Best Workouts to do From Home
This post was sponsored by adidas. All opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands that support HTC.
Well, here we are, over six weeks deep into our quarantine and still surviving. It still boggles my mind how fast everything escalated over the last two months. I remember the day Dustin and I realized that everything related to COVID-19 was more serious than we had originally thought. It was a Tuesday morning and we were at our community gym. Dustin had just finished listening to a Joe Rogan podcast with a virologist, who was explaining the severity of the virus and sharing advice on how to prepare for it hitting US. We were discussing was precautions we needed to take as a family, since I’m immune compromised and in that moment, I realized that was probably my last time going to the community gym for the foreseeable future.
Three days later, the state of Utah decided to issue a Stay At Home initiative and closed down all non-essential businesses, including salons, in-house dining and gyms.
For me, working out has become a critical component for maintaining good mental health and a part of my daily routine. For the longest time, I was convinced that my body could not be healthy and could not be strong because of my history with pediatric cancer. I was also told that I had to be careful when working out to protect my knee and reconstructed left leg, but I took that to be “you can’t work out at all.” Over the last two years, I’ve worked closely with my doctors and my therapist to realize that with some adjustments, I CAN workout and that my body can still be strong. It’s capable and worthy of the effort. Working out has helped healed my relationship with my body and has shown me how big of a difference it’s made in my mental health and my physical ability to do things by putting a little time, effort, and energy into moving it every day.
Dustin and I knew we had to come up with a plan quickly so that we could continue to get our workouts in and stick to our routine. With a little luck and a lot of research, we were able to construct a home-gym that we both LOVE and, honestly, at this point, are probably going to keep using even when our gym opens back up!
Here are the equipment and workouts to do at home that we’ve been using over the last month that has helped us stay on top of our habits and given me the motivation to get up and move every morning:
Home Workout Gear Recommendations
A Good Pair of Sneakers - The first few days of working out in our new basement gym, I didn’t even think about putting sneakers on! I just rolled out of bed, put on some leggings and wandered downstairs to start doing my workouts. I quickly realized how big of a mistake I was making when my socked foot slipped out from under me while doing jumping jacks. Wearing sneakers, even when doing workouts from home is super important. You still want to have good arch support and traction while you are doing your exercises so that you can prevent injuries!
My favorite gym sneakers are from adidas (so much so, that I have three pairs I rotate through.) I find them to be breathable, comfortable, and easy to move around in. I have NEVER gotten a blister from any of my three pairs, even when walking long distances on the treadmill! Honestly, the icing on the cake when it comes to adidas sneakers is that they are also super stylish. They go from working out at my home gym to pairing well with a chic athleisure look! The ones I’m wearing in these photos have little gold SPARKLES in them!
Resistance Bands - We ordered some of these from Amazon to add a little extra resistance to certain exercises that were starting to feel “easy?” (like lunges, donkey kicks, and fire-hydrants.) While not necessary, I’ve loved having them on hand to help me feel like I’m making progress and getting stronger.
Floor Mat/Yoga Mat - We got our floormat from Costco, but any yoga mat/foam mat would do! It just adds some cushion for your body and prevents rugburns from doing exercises on the carpet!
***When we first started using our community gym about a year ago, Dustin bought a weight bench and a bar to leave there because it didn’t have one. When it came out that the gyms were closing, he moved the equipment he personally purchased for the community gym to our home so that we could still use it. While it’s been nice to have the bench, I don’t use any of the weight bars personally when doing my home workouts and want to make it clear that you don’t need that equipment to get a good workout from home!
Best Home Workouts to Try from Home (for free!)
I always thought that working out from home was such a pain because you would have to have a lot of equipment in order to get a legit workout in. While having some dumbbells and resistance bands help, being told to stay at home has forced me to find workouts that I could do from home no matter what equipment I had on hand. I’m excited to share some of my FAVORITE free workouts that have really been doable at home, even without a ton of equipment!
Peloton App - Right now, the Peloton Digital App is free for 90 DAYS! This app has been our go-to, so much so that we ended up pulling the trigger on our own Peloton Bike. However, you don’t need the bike to enjoy 90% of the content on the app! The Peloton app has a range of classes in it’s library, including meditation, strength training, HITT workouts, and stretching. It even has audio walking/running classes that you can listen to if you just need a break and want to get outside for a workout!
They even have filters so you can find a class by length, difficulty, or music! So, if you only have 10 minutes to get a quick workout in, you can still find one to take on the Peloton app!
If you have a different type of stationary bike, you can still take the spin classes (just be aware that the resistance levels on your bike are different than the Peloton)
F45 Training - Some of my favorite fitness influencers to follow (Quincey and Brandon at @iheartmacros) own two F45 Gyms in northern Utah and right now, they are sharing their workouts for FREE online! These workouts will REALLY put you through your paces, but 90% of the exercises you can do at home with a small amount of equipment!
High Fitness Classes on Youtube - While we were waiting for our Peloton to arrive, I was having a hard time getting cardio in my workout from my basement home gym. I stumbled upon some High Fitness classes on youtube and figured I’d give one a shot, since I’d been wanting to take an in-person class forever, but just never got around to going. HOLY CRAP! That 3 minute dance video KICKED MY TRASH in the best way possible! I was sweating, I was laughing, and it was so much fun! When I need a quick mood pick-me-up, I find one on youtube and finish my workout with a high energy dance class!
Hanna Oeberg on IG - Hannah is one of my favorite Instagram Accounts to follow because she posts daily workouts to her feed that I can reference back to whenever I’m looking to change things up. Each set of exercises targets a muscle group, so I often turn to her when I feel like I need to spend more time on my triceps or my back muscles. She’s posted a ton of at-home workouts since everything has happened and shown how to use a chair or a couch to get the most out of her exercises! Plus, all of her workouts on her feed at ABSOLUTELY FREE!
Let me know if you’ve discovered any workout routines or programs you’ve been doing at home in the comments below and I’ll add it to our list!
