Working out doesn’t have to take over your life, in today’s world everyone seems to be rushing here and there and making the excuse, I haven’t time to work out. Exercising can take as little as 20 minutes per day and if done on a regular basis results can be seen in both your appearance and health.

There is no need to go to a gym, you can exercise in your own home and inexpensive equipment can be purchased for use in the home.

It is always important that you start out with a warm up routine before exercising, this is needed to help prevent cramps during your routine and a cooling down period is also needed after your routine to allow the muscles to relax slowly.

Warming up and cooling down

This can be jogging on the spot slowly or stretching and bending exercises, remember to stretch your calf muscles, hamstrings and quads. The warm up should last about 5 minutes and it plays an important role in the workout plan.

A cardiovascular workout

There are many ways you can do a cardiovascular routine, for example using an exercise bike, jogging on the spot or skipping. These are all excellent forms of working the cardiovascular system; the effects of the cardiovascular workout can be increased by alternating every 2 minutes from moderate to harder effort but bear in mind to only exercise to your ability and don’t over do it.

If you are only just starting on your exercise regime then you could change this and do mild to moderate every 2 minutes instead. It is important that you don’t push your body too much too quickly as this can lead to soreness and possible injury.

It is just as important to cool off after every exercise routine and this can be done the same way as you did for warming up with stretches.

A cross training workout

If you don’t have much time to exercise then you can do what is know as a cross training workout, this workout will enable you to workout with various equipment and exercise different muscle groups.

The main advantage this type of exercise has to offer is that your exercise routine never gets boring and is an excellent way to exercise many muscle groups.

Warming up is still as important then you could include such exercises as walking on a treadmill, stepping, rowing and cycling, spending about 5 minutes on each piece of equipment. Remember to cool off with gentle bending and stretching.

A strength training workout

A strength training workout includes squats, lunges, inner and outer thigh exercises, bicep curls and press-ups. This type of workout increases your heart rate and tones your muscles at the same time; exercises of this type are normally done in repetitions and sets. Again it is important to warm up beforehand and to cool down at the end of your routine.

Any of the routines above should only be undertaken if you are generally in good health if you have any major health problems then the advice of a Doctor should be sought before starting your particular training plan. If at any time during the routines you feel unwell or have any pain then stop immediately.