Can you please offer advice --- how to start mixing cardio and weights at home. THANK YOU!

chesves

I started my journey on mfp at the beginning of the year, and have lost 19 pounds (woohoo!). I've been consistently walking to exercise several days a week (mostly daily), and have started doing some sets of pushups and planks to try to tone more. I was recently reading a forum topic about women my height showing success pics, and was amazed at the difference in those that add weight training v/s those that don't. I'd like to incorporate some, but have NO IDEA where to start. I also would like to increase my cardio!

Can you advise what I should do .... to make it trickier, I need to be able to do this at home ... I have some DVDs that I know will provide the cardio .... I'm looking for advice in particular about the weight/toning part. I have some hand weights, and that's about it. Can you guide me on certain reps I could do through out the day (such as the pushups,planks), etc. that would help me to get results. I have no idea how many I should do in a set and how many sets a day and when to do this versus the cardio, etc.

Hope this babbling makes sense. I appreciate your input!

P.S. I have 30 Day Shred that would probably do both, but I'm not quite "there" yet-- I wish I was, hard to say I'm not, but I need to start somewhere!

Pelamblue

Because your at home, it's an ideal opportunity to do body weight exercises in a circuit. This will increase your heart rate, therfore burning calories and increase muscle tone.
Try this..... 30 seconds of each exercise.. Dips, ( use a chair to rest your hands on, legs out in front then lower to a 90 degree bend in the arm and then raise) followed by press ups ( on your knees if it helps) followed by a simple squat ( as low as you can go in a slow and controlled manner), followed by sit ups.
Have a minutes rest then go again for 4 rounds.
You can alter the time you exercise for, as thirty seconds could be to much or too little depending on your fitness level.
Count how many reps you do and see if you can beat it next set.
There are loads of body weight exercises you do. It's all about picking the best ones for you.
Good luck and I hope this helps, and don't hesitate to ask for any advice

alex_turco

With body weight exercises you can control the difficulty by changing position-- for example decline push-ups are a way to modify a regular push-up, an so on. Adding a jump of some kind adds a lot of difficulty too. Star squats (squat, then explode out and make a 'star' with your arms and legs) are fun too.

Pull-up will do a great deal for your upper body, and you can get a door frame bar pretty cheaply at Walmart. If you can't do a full pull-up start with negatives (jump up then lower yourself down).

giusa

Since you own dumbbells a great beginner at home program is ChaLEAN Extreme.

Don't be afraid try the 30 Day Shred! You might surprise yourself!

Also, here's the best advice I've received in the years I've been on MFP -http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach/p1

chesves

Thank you for your replies! I really do appreciate them!