How to successfully exercise at home

One of the many gripes busy mums have is finding the time to get to the gym! But you don’t have to leave your home to exercise!

It’s even harder when you’re stuck at home with young kids, but if you’re following our healthy eating and exercise plan there are ways you can get your daily exercise in without costly gym memberships.

All of our 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge workout videos are created specifically for you to do in the comfort of your own home without any equipment.

Exercising at home is easier than you think!

Incidental exercise can be a great way to get moving without even knowing it! From doing everyday household chores to picking up your kids, all of these activities add up.

Regular exercise done in short bursts throughout the day means you can get on with the tasks of your day and STILL get be on top of your weight loss goals.

Check out these 5 exercises you can do at home (no equipment required):

1. At home HIIT workout! 

Try this easy-to-follow HIIT workout to easily burn over 500 calories.  You can do these easy HIIT exercises at home, at the park, or pretty much anywhere.

2. Leg exercises in your lounge room

Targeting your legs doesn’t have to be done at a gym! This mum is proof and shows how she completes these 5 leg exercises at home and has never been fitter.

3. Yoga moves

Yoga can be a great way to recharge and re-centre. As it can be hard to get to a yoga class if you’re with your kids all day, why not try it at home!?

When your children are having a nap or playing outside, you can roll out your mat and do these 4 moves, which also tone your butt and thighs!

4 AWESOME yoga moves to tone your booty and thighs

4. Butt and thigh exercises

No gym required! You can use your own body weight, though as you gain strength, you may want to incorporate some light weights (you can buy these very cheaply from Kmart or even use cans of tinned tomatoes or filled-up water bottles).

Easy at-home butt and thighs exercises

5. Belly blasting exercises

Need a simple, doable exercise for blasting belly fat? Here it is! These 4 moves can be done anywhere and at any free moment, you have, meaning they’re that easy!

This is how you can blast belly fat with these easy at-home exercises!

Which exercise is best for weight loss at home?

Whatever exercise you choose to do will be beneficial. Some of the best and easiest exercises are things like squats and lunges, as you can do them anywhere in your house and also while holding kids! You don’t need to clear a space to get moving!

However, whatever you do. As long as you do it regularly and put effort into it, it will pay off! Even if you aren’t feeling in the mood to exercise, you could always just jump on your kid’s trampoline with them after school – that’s a great workout in itself!

How to do exercise at home for weight loss – 15 EASY exercises

If your looking for an easy way how to do exercise at home for weight loss we’ve got 15 great exercises that will help.

1. Squats

There’s a reason why we often have squats on the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge exercise plan. They work! Tone that butt and tighten those thighs just by adding squats to your daily routine.

You can squat anywhere – while you’re feeding the baby their Weet-Bix, while you’re hanging clothes on the line, or even just while you’re stir-frying your veggies for dinner.

Read how you can sneak 100 squats into your day HERE.

2. Tricep Dips

Stronger arms with more definition can really help you feel good in a singlet top! Tricep dips can be done anywhere, so why not slip a few tricep dips in while the kids play at the park, using the benches?

Multitasking at its best!

BUDGET TIP: Use your pantry staples as weights to increase the intensity of your dips. Grab your flour, rice or some cans and get dipping.

3. Lunges

Lauren da Silva loves that she can do lunges from the comfort of home. They’re great for your legs, thighs, and butt.

Read her five favourite exercises to do in the lounge room HERE.

4. Push-ups

Kristy Mead has lost 30kg with the help of the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge. She shares her advice for squeezing in some push-ups – while you watch TV!

“Simply commit to doing as many push-ups as you can during the ad breaks!’

Read her 10 tips for exercising HERE.

You can also do a Healthy Mummy HIIT workout which incorporates push-ups in a 5-minute workout.

5. Plank

Whether you do this in the lounge room, the backyard, or at the end of an outdoor training session – planks get results for your core and stomach!

Here’s our tip for performing the perfect plank with Nathalia. PLUS you can read about how Leah Romiti got her flat stomach (using planks!) HERE.

6. Burpees

These can be tricky at first, but they really do give your body an all-over workout. Lots of mums on the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge use them as a way to measure their fitness.

For instance, mum Melanie found that once she joined the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge and started the exercise program, she could do things that weren’t possible for her 6-7 months ago.

“I now can successfully run 5km without stopping, do push us on my toes, do more than 10 burpees in a row and run multiple laps of the basketball court. I cannot wait to see what my body is capable of in another 6-7 months,” says Melanie.

Read Melanie’s story HERE.

7. Box jumps

Box jumps are great to get your heart rate up and are a full body exercise.

It doesn’t matter if you can only jump 20cm, or if you can jump upwards of 60cm. Every box jump gives you a sense of accomplishment. Keep your eyes on your landing area, squat down and propel yourself up onto the box/step with your arms. Perform 15 reps, 3 times.

WORKOUT TIP: All the workouts, like the box jumps above, from the 28 Weight Loss Challenge can be done at home with things you can easily find around the house.

8. Curtsy lunge

Curtsy lunges are one of Healthy Mummy Stephanie’s favourite exercises. They target your outer and inner thigh muscles, as well as your butt. Take your time, control the movement, and don’t forget to brace your core to keep you balanced.

9. Hip thrusts

Hip thrusts are a super versatile exercise. You can perform these laying on the floor, you can add a weight on to your hips, you can also do these with your upper back resting on a bench or the lounge to make it even more of a workout.

To target your outer booty, place your heels together, fold your knees out, and then perform the hip thrust. Do 20 reps, 5 times over.

If you are working on getting your booty in shape for summer check out our booty-busting workout below.

10. Pause Squats

Pause Squats are a booty burner for sure. Take a normal squat stance, feet just past hip width, squat down, squeeze your glutes, and pause for 3 seconds.

Drive back up to the starting position. Perform 20 reps, 3 times. Use a resistance band to make sure you’re activating your glutes.

11. Walking weighted lunges

Walking weighted lunges are just that. Grab yourself some weights, brace that core, and slowly perform walking lunges. Do 20 lunges in total, 3 times over.

Read more of Stephanie’s exercise tips HERE.

BUDGET TIP: You don’t have to go out and buy weights you have things around the house that work as weights, look in the pantry for some canned goods or fill up some bottles with water and use them. Or even pick up your kid and use their extra weight.

12. Walking workouts

This may be an obvious budget-friendly exercise as we all generally do some sort of walking during our day but just increasing the number of steps you take per day and the efficiency of your walk may be more simple than you realise.

Walking is one of the best exercises on the planet as it costs nothing and is readily available to most people. Simply walking for just 10-15 minutes increases cardiovascular function, aids muscle strength in the hips, legs and core and may help to reduce stress.

TIP: Simply add in a few walking lunges or a short jog every 10 steps to spice things up by actively creating your own personal lower body and/or cardiovascular workout.

13. Abs Workout!

Who doesn’t want a flat tummy!? It’s a problem area for many mums, but thankfully there’s great exercises and workouts to target your core and make it super strong.

Try these FAB ABS Work out with Nathalia!!!

14. Lower Body and Arms Workout with Nathalia!

The 28 Days Stronger program features Nathalia in a series of strength training videos designed for mums to gain strength and cardio fitness. The new 28 Days Stronger program provides full length workouts for Beginners (20) and Advanced (20), along with a demonstration of the Fitness Test for the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge.

Get your FREE lower body and arms home workout with no equipment HERE.

15. Lower Body Work Out

Want to up your fitness level and get strong legs, glutes and core?!! Check out this Lower Body Workout from our new 28 Days Stronger Fitness Coach Nathalia!

Check out more free exercises on The Healthy Mummy YouTube channel.

How to exercise at home with no equipment

When it comes to getting mum workouts at home, it’s all about using what you have at your disposal and making a plan.

Gyms allow for structured workouts, whether it be doing classes or circuits on the equipment, so building a fitness program to do at home will help you keep that structure.

Building a home fitness plan for weight loss

If you are looking at building a fitness workout program at home there are so many options for you. You can find great at-home workouts online on YouTube like on The Healthy Mummy YouTube channel.

You can also probably find lots of blogs and articles with easy-to-do-at-home workouts that you can then build into a fitness program for weight loss.

We have plenty of information on how you can work out at home as a busy mum as it’s a core part of our 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge and what we are always supporting our mums to do, workout when they can and on a budget.

Check these out:

• Here’s how to exercise at home for busy mums
• 4 ways to workout without blowing the budget
• 15 exercises you can do on a budget
• Easy at-home HIIT workout for mums

Utilising what you have at home for your safe exercise at home

Now you would think that moving your workout regime from the gym to at-home workouts would mean having to buy a bunch of fancy equipment, but it doesn’t have to!

If you have the space, money and urge to buy that treadmill or step machine go for it but there are items you already have in your home you can use.

Some of the best at-home items you can incorporate into your at-home fitness program or safe exercise at home

• Flour, rice or other large packets of food items in place of weights
• Lounges and chairs to replace benches when you want to do chair squats or push-ups with some extra lift.
• Bath mat or towel in place of a yoga or workout mat to do pretty much any other exercise
• Stairs to well do stairs or step workouts at home

Plus you can raid your kids toys and see if they have a skipping rope, balls, or other items you could work into your in-home workouts to lose weight.