How effective are home workouts for achieving fitness goals?

Home workouts became the norm for many during the lockdown. With the widespread availability of free and paid workout programs, people took to strength training, aerobics, HIIT to name a few exercise disciplines. But is working out at home any better than working out at the gym?

Individuality

The first thing that takes precedence before any workout is an individual’s body. No two people are the same, which is why it is important to know that what works for someone might not work for you. Another factor that comes into account is the level of activity, diet and lifestyle. No workout can ever solely bring results with just physical exercise and bad lifestyle habits and diets. It is important to be consistent with a good diet and exercise program.

Diet

Diets are misconstrued as starving yourself or eating food that tastes terrible. Any experienced fitness enthusiast would know that in order to lose weight, it is important to burn more calories than consumed, popularly known as a caloric deficit. Being in a calorie deficit burns more fat and carbohydrates, which are used as sources of energy. This is another contributing factor to weight loss that does not have to be boring. The internet has many delicious recipes that are healthy. Dietitians also encourage people to eat healthy and tasty meals This is the other half to your home workout.

Lifestyle

Exercise and diet are the popular duo portrayed on social media when it comes to fitness goals. However, simply being in a calorie deficit may not be enough. The first few weeks of weight loss might be easy as your body utilizes more energy but it soon adapts to burning less and helping you become more active. To further accelerate this weight loss progress, it is important to be active all around, not just during your home workouts. Moving around for every 30-60 minutes of sitting can help the blood flow to various parts of the body and keep active.

Verdict

Home workouts are effective, but are not the only secret to weight loss. Fitness is a lifestyle for many, and thus it is important to slowly transition into a healthier lifestyle to meet and maintain fitness goals. Though increased strength may not appear as quickly as it does with free weights, home cardio workouts are effective for those who are short on time and want to start getting fitter.

Also read: Learning to Relax to Improve Sports Performance