Workouts you can do from home if you’ve already given up on the gym

After the initial January gym rush comes the inevitable slew of no shows. Research by Nutravita last year revealed that almost 50 per cent of new year gym joiners cancel their membership by February.  

Given how dreary so many affordable gyms are with their grey palettes and unflattering mirrors, is it surprising that their allure fades so quickly? Heading home when it’s dark outside is far more appealing than hitting the fluorescent lights of the leisure centre.

Lack of time was the major reason for quitting the gym, according to the study, with 39 per cent of people failing to fit their membership into their busy schedules. 

The biggest mistake celebrity trainer Luke Worthington sees people make in January is setting either unrealistic or unspecific goals. “If a goal is a general ‘get fit’, ‘‘be healthier’ it can be very difficult to quantify,” he says. 

Similarly if someone is totally sedentary and they set themselves a task of completing a marathon in six weeks, he says: “That is likely to be too great a task to achieve in that time, and therefore you’re setting yourself up for failure.” 

Worthington suggests finding ways you can get more movement out of your existing commitments. Can you, for example, walk around the outside of the pitch during a kids football match instead of staying still? Can a coffee catch up with a friend become a walk in the park instead of sitting down? 

Moving our bodies so that our heart rate increases stimulates the cardiovascular system and consistently doing this over time causes the cardiovascular system to become stronger, more efficient and more resistant to disease. But cardio doesn’t have to be a gym class.

Caroline Idiens, a personal trainer with 20 years’ experience, and more than 1 million followers on Instagram, agrees. “If you’re already swerving the gym, you can still build strength, flexibility and balance with exercises at home,” she explains. “These are the three most important components in fitness and longevity.” 

If time is your problem, try doing some exercise while the kettle is boiling or the bath is running. You don’t need any fancy kit. If you don’t have weights, try using water bottles. A resistance band is Idiens’ go-to and costs under £10. “You don’t need an array of kettlebells and dumbbells. A band will fit in your suitcase or your desk drawer.” Read on for the exercises you can do in your living room.

The exercises you can do without setting foot in a gym

Strength

10 reps of each and 3 sets:

Sumo squats

Beginner: Sumo squats into calf raises – sitting back as if into a chair, with back straight, all the weight through the heels and chest lifted. Once back to standing coming up onto the toes, combining strength with balance. Go slow!

Intermediate: Sumo squats – as above but adding a resistance band.

Advanced: Sumo squat with a pulse at the bottom and a jump. Ensuring you land on bent knees and for a further challenge include the band!

Bicep curls

Beginner: Bicep curl into shoulder press – a good functional move with weights or water bottles. Taking care not to swing the arms and keeping elbows close to your side as you lift the weights and slowly take overhead. Do not lean back, keep your knees soft throughout.

Intermediate: Bicep curls into shoulder press – adding a squat first before you curl so making it more of a compound move involving the whole body and using weights if possible.

Advanced: Instead of a shoulder press, stay on your knees and do Arnold presses for the shoulders. Squeeze the glutes, toes tucked under. keep the elbows at shoulder height throughout and don’t lean back. 

Bent over row

Beginner: hinging from the hips, abs engaged and back straight. Slowly row the weights back towards the back pocket of your leggings. Squeezing shoulder blades at the top of the movement and slow on the decline.

Intermediate: bent over rows as above and using weights.

Advanced: modify this to be one row and one fly. Both great for the back. Hinge at the waist and keep your back from arching. Don’t swing the weights up, control is key.

Glute bridges

Beginner: laying on your back, bring your heels close into your bottom. Relax neck and shoulders. Slowly drive through the heels as you lift your hips off the floor. Squeezing glutes at the top. On lowering try to not let the bottom rest on the mat in between reps.

Intermediate: Glute bridges using a resistance band

Advanced: Glute bridges can be single glute bridges to be more challenging and add the band! Drive through the supporting heel.

Core

Beginner: Deadbugs for the core – using just bodyweight, laying on your back with knees at 90 degrees over the hips and arms raised over the chest, slowly lower the opposite arm and leg in turn whilst keeping the back down on the mat. Slowly and controlled and switching sides.

Intermediate: Instead of dead bugs moving on to a plank for the core. Holding a full plank position for 30 seconds – hips down and in a straight line without head dipping. Squeeze the glutes and keep the core engaged.

Advanced: For the core try a hollow hold into a tuck. Keeping the back down slowly come into a V position with the body ensuring the back remains straight. Each time extend arms and legs into a hollow hold keeping the head in line. Not easy!

Boudicca Fox-Leonard’s 3 essential balance and flexibility moves

Balance

Standing balance

Beginner: Tree pose (Vrksasana) – stand with your feet together. Lift your right foot up and place the ball of the foot next to your left heel. Try to keep most of your weight in your left foot. Hold five breaths, repeat on the other side.

Intermediate: Tree pose – this time try and place the sole of your foot on the inside of your calf. Option to close eyes. 

Advanced: Tree pose – place the sole of the foot on the inside of your thigh. Option to close eyes and extend arms upwards.

Moving Balance

Beginner: Side steps – with knees softly bent, step to the left and take your right foot with you, then step to the right, joining your left foot to meet. Repeat five times each side. 

Intermediate: Side jumps – introduce more of a jump to your side step and try to draw the following knee towards the chest. 

Advanced: Ice skaters – as you jump to the side, sweep the following leg behind you and bend the supporting leg. 

Plank balance

Beginner: Table-top Balance – come to all fours, with your hands underneath your shoulders. Extend your left arm out in front of you at the same time as lifting your right leg back. Hug your navel towards your spine. Stay for five breaths and repeat on the other side. 

Intermediate: Plank balance – from a plank position, extend the opposite arm and leg.

Advanced: Downward dog balance (adho mukha svanasana) – while in downward dog, lift opposite leg and arm up. Finger tips can be lightly on the ground if needed, or floating out to the side. 

Flexibility

Five breaths in each posture

Forward folds

Beginner: Staff pose (dandasana) – to stretch the back of the body. Sit with your legs extended out in front of you, feet flexed, hands by your hips. If you notice you are rounding through the pelvis, sit on a block/book/cushion so that the back can be straighter. 

Intermediate: Bent knee forward fold (Paschimottanasana) – take hold of the sides of the feet, or use a resistance band. Focus on lengthening the spine rather than rounding. 

Advanced: Forward fold (Paschimottanasana) – same as above but with the legs straight. 

Spinal twists

Beginner: Seated spinal twist (Marichyasana D) – bend your right knee and leave a gap between the foot and the thigh. Wrap your left elbow around your right knee and take your right arm behind you. Sit on a block if you are rounding though the lower spine. Repeat on the left. 

Intermediate: Seated spinal twist variation – take your left elbow on the outside of your right knee for a deeper twist. Try to eliminate the gap between the thigh and the belly. Repeat on the other side. 

Advanced: Bound seated spinal twist – for the full pose, bend both elbows behind your lower back and try to catch your hands. Use a band if your hands don’t quite touch. 

Back bends

Beginner: Sphinx pose (Salamba Bhujangasana) – to stretch the front of the body. Lie on your front, place your elbows under your shoulders with your forearms pointing forwards. Lift your chest up and forwards. 

Intermediate: Locust pose (Salabhasana) – lie on your front and gently press your pubic bone into the floor, lifting your chest and toes, reaching your arms behind you. Don’t aim to lift them up dramatically, rather extend the chest and toes away from the torso. Role the thighs in and keep the toes touching. 

Advanced: Wheel (Dhanurasana) – lying on your front, bend your knees and catch hold of your ankles. Inhale, push your feet into your hands to lift your chest. Keeping the feet together will be more strengthening.