoy running - why not swap it out with an online zumba class? You’re getting a great workout and a little boogie with it too! Or why not try a new walking or running route? 

Warming up and cooling down

This is an important step to do before and after any intense activity. This helps to wake your body up by increasing your heart rate and getting the blood flowing to your muscles. Having a few stretches before and after will allow the muscle to get a good stretch before and allow it to cool down after. Start off with a gentle exercise whether it's jogging on the spot, increasing your walking pace for a short period of time - the aim is to increase your heart rate. Set aside a few minutes to stretch out your muscles and then you’re good to go!

Set yourself a goal

Set yourself a goal! Like running 5km, to do 10 press ups or to be able to touch your toes! Having yourself a goal allows you to aim for something each week to help you hit your overall target. Write down what you want to achieve and how you are going to achieve it.

This will help you to plan an overall workout for each week, keep you motivated and hold you accountable for it too!

Listen to your body

A step we often overlook or ignore. If you are feeling tired or slightly under the weather hold off on exercise, reduce the intensity of it or cut back if you cannot finish an exercise session. This is what your body is telling you, that it needs a little break and there is absolutely no problem with that! We all have them days/workouts. Listen to it, adjust what you're doing to suit what you are feeling and progress from there!

This is an opportunity for you to get moving and to try something you haven’t before. Find something you enjoy and go for it! As a wise woman once said to me, “You’ll never regret the workout you just did!”