Fitness Tips and Tools- For Fitness at Home

Firstly welcome back to my blog and you have probably noticed some subtle differences in its look. I hope you like!
Today I am going to share some tips on my experience of going from hardly any exercise to working out a couple of times a week. As a teenager, my metabolism allowed me to eat whatever crap I wanted. Probably not a great thing, and now only now in my mid 20's I decided that It is probably a good idea to start looking after my body. My metabolism caught up with me, resulting in my weight yoyoing from eating out, takeaways and any snacks in my reach, to then thinking Scarlet! get yourself together woman! Then I would eat healthy food with less fat content in them for a couple of days. I personally don't think you should cut out the food that you love, you just need to change your perspective on them and see them as a treat now and again. Your body will love you more for it. The past few days I have been making smoothies in replacement for my pasta addiction, and by god my skin and energy levels are very happy for the kick of Fruit and Vitamin C. Pasta has its benefits, but having a portion of pasta a day probably didn't help my cause.

Other than eating high fibre breakfast, and eating plenty of fruit to combat my extra baggage I would like gone for the summer, I have been exercising at home. I plan to enrol at the Gym soon, but I am quite content doing my own thing at home. It can be done.

I have a Fitbit Charge HR which helps me a lot, I have read reviews where people don't find them very accurate. Personally, mine works great, it probably misses a few steps rather than adding more. However, it is fun ensuring that you meet you minimum steps a day and making your own targets. It is suggested that we should take 10,000 steps a day. I like to aim for 15,000 to 20,000. As I see it you should take 10,000 steps a day anyhow, so whatever is above is a bonus and therefore more likely to see results in weight loss or weight control. This nifty little gadget then alerts you with vibration to let you know you have met your target. With the Heart Monitor feature, this  tracks your heart rate through your pulse. It informs you when you are in the Fat Burn Zone, this is the Zone which your heart rate is elevated enough for it to be classed as exercise. Anything below this is the Out Of Zone, meaning that your heart rate is not elevated enough for fat burn. Therefore not classes as exercise. I have tested this feature when on a long walk, and it doesn't elevate higher than 110 which is the Fat Burn Zone. Of course not walking is going to make a difference to your fitness, in comparison to someone who walks a lot. Like I said for me, I couldn't lose weight just walking, I would have to walk across the country and back for that. That isn't going to happen anytime soon. The Fitbit App is a great companion for the Fitbit Charge HR, You have to use the App to store the data collected on the Fitbit but you can add data to your Fitbit account, such as your meals and the amount of calories, and your intake of water. You have to be committed to logging your food and drink intake to do this. Something which I haven't drilled into my routine as of yet.

Other than my Fitbit App for tracking Exercise I use few Apps for the Workout itself. What I tend to do is to get to know the different techniques to work on the different areas of your body you wish to concentrate on. The App will put together different manoeuvres for your routine to concentrate on the different type of exercise you are after, and the part of your body you want to work on. An example would be if you are wanting to tone and work on your lower body, some Apps will take you through different activities to work on this area. Such as Vererse V Lunges, Front Kicks and Jump Squats. Once you have mastered each step, You can put together your own fitness Routine. I do tend to start with the workout provided in the App, following it second by second then mix it up. If you are anything like me, I was completely clueless which routine or Activity would target each area of my body best.
The two current Apps I use is Sworkit, You can customise the workout, choose a premade workout and choose the time you wish to work out. As a beginner I would suggest starting with the 5-minute workout, and as you master each activity move up a notch. The other App I have been using 7-minute workout "Seven" which allows you to pick out different workouts from Weight loss, Beach ready to Get Fit. I will say that both these Apps do have In-App purchases, but personally I use the ones which come as standard to the App's and mix it up. There are lots of Youtubers and Youtube videos which focus on fitness too.

The next thing I would say is having some equipment to help you with your Routine, I just have a Yoga Mat and some Dumbbells. Personally, I don't feel the need for anything else for my exercise routine. I'm sure you have a stool or a chair which you can use for part of your workout. Use what you have around you in your home. All you really need is a bit of space, have belief in yourself, willpower and a routine which works for you. Oh yeah and some comfortable clothing, you will get sweaty! After time experimenting with different moves and activities you will soon have a Routine together.

I hope that this post has helped anyone who would like to start working out, but not sure how to. The thought of going to the Gym can be quite daunting. Honestly, you will be surprised what you can achieve at home. I am thinking of putting together a post of the Routine that I do and what I tend to use to keep myself motivated to carry on. If you would like to see a post like this let me know, I love hearing from you guys. If you have any tips also, please leave them in the comments or message me :)

Until next time xox