Working out in a gym has its charms – there’s a variety of equipment, classes and trainers to guide you and people to work out with and use as yardsticks for your own progress. But for many people, a gym or sports club is more trouble than its often-considerable monthly or yearly fee is worth. They don’t like waiting for machines, traveling what may be a great distance to a gym, having to change, workout, shower and change again. They prefer to focus peacefully on their own. And even people who workout in a gym regularly will find there are days when they need to make do at home.

A floor: Pretty sure you’ve got one of these. This is where you do much of your abdominal work. It’s also a stretching surface, and, of course, a stable platform for squats and lunges.

Walls and doorways: You can use these as stretching surfaces as well as a place to gain support during squats. These places can also keep you in proper form by keeping you aligned (more on that in an upcoming article).

A hard stable chair: I like the dining room chair. These are good for supporting you during dips (the start of which is pictured here), angled pushups, seated biceps curls, shoulder press, overhead triceps extension, a butt marker for squats, a foot rest for one- legged lunges, a stable platform to hold on to for several more exercises.

A broom or mop, minus the bottom if possible, a towel: These allow for stretching, abdominal work and stability exercises.

An exercise ball: This is the core of your home gym. I’m referring to the large, air-filled balls used in Pilates and seen on television and in the gym. They’re not expensive and are easy to find at a sporting goods store or online. You need a ball large enough that when you sit on it, you can place your feet on the ground and your legs are at a 90-degree angle. You can now work almost every muscle in your body with your back supported in the proper position. The ball is also good for stretching, abdominal work (pictured here), and stability exercises.

A set of adjustable dumbbells: I find that a 30- 40lb set, (two dumbbells, each adjusting from 10-20 lb for each side), is effective, though set weight dumbbells, such as that pictured below can also work. The weight you use should be based on the guidelines discussed previously.

If you hit a plateau, change the angle or the sequence of exercises. There are infinite solutions, as you will learn in upcoming sessions.

Make sure you see a Certified Trainer, ask questions and read up on how to use dumbbells safely and effectively. (I’m going to help you with these and other things in the near future).

In our last segment, I touched on how to determine the number of sets and reps that are best for you, based on your fitness level and goals. Here I’ve added a realistic in-home exercise set-up. Those of you using a gym will have more options, but the basics outlined here still apply. Soon I’ll be demonstrating exercises to perform and why they are relevant to what you want to achieve.

Next
Coming next, however, is an overview on how to choose a personal trainer who helps you meet your needs and goals.