13 Commandments for Home Workout Success

13. Get your workout done early in the day

Before the day gets too busy and you get exhausted it's important to put your training first if you want to be successful. Obviously there will be things that have to get done like getting the kids off to school but as soon as possible get your workout done. You can do your home workout when you wake up or after you get through some time pressured tasks but you will find if you wait until after you check your email or do some work around the house your day will quickly get hijacked, get it done first thing.

12. Get your workout into your daily routine

Your home workouts need to become part of your daily life, like brushing your teeth. Building a strong workout habit can virtually ensure success. Of course you may miss a day here and there but if you do you simply get back into your routine on the next day. The majority of your days will then be working towards your goals.

11. Set challenges for yourself

Many home workouts and programs in gyms even fail to produce results because they simply don't provide a challenge to your body and mind regularly. Challenges are important to keep your training working long term and allows you to have small victories by overcoming these challenges on the way to your big goal. Choosing a goal that is just outside your current ability to complete about every 4 weeks like "I want to complete 15 push ups" or "I want to be able to run for 5 minutes without stopping" will provide you with short term motivation while helping you get closer to your major goal.

10. Use resistance training

Resistance training is a highly effective type of training and is very useful in a home workout. Many people still think that cardio training is the most effective form of training for fat loss workouts but although they do help mixing resistance training with cardio training is far more effective at burning fat than cardio training alone so resistance training needs to be included in your home workouts.

9. Don't waste time

You will only get a small amount of time to get your workout done before daily life takes over your home workout, this is not a problem you get in a gym workout as everyone is there to workout which is not true of your home. Maximise the efficiency of your home workouts by using circuits or non competing supersets which allow you to keep moving while resting other body parts, additionally this is also a highly effective way to train for fat loss.

8. Track your progress

Writing down your programs and results allows you to see how you are progressing over time this keeps you honest and shows you if you are failing to improve so you can fix it. It also adds to your motivation as you can regularly go back and see how far you have come. Dedicate an exercise book to writing out your workouts and the results you achieve in them.

7. Book in your training appointment and don't break it

Get used to making time in your day dedicated to your home workout. Booking it in like you would a doctors appointment allows you to create a space where you can turn off the phone, make sure your mind is clear and focus on the task at hand. You could even charge yourself a cancelation fee if you do break the appointment but make yourself accountable to a friend or family member by telling them something like "if I miss a training appointment I will come over and wash your dishes". Be creative and make it something that will motivate you to get it done at any cost.

6. Use Variety

The same home workout can get boring and can also become less effective the more you use it. It is important to set regular challenges but also change your program every 3 to 6 weeks to keep your body guessing which generates better results over time. Change your exercises, repetition ranges or any other variables you can think of regularly. Additionally if you find yourself getting comfortable with a particular exercise you need to take a break from it and do something you are not so comfortable with to keep the challenge up.

5. Start with your goal in mind

Creating your home workout needs to start with your goal in mind, when you select the exercises you will be including in your program with each one you need to ask yourself the question "is this going to help me get towards my goal as quick as possible?" if the answer is no dump it and find a better exercise. For example exercises that target small muscles like the triceps (back of the upper arms) or biceps (front of the upper arms) are great if you want to develop those muscles but these exercises decrease the fat burning efficiency of your overall home workout so if your goal is to burn fat quickly you may make the decision to dump them and put in an exercise that uses bigger muscle groups like a squat.

4. Move towards your goal

Regularly adding more advanced exercises as your skill improves creates a higher energy burn as more complicated exercises often need more energy to perform. It should be your goal to safely progress to advanced exercises as soon as you are capable, getting out of your comfort zone and adding more work into your program without adding time to your session.

3. Train Hard

Rolling around on your carpet in front of the TV is not an effective home workout, if you are serious about training make sure you put in the effort and give your workout your full attention switch off the TV, put on some motivating music if you wish and work your ass off.

2. Train Smart

It's not enough to train hard your home workout also needs to be designed properly to create the best effect possible. For example cardio training alone is now known to be a poor fat loss technique but when combined with resistance training it increases the benefits of training. If you are using cardio training try interval training which is simply cycling through a high followed by a low intensity period and repeating a number of times through, this dramatically increases the fat burning effect over time, as does using a well designed resistance training circuit.

1. Train Safe

Working out at home allows you the freedom to train when you want, create your own training space and can be more comfortable than going to the gym but it can be more risky if you don't know how to exercise with safe technique. When first starting you may benefit from taking lessons with a qualified personal trainer so that you can be sure of your technique when you're on your own. Taking the time to learn how to train properly is the best investment you can make.

Getting help

You may be unsure of some of these steps or you may not be comfortable performing them right now but there is help available for less than you might think. Of course if you have the money having a qualified fitness trainer write a program for you on a regular basis and make sure you know how to do it safely is your best option but if you need a cheaper option there are many great programs available for download on the net that have been designed by great trainers and have proven to be successful for many people. Many of these provide you with loads of home workouts you can use to take you through beginner up to advanced workouts as you progress. The best programs also contain nutrition plans and give you social support like what you would find at the big gyms, which is a big key to long term success.
If you're looking for free workouts these trainers also produce great programs that they give away for free to prove their value and effectiveness.

Click the link below to learn what the best programs need to have to deliver the results you are looking for and to discover my number 1 pick for the best home workout program on the internet.