6 At-Home Workout Programs That Could Change Your Life, and Your Waistline

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Why waste hard-earned money on expensive workout equipment that sits in your home, takes up too much room and collects dust? Or on a gym membership that you never actually use? Did you know that many at-home workout programs can trim your waistline just as fast from the comfort of your living room? It can be overwhelming to choose the best program with the many to choose from. You should choose the best one for your exercise needs, your lifestyle and personal goals.

Each program varies in cost, the duration of the workouts, the variety of exercises and whether they require additional equipment—like a jump rope, foam roller or dumbbells. However, most programs are relatively cost-effective and easy to do in a confined space.

If you choose to opt for an at-home workout program, we have compiled a list of six at-home workout programs that could change your life and waistline. The marketing for these programs are riddled with promises—to burn calories, show results, or transform your body within a small amount of time—so it is essential to be realistic with your goals.

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Insanity

You might have heard of Beachbody—they are a massive part of the at-home workout program market—because of their captivating marketing strategies. Insanity is a 60-day cardio-based workout program created by choreographer and fitness trainer: Sean T.

The draw for Insanity is that once you push your body past its limits, you will see “insane” results in 60 days. And, insane it is. This at-home workout program includes HIIT, core strengthening, strength training and conditioning workouts that range from 30 to 60 minutes. The program consists of how frequently you should do these workouts, which is about six days a week with a single rest day.

Each workout is designed to get your heart racing and the calories burning: sweat-inducing cardio and plyometric drills with intervals of strength, power, resistance, and core training. The exercise begins with five minutes of warm-up to get your muscles loosened, then the routines start, and they increase in speed until you reach the last five minutes, which is a cool down.

No equipment is required, and there is a suggested nutritional guide.

When committing to an at-home workout program, you should consult your doctor about your timeline. You could easily hurt yourself by being too ambitious with an intense workout program like Insanity.

If you want to purchase Insanity, you can join Beachbody On Demand to access all of the Beach Body exercise programs for either $59.85/3 months, $77.70/6 months or $99/12 months.

P90X

P90X is one of the first mainstream workout programs created by Beachbody and Tony Horton. It is a highly intense 90-day workout program typically done for one hour a day, six days a week.

If you were wondering, the X stands for “extreme” because the 12 included workouts incorporate resistance training, cardio, plyometrics, abdominal strengthening, martial arts, and yoga to “guide you through your transformation.”

Only a few pieces of equipment are required to perform these exercises: dumbbells, resistance bands, and a chin-up bar. Like its successor, Insanity, P90X includes a nutrition plan and a suggested fitness calendar.

If you want to purchase P90X, you can join Beachbody On Demand to access all of the Beach Body exercise programs for either $59.85/3 months, $77.70/6 months or $99/12 months.

80-Day Obsession

Maybe 60 days seems unfeasible to you, and 90 days is a little too long—welcome to 80-Day Obsession!

With 80 different exercises, there are no repeating exercises or getting used to Autumn Calabrese’s cardio classes. Unlike Insanity and P90X, which have exercises targeting every single muscle in a workout, 80-Day Obsession has specific workout sessions focusing on different muscle groups. You can have a leg day, an arm day, and an abs day, which would help with muscle fatigue.

Each exercise is 30 to 60 minutes, which minor equipment required: dumbbells, resistance bands, and core sliders.

If 80-Day Obsession sounds perfect for you, you can join Beachbody On Demand to access all of the Beach Body exercise programs for either $59.85/3 months, $77.70/6 months or $99/12 months. Along with the exercises, you will also receive a fitness tracker and a suggested dietary plan.

Alo Moves

Yoga and Pilates classes can hit the wallet hard, which makes at-home programs much more attractive. You can have guided yoga, pilates or meditation classes at the tip of your fingers from the comfort of your home with Alo Moves! You can work with a wide array of instructors. The program even includes “15-Minute Back Pain Relief Workout,” or nine at-home exercises to relieve back pain.

Alo Moves, unlike the intense Beachbody workouts, are perfect for people of all different fitness levels. The Classes are sorted by fitness level, like beginner, intermediate, advanced, and duration/style. If you don’t want to stick with yoga (Ashtanga to Vinyasa) and pilates, there are HIIT, strength and barre fitness classes, along with skill classes. The skill classes teach you anything from doing specific yoga poses to a deep backbend or a complete handstand.

If this sounds like your perfect match, you can visit AloMoves to participate in their unlimited yoga, fitness and meditation classes for $20/month or $199/year.

PIIT28

Strength training can make your body incredibly tired if you aren’t used to high-intensity workouts. If you follow Cassey Ho’s Blogilates fitness channel on YouTube, you will have seen that she has created a Pilates-based interval workout program. The workout program PIIT28 (instead of HIIT) includes 28-minute workouts meant to generate 28 days.

Most pilates classes require thousand-dollar machinery, but Cassey’s program requires zero equipment and minimal space.

What is Pilates Intense Interval Training? According to her PIIT28 website, Cassie claims that she has combined “the best core strengthening exercises from my format POP Pilates® with the most intense cardio elements of HIIT.” The exercises will switch between cardio and Pilates—melting your body fat fast. Six workouts per week, seven exercises you will hold for 45 seconds each and rest for 15 seconds in between. This keeps your body in the “fat-burning” mode.

When you purchase the program, you will receive 17 guided workout videos and a convenient e-book, with a printout version of the workouts (and the proper form for each exercise), a calendar, a warm-up guide and a tracking sheet.

You can purchase the full PIIT28 workout plan (version 1.0) for $39 USD, versions 1.0, 2.0 & 3.0 for $79 USD, versions 1.0, 2.0 & 3.0 with the 28 Day Reset meal plan for $99 or versions 1.0, 2.0 & 3.0 with the 38 Day Vegan Reset meal plan for $99 USD.

4 Weeks of Focus

Created by Shay Mitchell, in partnership with Steph Shep and Kelsey Heenan, the First Edit of Shay Mitchell 4 Weeks of Focus introduces a brand new at-home workout program in 2021. Shay Mitchell is a Canadian actress best known for her role in Pretty Little Liars

Like many of us, Mitchell’s fitness level depleted in 2020, and she is working in conjunction with trainer and friend Kelsey Heenan to get back on track with her fitness goals within four weeks! Shay, Steph and Kelsey are offering an unfiltered look into how a workout program is created and seeing how the program is shaping the actress in real-time.

The workouts are meant to be done five days a week with two rest days in the end, and they range from total body strength and high-intensity power to metabolic sweat.

If this program sounds right up your alley, you can take on the 4-week challenge yourself alongside Shay Mitchell and Steph Shep on OpenFit for $57/3 months, $120/12 months (14-day free trial included) or $96/12 months (begin paying immediately).

Unfortunately, it is unrealistic to believe that you will have shredded abs within two weeks or that you will go down two pants sizes within a week. You want to confer with your doctor or a registered dietician while doing these exercises to ensure that you are intaking the correct number of calories, minerals and vitamins when doing these extensive exercises.

We all have our reasons for starting the exercise journey—to avoid disappointment, you want to have clear goals for your body type. One way to make sure your exercise, dietary and sleep needs are in line with each other is to create a fitness journal! 

A fitness journal allows you to look back on where you have started your journey, and where you want to continue. Journaling is a great way to keep your motivation going when it will inevitably wane. These are just a few of the at-home programs that can help to transform you completely into your healthiest, best version of yourself! Take the plunge and find out which one fits best for you.