Being fit and healthy goes a long way. You don’t only avoid serious medical conditions and illnesses and extend your lifespan, you also get a toned body in the process (which could boost your confidence and score you some points from that person across the room you’re trying to lock eyes with).

If you have just started working out, your first thought would be to take the help of an instructor or a fitness coach to help create a program for you. However, going to the gym can be a hassle if you have a tight schedule. It can also feel uncomfortable, especially if you’re just starting on your fitness journey and you’re yet to shed those pounds of eating to your heart’s desire for years. Or perhaps you just want to save money or want to experiment on your own. For any of these cases, then creating your fitness training program at home is the best way to go.

Here’s how you can get started with your fitness journey at home:

How much time should I devote to my workout?

Every person’s body is different so should the workout be. Depending on what your body can tolerate, you need to fix up a routine, which can you finish in a single session. If you only have 30 minutes to spare for your workout, plan a routine that would take just that amount of time. If you don’t do that, then you won’t be able to achieve your goals since you can’t finish all your routines on time. However, if you plan your exercises to match your time availability, you would be motivated to see yourself achieve your goals and more inclined to take up newer challenges.

What exercises should I consider?

Based on your workout experience, you can design a personal training routine for yourself. For example, if you’ve been lifting weights for more than a year, it’s probably the best time to do a full-body workout for every single day. If you want a variation of the full-body workout, here are some great examples:

a. Quads – lunges, squats, box jumps, one-legged squat

b. Glutes and Hamstrings – deadlifts, hip raises, good mornings, step-ups, straight leg deadlifts

c. Push (shoulders, chest, and triceps) – bench press, push-ups, dips, incline dumbbell press, overhead press

d. Pull (biceps, forearms, and back) – pull-ups, chin-ups, dumbbell rows, weight rows, inverse body

e. Core (abs and lower back) – side planks, planks, mountain climbers, exercise ball crunches, hanging leg raises, jumping knee tucks

If you’re a first-timer, there are a lot of exercises you can get your hands on online, that are easy to follow and do at home. Some of them even require little to no equipment which can save you money.

Can I make variations to my work out?

If you repeat the same workout for several days, weeks, and months, your muscles would get used to it and you would not gain the results you need. To make it work, you need to vary the workouts for each body part. This system works since it provides a challenging motion to your muscles which in turn is doing an effort to achieve that new move. So make sure to pick out different exercises for each body part every time you work out.

Do I need to use home gym equipment?

Getting fit may come with a price, and this holds if you’re going to use exercise equipment like dumbbells, pull up bars, treadmill, etc. However, you can also create your DIY equipment.

For example, instead of using a barbell, why not create one using cement, empty big cans, and a steel rod? There are so many tutorials that you can find to help you build your DIY home gym equipment so you can save cash.st

Is the rest needed?

Your muscles don’t only build when working out but it makes the most of it when it’s resting too. You need to give your muscles 48-72 hours of rest for it to recover between workouts on that body part. A workout schedule of Monday, Wednesday and Friday are the best one to have since there’s a day off in between which will be enough to rest your muscles.

A journey starts with a single stop. You might feel lazy or something might get in the way, but don’t let it stop you. Keep going, put in the work and soon enough, you’ll have that fit body you’re dreaming of.