The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly Of Home Workouts

How have your health and fitness routine and your home workouts been going?

  • Have you been active and exercising each day?
  • Do you know what exercises, activities, and workouts to do?
  • Are you getting bored with the options available to you?
  • Have nagging aches and pains been adding up?
  • Frustrated by a lack of equipment you normally have access to at the gym?
These are just some of the challenges of working out at home.

This whole self-isolation and quarantine situation has thrown many people for a loop when it comes to staying healthy, active, and fit. The great news is that fitness is free and that many options are available!

I’ve said this for many years. There is free information out there on virtually every type of workout and exercise you could ever want to do. However, this benefit also has its downside.

Just because something is free, doesn’t mean it’s good, worthwhile, or right for you. This information was always available, but since the pandemic started, the entire fitness industry has migrated to providing online services.

We are being bombarded with every exercise and fitness class under the sun, with most of them being free. While this provides you with a great deal of choice, it’s also the reason so many people are getting overwhelmed, frustrated, and injured.

Any workout or fitness program (whether free or paid) is only helpful IF:

  • The workout is right for you
  • If you do it correctly
  • You do it consistently
  • If you ENJOY doing it
  • You change it up on a regular basis
This is the difference between fitness and coaching. Fitness is free. Your investment is in instruction and coaching.

Anyone can exercise, and a few may even do it correctly. However, making sure you are doing it correctly requires some specialized instruction. Ensuring you enjoy it, do it consistently, and add variety involves coaching specific to your needs. People are downloading and attempting to complete all kinds of workouts without properly understanding the impact they will have on their bodies.

When it comes to social media, just because someone looks fit and can get themselves fit, doesn’t mean they have the qualifications to teach you, OR that you should be doing their workout plan.

On the flip side, just because someone has a bunch of letters after their name doesn’t mean they are right either. They might be an expert in an area that has no relation to your needs.

At the base level, we need to know if the workout is designed effectively and what potential risk of injury or pain it creates for us based on our current health, fitness, and skill levels?

If it’s an instructor or trainer-led session, how focussed on the form is the instructor/trainer? Do they make clear, easy-to-follow technique corrections? Are they providing education and knowledge so you can learn what to do, or are they simply there to kick your ass and make you sweat?

a woman coach with an older student

Sweating and working hard definitely have their place, but NEVER at the expense of technique!

In a fitness class, there is an instructor that could potentially correct your form (not all do), but most online fitness options are 1-way communication. The instructor or trainer can’t see your form and make real-time corrections.

From experience, I can say that even in the presence of a coach and trainer, many people struggle to do an exercise correctly. The value of having a live coach comes by receiving those moment-to-moment corrections and cues that are customized to your needs.

The great news is that this can still be done online, it just requires thinking differently about the value of online fitness and home workouts. If you are currently exercising at home, I encourage you to think about these points. Can you check off ALL of them?

  • Is the workout right for you?
  • Are you doing the exercises correctly?
  • Are you exercising consistently?
  • Do you ENJOY your exercise sessions?
  • Are you changing your program on a regular basis?

If not, I encourage you to invest in some coaching to learn how to do things correctly and customize them to your needs.

If you want more detail on some of the points I talk about here, please check out the short book I wrote called the Essential Guide to Hire a Personal Trainer.

With FRESH!, we have live 2-way communication classes, as well as small group and private coaching sessions. Just book here your free Complimentary Success Session and learn a better approach to fitness, fat loss, and living a fabulous life!

book here your free complimentary success session

With our great offer, you can work out at home, online, at your own pace! Just join our free 7 Day Home Fitness Jumpstart Program today, and kickstart your fitness the right way. 

join for free Home Fitness Jumpastart program

For more examples of home exercises and workouts check out our YouTube channel

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