At-Home Fitness: Get in Shape Without the Gym

One of the biggest things holding people back from getting regular exercise is that they don’t think they have the proper resources.

Whether the reasons is they don’t want to pay expensive monthly fees for a gym membership or buy pricey exercise equipment, people avoid working out and justify it by thinking of the money they’re saving.

However, there are actually a ton of ways for you to get in shape right there in the comfort of your own home. Keep reading to learn the best at-home fitness tips!

Exercise in Front of the TV

One of the best at-home fitness tips is to turn your living room into your personal gym.

For every commercial you watch while catching up on your favorite shows, challenge yourself to do as many crunches as possible. Pop in a new workout DVD and burn even more calories right in front of your TV.

If you’re feeling antsy but don’t want to commit to intense exercise, then you might want to consider investing in a Wii Fit or xBox 360 Kinect. You can trick yourself into exercising while releasing your inner child.

Spring Clean Your House

Another great at-home fitness tip is to shape up your body and your house at the same time by torching those extra calories with an intense spring cleaning session.

30 minutes of mopping can burn 300 calories while vacuuming can burn close to 130. Grab your sponge and rubber gloves and spend some serious scrubbing time in the bathroom, and you can burn another 140 calories.

If you really want to build more muscle, try wearing ankle or wrist weights. The extra weight will help you reshape your body more quickly and simultaneously build up your body strength.

Catch Up on Sleep

It may sound surprising, but one of the best things to get into great shape is to make sure you are getting enough sleep.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one out of three Americans are getting fewer than six hours of sleep each night. Not only does this limit your ability to perform mentally, but sleep-deprivation can signal the release of the hormone cortisol which can cause unnecessary weight gain.

Additionally, those who don’t get enough sleep on a regular basis are more likely to consume extra calories throughout the day and tend to make poor eating decisions.

Use your extra time this weekend to reset your biological clock and hit the snooze button. You’ll be doing your muscles a favor and giving your body the recovery time it needs to make it through another week.

Additional Suggestions

Exercising over the weekend is a great way to reshape your body and move the muscles you didn’t know you had while you were stuck in the office chair.

An article featured on MSN.com by Fitbie gives a list of plenty more ideas for you to reshape your weekend.

If your schedule during the week is too crazy to hit the gym on a regular basis, you can use your Saturdays and Sundays to transform into a weekend warrior. By exercising first thing in the morning, you can get your day started off right and still have plenty of time to enjoy the rest of your day off.