What if you could start to love your home workouts as much as the gym? We know, this sounds like a challenge. But if you’re anything like us, a challenge is what gets us jumping out of bed, motivated to kick some butt. We’ve found ways to fall in love with our home workouts that anyone can recreate in their own living room (equipment or not).
6 Ways to Burn More Calories During Your Home Workouts
If your workouts are starting to drag, you may be convinced that your home workouts are to blame for your lower calorie burn. Not so fast. With the right exercise program, and even more importantly, the right mindset, you can get in an effective and fun workout from your living room.
We’re sharing the five most effective ways to burn more calories during your home workouts, so you can stay on track and keep getting results similar to clocking hours at the gym.
#1 Focus on Compound Movements to Target Multiple Muscles at Once
Compound movements (like squats, deadlifts, lunges, planks, push-ups, etc.) recruit more of your bigger muscle groups, resulting in a higher energy expenditure, aka calorie burn.
Adding in more compound movements to your home workouts will not only get your heart rate up during a workout, but they also help you build more muscle. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn during all hours of the day — count us in for a speedier metabolism!
Try It Out
Even more good news, you don’t need any equipment to reap the benefits of compound movements. Get moving with a total body home workout that focuses on compound movements to burn calories with Caroline Pearce’s 25-minute Butt Kicking Bootcamp.
#2 HIIT it For an Afterburn Effect
HIIT (High-intensity Interval Training), is always a trainer favorite for burning more calories in less time — perfect for those of you with a super busy schedule!
By focusing on short bursts of all-out effort followed by a brief rest, your body becomes a calorie-burning machine during and after your workout for upwards of 72 hours. HIIT may feel intimidating at first if it’s not in your normal routine, but it can easily be modified for any fitness level by choosing the correct exercises, altering the activity and rest times, and listening to your body.
HIIT should feel challenging, get your heart rate up, and create some muscular tension, but it should never be painful. If you feel any pain, take a rest, grab some water, and check your form.
Try It Out
Give your all in this 18-minute All HIIT, No Quit equipment-free workout with trainer Breann Mitchell. An intermediate workout that focuses on 30 seconds of activity followed by 15-seconds of recovery. You’ll finish with a post-workout high that will keep you coming back for more.
#3 Use Music to Amp Up Your Motivation
Want to burn more calories without even thinking about it? Create a workout playlist. A recent study showed that those who listened to music during their workouts lasted longer during an intense stress test.
Working out with upbeat music you enjoy, and that makes you feel happier enhances your enjoyment during a workout. When you’re having fun, you’re more likely to push yourself harder and workout more. Sign us up!
P.S. with FitOn PRO, you get premium music that you can listen to during your workouts, so you can really maximize your motivation to power through that intense HIIT class.
#4 Limit Rest Times to Keep Your Heart Rate Up
Circuit training is one of the best ways to get your heart rate up and build muscle simultaneously. Completing two or more exercises back-to-back is the secret sauce to fitting in a workout if you’re a busy bee or just want more time to do other things you love aside from your workout.
However, pay attention to your rest time in between sets. After completing two or more exercises back-to-back, or a set, you will want to rest for at least thirty seconds but no more than sixty at the absolute max.
Keeping this rest brief will make sure your heart rate stays elevated during more of your workout, and in turn, increasing your calorie burn.
Try It Out
Kenta Seki’s 21-minute Leg Day workout uses circuit training to sculpt your lower body and up your calorie burn all day long with zero equipment. A positive attitude is required, though!
#5 Create a Space That Makes You Feel More Motivated
Looking at your bed or couch during your workout is like drinking coffee when you want to go to sleep. Being in the space where you normally veg out or get tucked in sends signals to your brain that it’s time to sit down.
If you live in an apartment or smaller home, it may be hard to find a designated place to workout. If this is the case, you can add items to your space that can get you in the sweating mood.
Here are some hacks to help create a space that may amp up the motivation a bit:
- Try adding a nicely organized workout basket to your space to hold some of your equipment.
- Put your rolled-up mat and/or foam roller in the corner of the room.
- Add a pretty poster with your favorite motivational mantra. This will create new visual cues to motivate you to work out and stay on track.
#6 Add in Resistance to Increase the Intensity
If you’re lucky enough to have equipment at home, use it! Adding resistance to your workouts creates additional stress on your muscles, which builds more muscle, and requires you to expend more energy.
Resistance is the triple threat of increasing your metabolism. If you don’t have traditional weights, resistance bands, or other equipment, and want the benefits, you can get creative with what you have lying around the house.
Try It Out
Pick up a set of small and medium dumbbells and target all your major muscle groups for a serious calorie burn in this 21-minute Full Body Strength workout with Breann Mitchell. Exercises like wide squats, single-leg deadlifts, and bridge chest presses will leave you sore in all the right places.
Find Comfort in The Discomfort
Getting outside of your comfort zone is the key to start burning more calories in your home workouts. However, remember that every day is different, so it’s equally important to listen to your body. Intense workouts are fun and effective but need to be monitored to make sure you’ll stay healthy and injury-free to keep reaching your goals.
