2020 has been a tough year all around, especially for moms. It has been incredibly challenging if you’ve been trying to maintain a fitness routine. With gyms closing down and restrictions on exercising in public places, millions of people have had to readjust to working out at home. While plenty of home workout options are available online, not all of them stack up. This article provides you with two workouts to keep you engaged and pumped while working towards your fitness goals.
Skipping Fat Loss Workout
You will need to invest in a skipping rope for this home-based workout. You can pick one up for less than twenty dollars. That may be one of the best investments in your health that you ever make. According to NCBI, that is because skipping is one of the best forms of cardio exercise that you can do and is an exceptional calorie burner. Skipping regularly will also help you to develop your fitness coordination and agility.
When buying a skipping rope, the most important thing is to make sure that it is the right length. Stand with both feet on the center of the rope and pull both ends. The handles should reach up to your armpits.
Skipping for Beginners
Be sure to wear loose, comfortable clothing when skipping. Try to keep your shoulders relaxed and your upper arms close to your body. Use your wrists, not your whole arms, to turn the rope and try to keep them as low as possible. While skipping, keep your back straight and your stomach pulled in.
The most basic skip is called the rocking skip. This is a skip leading with one foot rather than both feet at once. In effect, it is a half run rather than a jump—step with the same foot leading each revolution. Keep your knees slightly bent to absorb impact. Be sure to also keep your head upright, in line with your spine.
As you gain confidence with the rocking skip, you should advance to jumping with both feet together. Then, in order to avoid boredom and challenge yourself further, you can add the variations of hopping on one foot, then the other. Make sure that you do not jump too high. Keeping your feet in fairly close contact with the ground will minimize the chance of strain, and you’ll be more likely to skip for longer without mucking it up.
The Workout
Your home skipping fat loss workout will be done in a circuit fashion. You do a series of exercises with no rest between them. You then take a two-minute rest before repeating the circuit. In the home workout series from 1and1life.com, you will work up to completing 4 sets of the circuit. The circuit involves 30 seconds of skipping, followed by 30 seconds of a bodyweight exercise repeated for a total of eight exercises. Make it your aim to move quickly from one move to the next with minimal downtime. If possible, exercise where you can see a timer countdown.
Warm-Up –
1 minute skipping without a rope / dynamic stretching, mainly through the lower body
• Skipping – 30 seconds
• Air Squats – 30 seconds
• Skipping – 30 seconds
• Lunges – 30 seconds
• Skipping – 30 seconds
• Push Ups – 30 seconds
• Skipping – 30 seconds
• Crunches – 30 seconds
Do your skipping fat loss workout three times per week on alternate days. Do some form of light aerobic activity such as walking or cycling on your off days.
Home Dumbbell Workout
You will need a light pair of dumbbells for this home workout program. If you are a woman who is new to resistance training, the dumbbells should weigh between 5 and 10 pounds. This is an overall body routine that, while working all body muscles, gives more attention to the traditional problems areas for women such as the thighs, hips, and triceps (back of the upper arms).
This is a standard sets and reps workout where you perform the designated number of repetitions and sets. Between each set, you are to rest for 45 seconds. Your rest between exercises should be no longer than it takes to set up for that move.
The Workout
Warm-Up –
Jogging on the spot for 1 minute, dynamic stretching, focusing on the chest, quads, and hamstrings
• Squats (holding dumbbells at shoulder level with palms facing forward) – 3 sets of 12 reps
• Dumbbell Bench Press (lie on the floor on your back and press the dumbbells up above your chest) – 3 sets of 12 reps
• Lunges (dumbbells at your sides) – 3 sets of 12 reps
• Wall Sit ( 30 seconds)
• Seated shoulder press (palms forward) – 3 sets of 12 reps
• Standing alternate dumbbell curl – 3 sets of 12 reps
• Single arm overhead triceps extension – 3 sets of 12 reps
Do this workout three times per week on alternate days. After two weeks, your body will start adjusting to the workout, and you will start getting stronger. To keep making progress, you will need to make the workout slightly harder each time you do it. You can do this by increasing the weight slightly, doing more repetitions and sets, or reducing the rest time power set. Experiment with these three variables to find out what works best for you.
Free Workout Programs
There are a large number of free workout programs available online. Before you jump into any of them, we strongly suggest that you take the time to check out who is behind them and what qualifications they have as fitness instructors. Many of the workouts that proliferate the internet are simply regurgitations of programs with little scientific or real-world foundation. If you can, check user reviews and get someone knowledgeable to check over the program before you throw yourself into it.
Final Word
We recommend alternating between the two workouts provided here if you have access to a skipping rope and a light pair of dumbbells. Do the skipping workout for four weeks, and then switch to the dumbbell workout. Going back and forth in this manner will work all of the muscles in your body while also stripping off that unwanted body fat.