The home is a place where you can escape the madness of the world outside and relax in the sanctuary of your own walled-in space on this planet. It is a place of privacy and comfort, where you can wind down after a hard day at the office with a cool drink and a bite to eat while resting your weary bones in your favourite chair in front of the television set. The only problem with this view of the home is that it is liable to make you overweight, lethargic and lacking in energy and get up and go.

The simple solution is to ditch the TV and the snack and instead, spend an hour or so working out with your preferred exercises. You can do this indoors if you wish, although getting out into the daylight and fresh air is far better as long as you don't live in a polluted city where you are likely to be mugged in the street! If you must exercise indoors, then there are a number of ways of getting that heart pumping and those lungs sucking in volumes of air, while you happily perspire your way to a most welcome shower at the end of it all.

You might like to work out with your own home gymnasium if you have one, or use what props you have such as a skipping rope, some barbells and an exercise mat. Or you could get some usefulness out of that mind-sucking television set and put on a Zumba fitness DVD so that you can dance your way to a new, slim, physically fit body. Or put on a Pilates or other workout DVD hosted by a fading celebrity or your favourite manic TV fitness guru of the moment.

The possibilities are pretty varied and interesting once you get yourself into the right frame of mind. You need to want to swap a relaxing evening of brain cell murdering TV soaps and endless IQ lowering game shows interspersed by brainwashing advertisements designed to make you want a whole load of junk that you actually don't really want or need, for some real physical activity. That is activity which will improve your circulation, boost your energy levels and blow out the proverbial cobwebs from your slowly atrophying muscles.

Making the first move is usually the toughest and takes some measure of determination and forcefulness on your part. But once you are up out of that chair and heading for the drawer where you keep your training shorts and vest, you can keep going all the way to the exercise mat and get started on something that you will be surprised to learn that you actually enjoy!