A Lady Goes West

A healthy lifestyle blog by Ashley Pitt

  • Home
    • Popular Posts
  • About
  • Fitness
    • Les Mills Group Fitness
    • Workouts
    • Fitness Tips
    • Class Reviews
  • Food
    • What I Ate Wednesday
    • Recipes
  • Clean Beauty
  • Mom Life
    • Fit & Fertile Book
    • Baby
    • Pregnancy
    • Postpartum
  • Press
  • Contact
    • Privacy Policy

How to work out at home safely (and effectively)

December 9, 2019 By Ashley 14 Comments

All about how to work out safely at home and be effective too.

If you’re a home workout warrior, good for you! You’re definitely saving time driving to the gym and saving money on a gym membership too. But just because you’re working out at home, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t follow some basic safety rules, even if you’re exercising in the comfort of your pajamas. (Side note: I don’t think you should work out in your pajamas, and we’ll get to that later in the post.)

Truth be told, working out at home has never been my preference, but I’ve certainly done it a lot. As a group fitness instructor, I live for the community and energy of other people — and you pretty much need to do that in a studio or gym setting. However, I worked out at home for the first six months of Brady’s life, and it totally got the job done. There were definitely some things I liked about it, and I even wrote this post “How to get the motivation to work out at home” based on my experience.

There are MANY benefits to working out at home, including the following …

  • You don’t have to pay for a gym membership or for expensive studio classes.
  • You don’t have to drive to or from the gym, which cuts down on a lot of transportation time there and back.
  • The locker room is always functional and private, because you can get ready in your own bathroom.
  • The equipment you need is never in use by someone else, nor is the floor space too crowded with other bodies to do what you need to do.
  • You don’t have to worry about group fitness classes filling up or being cancelled.
  • You don’t have to worry about gym germs.
  • Nobody is ever watching or judging your movements, grunts, noises or sweet dance moves.
  • Your workouts never get rained out.

So if working out at home is for you, GO for it. But because you’re doing it alone and not with the help of an in-person professional in a fitness setting, proceed with caution …

How to work out at home safely (and effectively)

How to work out at home safely (and effectively) by A Lady Goes West

Create a dedicated workout space with plenty of room to move.

One of the most common ways people get injured is by kicking or falling on furniture. It may sound silly, but you HAVE to clear the area where you will exercise. You never know how big a move will be, nor do you know if you’ll trip a little while moving around and end up landing on the coffee table.

Not to mention, you don’t want to limit your range of motion or stifle your ability to go full out just because there’s not enough room around you.

Reconfigure the furniture in your living room, find a spare bedroom or create a space in your garage if you need to. Of course, space requirements are format specific, and if you are doing mat Pilates, it’s pretty safe to do that in a small area, but almost all other workouts require more square footage.

Wear the appropriate sneakers for the workout at hand, and change out your sneakers frequently.

I don’t know how many times I’ve had to tell gym members that they need to replace their sneakers that they’ve been wearing to every single workout class for six months or more. And that’s because if you only work out at home or indoors, you may find that your shoes don’t get dirty, so it’s hard to notice that they are worn down. But you are still wearing them regularly and thus causing wear and tear on the insides, soles and functionality, and this can lead to knee and ankle pain.

I recommend changing out your sneakers every three months if you do a lot of cardio or impact work (impact is jumping). Speaking of sneakers, try to wear cross trainers for cardio workouts and flatter sneakers for weightlifting workouts. If you do a lot of HIIT (high-intensity interval training) that includes both cardio and weights, then go with the cardio cross trainers, with padding and lateral support (running shoes don’t have great lateral support, so I’d skip those altogether unless you’re running).

  • These are my current cardio sneakers of choice.
  • These are my current weightlifting sneakers of choice.

How to safely work out at home by A Lady Goes West

Choose your barefoot workouts wisely.

Here’s the deal: It can be very beneficial to do some heavy weightlifting in your bare feet because it challenges your proprioception and even recruits more muscle activation, but this option is only a good one if you are a seasoned exerciser and have proper form nailed down. (In fact, here’s a super old post I wrote all about it when I was experiencing with barefoot weightlifting at Equinox as a trainer “Is it better to work out in bare feet.”)

If you’re doing your workouts at home and are at the beginner or intermediate level, I’d always wear sneakers if I were you. That way, you won’t be putting too much pressure on the bones of your feet when they aren’t used to that kind of feeling. I’m not saying you need to have super padded shoes, but keeping your sneakers on ensures your feet are a bit more protected from impact.

As a note, I think it’s always safe to do Pilates and yoga workouts in your bare feet. Sometimes you can do dance workouts in bare feet too — but they also apply a lot of pressure. Barre workouts are best done in the bare feet, but only if you’ve got a floor with some give, like a group fitness studio. I’d be careful about doing too many barre workouts in the bare feet if you have to exercise on wood or tile, because it can lead to injuries in the ball of the foot, which I’ve experienced myself.

Don’t skip a proper warm-up. Ever.

I think one of the big problems of working out at home, especially if you do it first thing in the morning, is that you roll out of bed and just want to immediately get going. You want to get to the workout as quickly as you can so you can get it done and don’t lose motivation or let any distractions get to you. That’s great, but you can’t skip a proper warm-up, otherwise you don’t get as good of a workout right from the start and you could also risk injury.

A lot of streaming workout programs will include a warm-up for you to follow along, which is awesome — but some do not. And if they don’t, it’s up to you to do some arm circles, kicks, chest openers and hip openers and maybe even some foam rolling before you get started. Here’s a post I wrote on “Foam rolling 101: How and why you should be using a foam roller.”

Even if the program you’re doing includes a warm-up, if you know that your shoulders get extra tight, then you should do your own shoulder dynamic warm-up before getting going. Be smart and prepare your unique body so you have the most chance for success.

(Side note: Make sure you are fully awake before getting going — you don’t want fatigue to cloud your judgment and result in a fall or dropping a weight on your foot.)

How to safely work out at home

Video yourself or watch yourself in a full-length mirror to check your form.

If you have the ability to put full-length mirrors in your home workout space, I’d do it. That way you can watch your body moving and make sure that you aren’t doing things that you don’t know about, like rounding your shoulders during rows or letting your chest drop too much in squats, etc. However, if you don’t have access to a mirror to check on your form, I’d suggest setting up your iPhone and recording yourself doing your workouts. That way you can play it back to see if you are doing anything out of the ordinary that could cause injury. You could even show the video to a friend, trainer or group fitness instructor to get a little feedback. 

Quite honestly, it’s beneficial for everyone to video themselves sometimes to get real feedback on workout performance and technique.

I think it’s helpful for everyone to work with a personal trainer at least once in their lives to get some help on form and address any incorrect movement patterns, but if you can’t do that — trying capturing video and playing it back and matching what your body is doing up to what the streaming workout instructor is recommending that you do. If they don’t line up — make adjustments.

If you’re watching a workout, put it on a laptop or big screen TV and situate it directly in front of you at eye level.

This is HUGE! Do not, and I repeat, do NOT, try to follow a workout on a tiny iPhone that is propped up on its side on the ground, while you are standing. This is a recipe for neck injuries and back injuries and much more. You have to be careful that your neck is always in line with your spine. You don’t want to strain to watch the screen.

I’d recommend positioning the screen so it is right at your eye level. And then if you do any work on the ground, move the screen a bit lower. It’s also best to watch your workouts on as large of a screen as you can. That way you can see exactly what the instructor is telling you to do and you don’t have to squint or scoot up closer to catch the details.

How to safely work out at home by A Lady Goes West

Suit up in sweat wicking gear and a supportive sports bra.

I think you should wear regular workout clothes when you work out at home. Why? Because sweat-wicking fabrics not only pull the sweat off your body, but they don’t weigh you down, so you don’t get overheated. In addition, supportive sports bras are a MUST! Don’t make the mistake of starting a workout with a regular bra and then decide you have to stop.

Plus, I like to think that getting dressed in real workout clothes gives you a little mental and motivational boost. So just do it.

Follow a workout program or do streaming programs created by reputable fitness professionals.

If you choose to work out at home, you don’t have to go at it alone. There are so many streaming services you can try out to see if they work for you. There’s Beachbody (which I have minimal experience with, so can’t say whether the workouts are good or bad; there’s the Sweat app (which I tried and enjoyed, and you can read my review here); there are the Tone It Up programs (which are easy, but fun and doable); there’s Peloton (no experience with that one either); and of course — my personal favorite, there’s Les Mills On Demand. I love Les Mills workouts at home or in the gym, and you can do them all for 21 days for free using my special referral link here, and you can read my review here.

Quick note: There are a lot of great trainers out there selling their programs to individuals to do at home, and I support them and their growing businesses (especially women, go women!)! However, there are also some bad trainers out there. Before you buy a program from someone, make sure that they have a valid and current personal trainer certification, make sure that they have actually trained clients in person or taught classes before (professionals with nothing but online training do not have the best background), and make sure that you are cleared by your doctor before beginning a new program. End rant.

How to safely work out at home

Complete a variety of types of movements throughout the week. And don’t forget your rest day.

Nobody should be doing the same workout every single day. If you’re a home workout warrior, try not to get so attached to a single program that you repeat very similar exercises too many days in a row each week. This will eventually lead to overuse injuries, and it will also lead to plateaus in your fitness gains.

Depending on your fitness goals, you should try to do at least 2-3 resistance sessions and 2-3 cardio sessions with a full day off from your workouts in between. You don’t want to jump every single day, and you don’t want to do squats every single day either. If you’re following a program created by a fitness professional or following along a branded program, hopefully they will guide you in the right direction to make sure you have a variety of movement by the end of each week.

And that, my friends, will cover it. 

Thank you so much for reading! If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments. Have an awesome day and be safe in your workouts! 🙂 

Other helpful posts you may like …

  • Review of Les Mills On Demand streaming workout service — and this post also includes my special referral link for your FREE 21 day trial of the service
  • Review of Kelsey Wells’ PWR workout program and the Sweat app
  • How to get the motivation to work out at home
  • Foam rolling 101: How and why you should be using a foam roller

Questions of the day

How was your weekend?

Do you usually work out at home or the gym?

If you do work out at home, what type of set-up do you have?

Filed Under: Fitness Tips, Healthy living, Workouts Tagged With: Fitness tips, Group Fitness, group fitness instructor, home workouts, Les Mills On Demand, personal trainer, safety tips, tips, work out at home, workout motivation, workouts

SIGN UP FOR A FREE GIFT

Get a free "How to have a great week of workouts" checklist and action plan when you sign up for the list. And you'll get new posts by email.

About Ashley

I'm a mom and fitness instructor in Charlotte, North Carolina. And A Lady Goes West is where I share fitness, wellness and clean beauty tips, as well as stories from my life.
 
Stay in touch ...
Bloglovin', Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest & Facebook.

Comments

  1. Shelby says

    December 9, 2019 at 5:22 am

    Hi Ashley! I was just wondering what your thoughts are on using kettlebells for strength training are. I’m training for an ultra marathon at the moment and don’t want to do HIIT classes (offered at my gym). Do you think you can get a decent strength workout in at home using kettlebells? Have a great day – loved this post!

    Reply
    • Shelby says

      December 9, 2019 at 5:24 am

      Please ignore the second “are” :/

      Reply
      • Ashley says

        December 9, 2019 at 9:05 am

        ehhe didn’t even bother me at all! 🙂

        Reply
    • Ashley says

      December 9, 2019 at 9:05 am

      Hi Shelby! That’s SO awesome you are going to do an ultra marathon – WOW!! And the answer is, YES you can get a great workout in with just kettlebells. They are more challenging to use than dumbbells because of how the weight is situated further from your grip. I would recommend a light one and a heavy one. If you’re new to kettlebells, you may need some wristbands, as your wrists take a beating with some moves. I’d also look up some basic kettlebell technique before getting going. You can do a lot of squatting with a heavy kettlebell held at your collarbone with your elbows tucked. And even some lunging and lateral lunging with the same hold (lighter kettlebell). Try to focus on lots of lateral movements to compensate for all the front/back running you’re doing, if that makes sense. Good luck to you!!!!

      Reply
      • Shelby says

        December 9, 2019 at 10:39 am

        Thank you so so much! I’ve been following you for ages and LOVE your blog <3

        Have a lovely festive season with your family! Xxx

        Reply
        • Ashley says

          December 9, 2019 at 2:52 pm

          You are too sweet, Shelby!! Hope you have a very festive season too! 🙂

          Reply
  2. Angela says

    December 10, 2019 at 10:15 am

    How did you heal the ball of your foot?! Mine’s been hurting awhile but it’s impossible to avoid walking on it.

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      December 10, 2019 at 3:13 pm

      Hi Angela, So I irritated an old stress fracture on the ball of my foot from doing bare-feet barre workouts on my wood floor, this was a few months after Brady was born, and I was extra sensitive to injury while nursing. I did a few things to heel: Stopped all bare foot workouts and wore supportive sneakers. I took a couple weeks off of barre workouts in general. I also upped my hydration and calories and sleep as best I could to help repair. I had it x-rayed and there were no signs of strain, so it was very minor. Hope you can take time off to heal!!

      Reply
      • Angela says

        December 10, 2019 at 7:13 pm

        Thanks!! Good point about nutrition– the only time in my life that I had a stress fracture was when I wasn’t eating enough.

        Reply
        • Ashley says

          December 11, 2019 at 7:40 am

          Good nutrition is SOO important, especially if you’re an exercising woman!! Eat up, friend! 🙂

          Reply
  3. Jessie R says

    December 13, 2019 at 7:09 am

    Great tips! I prefer working out in the gym as well but have been primarily working out at home in the mornings the last few months (following an online streaming program) so I can leave work at a reasonable time. I worked out during the day at work for years but changed roles recently, so now I have more meetings during the day and need to be here earlier and get to leave earlier. I really like that top you have on in the pictures, where is it from? Also love that one with Brady on the fireplace 🙂

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      December 13, 2019 at 7:24 am

      Hi friend! These pics are from the summer, but the top is still available from Athleta (http://bit.ly/2RPPIoS), and I wear it all the time and have it in two colors. That’s good you’ve accommodated home workouts in your schedule — you’ve got to do what works for you in the moment. Keep up the great work! 🙂

      Reply
    • Ashley says

      December 13, 2019 at 7:24 am

      Oh and what program are you following?? I love to know!

      Reply
      • Jessie R says

        December 13, 2019 at 8:13 am

        I did 21 Day Fix Real time on BeachBody a few times. Now I’m in the middle of the Morning Meltdown 100 program, which has a little more cardio than I’m used to, so I skip the high impact one sometimes and do my favorite class at my work gym (a hip hop step class).

        Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

ashley bio pic

Hi, I'm Ashley. I'm a mom and fitness instructor living in Charlotte, North Carolina. I love to help you live a balanced life with no extremes, making sure you never skip a rest day. A Lady Goes West is where I share my workouts, simple meals, clean beauty tips and wellness insight with you. Find out more about me and stay awhile!

Connect with me

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Search This Blog

Follow

Get my ebook

Fit & Fertile ebook: How I found my body's fitness from the inside out by overcoming hypothalamic amenorrhea.

Recent Posts

  • Current faves: LEAD conference, “Shameless” and workouts
  • Ask-me-anything A Lady Goes West Advice Corner: second edition
  • Current faves: Easter fun with my mom, a challenge and workouts
  • Les Mills On Demand vs. Peloton app: Everything you need to know
  • Current faves: Microblading, human design, visitors and workouts

SIGN UP FOR A FREE GIFT

Get a free "How to have a great week of workouts" checklist and action plan when you sign up for the list. Your email address will automatically be added and stored to receive new posts by email and more. See the Privacy Policy for details.

Connect

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

The latest on Instagram

It’s been 3.5 months since we moved back to the It’s been 3.5 months since we moved back to the east coast, after our 8-year adventure out west. In the last couple of months, we’ve bought and moved into a house, enrolled Brady in preschool, met some super-nice people, hosted family visitors, and I may have even found my new gym home too, which is so exciting ... The thing is: When we were talking about moving cross-country months ago, it seemed so overwhelming to think of everything we needed to do, and I couldn’t wait to get it all over with. Well, even though life remains busy, so much of the big transition is behind us, and it’s such a good feeling. We still have a lot to learn about our new city, but it’s totally starting to feel like home. Here’s your friendly reminder that if you’re in the midst of overwhelming transitions, remember that eventually you’ll get through the other side. 😍
Negativity be gone. "Think about negativity from o Negativity be gone. "Think about negativity from others as junk mail. Learn to sort your mail, and don't let that junk in the house." -- I heard this thought from @glennondoyle over the weekend while soaking up the annual @beautycounter virtual conference, and boy it spoke to me, as someone who used to get really upset when others didn't treat me well. I no longer internalize any of that junk, nor allow it, and it's freeing. And it's a lesson for us all.
.
I'm all about the unfollow for people or accounts that leave you feeling icky or less than. And I think you can use the unfollow both literally and figuratively in your life. Remember, if you've been experiencing negative energy from someone or something -- sort your mail and leave that junk in the trash, don't even bring it into your house. Have a good night, friends. xoxo -Ashley
Because focusing too much on what you eat and how Because focusing too much on what you eat and how you move can lead to a restrictive routine, and once you’ve been there and done that — you don’t want to go back to that place. Friends, be kind to yourself, fuel yourself well, and always make time for life. xoxo -Ashley
Peloton or Les Mills? This is divisive debate, bec Peloton or Les Mills? This is divisive debate, because people are rightly obsessed with each platform and tend to have strong feelings either way. Here's the deal: I think the Peloton and Les Mills platforms are both AMAZING, because they are getting more people moving and giving more people access to incredible workouts, all at a reasonable monthly price. I use both apps every single week, and I think that you can definitely enjoy both. I wrote a whole post on the blog this week about Les Mills On Demand vs. the Peloton app, and I went through everything you need to know to make a choice. You can check out that post later, but here's a top-line overview:
.
Peloton vs. Les Mills On Demand:
-The monthly price is fairly even for access to both apps and both have free trials for 30 days
-There is great variety of workouts on both apps, but @onepeloton has a larger quantity of workouts and more short workouts
-Peloton has the fun-connected-digital community vibe and trackable data nailed down, but @lesmillsondemand workouts are better tested and programmed (and they are always effective, whereas sometimes Peloton workouts leave you wanting more)
-Both apps offer "programs" with workout calendars and I highly recommend following them to get better results
-There are incredible instructors on both platforms, and it depends on your personal style which instructors will resonate with you
-You can get in a great workout on either app, but you have to make sure you're doing the right mix of cardio and strength each week, rather than choosing randomly, in order to get more fit
.
I'm in the camp that you can enjoy more than one digital fitness platform, especially because the price is better than the cost of one live-studio class. If you want to check out more on this, head to the blog here: https://aladygoeswest.com/les-mills-on-demand-vs-peloton-app-everything-you-need-to-know/
.
Keep moving, friends! I'd love to know. Are you team Peloton, team Les Mills On Demand or other?
I teared up a little after receiving my first dose I teared up a little after receiving my first dose of the vaccine, thinking about the last year and all we’ve been through. Whether you choose to take this vaccine is up to you, but it’s a choice I wanted to make. And it’s given me a lot of relief and hope for what’s ahead. Thank you to all the health-care and front-line workers out there for all you do.
A season of firsts! Here’s to our first Easter b A season of firsts! Here’s to our first Easter back on the East Coast and in our new house. My mom drove up from Florida to spend the week with us, and this is our first holiday together in far too long. Now for the important question: What’s your favorite Easter candy, friends? For me: Not big on candy, but I’ll choose carrot cake over any other dessert Easter or not. Hope you had a great weekend, lovelies. ❤️🥕🐰
Load More... Follow on Instagram

As seen on

A Lady Goes West is a personal blog meant for entertainment purposes only and does not serve as a substitute for professional advice from your own doctor, trainer or nutritionist. While I'm a certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor, the workouts, food and plans I post are what works for me and may not work for you. Please enjoy these stories and tips from my life, but proceed with caution. Also, know that affiliate links and sponsored posts appear from time-to-time, and I appreciate your support. For more information about how your data is stored, visit my Privacy Policy. Thanks for reading!

Copyright © 2021 Ashley Pitt (A Lady Goes West) · Design by MakeMe{dia}Over