Let’s face it.
We all want the positive health benefits that come with taking care of ourselves, but most of the time we don’t want to put in the necessary work to get there. There is no shame in this game. As much as I love working out and taking care of myself, I will be the first to admit that most days I have to get myself in the right mindset to accomplish it before actually performing the act.
The way I see it, it’s normal. Nobody wakes up and jut hops right into action. Everybody had to first allow for their bodies to wake up, find a burst of energy, before they can begin their day.
Here’s the deal. I like to complete my workouts in the morning, and no I’m not a morning person. For me, I believe it’s the perfect start to my day, it puts me in the right mindset for all the things on my list that I have to tackle, and most importantly it sets my mood for the day. Working out in the morning gives me the energy to greet the day that I might not otherwise find anywhere else.
But here’s the catch…
I only workout at home.
I’m not against going to the gym I just personally do not like to workout at the gym. I prefer to workout in the comfort of my own home. Not only does doing so save me money on paying for a gym membership, but it always gives me the opportunity to work out with my favorite online fitness coach Cassey, by following along to her YouTube videos!
What I love most about Cassey is the fact that all of her workout videos are workouts that you can complete at home. Following along to her videos is what made me fall in love with working out in the first place, and it has been working great for me for the past 3-ish years, so I see no need to change this process right now.
If you’re anything like me and you don’t like to workout at the gym, or maybe you want to really commit to working out consistently and you’re not ready to face the gym, no worries. Today I’m going to share with you how you can create the perfect workout routine at home.
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Step #1: Know what it is you want to accomplish
Before you can even begin to start designing a workout routine at home you have to know what it is you want to accomplish. Do you want to focus on losing weight? Building muscle? Increase your confidence? Or maybe you just want to start taking care of yourself now so that you look damn good when you’re older.
Whatever your reason may be just know what the overall goal is from the start. This will help keep you focus and motivated to get up and workout every single day.
When I started working out, I mainly decided to do it because I was lacking confidence in myself. I had just recently come out of a really bad relationship, school was taking a toll on me (college), and I was slowly sinking into a deep depression. I knew that I didn’t want to spend my life feeling this way let alone my early 20s, so I knew a change had to be made.
That’s when I discovered Cassey and began to start working out everyday with her in the comfort of my own home. What I love most about Cassey is that fact that she is so inspirational in all of her videos and will make you believe that you can get through the full workout. And let me just tell you that her workouts are HARD! But they are so worth it.
Know what it is you want to accomplish from the start. Once you have that, move forward with finding the right workout routine for you.
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Step #2: Decide the approach you want to take
The next most important thing to consider when designing a workout routine at home is knowing whether or not you want a guide of some sort, or if you want to do it all by yourself. By guide I mean having someone guide you in your workouts while you complete it. Or you can do it by yourself by simply putting together a workout routine that supports the areas of your health that you want to focus on.
My preferred method is following along to Cassey Ho on YouTube. Every night before I go to bed, I decide what area of my body I want to focus on for the next day. Then I go to Cassey’s YouTube channel and find a video that I will complete. I actually have multiple folders on YouTube labeled according to specific body parts that are filled with a ton of Cassey’s videos. I just simply find a video and commit to completing it the next day.
Now while I love Cassey I will admit that her workouts are challenging. Cassey’s workouts are a combination of Pilates and traditional workouts. However, very rarely, and by rarely, I mean almost never, does Cassey use any kind of equipment in her videos. Instead she challenges all of her viewers to rely on their own body weight, and to use that as their equipment.
As you can image this is extremely challenging but it helps in making you stronger. If this doesn’t sound like something you are ready to take on right from the jump no worries. You have to do your research and find the type of online workout coach that is going to be best for you and your workout routine. This may take some time but the important thing is to go through a trial and error process until you land on something that works for you.
It’s not a perfect process and it will take time to learn what will work best for you. So just be ready for that.
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Step #3: Schedule in time to workout
One of the biggest obstacles to working out at home is actually motivating yourself to work out. Of course, this is going to look different for everyone. Some people are stay at home parents, they work from home, or they actually have to commute somewhere to get to work. Some parents have children at home who are not yet old enough to start school, or maybe they are homeschooling them.
Either way everyone’s schedule looks different. I am able to workout anytime during my day but I prefer the mornings. Maybe you can’t work out in the morning and it has to be at night, or vice versa. Or maybe you too can work out any time during the day but your motivational hours are different from mines.
Knowing when you will and will not be able to commit to working out is important. The best and most effective way to hold yourself accountable to working out at home is to schedule it into your day. Use a calendar or your phone. Just pick a day and time during that day to schedule in a workout of your choice.
For example, on Mondays I usually focus on my abs. So, on Sunday night I will set an alarm on my phone to wake me up at 5:00am. Then for an average of 20 minutes I will spend time completing a workout video with Cassey. Once that’s complete, I’m usually done with my work out for the day. If I’m ever doing yoga, weight lifting, or scheduling in other activities such as walking, I’ll be sure to schedule that into my calendar on my phone and set an alarm for it as well.
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Set #4: Just do it
Once you have completed steps 1-3, you’re pretty much ready to go. All that is left to do is to make the commit to just do it every single day, or whenever you have scheduled in the time to do it. This too can also be a big challenge when it comes to working out at home. Like I mentioned earlier creating the perfect at home workout routine is going to greatly depend on when you are going to be able to do it.
This is why scheduling and knowing whether or not you will be following along to a video or working out on your own is so important. It’s all about finding a rhythm that works best for you and is most ideal for your lifestyle. Once you have a rhythm down, you’ll soon begin to develop a habit of keeping up with your workout schedule.
Some days you’ll be able to just do it without creating a schedule, and other days you will need to have that schedule to hold you accountable.
No matter where you start just know that the most important thing is to just start. Starting is always the hardest part, but once you take that leap, the rest will just fall into place naturally (but with a lot of hard work and commitment).
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Where to start
I’ve been in your shoes once before. I know how hard it can be to find the motivation to start working out, let alone to know where to start. That’s why I’m sharing this gift with you.
If you would like to receive a weeks’ worth of online workout material to help you get started, I’m your girl. Just simply sign up to my newsletter to get access to this content.
The content will include:
- 6 videos from my favorite online fitness coach Cassey Ho
- 1 video from my current obsession fitness influencer Whitney Simmons
- Bonus video to help you keep that motivation going into the next week
The best part is that all of these resources can be used at home!
Now, of course you can do your own research and find your own videos to workout to online, that’s not a problem. However, if you’re looking for a little bit of guidance, a challenge right from jump (that literally anyone can do), some motivation to get you through a weeks’ worth of workouts, and some recommendations for some of the best online fitness influencers (also #girlpower), then you want this list!
All you have to do is sign up and you’ll get instant access to all this material!
Don’t take your health for granted. If you’ve been wanting to make a change in your health and wellness routine the time to make that change is now!
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See you soon!
-Xo
Kimora