5 Easy Ways To Enhance Your At-Home Workouts

Whether you are a long-time regular at the local gym or if you simply want to start toward healthier habits, working out at home has its challenges. It can be difficult to maintain motivation, carve out time for a daily workout and sustain progress with limited equipment and space. If you have suddenly found yourself exercising at home, there are a few things you can do to enhance your workouts and ensure success.

1. Set Up a Dedicated Workout Zone

You don't need to create an entire home gym, but you should have a dedicated space that can accommodate your fitness activities. Keep some basic equipment in this area, such as a comfortable mat, workout towel and some resistance bands. Baskets make great storage containers that help keep everything neat and organized, which is important if your workout space is also your living room. Floor space should be large enough so that you can do lunges, squats, planks and any yoga or Pilates exercises you enjoy. It's perfectly fine if you have to move a piece of furniture or two to get to work, but you won't want to be rearranging an entire room every day. If there isn't a suitable area inside the house, turn your attention to the yard. Outdoor exercise gives you the added advantage of the many benefits of spending time in nature.

2. Give Your Body the Right Fuel

If you are what you eat, why not give your body the best fuel possible? Make a balanced diet a regular part of your daily routine to ensure you get the nutrients you need to perform your best. Loading up on fiber-rich plants can help increase cardiovascular fitness and give your gut health an added boost, too. Unfortunately, there are situations where, no matter how great your eating habits are, you still aren't getting enough to fuel intense workouts. For those times, supplements help to make up the difference. Look for probiotic formulas like Power Life Foundation Four that help maintain energy levels and keep your body working smoothly.

3. Mix Things Up

The same routine every single day can get boring, no matter how much you love it at first. Not only that, but it is a surefire way to hit a fitness plateau. As your body performs the same movements over and over, it takes higher resistance loads and repetitions to achieve a result. That means the same three sets of 10 curls won't have an effect on your biceps after a few weeks unless you increase the weight or band strength or change the presentation. Without those swaps, your results will start to slow, and eventually, gains will stop altogether. There are tons of resources available to help you find a new and different routine for each week -or even for each day.

4. Hold Yourself Accountable

You are in charge of your exercise routine. That means you are also responsible for the result you do or don't see. Hold yourself accountable to that responsibility by:

Learning how to set SMART fitness goals

• Downloading a fitness app to track your exercise, meals and daily habits
• Keeping a journal to delve deeper into achievements, struggles and concerns
• Rewarding yourself when you meet goals
• Practicing forgiveness when you make missteps (but figure out what went wrong so it doesn't happen again)
• Setting aside a workout time (or times) for each day

5. Leave Time for Stretching

If you are routinely tight the day after an intense workout, you may not be stretching enough. Stretching is one of the most important parts of any exercise routine. It can help alleviate post-workout soreness and increases flexibility. Learn a few yoga stretches to incorporate into your workouts, or just to practice as a way to unwind and relax.

Setting goals and holding yourself accountable to them establishes a clear path forward. Giving your body the fuel it needs, challenging your muscles and leaving time for stretching and recovery will help you stay on that path and boost the effectiveness of at-home workouts.