The Covid era marked a rise in the popularity of many activities, from baking bread to working from home or even in bed.
But nothing became as popular as home training. According to a 2023 survey, nearly 40 percent of Americans prefer to exercise at home, rather than going to the gym or an exercise class.
But you may be wondering if doing your favorite Zoom workout, or your at-home weight routine, offers the same results as your weekly Zumba, Pilates, or HIIT class.
Now, experts have settled the debate: It’s just as effective and you’ll probably burn about the same amount of calories if you work hard.
Some convenient at-home workouts may use bands, body weight, or light dumbbells to work up a sweat.
‘Without a doubt, home workouts, if done correctly, can be just as effective [as classes]said Kate Rowe-Ham, a UK-based personal trainer and owner of Own Your Menopause, a subscription-based online fitness program.
Studies show that if you make sure to push yourself at home, you can burn the same amount of calories at home as you would in a class.
Take Zumba. A 45-minute in-person class burns an average of 360 calories, according to sports scientists at Western Colorado University.
Homemade versions, such as This by personal trainer Mira Pham that you can find on YouTube, advertises burning up to 600 calories in a 60-minute class.
But that’s only if you’re pushing yourself to your absolute maximum, and not everyone is good at being responsible during at-home workouts, said Jennie Brown, barre instructor and owner of Meet You at the Barre.
“The discipline of exercising at home suits some people more than others,” Ms. Brown said. Some people have difficulty motivating themselves to exercise at home in general and, as a result, have a hard time maintaining a routine, researchers from Northumbria University found.
But if you’re strict with yourself, you might find that all kinds of exercises can translate well to your living room.
Pilates is another example; You burn about 220 calories as a 150-pound person by taking an hour-long Reformer Pilates class, according to a Maryland-based instructor. Margaret Ogle.
By comparison, if a 150-pound person does Pilates at home for an hour, Ogle said they can burn almost the same amount, an average of 200 calories.
Exercising at the gym is effective, but it may not be the best option for everyone.
And for strength trainers, the average person can burn 216 calories lifting weights at the gym for thirty minutes, according to Harvard Health Publications. But you can burn 306 calories doing calisthenics, strength training with bodyweight movements like planks and push-ups, at home.
To maximize any goal you’re trying to achieve, you should first learn the basics and techniques from a professional, Pilates instructor Aleksandra Warburton told Stylist.
So if you’re looking to get in shape like a dancer, for example, you can first attend a barre class to learn the basics before taking those lessons home.
Learning how to correctly perform target exercises will help you reach your goals faster and, more importantly, avoid injury, Warburton said.
Additionally, if you attend a class, you will be able to learn what equipment you might need to achieve your individual fitness goals.
TikTok user omarcalisthenics shared his at-home calisthenics workout in a video from August 2023.
Once you’ve figured out your technique, you need to get organized. First, you need to establish a plan that will allow you to slowly improve, said Ben Simpkins, a physical therapist at London Fitness Mamas based in the United Kingdom.
Simpkins recommends that for strength training, athletes at home can use whatever weight they have on hand to perform as many repetitions as possible; The key is not in a super heavy weight, but in the intensity with which you attack your training, Simpkins said.
“To progress, you can start working your muscles harder through higher repetitions or work at a slower pace to keep your muscles under load for longer,” he said.
This gets to the core point of all exercise: that the results you get depend entirely on how hard you are willing to try, Ms. Brown said.
So if you’re able to be strict with yourself, there’s no reason you shouldn’t get the results you want from home workouts, Ms. Brown said.
At the end of the day, whether you’re at the gym or at home, Ms. Brown said that “the amount of effort you put into your workout will always be what you get out of it.”