How To Turn Your Home Into A Functional Workout Space

Winter blues are a real thing - the minute temperatures start dropping and daylight shortens, it's totally normal for your mood to be down during the colder months! A great way to combat the winter blues is to get your endorphins flowing. But with winter weather here, bundling up in parkas, beanies, and scarves just to go to the gym doesn't always sounds so fun (who has time for all that?!).

Thankfully, you no longer need to leave the comfort of your home just to get a quick workout in! Leaving the house for a gym session is definitely healthy for your mental health, but when you need a quick workout in between meetings, sometimes your home is all you need!

Here are some ways you can elevate your home workout space:

Assign A Clear Space To Be Your Gym

Whether you live in an apartment or a house, try to designate different areas for different parts of your day. For example, your bedroom is for sleeping, but if your desk is also in your bedroom, position it to face away from your bed to set boundaries between work and rest.

Create a little section somewhere in your home that you can dedicate as your "movement space". This will be your area for yoga, pilates, HIIT, or whichever workout you choose to do! Place your yoga mat and any other equipment there and it'll be ready for you whenever you're ready to move your body. Even with smaller spaces, it's important to separate work, play, and rest to maintain your mental health and clarity!

Equipment

Unless you live in a house, you may not have tons of room to store your workout equipment. So we suggest going small and simple rather than splurging on a full gym's worth of equipment. Here are some classic items that will elevate your workout experience:

• Yoga mat
• Resistance bands
• Kitchen towels - can be used as gliders
• Makeshift hand weights - can be water bottles, canned foods, anything that you can easily hold that has some weight to it
• Ankle weights - these are small to store yet can make any of your workouts more difficult

Make Use Of Your Space

Now you have a designated movement space, but you can also utilize the furniture around your house to switch up workouts! Try using a step stool or a chair for step-ups and leg raises, tie a resistance band to a doorknob, or hold onto a chair to help with stability while you do single leg squats. 

Take The Stairs

Whenever possible, take the stairs rather than the elevator! It's a great way to sneak in a little workout when you're going from A to B.

Sign Up For A Program

After the last couple years of gyms closed down, so many subscription based workout programs have popped up! Choose from so many options and it'll feel like you have a teacher in your apartment with you. It's a great way to keep you accountable and motivated while working out at home!