No gym required: 5 home workout tips to get your sweat on

While joining a gym might seem like a great first step on the road to a healthier lifestyle, gym memberships aren't essential for those wanting to improve their fitness level.

Thanks to a plethora of fitness apps, streaming videos, and online communities available, working out at home has become more popular than ever. Home workouts provide more convenient, affordable and accessible means for establishing a consistent exercise routine.

Here are five tips for getting a great workout without ever having to step into a gym:

1. Listen to music: According to the National Center for Health Research, listening to music while exercising may actually provide that extra oomph that enables you to exercise longer. How? The music is thought to create competition for the brain's attention. It's easier to ignore fatigue when you're distracted by songs you love.

2. Incorporate strength training: Having healthy, strong muscles is not just important for physical appearance. Muscles burn calories around the clock, even during sleep, at a greater rate than any other body tissue. That's why it's so important to maintain muscle mass later in life -- to keep the body's fat-burning engine revved up.

Strength training doesn't require access to barbells and weights. In reality, bodyweight exercises are highly effective and can be done anywhere, a hundred times. Using the body's own weight and the power of gravity builds muscle, burns fat, and provides a great workout. Bodyweight exercises include things like squats, lunges, pushups and planks.

3. Perform a dynamic warmup: Dynamic bodyweight moves that mimic the workout you're about to perform have been shown to increase blood flow and improve range of motion without compromising muscle and tendon elasticity. This makes these moves far more beneficial than standard "bend and hold" stretching. For example, prepare for a run by spending ten minutes beforehand doing lunges, leg swings and knee raises.

4. Interval training: Whether running, biking, walking, swimming or using the elliptical, interval training can take a workout to the next level, burning more calories in less time. The Mayo Clinic describes interval training as simply alternating short bursts (approximately 30 seconds) of intense activity with longer intervals (three to four minutes) of less-intense activity. One example would be incorporating short bursts of jogging into regular brisk walks.

5. Use the buddy system: Having a workout partner can go a long way toward keeping health and fitness goals on track. You're less likely to skip a workout if someone else is counting on you. You'll also be more prone to complete an entire exercise session if a friend is there to provide encouragement.

People often have routines established to maintain their teeth, vision checks and hair appointments. Most follow regular preventive maintenance schedules for cars, lawn mowers and other items. Wellness is about paying the same kind of attention to the most important asset — your own body!