• Exercise programs at home can work as well as going to a health club.young beautiful girl exercises with rope isolated image by Laser from Fotolia.com
  
  You do not have to exercise at the gym to stay fit. You can participate in fun and effective at-home exercise programs. To be successful, you need discipline and consistency with your fitness regimen. It also helps if you like the majority of the exercises and they motivate you. Whether you design the program yourself or hire a personal trainer, a successful exercise program can be accomplished at home.
  
  

Preparation

• It is a good idea to check with a doctor to get clearance before starting an exercise program. You also must know your current fitness level, time restraints, lifestyle and personality to design an effective at-home program. If you are not a morning person, then planning to exercise every day at 6:00 am may be unrealistic. If you do not like working out alone, perhaps participating along with a fitness program on TV or hiring a personal trainer might work better for you.
  
  

Goals and Equipment

• Set your exercise goals based on what you want to accomplish. If weight loss is a priority, you need sufficient calorie-burning exercises like walking, jogging, or dancing. You might have other goals such as improving flexibility, gaining stamina, or increasing strength. Design the program based on these goals yourself or with a certified personal trainer. Yoga and stretches can improve flexibility. For stamina, you can do cardio without machines, but you might want to invest in an elliptical machine if it's affordable. If not, you can run up and down stairs at home, or go for a run around the neighborhood. For strength training, you can use milk jugs filled with sand or buy a variety of dumbbells or resistance bands.
  
  

Strength Training

• Strength training builds muscular endurance and strength. This is an important part of being fit. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends that strength training should be done at least twice a week. The book "Exercise Testing and Program Design" recommends that workouts be done on non-consecutive days to give the muscles time to rest when exercising the same muscle groups. The ACSM also recommends doing 8 to 10 different exercises with 8 to 12 repetitions of each at least twice a week.
  
  If you don't have access to dumbbells or resistance tools, use items around the house like soup cans, or use your own body weight with push-ups. Do a total body strength program or do weight training exercises each day for different body parts.
  
  

Cardio Exercise

• The ACSM recommends that you do about 30 minutes of cardio exercise that is moderately intense (sweating but still able to talk to someone without breathlessness) 5 days a week. If you do not have equipment, you can walk, go up and down stairs or do step-ups onto a low bench. Do jumping jacks in your living room, skip rope or shadow box. Plan to do a variation of these exercises at least 30 minutes consecutively (or three 10-minute bouts), and include a warm-up and cool down session when you do.
  
  

Flexibility and Balance

• An at-home exercise program should incorporate flexibility and balance moves. Specific disciplines like Yoga and Pilates already do so. Follow a DVD, get ideas online or watch a television fitness program and participate. You might practice balancing on one leg for 30 seconds and then doing the same on the other side, or do 10 to 15 minutes of stretching exercises at the end of your exercise routine.