When you exercise you want to be sure to get the best results possible in the shortest period of time. Unfortunately many people handicap themselves unknowingly by making common mistakes that hinder their progress. The good news is that these mistakes can be fixed very easily and they can be avoided altogether if you know what they are. So here are the top 3 home fitness workouts mistakes:

1. Probably one of the worst mistakes made by home exercisers is the use of bad posture while working out. A lot of people are used to slumping and slouching in daily life and they carry that over into their workouts too. That kind of bad posture is not good for you at any time but especially not when you are working your muscles harder than normal. It's easy for painful injuries to develop as a result of bad posture so let's review what good posture is instead. Basically imagine a string tied to the top of your head and pulling your whole body straight underneath. You want to keep your spine straight with shoulders slightly back and head held high. Keep reminding yourself before every workout of the need to keep good posture and soon it will become a healthy habit.

2. The second common mistake made in home fitness workouts is to exercise without shoes or in slippers. This is a definite no-no. Your feet need support and if you don't give it to them when you are engaged in heavy physical activity they will rebel sooner or later. Different types of workouts require different kinds of shoes for support, but for overall exercisers a cross-training shoe can be a good choice. Going barefoot may feel comfortable to you initially and because you are at home you may think it's OK, but if you are really serious about your fitness you won't succumb to that temptation. Remember that your feet have to absorb most of the shock made by impact exercising, so protect them well and they will protect you in return.

3. Another mistake is made when exercisers give themselves too much credit for the workouts they do. Many get in to a total rut when exercising and never really push themselves to the point that their body revs up the metabolism and starts burning fat. It a great idea to have a heart monitor to use as you workout and keep track of your actual progress. But another common way to tell if you are working enough is to analyze how easy it is for you to speak while exercising. If you can carry on a conversation easily you just simply aren't working hard enough. If you have to pause for breath after each sentence, you are in the ballpark of where you should be most of the time. And if you have to catch a breath after each word you are your highest level of activity and should not maintain that rate for very long. You never want to reach the point where you can't speak at all while exercising.

Home fitness workouts are great for helping keep you in shape while not stealing away too much valuable time from your busy schedule. But make sure that you avoid the three common mistakes mentioned above if you want your workouts to really be productive.