Why I Workout at Home + Tips on Staying Motivated

I’m actually super excited to talk about this topic. Many of you know over a year ago, I started working out home but I’m not sure I ever dived into why I workout at home.

I also want to touch on how to motivate yourself with home workouts. I know how incredibly tough that sounds because when you’re at home, you just want to sit on the couch but it’s actually easier than you think — trust me! I was there before.

Why I Workout at Home

I was a studio workout whore. Plain and simple. I tried almost every studio workout there is out there. Pure Barre, [solidcore], SoulCycle, OrangeTheory Fitness, Zengo Cycle, Barre Method.

What was the problem?

1. I wasn’t seeing the results I wanted; each studio workout didn’t seem to offer anything that my body needed.
2. They were EXPENSIVE.
3. I hated leaving my house. Traffic in Northern Virginia sucks and if I can do anything to avoid it; I will.

Prior to moving to our new house, I signed on for a monthly Pure Barre membership. I had quit barre to try other studio workouts but then came back to barre.

What made me quit it altogether was when we moved to our new town, the barre studio I had wanted to go to wouldn’t honor the rate I was receiving at my old barre studio. I totally get it because they’re each franchised/owned by different owners so I wasn’t mad about it.

I was certainly bummed but I think it was a blessing in disguise because it resulted in me saving $169/month.

I crave exercise. It has always been something in me that if I don’t workout for a day, I feel like a lump. It’s also amazing for my mental health. I feel so good after every workout; even if it’s only 15 minutes.

I exercise to stay fit and I exercise because it truly puts me in a good mood. Plus, I exercise so I can eat more ;) half kidding.

I have done Fitness Blender workouts here and there. They’re 100% free.

In our old house, there wasn’t really space for me to workout. I could have made it worked but I didn’t motivate myself enough to do so and since I still had a membership at barre, I just went to barre.

When we moved to our new house and I was forced to figure out a new workout plan, I decided to give working out at home with Fitness Blender a shot.

I gave myself a schedule; I’d workout four days a week. I worked from home three days a week so on lunch breaks, I would go to the basement to workout. Then I would jumpstart my week by working out on Sunday afternoon.

I invested in Powerblocks because I loved the idea of saving space and not having 2340987 dumbbells lying around. That was the only investment I had made. I already had a yoga mat and many of the exercises that involve a bench, you can use the floor.

Day after day, I would force myself to go into the basement to workout. I told myself I had no other choice and what was I going to do anyway during lunch hour? I mean, yes, I ate but other than that, I was just wasting time doing nothing.

They say you get into a routine after X amount of days and it’s true. It became routine for me and I loved it.

The workouts on Fitness Blender go by extremely fast and they’re fun. Like, half the time I don’t feel like I’m truly working out because I love a good challenge and when something is challenging and I’m pushing through, it makes everything go by so much faster.

If you sign up for a Fitness Blender account, you get access to use their calendar which is super helpful. If you’re anything like me, if something is on the calendar, YOU DO IT.

So, I would plan out my weeks: 1 day upper body, 1 day lower body, 1 day core/HIIT, 1 day total body. They have a plethora of workouts on their site (again: FREE) and they have awesome search filters that you can search by duration, intensity level, target areas, etc.

They also have programs that you can pay for. It’s basically them putting together a whole fitness program for you with existing videos they already have but it’s effective because they’re the professionals. They have a once yearly sale and I snagged most of them and I have been doing programs for a while now. It’s just easier than me sitting at the computer putting together a schedule for myself.

The programs are cheap too. $9.99 for some, $7.99 for others. And they’re either 4 or 8 weeks long. My favorite one so far is FB Strong. I just finished up FB Booty and I’ve done FB Abs and FB Sweat before, too.

I LOVE their “busy people” workouts. They’re usually 30 minutes or less. In fact, most their workouts are under 42 minutes which is so ideal.

Strength training is absolutely my favorite. It is such a myth that you need to do HIIT/cardio in order to lose weight. By building lean muscle while strength training, you burn fat, get more tone, AND you work up a sweat because you’re literally breathing so hard and working so hard. It’s basically like a cardio workout.

Omg, I honestly could talk all day long about Fitness Blender (and this actually isn’t a sponsored post whatsoever. I just LOVE them so much) but basically, I work out at home because 1. it’s free, 2. I don’t have to leave the comfort of my house, and 3. I love it!

I’m lucky enough to work from home four times a week now and I’m still doing workouts during my lunch break. Honestly, nothing has changed from a year ago in terms of my workout routine. I strictly adhere to my workout calendar and some days, if I’m extra sore or not feeling it, I just move it to another day. The calendar in Fitness Blender makes it so easy to reschedule workouts.

Update 8/25/2018: 

I started to do Tone It Up workouts because after a year and half of doing Fitness Blender, I was getting a LITTLE bored of the same routines/format.

So I decided to change it up a bit and I started working out with Tone It Up. I do their daily workouts and then find a complimentary workout. Sometimes it’s what they suggest at the bottom and sometimes I find something on their YouTube channel or in their app.

While I don’t absolutely LOVE everything about them (they move way too fast and they don’t really give you pointers and educate you and their workouts are a tad short), their workouts are a challenge and that’s what I love.

I’m always dripping in sweat and out of breath by the end of them; even if they’re short. Sometimes I double up on workouts because they’re *too* short.

I also feel that because I have body image issues, TIU kind of gives me unrealistic expectations because my goal whenever I see the Karena and Katrina (or one of the other TIU Studio workout girls) is, “I want to be as skinny as them.”

I really should rephrase that to be, “I want to be strong and tone” but it’s hard when you’re staring at perfect bodies.

So I will say that I would highly suggest you start out with Fitness Blender. I’m glad I started out with FB because it gave me the foundation to be able to do TIU workouts.

Like, I’m able to modify moves on my own and I’m able to swap in certain workouts for other ones. TIU doesn’t really give you that knowledge.

For example, if I don’t want to do single leg deadlifts, I can do regular deadlifts or if I don’t want to do tricep pushups, I switch to tricep dips.

They also don’t talk much about weights and whatnot and I feel that is a very important thing that FB always talked about.

I did end up buying a subscription to TIU to use their on-demand workouts in their app. It’s $83/year and that’s still cheaper than a gym.

However, I do recommend starting with Fitness Blender completely free workouts first and gaining knowledge of strength training workouts and everything before you move forward to something paid.

That’s just how I look at it. I’m more than happy to pay TIU now because I already have a base knowledge of working out. If I had done it the other way around, I don’t feel I’d be getting my monies worth.

Tips to stay motivated to workout at home:

1. Set up a calendar/schedule with workouts for each day that you want to do.
2. Make yourself adhere to that schedule. No excuses! You took the time to create the schedule…so go actually do it.
3. Block off time in your real life/work calendar. If you don’t block out time, you’ll never make time to work out. You’ll just end up doing the other thing.
4. Make time. 30 minutes is 2% of your entire day. If you can watch a Netflix show for 30 minutes, you can workout for 30 minutes.
5. Create a dedicated space to workout. Kind of like having a home office; make space for you to workout so you’ll enjoy going in there. If it’s amongst cluttered things, you will less likely want to go in. Additionally, just because you live in an apartment or small place doesn’t mean you can’t do these workouts. Within every workout, they have modifications for these very things!
6. Stop with your excuses. I honestly believe anyone can do anything if they set their minds to it. I challenge you to give working out at home for 45 days. If you absolutely hate it or cannot do it, then stop. But it’s seriously one of the most invigorating things once you’ve got your groove on.
7. Do it with a group friends. Meaning, create a small group and make each other accountable. Share what workout you are doing that day or are going to be doing. Ask if everyone has done their workouts, etc.
8. Push yourself. Part of the problem with working out at home is that you have no one there to actually push you harder so you might just half-ass it. If you make it a point to lift heavier, push yourself, and also have clean form…then you’ll definitely see results. I know it’s easier than that sounds but I’ve actually been able to lift heavier because I pushed myself and I’m gaining strength! A good check that Kelli always says is, “if by the end of one set you think it’s easy then you’re either lifting too little or not pushing yourself.”

Have I actually seen results from working out at home?

YES. 100% yes.

A lot of it also goes hand in hand with what you eat so everyone’s results will obviously vary but if you have a clean diet and eat relatively well, then you will definitely see results. If anything, you’ll be more tone, fit, and stronger than when you started out.

As most of you know, I also started working with a nutrition coach in February. This is by no means me saying that in order to see results, you need to hire a nutrition coach.

With hiring a nutrition coach and thus eating better, I’ve seen gains all around and I’ve lost inches in my waist.

This was just a personal goal of mine though so whatever your goal is, I’m positive that if you incorporate working out and eating better, you can achieve whatever it is you want to achieve in regards to your health and body.

I needed a nutrition coach to guide me further to achieve my goals and it has certainly paid off!