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Featured

28 Mar

There has always been an assumption that any exercise that is home-related, doesn’t count. With many women believing that they’ve not truly exercised because it took place in the comfort of their home, our Fitness Editor Victoria Deborah shows us otherwise and she has the body to prove it too.

I have a track and field background which has led me to a love of going to the gym, going from powerlifting to bodybuilding. The satisfaction of getting a new personal best and increasing in strength is something I quickly began to enjoy. Whilst in University, I would visit the gym twice a day, 7 days a week - I had no problem walking into the gym and doing a 1 hour workout by myself and leaving. I quickly learnt that not everyone had this same motivation or time but as a 21-year-old student at the time, I had no issue walking into the gym and just getting on with it; time was at my disposal.

By the time I had finished university however, I had fallen into depression and anxiety. Going to a physical gym was quickly thrown out of the picture. During this time, I began to think ‘how do I do the one thing I love in the midst of the crippling anxiety that left me bound to the four walls of my room’? It was from here that I began to do home workouts. I learnt how to adapt the workouts I usually did in the gym. I went from using heavy weights to body weighted exercises and mostly resistance-based workouts.

The 5 benefits of home workouts are:

It saves time

There’s no need to travel or wait for machines or equipment.

It’s low cost

There are no gym fees or expensive equipment needed.

Workout anytime

You can exercise on your own schedule, no matter the time of day or night.

Privacy

You can work out without feeling self-conscious.

Go at your own pace

There’s no pressure to keep up with those around you.

So are home workouts as effective as working out in the gym? The answer is, yes!

Resistance bands, ankle weights and dumbbells are great home workout extras – all of which can be found online and work out cheaper in the long run than your monthly gym membership. The use of resistance bands alone grew my glutes and a 15-minute ab workout every day before bed really helped in keeping my core tight.

Home workouts became my best friend as it could always be fitted into my schedule, no matter how busy I was. Setting aside 15 minutes every night before bed only benefits you. When I discovered how much I loved workouts and how well it was working for me, I wanted to help others in feeling the same way. This was how I began creating home workout videos alongside videos in the gym that could be easily incorporated at home.

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