I was faced with a very difficult decision this morning – go to the gym at 5:15 am or press snooze.  I know what some of you are thinking, “It’s only January 5th, and you’re already skipping out on workouts.”  Not quite!  I kind of ended up doing both. 

See, my original plan was to do a run/speed walk combo at the gym.  Instead, I pressed snooze because I was freezing, tried to go back to sleep, and finally manned up and got out of bed at 5:30. 

As I was brushing my teeth, I came up with a 30 minute workout that I could do at my home gym. 

home gym 005

Vishnu took my coffee table because he needed a temporary TV stand, so now I have plenty of open space to workout.  Win win!

Anyways, here’s what the 30ish minutes looked like…

Simple warm up with arm swings and marching in place. 

First 10 minutes (ish):

  • 50 jumping jacks
  • 60 second jump rope
  • 50 high knees
  • 50 butt kicks
  • 15 pushups (I did as many regular ones as I could before resorting to the girly kind)
  • 50 bicycle crunches

Repeat 3 times

Next 10-12 minutes:

The next 10-12 minutes of my workout were made possible because of the uniqueness of my apartment. 

home gym 004

The layout is such that I have these two steps kind of separating my kitchen and living room from my dining room and bedroom.  Up until today, I thought they were neat only because they give my apartment character.  Well, today I realized that these two steps are a great workout tool. 

For about 10-12 minutes, I went up and down the “stairs,” alternating between stepping up with my right foot and my left foot.

This ended up being a great workout – my heart rate was up, and I was lightly sweating by the end of it.

Final 10 minutes:

I finished up my 30 minute workout with some random ab work and light stretching that included four minutes of planks, scissor kicks, reverse crunches, and one more thing I can’t think of right now. 

Not the most hardcore workout, but it beats the alternative scenario:

I press snooze, keep sleeping, wake up pissed off because I didn’t get my butt to the gym when I had plans to, and continue to think about it throughout the day.

And really…a little something always beats a whole lot of nothing!

Do you have a “home gym?”  How do you motivate yourself to get moving?

By Parita

0 thoughts on “Something’s Better Than Nothing”
  1. Good for you for not hitting snooze! At home workouts are so perfect for those days you don’t feel like dragging it to the gym. Body Rock has changed my life in that regard!

  2. I so need to do this!! I can’t even fathom getting up at 5:15 to exercise!! However I know I do feel best after early morning exercise.

    Maybe should look into doing these at home ones to take the sting out of getting up so early!

  3. Way to go on getting in some kind of workout…something really is better than nothing! And for a home gym, I think you did pretty freakin’ well! On those days where I really can’t be bothered to work out, I persuade myself to at least go for a 30 minute walk…it might hardly raise my heart rate up but at least it gets me moving!

  4. I’ve had a hard time motivating myself to move this week, but most of the time I just suck it up and do what I need to do!!

    Doesn’t ALWAYS work, but 80% of the time it does I guess 😛

  5. Love this! And yes, 90% of my workouts are done in my “home gym” – which consists of a treadmill, free weights, and a whole lot of floor space! The floor space being of paramount importance. 🙂

  6. This is great. I can’t believe you wake up at 5:15 am, you are so good. I am up at 8 am on weekdays. My gym is in the building so i have no excuse, but sometimes I’m so lazy. No, I don’t have a home workout, but I think I’ll be getting inspiration from you to create one.

  7. I sometimes make my home gym. I unroll a thin mat and lay on it. Then do crunches or situps or weight exercises, not long time, since I don’t like working inside. Instead it’s no problem going out at 6 am. in freezing cold (below zero) and running for 1 hour. That’s me, no matter if it’s dark, raining, snowing (not that it rains or snows often), I hardly meet anyone as crazy as me. But lock me in the gym and I might spend time stretching or running :p btw nice flat 🙂

    1. Thanks! You are really hardcore! I’m a wimp when it comes to being cold, and that’s why for those days, I resort to my “home gym.” 🙂

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