How to Start a Home Yoga Practice

Yoga is a great way to relax and unwind while staying active. It is a versatile activity that can be done anywhere, and is great for doing in the comfort of your own home. We’ve laid out some steps to help you get started with your own home yoga practice.

Get Your Gear  

You only need a few things to do yoga at home: a yoga mat, space, and internet access.

1. You can purchase a mat for less than $15 at most retail or fitness stores (i.e. Walmart, Target, Amazon). If you don’t want to invest in a yoga mat right away, you just need something soft to practice on, like a carpet, a rug, or a towel.

2. You’ll need to find a location (inside or outside) where you can roll it out and still have some space around you. You should be able to extend our arms up and out without hitting anything.

3. We recommend you have a laptop or phone with internet so you can follow along to online classes and videos. You can find yoga books, but its easier to learn when you can see another person moving into different poses.

You can get a slick yoga outfit if you want, but its not necessary. All you need are some comfortable clothes that allow you to move freely.

Choose an Instructional Video

If you’re new to yoga, we recommend finding a channel that offers a curated selection for beginners and a review of basic poses, this way you won’t risk hurting yourself or feeling overwhelmed. Yoga for Beginners by Yoga With Adrien is a great place to start.

Look through different YouTube channels, websites, apps, and even live Instagram feeds to find which platform works best for you. Feel free to ask your friends and colleagues for suggestions. Try a couple different videos/teachers for a few days until you find one you like. 

Start Your Practice with Patience

If this is your first time doing yoga, you may feel a little weird. That’s totally normal. If you keep practicing, you will quickly get used to it.

If you can’t do a pose exactly as instructed, that’s also normal. Just stay patient and keep practicing and you’ll get closer over time.

You may find yourself pausing or frequently looking at the teacher to learn each pose. You’re learning! You’ll find yourself doing this less often once you become familiar with the poses and flows.

Set a Goal 

Starting your home yoga practice is easy. Maintaining and building on it is the difficult part, so it may help to set a goal. Your goal can be as simple as practicing three times a week or completing a 30-day challenge. Or you can aim to become comfortable enough with the basics to attend a class at a local yoga studio.

Yoga is a practice meant to be cultivated with time, so stay patient and persistent.

Why a Home Yoga Practice is Great for Anyone

Yoga studios can be intimidating, especially if you’ve never done yoga before. They are not always accessible: they are often expensive, and their schedules may not line up with yours. Home practice allows you to overcome these challenges while still getting the vast benefits that come from yoga. Here’s why everyone should consider a home yoga practice.

It’s for Everyone

There are no age limits in yoga. You don’t need any prior experience and you don’t need to be flexible. Every pose can be modified for your abilities. The best part is that you’re at home, so you can do things at your own pace without worrying about how you look. You can even pause the video to rest when you need it.

It’s Inexpensive

All you need is a yoga mat and internet access. Your mat doesnt' need to be expensive or flashy, and you can even forgo the mat if you have a soft rug, carpe, or a towel. Additionally, you don’t have to pay for a single class. Many yoga teachers upload daily videos on their YouTube channels, such as Yoga With Adriene. Alternatively, some yoga studios host live sessions on Instagram. 

It’s Versatile

Traveling for work? On vacation? Can’t (or don’t want to) leave your house? None of these scenarios pose an issue. You can practice yoga at your house, the beach, a park, or in a hotel room. You can even do it from your bed or at your desk. 

It’s Comfortable

If you’re at home or in a hotel room, no one is going to see you. That means you can wear whatever you want! All you need are comfortable clothes that you can move around in. You can repeat outfits or take this opportunity to expand your athleisure wardrobe. 

It’s Good for You 

Yoga offers both physical and mental benefits. These include increased flexibility, muscle strength, and peace of mind, along with decreased weight, stress, and blood pressure. Who wouldn’t want that?

Need help getting started? Check out our post on How to Start a Home Yoga Practice.

Apps to Make Running (More) Fun

Running can be an amazing way to have decompress. It's a great way to get outside and appreciate the changing on the seasons. It’s a way to challenge yourself to new personal records. Often, it's simply a way to get some time to yourself. But some people might need a bit of extra something to make running enjoyable. There are tons of running apps available for Android and Apple phones, but we’ve gathered a few that help make running (more) fun.

Nike Run Club

One of the very first running apps, Nike Run Club is packed with features that give you more to do on your runs. NRC summaries are a cool way to see your run, showing a heatmap of where you ran hardest. Personal records are shown off in a sleek trophy case.

The killer feature are NRC’s “Guided Runs,” audio commentary from coaches and celebrities that guide and motivate you during a run. The Guided Run library is expansive, and features guides for different run lengths, intensities, and intentions. 

Get Nike Run Club from the Apple App Store

Get Nike Run Club from the Google Play Store

Strava

Originally an app for cyclists, Strava has expanded to running and swimming.

Strava includes standard run logging, but it really shines for its social features. Strava allows runners to map their routes and upload them as “Segments." Runners can then race to beat their Segment records or virtually race on other runners’ Segments.

Strava also has a robust Clubs feature. Join a Club to share activity, compete, and rack up miles together.

Get Strava from the Apple App Store

Get Strava from the Google Play Store

Zombies, Run!

Zombies, Run! is not just a running app, it’s a running game about surviving during the zombie apocalypse.

Put on some headphones and the games audio will assign you the role of a town’s “Runner. As the Runner, you are tasked with running out for critical missions to help your town survive and rebuild. Throughout your runs, you’ll encounter hordes of zombies that you will need to outrun. The game is accessible to runners of all levels, and features fun voice acting and sound effects.

Zombies, Run! includes adventures with different themes, in case apocalyptic scenarios aren’t your thing right now.

Get Zombies, Run! on the Apple App Store

Get Zombies, Run! on the Google Play Store

Pantheon Integration

All of these fun running apps integrate with Apple Health and Google Fit, which means running with one of these apps will automatically create a Run in Pantheon. Try it out.

From the Founder: A Rap Playlist for Running Fast

Running holds a special place in my heart. I was a nerdy kid and in terrible shape most of my life. Late in high school, I decided to change that. The first activity I picked up was running, and it’s been an important force in my life ever since.

I’m also into rap, so over the years, I’ve curated a rap playlist specifically for running hard. Really hard. I’ve been running to this playlist since 2006: it’s been on while I beat personal records, injured myself, recovered, ran away from my problems, or ran into new opportunities.

I hope you run into something great while listening to it.

🤓💪❤️ Erik

p.s. There is a lot of Eminem in this. Sorry.

Spit and Run on Spotify

Spit and Run on Apple Music

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Kettlebell Training Guide: Knowledge & Resources

You have kettlebells and you’re ready to start training. The great thing about kettlebells is that you don’t need to know a ton of different exercises to start.

The first thing you should learn is the kettlebell swing. This is a good base for doing cardio and strengthening your legs. Once you’ve gotten that down, there’s a large and accessible world of knowledge to expand your workouts.

Keith Weber

Keith Weber makes great instructional videos, including some free instructional videos on YouTube for how to get started with basic exercises.

His workout DVDs are also great. Anyone can start with “The Extreme Kettlebell Cardio Workout”  which is a full body workout video. It consists of short routines that you can pick and choose from. As you build your strength and conditioning, you can try doing the full video.

Onnit Academy

Onnit’s knowledge page offers tons of resources for people who want to get start with kettlebells. Their library is always changing, but they have content tailored for strength, conditioning, and muscle growth, so you can pick based on your goals.

Onnit also currently sells a comprehensive 6-week kettlebell training program called Onnit 6 for $50. The program was created by one of their head coaches who works with athletes all over the country.

Onnit is particularly great at creating content that suits both men and women, so if you’re a lady looking for fitness gains, they’re a great company to check out.

Pavel Tsatsouline

Pavel Tsatsouline is a famous strength and conditioning coach and was one of the early proponents of the kettlebell in the U.S.. He has written several books on kettlebell training.

Simple and Sinister outlines a training program consisting of nothing but swings and turkish get-ups. The program is highly structured and highly quantifiable, so you can easily track your progress, which feels nice in the early days of training.

Enter the Kettlebell is a more comprehensive guide to training with kettlebells, covering forms for more exercises and various other training programs. Enter the Kettlebell and Simple and Sinister have a significant amounts of overlapping material, but I’ve read both and have found interesting nuggets of information in each.

Other Equipment: Arm Guards

You’re going to bang up your forearms a little bit when you start, so you might want to consider arm guards. They essentially sweat bands with hard plastic strips inside. You can pick some up on Amazon for $20.

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Kettlebell Buying Guide

Kettlebells are relatively inexpensive, but before you buy your own kettlebells, you may want to borrow one from a friend or try them at a gym. Kettlebells have been cropping up at more big-box gyms, and you can definitely find them at a CrossFit gym. If you can’t find a gym or if you don’t have any friends, kettlebells are inexpensive, small, and can look cool lying around your gym, so it isn’t a huge tragedy if you buy one and it ends up gathering dust.

What to Look for in a Kettlebell

You’re probably not going to find great kettlebells at your local sporting goods store, but there are tons of great options online. At the end of the day, you’re looking for a metal ball with a handle so it’s hard to go wrong, but there are two key traits you’re looking for:

• Thick handles

• Metal handles. No plastic or rubber coating. That will tear the skin on your hands. 

The perfect balance between quality and cost come from Rogue and Onnit. Their kettlebells cost about $2 per pound, including shipping. Both of these manufacturers have solid reviews all around, and I recommend either (I have a slight preference for Rogue because of the handle size).

If you live near where one of these companies is headquartered (Onnit is in Austin, Rogue is in Columbus), you can save on shipping, cutting the costs of your training equipment nearly in half. 

Starting Kettlebell Weights

You really only need one kettlebell to start. But if you want more variety, you can get two kettlebells: a lighter kettlebell for pressing and a heavier kettlebell for swinging. If you only get one, get the heavy one for swings.

Your starting weight should meet two criteria: 1. You can safely perform a kettlebell swing and an overhead press. 2. Completing a few repetitions is not easy. It should feel challenging but safe. 

Standard kettlebells come in a few weight intervals, generally in 8kg increments:

•  8kg or 18 lb.

• 16kg or 35lb.

• 24 kg or 53 lb.

• 32 kg or 72lb.

Men can stick to 8kg increments. Women may need to go up in 4kg increments.

Most men should be able to start with 24kg (53 lb) for swings and 16 kg (35 lb) for overhead press. However, if you are like me and you work a desk job and have never been an athlete, you might have to start lower. My first kettlebell weighed 25 lb., and it kicked my ass. 

Women should be able to start with  16 kg (35 lb) for swings and 8 kg (18 lb) or 12 kg (26 lb) for overhead press.

Finding a starting weight for kettlebells is a great way to develop some inner peace around exercise: the weight doesn’t need to be perfect. Workouts don’t actually need to come in sets of 10 and you can get stronger by doing a single repetition of something heavy. If 16kg. is too heavy for you to complete 10 reps of overhead presses, do 3. Next time, you might be able to do 5. Get out and do the work, and you’ll catch up to the weight. Once you’re ready to start training, check out our knowledge and resource guide.

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Why Kettlebells are Perfect for Busy Professionals

If you’re a busy professional you might struggle to find time for the right training regimen.

A meeting runs long, and now you only have a few minutes to exercise. Or maybe you simply want to train as efficiently as possible. Or you’re looking for a home-workout to save you time. 

In any case, you should seriously consider training with kettlebells. Kettlebells are great for many reasons, but one benefit is the efficiency they bring to all aspects of training. 

Training with kettlebells can be quick and highly effective:

• Almost all kettlebell exercises consist of “compound movements,” so a few exercises replace many.

• You can use kettlebells to train your whole body, or use them like regular dumbbells and isolate specific body parts.

• High frequency workouts provide cardio and strength work. 15 minutes with a kettlebell can leave you sweaty and tapped out.

More efficient training means you have more opportunities to train, which means you’re more likely to hit whatever fitness goals you have set for yourself.

If you want an idea about what this looks like, here’s a video from kettlebell pro Keith Weber showing how much work you can do in 5 minutes:

Kettlebells themselves are small and inexpensive. You don’t need an entire rack of weights or one of those total-gym machines: one or two kettlebells is enough. These are especially great for home workouts if you live in a small apartment: you just need enough space to spread your arms in all directions, so you can workout in your living room, your backyard, or even an empty hallway (I’ve done it).

Kettlebells are cheap, about $2/pound, including shipping. If you’re like most people, you won’t need a lot of pounds.

Finally, with kettlebells, you don't have to think so much about what you’re doing. You don’t need to calculate 90% of your one-rep-max or remember the proper progression between poses. Instead, training sessions become a function of proper form, reps, and time.  

Whether you’re looking to streamline your exercise routine or find a backup plan for busy days, kettlebells are a great tool to consider. You can try kettlebells at a gym if you’re not ready to commit, but if you are, check out our kettlebell buying guide.

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