How to use your own home to get fit

I stood on the gracious front porch of a stately red brick home. Through the window I saw Sharon lightly jog to open the door. She offered a warm smile and invited me in. After a hearty handshake, she led me down a flight of stairs into her finished basement. I was in awe as she explained that about 7 years ago she had it transformed into a state of the art gym – complete with free weights, medicine balls, gym-grade exercise machines, sound system, a Pilates reformer and a tranquil cove that was the yoga room with floor to ceiling windows boasting views of the lush backyard.

It had me at hello. Yes, I thought to myself, there is a reason I don’t have a space like this in my own home: my husband and children would never see me!

Sharon hired me to help her reach her fitness goals…and I readily agreed to show her how to use her vast array of exercise equipment!

You may not have a spread like Sharon’s – you may, like me, not even have a dedicated space for your exercise sessions at all! But what you and I do have is space! We also may have hidden opportunities within our comfortable dwellings to get a kick-butt workout –

Allow me share a few I’ve found in mine:

Stairs. Even 1 or 2 steps leading up to the front stoop will do. Stairs can be used exactly like step boxes are used at the gym (in popular cardio classes).

Lower body: leg lifts, step-up lunges, knee-ups, side leg raises, and football drills.

Upper body: push-ups, triceps dips.

Abdominals: side plank with a leg lift.

Bathroom. Yes, even this room is has opportunity! Try some of these while you’re brushing your teeth or waiting on your face cream/mud mask to settle in:

Lower body: squats over the toilet (close that lid ladies!), side leg lifts, squats.

Upper body: push-ups with knee to elbow.

Abdominals: plank.

Doors. Grab a band and a door adapter and use your doors like every upper body(and some lower/ab!) machine at the gym:

Lower body: lunges, squats.

Upper body: shoulder fly, shoulder press, lawn mowers, triceps extensions, bicep curls, rows.

Abdominals: crunches, side crunches

Living room. Roll the carpet away, lay a mat down and pop an exercise DVD into the DVD player for whatever workout suites your fancy. Your living room can quickly be transformed into the open space needed to host your own group fitness class – and YOU get the best spot in class!

Although I wasn’t able to give you images of the moves, I’m hoping this post will still inspire you to use what you have (in this case, your home!) to help you have a fun, effective workout!

I’m always looking for new ideas! In what unique ways have you used your own home to do a workout session? Please comment below:

Tags: fitness plan, katy gillis, physical fitness, workout