An ideal workout

Going to the gym is not the only way to get fit and healthy as a home workout is just as great and effective. The busy work life, rush of traffic and the added monetary cost dampens the goodwill for gym visits, not to mention the on-going COVID-19 pandemic that keeps coming in waves, limiting our outside activities to bare necessities. Keeping that in mind, let's see how we can get started on home workouts.

Pick the right reason and room

It's very important to first decide why you want to workout at home. Home workouts not only save time and money, but also give you the freedom to tailor your fitness plans according to your needs. From losing weight to bulking up on muscles, or staying healthy, make sure you choose the right kind of exercises that benefits you most.

You need to pick a room that has enough space to place at least a yoga mat, like the living room of your apartment where you can safely stretch and exercise. Any other room that has sufficient space is also okay as long as air ventilation is a top priority because it's difficult to move around in closed spaces.

Get the right equipment

The best thing about exercising at home is you can do it without any equipment at all, just a free space and maybe a pair of bluetooth headphones with a good workout playlist! But you can also get affordable gears like skipping rope, resistance bands, hand exercise balls to incorporate in your workouts, all of them costs between Tk 30 to Tk 150 each.

On the other hand, if you want to start with strength training, get dumbbells of 2 to 5 kg categories which will cost from Tk 350 to Tk 1000 and upwards. In addition, you can also get kettlebells with prices starting from Tk 1200 for the 4 kg variant.

Treadmills and exercise bikes offer good cardio workout options, but they can be quite expensive. So go for them only if you want to invest for a home setup for a long time to come. Manual and electric treadmill prices range from Tk 7000 to Tk 25000 and more, exercise bike prices start from Tk 7000.

The ideal workout

Before any workout, a warm up is a must; it gets your heart rate up and prepares your body for the workout. Something simple as walking around the house, stretching your hands and legs is a good way to start your warm ups.

An ideal workout consists of cardio, resistance training and flexible moves. Cardio is all about intense workouts in short bursts that help to raise your heartbeat, like doing jump rope, jogging in place or just dance to your favourite music!

For resistance training, start with the basics like push ups, planks or abdominal crunches. You could also use dumbbells to incorporate strength training to your resistance workout by doing shoulder press, bench press, deadlift and move on to more demanding routine when you are more experienced.

Yoga is amazing for increasing body flexibility and calming the mind. You can do basic yoga poses like tree pose, triangle, bridge pose by yourself. If making a workout routine feels too worrisome, you can also check online for beginner friendly workout tutorials, with YouTube channels like Fitness Blender, POPSUGAR fitness and others.

Home workout offers the most convenient option for your fitness goals. With everyday life getting hectic in every turn, working out from home gives us the perfect opportunity to take care of our bodies and the flexibility to do things our way. 

By Feda Al Hossain

Photo: LS Archive/Sazzad Ibne Sayed