Getting Fit At Home

Calling all couch potatoes! Have you been meaning to start exercising for the New Year, but have yet to make it to the gym? Maybe you are one of many who fell off the fitness wagon during the holidays, and now can't get back on.

Whatever the reason, don't despair because you don't have to leave the comforts of your own home to get into an exercise routine, says fitness expert Kevin Makely.

All you need are hand weights for strength training and resist-a-bands for resistance training. For cardiovascular exercise, he suggests taking to the streets with a strong walking routine.

Getting started is the easy part; sticking to it is something entirely different. Begin slowly and work your way up with both cardio and weight training, Makely says, there's no need to try to bench 200 lbs., if you haven't worked out since 1980.

He demonstrates the following introductory-level fitness routine on The Early Show.

Strength Training: A simple weight training routine will actually help you build nice ,lean muscle mass, increase the amount of calories you burn during your routine and also increase your metabolism so that you burn more calories at rest throughout the day.

Fitness Tools: Hand Weights

Technique: Basic weight training technique for the beginner

Lateral raise: This exercise will strengthen and shape your shoulders and upper arms.

• Keep your neck and the muscles right around the back of your neck (trapezoids) relaxed. The focus should be on the muscles covering the curve of your shoulder (middle deltoids).
• Lean forward slightly from your hips to make the middle part of the muscle parallel to the ground for proper isolation.
• One set of eight to 12 repetitions, working the muscle to the point of fatigue, is usually sufficient.
• Breathe normally throughout the exercise.
• Lower the resistance with a slow, controlled cadence throughout the full range of motion.
• Lifting the weight to a count of two and lowering to a count of three or four is effective.
• When you are able to perform 12 repetitions of an exercise correctly (without cheating), increase the amount of resistance by five to 10 percent to continue safe progress.

• Keeping your front knee directly over your ankle at all times, lower your back knee almost to the ground.
  
• Push back up, keeping your back straight and your front heel on the ground.
• Switch sides. Remember never to extend your knee past your front foot as you move down.

Tools: Resist-a-bands

Technique:

Front Raise

• In split or regular stance, stand on the left side of the resistance band while holding the right handle in right hand. Starting position is arm straight down in front of thigh, palm facing the thigh and elbow slightly bent.
• Slowly raise arm straight up until it is level with the shoulder, palm facing the ground (wrist straight).
• Slowly lower back to starting position.
• Repeat for 12-16 reps and then switch arms for 1-3 sets.
• To change the resistance, stand on the band either closer to the handle (easier) or towards the middle of the band (harder).

  TIP: Remember to concentrate on posture, keeping your back straight, shoulders back and abs tight. If you aren't working out at the gym with a personal trainer who routinely corrects your posture, remember that positioning your body correctly for every exercise is key. Keep this mantra in mind before starting every exercise.

• While standing on the band, curl the left handle up with your right hand across your body.
• Exchange between the right and left for beginners, start with one set of 16 repetitions of each exercise.
• Once again, posture is also very important here - back straight, abs tight and shoulders back.