How to Make a Home Workout Actually Work

Let's face a simple fact. Home workouts can be as problematic as they are convenient. Although done right in your own living room or basement, these workouts offer excuse after excuse, and distraction after distraction. Despite your best efforts, a kid with a question will run through the door in the middle of your first set of push-ups, or the phone will ring with some endlessly annoying telemarketer who just wants a second of your time.

No matter how you slice it, unless you have a system for a home workout, you'll never get out of it what you really want. With that in mind, consider the following ideas before you commit to the "exercise at home" approach. For so many, it's a trap destined for failure, but for those who start it out right, it can be a true Godsend.

Leave the phone: Anything that can distract you needs to go for that time. People in this technological age seem to stop life in its tracks as soon as a text arrives. There exists that burning need inside to check an unchecked message. Therefore, deny yourself that urge and throw the phone on the kitchen table, leaving it for the time being.

Tell the family the rules: Let the kids know that you cannot be disrupted. Unless the house is burning down or someone is bleeding profusely, they need to leave you alone. And don't feel guilty about it. You need the time for yourself if you want to be productive for others.

Have the right equipment: You don't have to run to the store and buy a $1,000 universal-style machine. Not at all. Instead, get a pull-up bar that can hang in the door, a few dumbbells, and a yoga mat. Every over newfangled gadget is essentially unneeded. Keep it simple with the basics, and save your cash. It's about the work you invest, not the dollars.

Same time: Structure is key. It works for kids, and it works for adults. Keeping the same time each day will give everyone in the house the chance to fall into step. If mom is exercising from 4 until 4:45, everyone else knows the rules and what to expect. It becomes a family habit.

No breaks: Once you enter the room, you don't leave until you're done. No shortcuts. No excuses. No "just gonna go check something". Nope, just get down to what you have to do and do it. This will let you not only get in a solid training session, but it'll also minimize your time there, which gives you more opportunity to do the stuff around the house when you're done.