In 2016, more than 55 million adults in the United States were members of 36,000 gyms, making North America the region with the most fitness center members in the world. This is without even taking into account the people who use the gyms in the workplace or the students in the schools with the gym.
Going to the gym is not cheap, with an average monthly membership fee of $ 50, but it is estimated that more than half of this money is wasted because the equipment is not used. In fact, about 67% of people who have a gym membership have never even set foot there.
There are many ways you can avoid becoming one of those stats, by training at home or using the great outdoors, which are out there and are free. To follow the most important fitness trend in the world, according to the American College of Sports Medicine, which is high-intensity training (HIIT) you do not need to go to the gym or use the specialized equipment associated with fitness centers.
Also Read: Gaining Muscle Mass
Some statistics on gyms
On New Year’s Eve, how many of us decide we want to get in shape and lose some of those pounds we gained during the holidays? The dinners of the Eve and Christmas, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Eve, and then also the Befana, in the end, we find them all on the waist or on the thighs. Some people may panic and decide to join the gym, swearing that they will go at least four times a week so that the money doesn’t go to waste.
Unfortunately, most people who join a gym in January will lose motivation pretty quickly. The staggering 2012 figures showed that 11% of U.S. adults who join a gym in January will quit before the end of the year, while at least 80% don’t even last five months, and 4% and 14%. % stop in January and February respectively.
Save time, save money, get in shape… but not in the gym!
Going to the gym isn’t the only way to keep fit. In addition to costing you money, going to the gym can cost you a lot of time. There are only 24 hours in a day, as we all know, and finding the time to train on an already packed day can be quite difficult, without even taking into account the time it takes to travel to and from the gym. Or maybe you don’t like the idea of being surrounded by perfect bodies or the bodybuilders who hang out with them and look at you with superiority.
We all have to start somewhere and the good news is that you can still follow an effective fitness program without even leaving home, in some cases or even having to go to a gym. Let’s look at ways you can get more active and work out without going to the gym.
Many of the activities and classes you take in the gym can be done just as easily at home. Weight lifting, CrossFit, yoga, running, jogging or even a full cardio workout no longer require you to spend a lot of money, except for a decent pair of sneakers. There are even fitness apps that you can download to your smartphone, which many people describe as having a personal trainer in your pocket.
Also Read: How To Increase Bicep Size Without Weights
Work out at home
For those of us living in the Northern Hemisphere, the holiday season falls right in the middle of the colder winter months. Sometimes even just walking out the door can be uninviting, much less having to go to the gym. Who imagines a run around the park in sub-zero temperatures?
Fortunately, many of the best fitness programs don’t even require you to leave the room like yoga, weight-lifting exercises such as pilates, aerobic workouts, and high-intensity interval training or HIIT, which require little. or no equipment. Sometimes a small investment in equipment such as dumbbells, resistance bands, kettlebells, or a barbell can help you get all major muscle groups to work. If you have the space or the finances, you might even invest in some gym equipment like an exercise bike , treadmill (many now come with a space-saving folding design), an elliptical, or even a fully-equipped home gym.
According to personal trainers, there are five important principles that make a workout effective. These are:
- heating;
- cardiovascular or aerobic activity;
- resistance exercises (strengthening);
- movements for flexibility;
- cooling down or stretching afterward.
Some gyms even surprisingly encourage people to work out at home, as it helps them create a routine and learn to train every day.
Also Read: Running is good for your health
Practice Yoga at home
Yoga can be a great way to combine warm-up, cardio, endurance, flexibility, and cool-down in one session for a complete, healthy workout. And best of all, you only need your body and a mat to do this. In addition to being a workout for the body, yoga can help get rid of stress and anxiety.
There are many books, online videos, instructional videos, and even apps that can help you perfect your yoga practice without the need for additional classes at the gym or yoga center. Yoga doesn’t help you build muscle, it doesn’t build mass, but it can promote a leaner body and offer significant improvements to your flexibility, which can benefit other more traditional forms of exercise.
Circuit training can get you to do a full workout at home
Waiting in line at the gym for a car when you don’t even want to be there is often enough to convince you to give up and go home. But with exercises where you lift your own body weight at home, there is no need for equipment because you are only using what is available naturally: your body.
Bootcamp or boot camp-style workouts can be fun and challenging at the same time. You can create your own personalized program, combining strength and cardio exercises in the comfort of your home, or, in the summer months, you can even venture to the park. Circuits can include jumping jacks, alternating bodyweight lunges, pushups, bodyweight squats, dips on a suitable surface, and even joining cardio on an elliptical or treadmill. Even simply buying a step can be an excellent alternative to the elliptical and a small investment in dumbbells or a kettlebell. can make your training even more efficient.
Compound or multi-joint exercises – those that work multiple muscles at the same time – can be a great way to increase the pace when you do exercises to increase strength. Squats, for example, work the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves at the same time. A flexion or push-up on the arms involves the pectoral muscles along with the deltoids, biceps, and triceps, also working the abs and upper back muscles at the same time.
A well-structured program is this Complete Kettlebell [Edition: UK] [Edition: UK]
Also Read: Is walking as good as running?
A 10-minute workout before breakfast sets you up for the day
Many fitness instructors recommend working out first thing in the morning to stay motivated and avoid distractions. Without having the ritual of going to the gym as a regular date, it’s easy to get distracted as the day progresses from all the other tasks we have to do, such as housework, children, watching TV or preparing for the day. dinner. If you work all day, the last thing you will want to do as soon as you get home is to do some exercises that tire you even more.
An example that combines elements of strength and cardio is this 10-minute workout that can elevate your mood and provide you with more energy throughout the day. You don’t need any equipment and the real beauty is you could even do it while still in your pajamas, easy right?
- Start slowly with one minute of dynamic stretching exercises (to get your joints and muscles moving, before jumping into an upper body, core, and lower body exercise circuit).
- So one minute of push-ups (top)
- Followed by a minute of plank (core)
- Then a minute of the squat (bottom)
- Repeat this mini circuit three times.
- Remember to finish with stretching while you catch your breath.
Other exercises that work the same muscle groups can also be used in this workout, just remember the upper-middle-lower formula. Tricep dips can be an alternative exercise for the upper body, bicycle abdominals are good for the core and lunges for the lower body. The idea of this workout is not to stop, try to give it you’re all for 10 minutes and maybe get up a little earlier each day, to try to squeeze a couple of more circuits.
Also Read: How To Increase Bicep Size Without Weights
The step or the stairs
Doing the step is such a simple exercise that you can do it almost anywhere, as long as there are stairs or a step. Many personal trainers advise their clients not to take the elevator to work and to take the stairs instead to maintain their fitness level. But climbing stairs can also be a great exercise if performed at a higher intensity, who doesn’t remember Rocky running up the steps in Philadelphia, where tourists now stop to take pictures or even run?
Start by discovering how resilient you are, running up and downstairs as many times as you can before you get tired. When you can’t stand it anymore, usually when you’re at the foot of the stairs (if you get tired of being at the top, chances are you can do it again), stop and split the times you’ve done up and down in half. Next time run up and down the stairs half the number of times, before resting for 60-90 seconds and then repeating. Continue until you can’t take it anymore.
Also Read: How to Get Biceps at Home in 1 week
Don’t have time to train? Try High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
Too often people can say they just don’t have time to add exercise to their busy life, this could be why they don’t go to the gym. However, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) can help you get the same benefits as a 45-minute cardio session in about a quarter of the time. High-intensity interval training is short bouts of high-intensity activity interspersed with low-intensity recovery periods to get the maximum benefits from your workout.
The typical high-intensity training session lasts 10 to 30 minutes and you can enter many of the exercises you are already doing, only with a higher intensity. Squats, lunges, planks, push-ups, and resistance exercises can all be incorporated into an interval training program. If you’re feeling more adventurous, running, swimming or cycling can also be used for high-intensity interval training.
You can even use an exercise bike for high-intensity interval training, such as pedaling for 30 seconds as fast as possible with the high resistance and then doing several minutes more slowly with a low resistance setting. Not only can you do this at home, instead of hitting the gym, but you also don’t have to stop watching the latest series on Netflix while cycling.
Hi, I am Matt Storace and I am a former personal trainer and founder of Beast Biceps. We had to find ways to train at home. When I started looking for the equipment I needed, I quickly realized that there were no good resources online. So I created Beast Biceps. It is a treasure trove of information developed from my experience and research. Read More Here
