Personal Training Business Blog: 5 ways to make home workouts more interesting.

As someone with over 6 years of experience as an in-home personal trainer I have learned that creativity and change are the keys to maintaining a solid level of enthusiasm in my clients. The challenge with in home personal training is that the trainer is very limited in what he or she has available. This means that the trainer needs to think outside of the box in order to keep dynamic and interesting sessions.  The following are 5 ideas to keep sessions new and interesting.

1. Eyes closed- A very easy way to make almost any exercise more challenging is to do it with your eyes closed. Try completing a lunge or flys on a ball with your eyes closed. It’s not easy. Closing your eyes forces the body to rely on proprioceptors and it’s a great way add variety to an exercise.

2. Progression- The principle of progression is known by all trainers and it should be applied with exercises. Just about any exercise has countless progressions and regressions. If you do the same exercises week after week with the same client, it can get boring very quickly. A great way around this is to progress the core exercises. Adding rotation, changing hand positioning, working on one leg, these are all ways to progress an exercise. Take push ups for example. You can use a staggered grip, an unstable surface, twist into a side plank as ways to make them different.

3. Intervals- Interval training is a great way to make a workout different. Intervals, especially using the HIIT method, will keep the client moving and working at a pace that they won’t really think about the exercises that they are doing. Even if you don’t change the exercises, varying the intervals will be enough to keep the client from being bored.

4. Boxing- Boxing is an awesome way to add variety to a workout. The fact is that people like to punch things so boxing serves as great stress relief. The basics are easy enough to learn and 5-10 minutes in the beginning or end of a workout work really well. You will need boxing gloves and mitts, and it’s important to learn punching technique as well as how to hold pads.

5. Use household items- Be creative. Almost anything in the apartment can be used for a workout. Stack 2 phonebooks for a step, climb stairs, use a chair for dips or use water bottles as weights. Look around the apartment or house and be creative, clients appreciate that and it places you a step ahead of everyone else.