Easy Weight Loss Home Exercises

In today’s time being healthy, fit and trim is of the topmost concern to us. But sometimes even though we are willing to exercise, money or time constraint becomes a hindrance in our way.


Gymming is a very good option to lose weight and to tone up the body. But it requires a nice amount of money and also you tend to waste time commuting to and fro from the gym, let alone the time wasted while waiting for your turn to use the equipment. Also some people find it very monotonous to go to a gym everyday.
So here are some inexpensive and innovative ways to get back in shape that wont burn a hole in your pocket but would surely burn away all the fat you have stored while eating all those McChickens and Cheesebursts…
The first and foremost thing before doing any kind of exercise is to warm up a lil. Start with stretching exercises. Now for cardio we can either walk, run or skip..

The best calorie-burning equipment you have is your own body, so why not use it.?? Jogging is one of the most calorie-expending activities you can choose, and it’s free. Even better: alternate brief spurts of running with longer walking intervals. It has already been proved by a research that, not only is interval training superior for weight loss, but it improves endurance levels as compared to the traditional runs. If due to some reason you can’t go out. You can use a treadmill at your place (if you already have it), use it for 20 mins. Since we are on a budget friendly exercise routine we will jog on the spot for 15- 20 mins, gradually increasing the time as we go. Another very cheap alternate to the expensive equipments, is a skipping rope. Jumping rope builds stamina, gets the person sweating, and burns calories.

SkippingA skipping rope costs approximately 100-150 bucks and is easily available at any health equipment store. Start by about a 400 skips and increase them gradually to a 1000 skips. While skipping what you can do is, skip the first 150 skips at normal pace and then try to max your pace for the next 50 skips then do the same for the rest 200 as well. If your house has two floors, walk up and down the stairs once slowly and once as fast as you can. Repeat. Then get down onto the carpet and lie flat.

Then jump up as fast as you can and proceed again to the stairs.

An easy and more private alternative for those looking to get in shape can be found in fitness videos. There are many options available on the market, and most require little or no equipment. You can get such Dvds for about 300-600 bucks but a cheaper option to that is download a nice fitness programme from the internet and burn yourself a Dvd. That ways even if you don’t like one programme and want to shift to some other you dint spend anything on it.

Now for strength training exercises anything with weight can be used. You can also do many strength training exercises using nothing but your own body weight as resistance. The best options for this are lunges, crunches, pushups, squats and dips.

Crunches:

CrunchesCrunches help in firming and reducing your abdominal area. This is how you do crunches:

  1. Lie down on the floor on your back and bend your knees, placing your hands behind your head or across your chest (whatever feels comfortable).
  2. Pull your belly button towards your spine, and flatten your lower back against the floor.
  3. Slowly contract your abdominals, bringing your shoulder blades about one or two inches off the floor.
  4. Exhale as you come up and keep your neck straight and your chin up.
  5. Hold this position for a few seconds, breathing continuously.
  6. Slowly lower back down, but don’t let your body relax all the way..
  7. For added variation, bring your knees in at the same time you lift your upper body off the floor (full body crunch)

LungesLunges:

Static lunges work all the major muscles of the hips and thighs. So now on how to perform a lunge:

  1. Stand with right foot forward, left foot back about 2.5-3 feet apart.
  2. Hold weights in each hand and bend the knees to lower the body towards the floor. Keep the front knee behind the toes and make sure you are lowering straight down and not leaning forward.
  3. Keep the torso (upper body) straight and abs in as you push through the front heel and back to starting position.
  4. Don’t lock the knees at the top of the movement.
  5. Perform 1-3 sets of 8-16 reps according to your fitness level.

SquatsSquats:

The squats involve the upper thigh, calves, hamstrings, butt and also your lower back. This is the best exercise for a firm and sexy butt.

  1. Stand straight. Suck in stomach, and keep your feet shoulder width apart.
  2. Keep your back straight as possible; now bend your knees until you’re almost in a sitting position. ( its like sitting on an imaginary chair)

Dumbells

Dumbbells are a great investment and are very versatile. You can buy these too for a very nominal price at your health equipment store. Dumbbells can be used in a variety of ways to strengthen the upper body. Bicep curls, lateral arm raises and overhead push-ups are a few exercises that can be done using dumbbells. If you don’t want to invest in a pair of dumbbells yet, you can make your own small homemade dumbbells by filling up water bottles or soda cans with sand.. if you want the dumbbells to be a little heavier then fill the bottle with sand and a little water..and voila you have your own free dumbbells to use. For the girls who have just got into strength training the right weight for the dumbbells would be 1kg, and you can increase the weight to 1.5-2 kgs as and when your strength builds up. Before using dumbbells make sure to start with some stretches or warm ups to loosen and prepare each muscle group. Failing to stretch the muscles can result in strains, tears and other injuries. And don’t increase the weight unless you are ready for it. To check if you are ready to increase the weight just do 5 reps of any exercise that you are doing with increased weights and if you feel comfortable you are ready for it. Always increase the weight gradually not all at once. Never pick up the weights with a jerk and same goes with every exercise. Never jerk yourself when doing any exercise. Like when doing a bicep curl, you hold the dumbbell in your arm and bring it up towards you chest, and then when you bring it down, this is where the jerk part comes, you have to keep control of your muscles and don’t just let it fall down.

StepperWant a stepper?

Why spend money. Use the bottom step of the stairs for step training. Hold your dumbbells in hand and do bicep curls while stepping.

The best equipment that I have and I really like is a Resistance Band. Resistance bands are very reasonably priced and easily available. They don’t use much space and can be used for strength training. With weights, you’re often limited as to how many exercises you can do. But, the resistance band allows you to change your positioning in multiple ways. This changes how your body works and how an exercise feels. I used to exercise with Resistance band earlier but after my surgery. My leg muscles went kind of dead, so my physiotherapist told me to do certain exercise with the resistance band since it’s the best way to strengthen your muscles.

Here are some tips to get the maximum out of your workout:

  1. Alternate strength moves like squats, push-ups, and wall-sits with high-intensity cardio moves like jumping jacks and running in place
  2. Take advantage of things you have around the house. A table is a great place to do triceps dips. So all you need is to be innovative.
  3. Aim for a minimum of 45 minutes per session
  4. Decide all the exercises that you will be doing. Now do one set of every exercise in the workout, repeat for 2 or even 3 sets. Go straight from one exercise to the next with little to no rest in order to keep your heart rate elevated
  5. Choose exercises that will incorporate your entire body. For instance pairing bicep curls with lunges would make you burn more calories than you would have burned by doing bicep curls while standing still. This is also very time-efficient.

Even with all of these resources, what is most difficult and challenging is staying committed to your fitness programme. I even have a wallet friendly, infact fun solution for this. Make your friend, husband, sister your workout buddy and schedule your workouts with them .Working together will be just like having a personal trainer who would motivate you with your weight loss and fitness target. Aim for 2–3 strength training sessions per week, and try to get some form of cardiovascular exercise like walking at least 5 days a week.

Those who have motivation may find it possible to get a complete workout with little or no extra equipment. So what are you waiting for.. Get moving baby.. 😉

Image Source 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Thank you Priyanka for such a motivating article 🙂 – Rati

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46 thoughts on “Easy Weight Loss Home Exercises

    1. Rati deserves the Thanks for this.. i wrote the article but dint describe the squats and lunges.. she told me to write an additional write up explaining the right way to do them..

      Thank you Rati.. you so know what your readers would like to know.. 🙂

  1. Ooooh Priyanka.. First the diet and now the workout.. You are gonna kill me.. 😡

    But really.. thanks for the excellent diet and these exercises… I do most of them daily.. Except for skipping.. I just can’t do them properly.. And whenever I try my mom laughs like crazy… 😳 😳

    But it was really helpful with the pictures and the tips… Thanks.. 🙂

  2. booo hoooo I am so bloody hungry today. 🙁 Had a subway sandwich and now I want to eat at least 4-5 more of these… God, I need some help. 😀

    But you know what, I wore my lovely white khaki pants today and they looked better than they looked on me when I wore them last week. I so loved it. Right now I think the diet is taking care of my water retention. Well! that is the only thing that is keeping me away from hogging.

    Thank you, I am loving it. 🙂

    1. If you are felling very hungry.. have a big bowl of chilled watermelon with black salt sprinkled on it.. refreshing, filling and yummy..:)
      Im so waiting for this week to end.. want to see how much weight you and Mrunmayee lose..

  3. No sweetheart.. im trying to kill all that pesky fat stored here and there.. 😉

    if you cant skip properly with a skipping rope.. just imagine that you have a skipping rope in your hand and move your hands the way you would have with them and jump.. thats it.. hope it helps 🙂

  4. i am sure this article will help people who get bored easily, don’t have too much time or don’t want to spend too much money to reach a certain level of fitness. 🙂 i personally get too weighed down by repetition. i like variety in body movements and for me the best way to achieve that is through dance. what’s bothersome is that the body has a tendency to stagnate after a period, but then that happens with all forms of exercise.

    1. Yeah.. dance is an awesome way to get fit.. i dint mention it here because ive seen some people dancing like they would have in a club and thinking it is some form of fitness programme.. for using dance as a fitness programme you have to make appropriate body movements that would work.. if you know some form of dance then its great.. if not then its more or less just cardio but with less calorie burning ability than a jog or walk..

    1. Yeah.. if you cant diet.. just try to eat right and exercise.. i guess this will make a lot of difference to your overall fitness..:)

  5. great post Priyanka ! planning to take the steps instead of the lift.

    Today, is my first day at the one month weight loss challenge….how imp is it to drink 2 glasses of methi water in the morn. I could gulp down only 1….wanted to throw up while drinking the second glass….what do I do

  6. Hi Lydia.. wow we have another one to join the weight loss challenge.. thats awesome..!!!

    It is important to take methi water in the morning since it helps with all the water retention and bloating.. give yourself a 5 mins break between the 2 glasses.. that will help.. 🙂

  7. thanks Priyanka will try the 5 mins break tip

    I forgot to mention that I’m in UAE and not sure if I can find tulsi leaves for the next week. any substitues. thanks

    1. If getting basil leaves from somewhere is a problem.. u can substitute it with 2 glasses of lemon water.. squeeze half a lemon in 1 glass and have it the first thing in the morning..

  8. Priyanka,

    A basic doubt – couple of years back, I use to walk in treadmill for 30 mins and do some basic ab crunches. Along with the HEALTHY DIET 🙂 I was able to reduce 6 kgs. But still my thighs and tummy dint reduce .Instead my hands and legs became thin and my face too became small…Now I want to reduce weight in specific parts…Is this possible….

  9. Vidhya.. i know the pain of it.. but to be true there is nothing as spot reduction.. you can surely tone up those areas so they look less flabby.. but you cant tell your body to take away the next 3 kgs from your thighs.. if you lose weight your whole body will get thinner and not just your thighs..

    But yes some exercises make alot of difference like squats, lunges, crunches, sit ups. Chart out a routine for these exrcises and you will surely notice difference in those areas. For any further assistance you can mail me whenever u want 🙂

  10. Thanks Priyanka..Sure I will ping you for my further doubts.Planning to hit one gym this week. They have some body toning programme. let me talk to them and get back to you. would you mind in sharing ur email id …

    1. Any time.. Rati must have read this and will mail u my mail id.. if i leave it here on a public site.. i will get a scolding from her again.. hehe.. :p

    1. Sure we can provide you with this as well, thats makeup and beauty for you.. 🙂 join in at the forums where Rati has started a thread about health and fitness.. People there are surely going to motivate you. And above all if you see Mrunmayee and Rati losing inches and weight every week u will definitely gather the will power required.. 🙂

  11. hi priyanka,
    I’m from tamilnadu. I’m bit obese. can i join ur fitness program so that it helps me to get a fit body. i want to reduce every part of body can u help me 😐

  12. Hi Priyanka,

    I want to lose my weight asap. I am not fat but my my hubby wants my tummy flat. I am 57kg and 5’4″. He wants me to be 52/53kg.
    Please help me out

  13. hi dear rati…
    i got few things to ask u about…how to reduce tummy fat…
    how to improve complexion…im 30+ n i had fair complexion before n now its getting darker
    how to get rid of hair fall…

    i love what u wear…u look like a doll…thanx fo yr info abt beauty n fashion…bt plz share some info abt health n to improve beauty

    thanx
    naaz

  14. Pingback: How To Firm Thighs
  15. hi priyanka, i have no diet plan and i have reduced wait when i do gyming but i gain again and now i am doing the aerobic, but wait will stay remain as it is, it will not reduce at oll what will i doo??

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