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Eat better, move around more, lose weight, and join a gym. We all make the same resolutions every year; in fact, 65 percent of people promised to make exercise a priority in 2019. For most of us, however, bathing suit season comes and goes with us still making the same broken promises to get healthier. Often, it’s lack of time to squeeze a workout into our schedules. Other times, it’s the inability to squeeze a workout into our small living space.
Apartment dwellers need not despair! It’s easy to get a jump on next year’s New Year’s resolutions by doing these in-home workouts that don’t require a lot of room or a certified personal trainer to get results. Even better: they’re relatively quiet, which means you won’t drive your roommate crazy.
Getting Exercise in Small Spaces
1. Free Weights
When space doesn’t allow for the latest and greatest home gym equipment, you can always break out the free weights and get in a workout in the living room that’s just as good. And with gear that stashes away in a closet when you’re done, it’s easy to still maximize space. Exercising with free weights gives you an effective workout for all parts of your body and build muscle. In fact, The New York Times published a 7-minute workout that’s not only excellent for small spaces; it’s also supported by top scientists!
2. Yoga
With the aid of a yoga mat, you can get in a calming, muscle-strengthening exercise nearly anywhere. Yoga is a total body workout that can be as gentle and relaxing or fast-paced and challenging as you prefer. Another benefit of yoga is that it calms the mind, making it an excellent exercise during a whirlwind work week. If you need guidance for your poses, simply stream yoga classes on your laptop or tablet. This is also an excellent solution for people who are going green and don’t want to drive to and from a yoga studio or gym.
3. Planks and Pushups
For targeted in-home workouts in a small space, planks and pushups are some of the best bodyweight exercises. Pushups work well to strengthen the shoulders, triceps, and chest, as well as increase muscular endurance. Meanwhile, planks help build core strength. With both, it’s useful to start small and build up your number of pushups or plank time as you go along. It’s also helpful to alternate between the two (planking on Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and pushups on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) to work the two muscle groups separately.
4. Pull-Ups
Just because you live in an apartment doesn’t mean you’re relegated to exercises that only happen on the floor. A pull-up bar is a quick and affordable way to add variation into a small-space workout. Even better: it’s easy to find a pull-up bar that you can simply install and uninstall in a doorway in a snap with no screws or hardware needed. A pull-up bar will enable you to do more than pull-ups, too; it’ll enable you to do chin ups, hanging knee raises, L-sits, and more.
5. Get Outside
Although there are many exercises that you can easily and quietly do in a small apartment, one of the wonderful aspects of living in a smaller space is that it encourages us to get out more. This means getting a bicycle and looking out for local bike blogs and groups in your area. If you have a dog, taking her for regular walks or to a place with a pet park is an excellent cardio workout for you both. Running and power walking are also excellent ways to get your cardio in and unleash good endorphins.
This doesn’t mean that you drop the in-home workouts; rather, getting out and about can make up one part of your exercise strategy and workout routine. With plenty of variety thrown into the mix, you can ensure that you’ll never get bored … and can more easily fulfill that resolution during the planet’s next spin around the sun.
