Building Confidence Can Start with a Home Exercise Routine

Not sure a home exercise routine can dish out the same benefits as a gym workout? Think again.

Jennifer Clausius, also known as “Jenny Savage” is a mixed martial artist, who has caught the eye of many on the big stage, including UFC veteran Matt Serra. Those taking notice have been impressed with her work ethic, a portion of which, believe it or not, has been honed at home.

Not long after Clausius gets out of bed to begin her day, she pays attention to her body. From the full body stretches she performs to the food she eats, it’s all about getting herself into peak shape.

“I feel immediate confidence, satisfaction, and relief,” she said. “The earlier I exercise, the more energetic and optimistic I feel throughout the day. Everyday I workout it gets easier and I become more quick witted.”

Clausius has a healthy list of exercises she incorporates into her home exercise routine. Once she gets her body limber after stretching, Clausius goes into a 30 minute jump rope routine.

“I focus on my pace and not how fast I skip or how fancy I look,” she said. “Just one hop at a time.”

After wrapping up that portion of her workout, she goes into her ab and core work that uses her bodyweight. She also incorporates a medicine ball, which she throws against the wall while focusing on her posture, and the use of resistance bands for more strength training.

And that’s just a portion of her home exercise program!

In order to avoid distractions, she uses her rest day, Sunday, to schedule her entire week. It’s a plan that goes beyond just figuring out what body parts to hit during a workout. She also lists her daily affirmations, a workout playlist and her daily meal plan.

If that isn’t enough, Clausius makes sure she sticks to her plan by being held responsible for what she’s committed to paper.

“Planning is everything,” she said. “I put my phone on airplane mode, find my space, turn on my timer and begin my routine. When I am having difficulty focusing, I reach out to an accountability partner and write a post on social media asking that my friends and teammates hold me accountable for skipping or not committing.”

Creative Ways To Workout At Home

• Tape squares on the floor and work on footwork and speed drills
• Using gallon jugs for dumb bells
• Wall sits with arms out
• Holding boards over your head for 30 mins
• Dips on dining room chairs or bed frame
• Elevated pushups
• Mimic the movements of jumping rope without a rope
• Water bottles as small weights
• Yoga
• Practice combinations suggested by your coach
• Fill a trash bag with heavy clothes and practice ground and pound

You can consider Clausius a hybrid athlete. She must maintain the skills needed to either take an opponent to the ground or stand up and fight. For the latter, she’s not afraid to employ string and clothing to get the job done at home.

It’s a boxing workout at home guaranteed to not only torture your muscles, but also ensures you’re getting the quality repetitions you need.

First, she pins a piece of string on one wall and stretches it to another wall on the other side of the room. It’s “center line” work that encourages head movement. She practices uppercuts going backward and straights going forward, while keeping her head off the string.

Clausius also employs an accuracy ball, pinpointing her punches for up to five minutes. To help with her shadow boxing routine, she ties rolled up socks to the ceiling using string. As she shadow boxes, Clausius avoids the swinging socks to encourage head movement. She also incorporates throwing elbows and knees in the process.

When it comes to an effective home exercise routine, it’s all about staying consistent and focusing on your end goal. That goal can be simply to get healthy or, for Clausius, compete at the highest level of mixed martial arts.

“When you continue being consistent with your weekly routines, you don't lose momentum and motivation to train for competition,” she said. “Hunger to improve is a state of mind necessary for competitors to become successful in the individual sport of martial arts. Confidence is to be earned everyday, so is being in shape to compete, which goes hand in hand when it comes to being truly dedicated to your craft.”

This is one story in a series of articles with some of the best home workout programs we hope will keep you motivated and active at home.