8 Safety Tips For Exercising Alone At Home

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Safety should be a top priority when it comes to exercise. I’ve seen a handful of people take their safety lightly and find themselves in near-death experiences as a consequence.

So how can you make exercising alone in a home gym safe?

Proper nutrition and hydration before, during, and after exercise
Tell a friend or family member when you’ve started and finished a workout
Have safety equipment
Warm-up and cool-down stretches
Choose safer exercises
Gradually increase weight, reps, time
Hone technique
Listen to your body

I, or my friends, have experienced situations where these safety tips have been critical. Let me explain further.

Table of Contents

#1. Proper nutrition and hydration before, during, and after exercise

Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced athlete, don’t take nutrition and hydration lightly. On several occasions, I’ve witnessed athletes whose faces turn pale while their bodies shut down from the lack of food and hydration during intense exercise. It’s a scary situation to be in and witness. And if you’re exercising alone, that’s even scarier.

So what can you do to take care of your body and avoid these mishaps? Although this guide isn’t a one-size-fits-all for all body types, levels of athleticism, and training focus, it’s a good step forward. Play around with it and figure out what works best for you.

	What To Eat	What To Avoid	Sample Meals
Before Exercise	✓ Fast digesting carbs and protein	✗ Fats that help slow digestion ✗ Anything that upsets your stomach	– Protein bar – Chicken sandwich
During Exercise	✓ Fast digesting carbs	✗ Fats that help slow digestion ✗ Anything that upsets your stomach	– Candy
After Exercise	✓ More variety (protein, carbs, fat, veggies)		– Protein shake – Beef and veggies with rice

As for hydration, always hydrate!!! I bring a large water bottle around with me at all times, and it encourages me to make drinking water a habit.

#2. Tell a friend or family member when you’ve started and finished a workout

I’m much of a loner when it comes to gym-time, paddling, biking. I enjoy me-time, and it’s not practical to expect someone else to show up every time.

But I have set up a system where a friend or family member is aware when I’m doing something by myself. This way, someone is checking in on me if anything has gone wrong.

#3. Have safety equipment

The safety equipment that you need depends on the training you’ve chosen.

Type of Training	Safety Equipment
All Training	– Wearable medical help device for direct contact to emergency personnel
Barbell Training	– Safety pins, arms, or straps to be your spotter for the lifts that you miss – Collars on the barbell to avoid weights slipping off the bar

Beyond having specific equipment for safety, make sure you do a quick inspection of the equipment you’re using for cracks.

#4. Warm-up and cool-down stretches

Warm-up and cool-down is actually a pretty controversial topic. There are those who swear by it and others who bump it. You can decide for yourself if there’s value.

	Warm-Up	Cool-Down
Type	Dynamic stretch to increase blood flow	Static stretch when muscles are warm and pliable
Purpose	– Increase blood flow to your muscles – Increase functional mobility in joints	– Gradual recovery to regulate blood flow
Example	– Upper Body: Arm circles – Lower Body: Side lunges	– Upper Body: Arm crossover – Lower Body: Pigeon pose

If you would like to start stretching, check out this guide to stretching.

#5. Choose safer exercises

Your selection of exercises ought to be driven by safety, not preference. I prefer learning Olympic lifts like clean and jerk and snatch, but I will not throw weights above my head at home by myself. That doesn’t mean you can’t exercise the same muscles; there are plenty of alternatives that can build the muscles that you’re looking to target.

It’s never a good idea to try extremely challenging exercises for the first time when you’re alone. Take baby steps towards your goals.

If you want to start lifting, check out this guide to lifting.

#6. Gradually increase weight, reps, time

So you’ve chosen your exercises, and whether they’re new or familiar, make sure you allow your body to acclimate to the movements. It’s super common to injure yourself from being too aggressive with new exercises or making large increments in weight, reps, or time.

Have a plan or program for your workouts heading into each session. Account for a gradual increase in weight, reps, and time in your training plan. Also, allow yourself to have off days; it happens to the best of us.

#7. Hone technique

Don’t train to failure if your form has already broken down. The second your form breaks down, you’re no longer working towards your goal. Instead, you’re putting yourself at the risk of injury. So scale back and work on your technique with lighter weights. I know – your ego tells you that you’re invincible. I used to think that until I injured myself before my first powerlifting meet. The injury was so bad that I had to pull out of the meet. It was so upsetting. But this step-back forced me to recalibrate and focus on technique. It wasn’t until after the injury that my form started cleaning up, and I slowly worked up to a meet the following year. Why do we have to learn our lessons the hard way?

So what are some steps you can take to improve form?

Be a student! I can’t stress this enough. Don’t rely on information to be given to you, and try to learn as much as you can (online or in-person).
- HST provides lots of resources to get started in strength, endurance, flexibility training. Look around.
- There’s so much beyond what any one person knows about fitness. Learn from many out there.
Record yourself from different angles and review the video. You can rewatch the clips in slow motion to pick out areas that need improvement.
Work on an improvement each day. It’s the only way to get better.

#8. Listen to your body

Listening to your body is essential to improvement and longevity. If you want to improve, it requires serious self-awareness and a desire to learn how to move your body. As for longevity in fitness, these are two situations where our body might be giving us a sign of danger.

Don’t avoid these signs of danger.

Pain is sharp and intense, persisting for a long period of time. Don’t confuse pain for soreness. Soreness will feel fatigued and last only a few days. If you feel pain, check out a local sports physical therapist.
Overtraining can be spotted when you sense an inability to train at a recently manageable level. Constant overtraining can increase the risk of injury. Make sure you’re incorporating active or passive recovery and deload into your training.