How to do a beginner workout at home

Let’s admit this fact, every one of us likes to get things done from the comfort of our home. Especially if we are talking about starting workout routines, going to the gym all at once can become a nightmare for a lot of beginners. 

It’s not only the change in lifestyle routines that is uncomfortable but starting something new in a social environment can make your nerves anxious. To top it all off, the pandemic has given another major reason for people to start focusing upon their physical fitness from the comfort of their homes. 

So, to sum all the problems and solutions up, new workout routines are coming out for you to try out online every single day. Yes, the market gets flooded with beginner-friendly workout plans and programs that can easily help you get started on your fitness journey. 

But, let’s talk about the process. How should you actually go about with your workout sessions and your training programs when you are starting with your fitness journey? Below we will discuss the basic roadmap that will help you to have an idea and get started with your fitness journey. 

How to get started with the journey?

Let’s look into the steps in detail:

• The why: This plays one of the ground-breaking factors to determine how your workout journey will actually proceed. Understand the reason for you to start. Is it for a certain program coming up, is it to get fit, is it to recover from a certain disease/injury, etc. Understanding the reason will help you to choose the type of workout that you want to go forward with and in return help, you stick through the journey.
• The vibe: Understanding your vibe plays a crucial role in picking up the workout routines and videos. Go through the online websites and other streaming platforms. Look for workout routines that are challenging you but at the same time do not exhaust you to the next level. Find out with whom your vibes match. You can try out the free trial period on these platforms for some time and then opt for the paid version. There are a lot of creators who create these routines for free as well. If you find something that matches your requirement, go for it. 
• Adapt to change: Accept the fact that it may feel uncomfortable for a few days. At this point, a lot of beginners give up. In such cases, stick through the routine, spice it up or tone it down. The key out here is to be consistent until your body gets adapted to this new level of physical training. 
• Too much on a plate: While trying out new things we often end up taking too many things on our plate. Understand that your body may not be able to take up so much exertion all at once. It can even lead to severe injury, and ultimately you have to give it up. Take things slowly and give your body the time to adjust. Once your body do not feel challenged anymore, you can amp up your routine and add some new challenges and elements.   
• Timings: Every one of us has different timings for our workout routines. Try out different routines, morning, evening, or any timing, and figure out when your body responds the best. Without understanding it you may not feel the enthusiasm and energy to follow through your training sessions, leading to inconsistency and no results. 
• Diet: By this, we don’t mean you leave every food you love. Along with your physical workout, try to eat clean as much as possible. It will complement your training sessions as a beginner and will help you to maintain a healthy lifestyle. In addition to that, ensure that you get your regular source of all the necessary amount of vitamins and proteins. Since you will be working out, your body will require these nutrients more as compared to your previous food habit. 

Key points to start working out as a beginner at home

Once you have understood the type of workout you want to go forward with, it is now time to look into some of the key factors. These will help you to ensure that you do not fall prey to beginner mistakes and continue with your workout routines with ease. 

• Warm-up: We all love to skip the steps and get into the juicy bit all at once. But ignoring your warm-ups can result in severe sore muscles at the very least. These can also cause muscle damage due to the strain that the actual workouts can cause if your body is not warm enough. Ensure that you never miss out on this. 
• Cool-down stretch: Yes, your routine might sound exhausting already, but this is another crucial part which ideally, you shouldn’t miss. Cool-down stretches become the savior of those post-workout sore muscles. These exercises help your body relax and breathe, ensuring that your muscles are well rested and don’t cause any pain after a few hours. 
• Hydration: Ensure that you are well hydrated throughout the day. Lack of hydration becomes one of the major factors for body fatigue, tiredness, and muscle fatigue. Consume at least 4litres of water regularly if you are starting out with your workout sessions.
• Accountability partner: When you are starting to work out as a beginner at home, there will be days where you do not feel like getting out of your sweatpants and wearing your workout clothes. It can happen more often when you are training online. In such cases, getting one accountability partner on board can save you from those gloomy days. 

 You can always have each other’s back, ensuring that you are consistent with your training programs to see the maximum result. Despite you not hitting the gym, your partner can become that added push that will help you to achieve your fitness goals. 

• S.M.A.R.T Goals: Create goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. Keeping all the five factors in check will help you create realistic goals for yourself without facing any disappointment. As a beginner, you may often end up expecting way too little or way too much out of a training program that you are following at home. Understanding your goals and setting proper measures helps to understand whether or not you can stick through the plan.
• Check your health: Before you even begin with your training programs, get your health checked. Getting an idea about the current condition of your physical health will help you to understand which type of workout should you go forward with. Along with that, in case if you are dealing with any injury or chronic disease, consulting a physician before you start beginner workouts at home becomes a mandatory step. 
• Measure your progress: In addition to the previous point, keep a regular check over your body to see your progress. Have a set time after how many weeks do you want to measure yourself and stick to that. Check your weight and other measurements to ensure that you are making progress and not following routines that aren’t working for you. 
• Hire a personal trainer: Working out from the comfort of your home sounds all fancy until you actually struggle to make progress. Especially when you are starting out, it may feel difficult and overwhelming to figure it all out all by yourself. 

In such cases, hiring an online personal trainer can really ease out the process for you. He/she will understand all your requirements as well as understand what your body needs. After getting all this information they will create a workout plan that fits your physical training requirements. 

How to do the common beginner workouts at home

We are not going to leave you all alone to let you figure everything out on your own. Below we will talk about some of the common beginner-friendly workouts that you can perform at home that can help you get started with your fitness journey without much hassle. 

• Press-ups: The press-up or the push-up is an upper-body exercise that focuses upon the pectoral muscles on your chest, legs, and triceps. This exercise also helps to strengthen your core muscles. Press-ups are primarily done by keeping your whole body in a straight line position while lying down. The whole pressure of your body falls into your arms and toes. 

You can follow the following steps to execute a press up effectively:

1. Lie down in a straight line with your stomach on the floor. 
2. Spread your arms slightly wider than your shoulders, 
3. With the help of your arms put pressure on your palms and try to lift your body above the floor. 
4. Ensure that your hips are not high and your body is maintaining the straight line along with your toes. 
5. Keep the palm firm on the floor and try to fold in your arms to get your body back to the original position on the floor. 
6. Keep repeating this process while ensuring that your body maintains the straight line. 

Make sure that you record yourself while attempting this until you get it perfect. Incorrectly doing this workout can cause strain on the muscles leading to soreness and even injury. 

• Skipping: Skipping or jump rope is one of the most effective exercises that you can incorporate into your routine for overall fitness. It helps to build your strength and endurance, making the overall body healthy. Jumping ropes is one of the best workouts if you want to burn more calories within a short duration of time and have fun. 

Below we will look into the step-by-step guide to practice skipping. 

1. Hold both the handles of the skipping rope with each of your hands. Stretch it on the parallel side of your body and keep the rope behind your ankles. 
2. Slowly swift it forward across your head and rotate it. Once you see the rope approaching your knees, do a small sprint to get the rope past your toes. 
3. Once you have rotated the rope quite a few times, start adding one loop after the other without any break. The handles can move swiftly, so you do not have to swing your arms way too much. 
4. After you get the hack of it, practice jumping ropes on your toes. This helps to make the process much more smooth and also ensures that you can pace up without getting tired easily. 

• Dumbbell step-up: The dumbbell step-up exercise primarily works on the quads, glutes, and calves’ muscles. These muscles can help to increase your leg strength while you are starting with your beginner workout routine at home. It also helps to even out any sort of strength imbalance that you are facing. 

Below we will look into the procedure on how you can carry out dumbbell step-up easily at home. 

1. Pick up the weight as per your choice and convenience with your hands. You can either place your hands near your shoulder or keep them parallel to your body. 
2. Press your right ankle to lift your right leg up on the step straight. 
3. Bring your left leg near the right leg and bring it up the step without bending. 
4. Fold your right leg from your knee and place it down the step. 
5. Bring down your left leg beside the right leg on the ground. 
6. Repeat the procedure to complete the set. 

While going through this exercise ensure that you are not using weights that are either too heavy or too light. It will negatively impact on your muscles, either leading to strain or no work at all. 

• Dead bug: As a beginner, if you are wondering about how to strengthen your core muscles and ensure stability over your strength, the dead bug is the perfect workout for you. It helps to build a solid foundation, strengthening your spine. Dead bugs also act as a great savior if you are dealing with back injury or back pain in general. 

Let’s look into the step-by-step procedure on how you can do a dead bug at home. 

1. Lie straight on your back on the floor. 
2. Lift both your hands up at a 90 degree i.e. your elbows should be above your shoulders. 
3. Lift both your legs up until your knees align directly over your hips. 
4. While exhaling move your right hand and left leg towards the ground, back to your original position. But ensure that it doesn’t touch the ground. 
5. When inhaling lift your right hand and left leg back to the previous position. 
6. Repeat the process with your left and hand right leg. 
7. This is the completion of rep 1. Continue doing this until the completion of the set. 

• Crunch: If you are someone who is dreaming to hoard on those perfect abs someday, you must have heard about this workout. Crunches work on your core muscles especially your abdominal area and hence are effective for the toned abs. The crunches may cause strain to your neck and back therefore it is important to follow the process keenly. 

Any sort of wrong posture can cause severe injury to your neck or back muscles. However, this workout is extremely beginner-friendly so you can master it with ease. 

Below we will look into the process of doing crunches step-by-step. 

1. Lie down straight on your back. 
2. Keep your feet on the floor and bend your knees. 
3. Cross your hands and keep them above your chest. 
4. Try to contract your abs muscles and inhale. 
5. Exhale and try to lift your upper body up while your hands are placed at your chest. 
6. Inhale and go back to the original position.  

• Two-point bridge: If you want to try out something a bit more challenging, the two-point bridge can be the next task for you. This particular workout tests your strength, coordination, and core all at once. This is an amp-up version of the normal plank and can definitely help your body to enhance its strength. Ensure that you maintain the correct posture and follow the procedure precisely. 

1. Lie down flat on your stomach. Put your palms and toes on the ground and lift your body up by straightening your arms as you do in a push-up. 
2. Contract your core muscles as you inhale. Lift your right hand and left leg up as you exhale. 
3. Inhale as you bring them back to the original position. Repeat the process with your left hand and right leg. 
4. Ensure that your body is parallel straight to the ground and your hips are not sticking high above. 

Including workouts into your daily lifestyle does not need a lot of work now. With the rates of choosing fitness as a mandatory part of your lifestyle growing sky high, it is important to understand that this is worth every hype. You can easily choose to keep yourself fit from the comfort of your own home. In the end, it is all about you leading a fit lifestyle and age healthily, disease-free. So, start working on your next fitness goal today rather than waiting for the new year’s resolution to kick in!