Working out at home..tips?
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bebeisfit
Posts: 951 Member
I loved my gym. I could walk there, it had great hours and was super clean. Also independently owned, not a chain.
Since covid I haven't been back, even tho they are open.
I did my own thing. Lifted weights a few days a week and used some cardio equipment each visit. Tradmill, elliptical, rower and stair stepper..
Now I'm doing YouTube videos at home. Some are ok. We have dumbells and a bench at home. I find that I don't push myself enough tho.
Oh today I pulled my groin muscle. Grrr any tips for that is also appreciated. I'm icing it and taking it easy today. Should I go for a walk?
Whats your go to at home workout? How do you motivate yourself?
Since covid I haven't been back, even tho they are open.
I did my own thing. Lifted weights a few days a week and used some cardio equipment each visit. Tradmill, elliptical, rower and stair stepper..
Now I'm doing YouTube videos at home. Some are ok. We have dumbells and a bench at home. I find that I don't push myself enough tho.
Oh today I pulled my groin muscle. Grrr any tips for that is also appreciated. I'm icing it and taking it easy today. Should I go for a walk?
Whats your go to at home workout? How do you motivate yourself?
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If I relied on motivation, I’d maybe never exercise. I’m a weak character.
Most of the time, I rely on enjoyment. On water rowing is so fun I’d do it even if it weren’t good for me. Bike rides in nice weather are pretty fun, especially with a friend. I liked my twice a week spin classes at the Y, but I’m not going back to a gym anytime soon.
When actual enjoyment is off the table, four general things seem to work for me:
1. Non-negotiability, for lack of a better term. When gyms closed, and the rowing club was closed, too, I got into a rut of doing too little for my best mood, let alone health. I told myself that I was going to get on the rowing machine 3 days a week for 8k, and on alternate days I was going to strength train and row 6k (one weekly rest day). It was going to be like tooth-brushing: Not a thing I question or even think about, just something I would *do*. There was no admitting the slightest “should I”. That worked surprisingly well.
2. Appealing to the future on-water rowing that I love so much. If I sit around like a lump, I’ll majorly lose strength and cardiovascular capability (because I’m really skilled at being a lump). That will reduce my ability to row, come Spring. So, in Winter, I need to do something, sometimes, however reluctantly, or I won’t be able to row as much or as well as I want to, next season. That will motivate me, to a certain extent. (I usually do the same thing with swimming, in normal years. I hate to swim, with a fiery passion. But I usually talk myself into going to the pool at least a few times a Winter, to practice swimming, so if my boat flips, I won’t either drown, or be a rescue burden on my boat-mates.)
3. Challenges. The Concept 2 rowing machine people run some challenges. The big one every year is the Holiday Challenge (row 200k between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve). I commit myself to that (in any year I’m not injured or something), and that helps me transition from on-water season to Winter. I usually do a few of their other challenges, too . . . the easy ones. 😆 (I said I was a slacker!).
4. Appointment workouts. I'm not using this much in the pandemic, but this is a strategy that works for me. If I have a scheduled thing, I'm more likely to do it, especially if I do it with a friend. If I'm signed up for a class twice a week at 9AM, then I'm going. If I'm meeting a friend to walk on Tuesday afternoons, I'll be reliable. That sort of thing. I could exploit this more within the pandemic frame, but I haven't done so very much yet.
Obviously, we all differ. IMO, a key success factor in all of weight management, nutrition, and fitness is figuring out how to game our own quirky strengths and limitations, to advance our goals in personalized ways. Those are a few things that work for me, but may not work for you.
Other part of your question: What's my home workout? Probably mostly implied by the above. If there's rare nice Winter weather, I might take a walk. We don't have a lot of nice Winter days (Michigan). I have the rowing machine, and will do the Holiday Challenge. After that, I'm usually ready to throw the (bleep) machine out the window into a snowbank, but I expect to use the "non-negotiability" thing to continue rowing, at a lower frequency/volume. I'll make my usual Winter attempt to convince myself I need to do weight training, or core work, or both, in order to be in better rowing shape by Spring. I really, really need to force a stretching/yoga habit into my life again, because I know that if I start doing tiny amounts, it will be seductive and feel great, then I'll do more. Right now, the home workout is 6 days a week X 8K machine rowing (plus a few hundred meters extra for cool down & such), and that's enough.
Good luck figuring out a formula that's customized to work for you!5 -
Great points. Thank you0
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@AnnPT77 is absolutely right; you can't rely on motivation to exercise. It has to be something that you just do. Motivation is an emotion that ebbs and flows and its discipline that keep you going.
Something that I read in "Thinner this Year" that stuck with me is this: put on your workout clothes. Even if you don't plan to work out at that moment, just put on your clothes. Then you're halfway there so why not just do the workout? I've been retired now for 18 months and that's what I do most mornings (if I don't have something else on my agenda). Then at some point I'll wander downstairs and either do some yoga or play with dumb bells.
When I think about it though, I guess I do have motivating factors for some of my exercising. My massage therapist refers to "functional fitness". In other words, being fit enough to do the every day things that you enjoy. So I do strength training because it makes the two activities that I love the most, cross country skiing in the winter and dragon boat paddling in the summer, more enjoyable. And I do yoga because I don't want to be that person who groans and complains everytime they drop something on the floor that needs to be picked up LOL
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@AnnPT77 @ridiculous59 So true. In addition to putting on my workout clothes I do two things. 1) Put in my music - I love to dance so that the music keeps me moving even when doing dishes and laundry. 2) I strategically place little items in my travel path throughout the house. Exercise bands, ab wheel, dumbbells, kettlebell - anything that once I look at it says “pick me up” - even if for 5 minutes! Silly but it works for me. 🤪3
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ridiculous59 wrote: »Something that I read in "Thinner this Year" that stuck with me is this: put on your workout clothes. Even if you don't plan to work out at that moment, just put on your clothes. Then you're halfway there so why not just do the workout?
This really helps me. And for the things I listen to podcasts or music during (like running), I plan what I get to listen to (playlist or podcast) to get excited by that. Or I choose a route that seems interesting, or I tell myself I only have to go for 10 minutes and if I'm hating it I can come home (I am always fine to complete the workout by then).
What I'm also trying to do is remind myself how good I will feel after, which is something I tend to struggle with at times, even if I should know very well.3 -
I try to work out first thing. The longer the day goes on, the more I get distracted. Also I'm a huge fan of my Peloton, which has an app that I can use for non-bike workouts. Anywhere from 5-90 minutes. If I'm not feeling it when I start, I begin with a short workout and then add another and before I know it I've done a full workout. I also agree with lemurcat2, sometimes a podcast, or just go run for 10 minutes and usually once I start I'm fine.2
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I find working out with a friend helps. We do it virtually through messaging apps but knowing I made a date with her at a specific time pretty much implies I will show up.
We follow the same program and push each other. We can also whine and commiserate the next day about DOMS.
I used to work out alone before the pandemic and often my motivation would wane and I would skip weeks. COVID taught me about virtual meetings and so I applied it to my workouts. Having a workout buddy who I could see and talk to was really a game changer for me.2 -
You need to find something that will work in with your day and your life and that you enjoy doing.
I’m a BeachBody on demand subscriber. It is something like $120/ year. I love it. They have all kinds of different programs. The part about that I like is every program has a calendar (1, 3, 4, 8 weeks, etc). So, it is kind of like joining a class. You decide, I’m going to do this program, then follow the calendar. They have a variety of sample workouts that you can try.
If after a few days you don’t like the program you tried, then try something else.
Good luck!2 -
I agree with everyone here. I have to find a combination of things that work for me. Correct motivation is not it DISCIPLINE and CONSISTENCY is at least for me. I have to start slow even for 15 min and that is being a couch potato to some type of movement. I have no excuses well any valid one
. I like the YouTube videos. I have found several I can do even chair exercises will work up a sweat. I like to dance and there are so many cultural dances on YouTube. I found Zumba ,Tai Chi, and some exercises for those very overweight. I have 5lbs weight that I will use. There are several workout schedules I can tailor to myself.:) 1 -
Two tips for getting healthy in the winter (took the pic this afternoon) 😁
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ridiculous59 wrote: »Two tips for getting healthy in the winter (took the pic this afternoon) 😁
Lucky you!! No snow yet here in Chicago.. my snow shoes are ready tho.1 -
ridiculous59 wrote: »Two tips for getting healthy in the winter (took the pic this afternoon) 😁
Lucky you!! No snow yet here in Chicago.. my snow shoes are ready tho.
I love snowshoeing too, especially with our dogs ♥️1 -
I do Zwift, you set up a road bike with a bike trainer and the software. I did a group ride through Paris virtually this morning. It’s challenging and fun. I can only do every other day right now but working up to 2 days on one day off.1
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I took a break over the holidays (after the Concept 2 Holiday Challenge, 200km rowing machine between US Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, which tends to burn me out on machine rowing a bit), and am now striving to meander my way into a new routine for the next part of Winter (this is an annual tradition, for 18+ years, for me).
It has me thinking about something that might be useful in this thread.
Have you heard the term "exercise snacks"? Different people mean slightly different things, but the basic idea is tossing off a set or two of whatever, off and on through the day.
It's still kinda early in my night-owl day, but so far I've done a set of 25 side lunges while waiting for the microwave; 20 side leg lifts (on each side) while running my handholdable electric coffee grinder; a couple of sets of hanging knee raises while waiting for my coffee to drip; some quad stretches shortly after struggling out of bed; some kneeling psoas stretches; some seated diamond inner thigh stretches; ankle, knee and hip mobility exercises; some low back stretches; . . . .
No real workout yet (row a bit pretty soon), so far just those things, intermittently, 2 or 5 minutes at a time, when I thought of it. Probably do some more, as the day goes on. It's an option. Better than nothing. Just a thought.2 -
Recently downloaded an app called FitOn. It’s free. (You can upgrade to pro - but I don’t think I’d ever use any of the pro features)
I’ve done a few of their workouts, I’m impressed with the quality.
You fill in a profile and based on your selections they set a schedule for you.2
