Bringing Your Health Home: Home Workouts

My most-grabbed-gear + the gear we will be using in 2021 zoom classes……

Looking at these two picture below, you wouldn’t really recognize that this is the exact same space. It isn’t quite as cute in one photo as the other, but I can guarantee you that it is just as effective.

I know on social media it looks like the space I work out in has been a home gym for a very long time. It looks like I have always had every tool available to me to workout from home forever.

That couldn’t be farther from the truth. While the space I currently workout in and teach fitness from is very equipped, I’d like to share other space/equipment that is just as effective.

Did you know that just two short years ago my husband and I were living in a such a small home that the entire house didn’t have one single real door. It was basically a “studio style” home with a kitchen, living area, and sleeping area. As you can see in the photos below, I completed my home workouts on a yoga mat on the kitchen floor. I had a mat, a couple sets of dumbbells and bands. That was the extent of it. Yet, I managed to move my body, get my sweat on, and get results.

To this day, I still say that even without equipment, I could have got the job done. I didn’t need beautiful equipment or matching gear. The number one tool any person needs to be successful in their home workouts is discipline. With discipline and drive to get the job done, you can complete a solid workout. Between discipline, the drive to do something, a calendar to follow – you can and will be successful.

But in all seriousness and talk of gear – I used the very basics. You can see that I didn’t even have a real, full size yoga mat. I streamed my workouts off from aps on our Apple TV. I stored my mat, dumbbells, and bands underneath our tiny table. I pulled them out each morning for a new/different routine that I watched on the TV.

Side Note: at the time, I was not an instructor. I was a school teacher.

Furthermore, using the very basics, I was able to get short and effective workouts right from home, and managed to lose 50+ pounds right in that kitchen!

The weights below were the very first, mis-matched items I added to my stash of equipment. Extremely random, but they worked for me.

Moving ahead, in 2018 we made the move from our tiny 1 bedroom home to a larger home with two bedrooms and a loft. When we decided on a two bedroom house, we decided we’d like a home workout area and we’d use the loft as a guest room.

Fast forward to the transition below:

Well, first of all, I took over this room as a step up from my kitchen floor in the older house. You can see here, I still have my TV to steam workouts, a couple yoga mats in the corner and dumbbells/bands in the baskets. I stuck with that equipment for a couple months and did just fine. I could stream a body resistance workout, strength workouts, yoga, and other variations to get my sweat on.

Over time, I chose bright and energetic colors to paint the walls. This was important to me for low energy days. I covered the windows and even the top portions of the wall in my race shirts and race bibs. I acquired a Schwinn Spin bike that I had intended to ONLY use on bad weather days to cross train for marathon training. I did not intend to become a spin instructor, but I fell madly in love with cycle!

Moving on to the gear that took a few years to aquire. I did not purchase a ton of stuff over night. I took advantage of buy/sell/trade sites, second hand stores, and a lot was given to me.

First, let’s talk about the ceiling “x-mounts” and the straps hanging – these are off-brand X-mounts that are mounted to sturdy area of the ceiling. I mention these because I have gotten questions about how I use my TRX, but also how I use my aerial yoga swing. I use strong carabiners to take put them up and down as needed. The straps hanging are off brand versions of TRX connections and have loops so I can connect bands, straps, and yoga swing at various heights.

In the photos above:

The first basket is a few different brands of sliders. I love using sliders in lunges, squats, and plank variations. Com 2021, I will be putting more slider moves into my zoom workouts.

In the second basket is a couple different types of “roll and release” balls. While these are used for myofasia massage rolling techniques, they are not super popular in my home gym. I rarely use them, though I do like them. The towels shown are super cute Dollar Tree towels that bring energy to the room and assist in the sweaty days.

Photo 2 is obviously dumbbells. Thank you buy/sell/trade sites for acquiring various sizes from 2 pounds to 25 pounds. No explanation needed on how useful these are. HOWEVER – dumbbells are very expensive these days. If you are unable to find/purchase dumbbells you may consider using plastic jars filled with various items such as water, sand, stone or other heavy material.

In the 3rd photo all the way to the right is my mess of baskets and gear. Every time I get something new it seems to end up there. I have years of bands I have collected – all colors, all resistances. Bands are a great substitute for weights. The very essential of this corner is the 36 inch foam roller. If you have ever tried one of my foam classes, you know that we use the 36 inch roller for full body stretch and spinal alignment. I use it almost daily. (And if you haven’t done one of my classes, message me for a recording.) Another essential from this corner are two yoga blocks. Obviously you can use them in yoga sessions, but also for shoulder and hip work in my stretch classes – another recording you definitely want.

Moving onto the questions of….what do I use in my zoom workouts, what we using in 2021?

Currently my classes use various equipment to enhance our exercise. In case you are shopping for gear/class accessories this Black Friday let me break it down by classes:

Barre: a chair or railing or counter top as the bar, light dumbbells, loops/bands, and occasionally sliders

Spin: a home spin bike, your bike in a bike trainer, or a recumbent bike

Get Fit While You Sit: we may progress to using a large stability ball, dumbbells, resistance loops

Strengthen and Lengthen: dumbbells, loops/bands, and occasionally sliders

Stretch: a strap, yoga blocks

Foam Rolling: 36 inch foam roller

Now…. If you have made it this far into my blog, I appreciate you taking the time to read about my home gym, my go-to-gear, and my virtual workouts. If you have never tried my workouts, I offer you a recording of each style format I teach. The links below will take you to sample workouts. If you try them, I’d love to hear from you! Also, if you decide you want to try even more workouts recorded or live, be sure to check out my services page.

A link for each style of zoom workouts that I teach:

Barre: https://youtu.be/RsY7eTthvtE

Spin: https://youtu.be/Dle9U6eScco

Strength: https://youtu.be/Iipcr97lWk4

Stretch: https://youtu.be/qcWS0QD8i_k

Get Fit While You Sit: https://youtu.be/ztN6yrD3L_w

Full Body Foam Rolling: https://youtu.be/B_XjQIUTZ9U

Cardio HIIT: https://youtu.be/EACn4OJ-GXk