Design your day: How to plan the best home workout for you

As 2008 begins, many people decide on New Years Resolutions that include losing weight, getting more exercise and just generally getting their body in better condition. Unfortunately, most of these people will not stay with a program. The reasons for short lived resolutions can be linked to many aspects of life and personality, but if you follow some good planning in designing your personal home workout, you are much more likely to stick with the plan for the three weeks or so that it takes for an action to become a habit. Better yet, you can design a home program that you can stick with the rest of your life. Here are some tips for planning the best home workout for you.

Be honest about where you are

Often, people lose track of where they are physically to the point where a larger dress size or a longer belt just sort of creeps up on you. The same thing is true of your physical fitness. It is important to get an accurate assessment of the state of your body and your health before beginning any exercise or fitness program. A doctor's assessment is a good first step. Joining a fitness center that offers a free or reduced cost physical assessment as part of the membership benefits will not only let you know what your fitness level is, but will serve as a base line to show improvements.

Slow and steady

Many people decide to start a home fitness program and leap wholeheartedly into the process until the first day of sore muscles provides an excuse to take a day off and pretty soon, the good resolutions have disappeared along with any benefits gained in the first workout experiences. You may find it helpful to start by something as simple as walking. If you can only walk once around the block, or manage 1 minute on a treadmill, that's a start. Improve your stamina and strength by walking twice around the block next time or doing ten sit ups instead of five.

Be realistic about where you want to be

If your desired result is to lose some weight and firm up those sagging muscles, it requires a much different workout program than if your desire is to compete in the next Mr. Universe contest. So, deciding the goals that are realistic and designing your workout program with those goals in mind is important. It is important to recognize that both short and long term goals can be selected. Your short term goal may be to lose ten pounds. Your long term goal might be to compete in the Boston Marathon next year. So, you can design a program that burns calories in the short term, but also builds your stamina and lung capacity.

Use what you have

Often some of the least expensive exercises are the most effective. Walking or swimming can be done with almost no outlay of cash, although appropriate walking shoes are important to protect your feet and legs. Using isometric type exercises to tone and firm muscles. Walk, jog, skate or swim to burn calories and improve stamina. If you need to firm up muscles, focus on exercises that target the muscle groups. Sit ups for tightening abdominal muscles, push ups for upper arm and abdominal firming and scissor lifts for firming the inside thighs and hips are just a few examples. Check out web sites that target the body areas you want to improve and use the concepts in your home workout.

Balance

It is important to incorporate your workout into your life rather than letting it take over your life. Sometimes finding time for a workout is difficult, but if you substitute an hour of watching television for 30 minutes of workout and 15 minutes of preparation and wind down on either side of the workout, you may find that you will not miss the television. Try combining the exercise with the television watching, or doing something to improve your mind while you improve your body. If you can listen to a self-development CD while walking, or even finding one of the many audio books that are now available you can cut down on the boredom factor that tends to set in when you exercise.

Accountability

Finding a workout partner or someone to walk with will often help to improve your chances of sticking with your workout program. You can be challenged or stimulated when you are both striving to lose ten pounds in response to a friendly wager.

All of these suggestions can help you uphold your New Year's resolution, but it takes discipline, especially at the beginning. However, if you can get over the hump and make exercising part of your daily routine, the benefits are seemingly endless. Also, imagine how rewarding it would be to arrive at New Year's next year and not have to include exercise as a resolution.

About Author:

Megan Hazel is a freelance writer who writes about health and fitness topics, similar to what consumers read in Shape Magazine