Exercising from home has it’s advantages, but it’s not all upside.
There are a raft of challenges that come with exercising from home, so let’s explore them and some solutions to ensure your can benefit from this convenient way of training.
Motivation: It can be tough to exercise on your own, and particular tough to stay consistent in the long run. The mistake people make is to rely on motivation. Motivation is fleeting, it’s up and down. So they try to rely on willpower, but that doesn’t work either, because on bad days, when their willpower is fatigued, they make poor choices. So the solution is to build habits. If exercise is a habit, do don’t have to decide whether or not to exercise, it happens on autopilot.
Equipment: Equipment can be expensive, but you don’t need much. $500 can give you a great set-up. Think about the 80/20 rule. What is the 20% of equipment you’d use 80% of the time? The priorities would be a squat rack, a pull-up bar (you might be able to combine these first two), a barbell and some weights (which you can gradually add to as finances permit). You could exercise with nothing else for the rest of your life, and you’ll get loads of benefits and the variety will still be super high with good varied programming.
Interruptions: We get it, life can get in the way. The phone rings, the kids draw on the walls. These are challenges, but they can be overcome. Firstly, lay the expectations with your family. Explain that when you’re exercising, you’re exercising. They’ll respect your space. Of course, this won’t work so well with younger kids. So if this doesn’t work, pretend you’ve got a series of different ‘hats’. One hat is your exercise hat, one is your parent hat. When you’re ‘wearing’ one of these ‘hats’, you’re acting the character that that behaviour requires. Maybe your exercise hat means you’re committed and hard working, and your parent hat means you’re patient and attentive. When your need to be a parent, interrupts your need to be an exerciser, simply (metaphorically) remove one hat, play that role, then put your exercise hat back on. It’s a great strategy to make the best of a difficult situation.
Are you struggling to exercise at home? Do you need help? Take a look at Range of Motion Individualised Programming, which specialises in creating customised exercise program for you to do at home, no matter the limitations. Learn more here.
