Need ideas for a workout plan

malavika413

Hi fellas! I'm a college sophomore that's been back at school for the last few weeks. I think I've gotten the hang of staying within calorie limits while eating dining hall food. Which is great, I'm happy. However, I'm still out of shape and unhappy about it. Now that my schedule is set--I have 17 credit hours, a part time job, and several clubs and charity work--I have found I have enough time to work out 4-5 times a week. However...what do I do?

A bit of info. I can't work out in my dorm room beyond a little yoga (very confined space). I do have access to a small gym in my all-female dorm, which has an elliptical, a stationary bike, a treadmill, and a few dumbbells. I have no idea what to do with any of these. Like, nothing at all.

I do have access to a larger, more complete gym with classes and stuff. But that's co-ed and the thought of working out near men makes me physically ill.

So, basically, what I'm asking for is a bit of advice regarding how to set up a workout plan, what duration I should work out for, what exercises I should do, and how the heck to make sense out of strength training (the thought of picking up a dumbbell scares me to death, especially since the small gym is never empty.)

Whew, that was a lot, thanks!

VeggieMandy

Have you heard of Blogilates? Cassie is amazing, and I think that will offer a variety of exercise.

365andstillalive

If your main gym has Zumba, definitely check that out; it's a class that almost never has men because it's dance based. It's a lot of fun, and you get a great calorie burn.

Based on what you'e got in the small gym, I'd recommend walking/running, but instead of the treadmill, do it outside. If you can find trails, even better. I find the treadmill really boring.

There's lots of workouts that you can do in a pretty cramped door room, youtube phrases like "dorm room workouts" or "hotel room workouts" and you'll find a bunch of body weight exercises you can do.

Honestly, anything you do to get up and get moving is going to benefit you. Try the bike, try the elliptical, run intervals on the treadmill, whatever and then see what you like.

You can also just copy down the exercises from workouts like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAGfBjvIRFI Then do them in the gym with the free weights. It's not that intimidating once you have a routine. Or the next time you're in there and you see someone doing some basic moves, ask them if they could show you!

Cherimoose

Read the 3rd post in this forum, "I am the woman in the freeweights section of the gym" (part 1).

suzi_belle

With the equipment in your dorm gym, a few weights and your own body, think you have everything you need. I'm a big fan of circuits, and I use an app called "Seconds Pro" to make up my circuit routine. I tend to go for an all-body experience with cardio mixed in. Today's routine might look like this:

10 minute warm up on elliptical followed by exercises below:


Circuit
plank for (45) seconds
squats (60) seconds
push ups (30) seconds
cardio (3) minutes
wall stand (30) seconds
tricep dips (30) seconds
side plank right (30) seconds
side plank left (30) seconds
cardio (3) minutes

That circuit runs nearly 10 1/2 minutes. I might repeat it 5-6 times, but you tailor it to how much time you have. If you only have 30 minutes, do it three times over. I programme that circuit into Seconds Pro, adding my iPad music underneath, a long beep to tell me when to change, and using only 10 seconds between exercises to get from one machine to another. Obviously, adjust the time to challenge your own fitness needs.