Getting to the gym is not always possible. In fact, as we get busier and more strapped for time it is important to know a few things you can do from the comfort of your own living room. That way you can forget about making excuses and just get to work. In this post I am going to show you 10 exercises that you can do in your living room that will help you burn fat and get toned.
The complete home workout strategy
If you are going to workout at home you want to make sure you are approaching it with a strategy that will allow you to get a complete home workout. Just because you are at home does not mean you can take it easy. In fact, you have permission to go a little bit crazier now that no body is watching! In order to get a complete workout you will need to:
- Work every muscle group
A big part of losing weight and getting toned is doing a full body workout. Your living room exercise should hit every body part in order to make sure you are not taking it too easy. - Elevate your heart rate
If your heart rate does not go up you aren’t working hard enough and you are not going to lose any weight at all. Make sure you are pushing yourself so that your heart rate gets up and stays up for most of the workout period. - Sweat a lot
Sweating is a sign that you are working. I see so many women workout well below the threshold that they need to in order to make progress. Make sure you are sweating a lot when you exercise at home. - Warm up and down
Warm ups and warm downs are essential in order to prevent injuries and make sure you can workout again tomorrow. There is no point working super hard if you injure yourself and can’t workout for a whole week while you recover.
10 living room exercises that burn fat and get you toned
Keeping in mind the above four points here are the ten exercises that you can do in your own living room if you don’t have time to get to the gym. Try to keep your technique as clean as possible and make sure you are only taking 30 second breaks in between exercises.
- Jumping squats
We are always talking about jumping squats here at Free Women’s Fitness because they are an absolute super exercise. They burn fat, get your heart rate up, shape your entire lower body and push you to an entirely new level of fitness. As far as body weight exercises go these are the absolute hardest thing you can do. Do not take them lightly. How to do them? Simply squat down on the ground with your left foot in front. Spring up into the air as high as you can go and then land with your right foot in front. Go down as low as you can and then repeat until you can’t do anymore. - Coffee table step ups
Make sure you have super stable coffee table or bench before you do this one. It is a great way to tone your lower body with a particular emphasis on your quadriceps and your butt. If you have bad knees these might be a little bit hard. How to do them? Stand in front of your coffee table or bench and step up on to it with your left foot. Step back down and repeat with the same foot. Carry out as many reps as you can and then switch feet. You can increase the difficulty by either going faster or wearing a backpack with some heavy weights in there. - Couch leg reverse crunches
Reverse crunches are one of the best exercises you can do if you want to flatten your tummy and develop some stronger abs. You can do them a variety of different ways but, actually, one of the most comfortable is to do them while holding on to the bottom of your couch. How to do them? Lay on your back and position your head about a foot away from the couch leg. Grab the leg with your hands and raise your knees so they are 90 degrees with the floor. Tense your abs and roll them back into your chest. At the top of the motion tilt your pelvis for a final little crunch. Lower them slowly back down and repeat. - TV shadow boxing
Shadow boxing has been used by boxers for decades as a way to build up their speed and their reflexes. It is extremely good for toning your arms and requires zero equipment and almost no space. It will get your heart rate up if you do it right. How to do it? Stand in front of the TV with your hand by your ears in the boxing ready position. Bounce on the spot like a fighter ready for action. When the camera changes angle or focus punch at the TV with your left hand and bring it back to the guard position. Repeat with your right hand the next time the camera changes. If you want to pick up the pace choose a more regularly occurring TV moment or do three punches every time it happens. Try and keep it up for five minutes and see how you go! - Chair push ups
If you have two sturdy chairs you have all you need to get an amazing chest, triceps and shoulders workout. Push ups are incredible when you do them on the ground, and they are even better when you do them between two chairs. This is an amazing way to firm and shape your flabby arms and even push up your bust by working your chest. How to do them? Place the two chairs next to each other with enough room for your torso in between them. Now place your hands on the seat of the chair and assume the push up position with your butt tensed, back straight and elbows back at a 45 degree angle. Lower yourself down until you feel a stretch in your chest and then push yourself back up. You can make this SUPER difficult by lifting your feet higher and higher on a couch, table or another chair. - Shopping bag bicep curls
If you want nice toned arms you need to work on your biceps as well as your triceps. One of the best ways to hit those biceps is to do some curls with a medium to heavy weight – like a shopping bag filled with books, groceries or other weighty items. How to do them? Fill up two shopping bags with some items until it is quite heavy for you to hold. Now stand up straight with your shoulders square and your head up. Tense your biceps and curl the weight up to your shoulder without moving your elbow from its position. As you are lowering the bag breathe out. Repeat with the other arm. Make this exercise more difficult by adding more weight to the bags. Remember to swap the bags over after each set in case one is actually more heavy than the others. - Door step calf raises
Have you got a set of stairs or a raised door step in your house? If so then you have all you need in order to develop some amazing calf muscles. Calf raises are one of the best things you can do for some tight and toned lower legs. How to do them? Simple stand on the step with your heels off the edge. Hold on to something so you don’t lose your balance. Lower your heels down and then push upwards using your calf muscles until your heels are as high as they can go. If you want to make this harder try adding a backpack with some weight or even doing it one leg at a time. This one burns! - Superwoman back lifts
It is really important to work your lower back if you want to counter all the badness that occurs after months and years of sitting at a computer all day long. These superwoman exercises are a simple and easy way to get some back health into you. How to do them? Lay on your stomach with your toes pointed and your arms up in front of you like you were superwoman flying through the air. Keep your face down towards the ground. Breath in and then lift your arms and legs off of the ground about one inch and then hold. Breathe out, lower and repeat. Don’t try to push this one too far, just do as many as you can. - Army star jumps
Good old fashioned army star jumps are an extremely good way to work your shoulders, coordination and get your heart rate up at the same time. You might even want to do these in between the others exercises as a way to keep loose and warm. Don’t underestimate them though, I imagine most of us couldn’t complete 100 in a row. How to do them? Simply stand with your feet together and your hands by your side and jump so that your legs land about two to three feet apart and your hands clap above your head. Jump back to the original position and repeat. Try to keep a flowing motion without too many stops. - Dictionary crunches
We all have one of those big dictionaries that are almost too heavy to put on the shelf. They are a great crunches tool. If you don’t have one just find something else that weighs about 2 to 5 kilograms. These crunches will help to flatten your tummy and strengthen your core area. How to do them? Lay on your back with your feet flat on the floor. Place the dictionary on your chest and tense your abs. Roll your upper body towards your knees and crunch your abs tight at the top of the motion. Lower your body down on the exhale keeping your abs tensed the entire time.
You can perform these exercises in this order or you can mix them up. It is really important to use the correct technique so if you are unsure on how to do something just leave it out until you have time to research it and learn it fully. Remember, don’t rest too much and keep your heart rate up.
Conclusion
Every now and then it will be necessary to workout at home. The great thing about this workout is you can do it while dinner is in the oven or while you are watching Grey’s Anatomy at night time. Try and keep it going for at least 20 minutes if you want to get some noticeable benefit out of it. And if you have any more ideas please drop a comment and let us know.
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