Training at home can be no less effective than training in the gym. But still, many beginners give up after a few months and buy a gym membership. Below, we'll discuss why homeschooling can lead to frustration and how to fix it.
1. You chose the wrong program
As a rule, home training consists of simple exercises such as push-ups, squats and lunges, pull-ups and presses with light fitness dumbbells. Such a program is suitable for those who want to maintain health, strengthen muscles and slightly increase general endurance.
If your goals are to lose weight, build muscle, or develop strength, you need a specific program.
How to fix it
Spend some time choosing the appropriate training format:
To build muscles, choose exercises in which you will be able to bring them almost to failure. If it is not so difficult with the upper body (pull-ups and push-ups will help you), then problems may arise with the legs. Buy expanders, perform exercises on one leg, use drop sets with two different movements to "finish" the muscles. If they don't get tired, they won't grow.
To lose weight, choose a combination of strength and cardio loads, try high-intensity interval training (HIIT) - they don't last long, but they help burn a lot of calories. And don't forget about nutrition: it means more than classes.
To correct the figure, look for the best exercises to pump up the right part of the body. For example, if you dream of a gorgeous butt, it is better to perform steps on a chair, rather than squats. And also buy an elastic band-expander and finish the gluteal muscles by lifting the pelvis and other effective movements. Any part of the body has exercises that pump it up better than others - learn them right away so you don't waste time.
2. You do not increase the load
Often people find a training program, get used to it and do not want to change anything.
At first, the exercises seem difficult. You struggle to complete sets, suffer from sore muscles in the morning and rejoice in small positive changes, whether it is biceps that have grown or minus a centimeter in the waist.
Over time, the body adapts, and you need to increase the volume of training to make further progress, but you are already used to the program and do it automatically without thinking about it anymore.
The body is comfortable and well, but progress stops.
How to fix it
Follow a simple rule: as soon as you easily finish the set, increase the load. Add more reps, pick up weights, try a more difficult variation of the movement.
When it comes to cardio, you can always vary the intensity of your program. For example, if we are talking about running, alternate calm sessions with interval training.
If you are doing VIIT, you can always change the time of work and rest or increase the speed of execution.
3. You don't have the right equipment
At first you can exercise without any equipment, but over time it will be more and more difficult to load the body well. Moreover, you will not be able to pump some muscle groups at all without sports equipment. For example, it will not be possible to load the back without a horizontal bar, and the legs without weights.
How to fix it
If you want to progress, buy a minimum set of equipment for home training: a horizontal bar, collapsible dumbbells and a 16 kg weight, a jump rope, a set of expander bands with different resistance, training loops.
All this equipment can be placed in a small bedside table. At the same time, training will be many times more effective - no worse than in the gym.
4. You don't have a training schedule
As a rule, people go to the gym at the same time, for example, after work or before it. Training is built into the regime, a person gets used to it and works out "automatically".
Home exercises save time and give more freedom. At the same time, the floating class schedule and relaxed environment prevent you from forming a habit and making fitness a part of your routine.
As a result, you miss training and it affects the indicators.
How to fix it
Do a few important things to help create the right atmosphere and get active:
set the exact time for classes in your schedule and do not violate the schedule;
determine the place in the apartment or house where you will practice. Choose an area where there is enough free space and you can open the window unhindered;
Swap household items for workout clothes;
ask relatives not to disturb;
prepare a bottle of water so you don't have to run to the kitchen every time.
5. You do not monitor your diet
Most people start home workouts to get rid of excess fat. In this case, the results depend on nutrition. Much more than from exercise.
Thus, in a review of 15 studies, it was found that due to training, a deficit of less than 500 kcal per day is created - the "gold standard" for rapid weight loss.
Moreover, even regular intense activities will not necessarily make you slim. In one experiment, people consumed 20 kcal per 1 kg of weight per week for six months to lose weight. This is if a person weighing 70 kg ran for 30 minutes five days a week. As a result, participants lost about 2 kg—much less than expected.
Due to the exercises, their energy expenditure per day increased by 4%, but when the scientists checked the metabolism in the respiratory chamber, it turned out that the energy expenditure in 24 hours was reduced by the same 4% compared to the day. They spent more on activities, but at the same time spent less on life in general.
In another experiment, overweight participants exercised for 72, 136, or 194 minutes per week for six months. Scientists predicted how much they should lose weight based on 7700 kcal per 1 kg of fat.
As a result, women from the 72 and 136 minutes per week groups lost just as much — 1 and 2 kg. But those who exercised 194 hours a week lost only 1.5 kg, while according to calculations they should have lost 2.7 kg.
Thus, it will not be possible to lose a lot of weight only due to physical activity. It will come either to change the diet, or to prepare to lose a maximum of 2 kg in six months and stop there.
How to fix it
Review your eating habits. It is not necessary to perfectly calculate calories and go on a strict diet, but it does not hurt to roughly imagine the energy balance.
Try to exclude sources of fast carbohydrates: flour and sweets, soda, alcohol and fast food, try to consume more vegetables, lean meat and fish.
Try to get used not only to exercise, but also to a healthy diet without excess calories and constant snacking. This approach is more likely to help you get rid of extra pounds, and training will help you not gain them again.
