Obesity is one of the most commonly faced problems inPakistan. Every third person is depressed because they are not sheddingcalories to the same proportion as they are gaining them. Joining gym orfitness club is not possible for everyone, especially the housewives and officegoers who find it difficult to get time for workout properly.  The only option left for them is workout athome.

Most of the health experts suggest exercising at home asmuch as at the gym. This can be helpful in adapting to a healthy life style. Youwill be able to do at least something if not proper workout.

How to Get Started

All you need is to close the doors of your room, put on somesoothing music, place an exercise mat on the floor and get started. Things like gymballs, dumbbells, and waist trimmers are an inexpensiveway to create a routine that works all the major muscle groups. Waist trimmers and tummy trimmers are suitable for those who want to reduce few inchesfrom their waist and abdomen.

You can even install treadmill at home for cardio workouts. After making your baby sleep or finishing thehouse chores or just after returning back from office; you can easily do a 15to 20 minutes cardio workout to burn calories. Exercise bikes and Elliptical trainers are yet other bestoptions that can be easily installed at home as it takes lesser space and canbe used with ease any time. You can use them while watching your favorite TVshow at home.

Five Elements of Fitness

Even with no props or exercise machines, you can burncalories and get fit. Brisk walk, abdominal exercises, pushups, yoga, andaerobics are some of the commonly following work out routines. Fitness expertshave revealed that by following the five components one can easily shedcalories at home without paying high at gym.

Warm up

It is compulsory to warm-up your body before commencing theworkout.  It could be an easy walk, jumprope, some squats or pushups with video / music – whatever gets your breathingand heart rate regular.

Aerobic workout

If you're a beginner, target should be for 30 minutes ofaerobic exercises at least thrice a week, and along with that 20 to 30 minutesof strength work thrice a week. The strength workout should cover all major musclegroups, in your upper & lower body, abdominals and back. Go for three setsof 10-15 repetitions of each strength exercise.

Resistance exercises

The resistance workout can be as simple as squats, push-upsand abdominal crunches. You can work with small dumbbells, a weight bar, bandsor tubing.

Flexibility moves

Increasing your body flexibility by doing stretchingexercises is significant. You can do floor stretches, hand stretching, legstretching or yoga poses to maximize your muscle strength.

Cool down

In the end cool down process should be similar to warm up. Breathingexercises (inhale/ exhale) can be significant in bringing your heart beat backto normal.

Working out at home has various advantages. But, there areobstacles as well, such as distractions from a phone call, the kids, pressurecooker on stove etc can derail a workout. A good way to stay motivated andavoid distractions is to exercise early in the morning.