Exercise At Home: Here’s How to Make it Fun for the Whole Family

Exercising is important! But sometimes having enough motivation to do it can be tough. More people are abandoning their exercise bikes and at-home workout videos because they’ve started to consider these routine programs more of a chore than a benefit and started to dread the thought of it. It’s not meant to be a burden. Some people like to keep their exercise routine the same all the time but you don’t have to and most people lose interest in doing the same exercise routine day after day. I kind of like to keep the same routine but I also like to mix it up.

There are many exercises you can do to get the same results while having fun in the process. Play tag or have running races with your kids/grand kids. Go old school and play hop scotch or jump rope. These ideas alone will have you not only burning calories but it will get your heart pumping too.

Here are some other ideas and tips to make exercise at home FUN! Yes there is such a thing.

Swimming Exercise Benefits

If you have a swimming pool (THIS pool on my wishlist lol), make good use of it. Enjoy splashing around and do some aqua jogging (running in the water) while you’re in there. You’ll burn lots of calories. It’s an excellent way to get exercise while doing something you love. Pool exercises not only burn calories but also help your core and improves balance. If you have joint pains and other health issues like arthritis it might give you some relief. Oh and if you have had surgery and the doc OK’s it, water exercise helps to decrease recovery time. Yay!

Pump It Up with Great Music

Adding music to your exercise routine will help give you the boost of energy you need. Personally, music is one of the most important additions to my workouts when I exercise at home or anywhere really. I love all kinds of music. I mostly listen to music from Amazon Prime. We have the Amazon Echo Plus, Echo and Echo Dot (my least favorite because I LOVE a good speaker and this does not do it for me) all over the house for our music listening pleasure. My all time favorite though is this Bose portable speaker. Music is very important to me during my workouts how about you?

Workout Together or Alone?

Ask a friend or family member to join you for a workout. Sometimes having someone with you to joke around or chat with helps you get through the exercise routine faster. A 30-minute workout can seem like it only took 10 minutes when you exercise with someone. You can push each other to get through the workout. I prefer to workout alone however I don’t mind working out with hubby or my granddaughter Rhyanne. Both of them respect the fact that I don’t like to talk during my workouts so we are just there to push each other through. Do you workout with a buddy?

Mini Trampoline for the Win

Buy yourself a mini trampoline! If you’ve been around the blog a while, you have heard me talk about this topic a lot. I absolutely love a mini trampoline/rebounder workout, pretty much more than any other workout. It’s easy on the joints and body and just a fun, fun workout. Mini trampolines can be stored easily since most fold/stand up. We just bought our 7 year old granddaughter and her mom (my stepdaughter) a mini trampoline and I think they really like it.

The thing I like most about the mini trampoline (and exercise at home in general) is that I can take short bursts of time throughout the day instead of sticking to a 45-minute workout. But really, 20 minutes is sufficient on a consistent basis. By mixing up workouts and your daily routine, you’ll start to look forward to getting in your workouts.

Exercise bike gathering dust?

Do you have an exercise bike you’re using to hang laundry? Time to clean it off and move your exercise bike close to the TV, so you can ride while watching your favorite show or movie. Usually watching a show will help take your mind off riding the bike. We have a recumbent bike (in our cat room) and a spin bike in our home gym. You can get in a quick 20-30 minute ride with your mind on something else like TV and it’s over before you even know it. Some people read while on the bike. I have tried that on the recumbent bike and it’s not easy and I don’t ever read on the spin bike. When I get back in my workout groove, I think I’m going to listen to podcasts while on the recumbent bike.

Speaking of the spin bike, I’m about ready to get back into the home gym and will attempt to spin again. We have our eyes on the Peloton bikes but for now I think I’m going to invest in the CycleCast app, an audio guided cycle class. Doing that and the mini trampoline plus home workout DVD’s are my favorite ways to exercise at home. Share your favorite at home workouts.

Track Your Progress When You Exercise At Home

I like to keep track of my workouts each day. When I complete my workout for the day, I mark it on my magnetic calendar with my cool dry erase markers. I need to get back to staying accountable and sharing it on video. Are you following me on Instagram? I’ll be sharing via Insta story there. Comment below with your Instagram username.

I also use a fitness planner, fitness watch and body scale to keep track of my workouts, weight and inches lost, etc. I also need to desperately start keeping track of my food again but I do not like using tracking apps. Can’t explain why but I would much rather quickly write it all down. We’ll see how it all plays out because I would like to keep track of my numbers. I have thought about using a bullet journal like this one to keep track of everything. How do you track your workouts and everything else?

Reward Yourself.

Make sure to reward yourself in some way and not with food unless it’s healthy of course *wink* If you exercise daily for a set amount of time, then celebrate your accomplishment and buy a new perfume, lipstick, shop for a new pair of sunglasses or treat yourself to a spa day. Those are my vices. I love perfume, lipstick, nail polish & sunglasses so those would be on my list of treats. Or maybe a healthy meal or grocery delivery program. How would you reward yourself?

Mixing up your exercise at home can be fun if you’re constantly coming up with ways to make it more interesting – and the more interesting it is, the more likely you’ll be to keep it up because you won’t get bored. No more waiting your turn to use sweaty equipment at the gym, no crowds, blaring music, and for some the embarrassment of doing your workout in front of others. Here are some of the top home gym advantages.

I think exercise at home is much less stressful. You’re not rushing to make it to your spin and yoga classes and you can workout whenever you want. Most people need more flexibility with their schedules these days and getting fit at home can be the perfect answer. Do you prefer to workout at the gym or at home?