At Home Exercise Programs and Equipment Suggestions

Sunshine_Girlie

Recently, I read in the forums where certain exercise programs were not recommended for certain people. I've asked for their reasoning, but I haven't received any responses. Real responses. So, I'm going to ask all of you. I'm vertically challenged and overweight. I am in the process of losing weight and wanting to lose more, but I want something to spice it up. What would you recommend to me and why? Also, which programs do you think I should avoid? I love details, so please don't forget them.

For example, would you suggest that I stay away from P90x and Insanity and just stick with 30 Day Shred? Why? What kind of in-home equipment should I have? An exercise ball? You get the idea.

Arizona_JR

I can tell you P90x is not for beginners. You'll need to be able to do a number of pushups and pullups before you can even do the 1st workout. I can't tell you about the others since I haven't seen them.


equipment that will have limitless uses, not just for p90x:
yoga or foam mat
TRX
resistance bands
jump rope
pull-up bar (hooks in doorway)
chairs for dips
digital stop watch (look in cooking dept at walmart/ target
a few sets of dumbbells (5s, 8s, 10s)
balance ball

if I think of more I'll add.

meryllb

i love my elliptical, i put it right in front of my t.v. and hop on it for a few minutes (5 - 30) at a time whenever i get the chance - during commercials, while i am waiting for something to cook, waiting my turn in the morning to use the bathroom, while doing laundry... you get the idea. when you log all those minutes on mfp, it adds up to hours in a day! i would also invest in hand weights and some fun dvds, like the carmen electra ones or the envy girls. the carmen electra ones are my fave (and the boyfriend's!)

HeidiSBond

Try Leslie Sansone walking workouts...she has a 5 mile one that takes around an hour...crazy burns on that. It's cheap, no brainer, a little cheezy and super easy. If you have exercise TV on demand, she usually has a few to try on there.

slim_photographer

I would recommend you a Heart Rate Monitor because for us, heavy people, our bodies already provide a lot of resistance to move in any direction really. I found out with a HRM that chasing a soccer ball literally walking most of the time provide me with a nice workout. Because my heart was working fast enough to burn extra calories. If you take 15 minutes to clean the bathroom or your car while having a HRM you will find out just how much of workouts this trivial tasks really are and it may motivate you to do more of those on a daily basis. Keeping it simple may be the key to consistency as we may procrastinate on workouts that require a lot of stuff.

carmenstop1

I love Jillian Micheals DVD's and I think I have almost every one of them. I really like the 30 day Shred, Ripped in 30 as well as the Shred it with weights! I live 40 minutes from the nearest town so going to the gym is kinda out of the question for me on a regular basis, and I love that her workouts dont need much equiptment, just dumbells or kettlebells. I also like that they have several levels on each one and they only take about 30 minutes. I have done crossfit and I find Jillian kicks my *kitten* almost as much as my crossfit trainer! I also like to go run outside. I drove my route so I know how far I am going so I just use the timer on my ipod so I know if my time is improving. I also love my exercise ball for doing sit ups, and arm presses on.

These are a few of my favorite things. I hope it helped, good luck and remember as long as you are moving and you enjoy what you are doing, you are doing great!!!

Sunshine_Girlie

I can tell you P90x is not for beginners. You'll need to be able to do a number of pushups and pullups before you can even do the 1st workout. I can't tell you about the others since I haven't seen them.


equipment that will have limitless uses, not just for p90x:
yoga or foam mat
TRX
resistance bands
jump rope
pull-up bar (hooks in doorway)
chairs for dips
digital stop watch (look in cooking dept at walmart/ target
a few sets of dumbbells (5s, 8s, 10s)
balance ball

if I think of more I'll add.

Thank you! I had an old friend give me his copy of p90x and I've tried some of it, but it's a toughie. I have a lot to catch on to. I have everything but the balance ball and numerous dumbbells.

Sunshine_Girlie

I would recommend you a Heart Rate Monitor because for us, heavy people, our bodies already provide a lot of resistance to move in any direction really. I found out with a HRM that chasing a soccer ball literally walking most of the time provide me with a nice workout. Because my heart was working fast enough to burn extra calories. If you take 15 minutes to clean the bathroom or your car while having a HRM you will find out just how much of workouts this trivial tasks really are and it may motivate you to do more of those on a daily basis. Keeping it simple may be the key to consistency as we may procrastinate on workouts that require a lot of stuff.

I actually just purchased one the other day. Just waiting for it to get here.

nosey_rosey

I am doing Turbofire and I love it!!! I think that it doesn't matter how tall or big you are that anything(almost =p) can be modified to fit what your body is able to do! I know girls that are very heavy and can rock Turbofire!! I do my best and sweat my butt off.... I have lost a good amount of weight from working as hard as I can as much as I can. With Turbofire all you need is water and a towel they also have a couple sculpting videos that use resistance bands. Put your mind to it and you can do it whatever workout you decide on! I also love Zumba and EA Active 2. They are my supplement workouts on short Turbo days

BigBoneSista

When I was at my heaviest I enjoyed the Hip Hop Ab series. It really kept me moving and shedding the pounds without putting a lot of strain on me.

bluegirl10

I have P90X and Turbo Fire (love Turbo Fire), but they aren't good for beginners... However, WATP (Leslie Sansone) dvds are low impact and good for beginners. If you go to www.collagevideo.com you will find a wide varitey of dvds made for beginners to advanced.

TrainingWithTonya

There are no limitations on what exercises you can do because of height or weight. Limitations come because of fitness level, disease status, or injury. So, if you are not injured and are in generally good health other then the extra weight, I would base what I recommend solely on your fitness level. P90X is definitely for advanced exercisers. Jillians stuff is more intermediate because you have to know proper form so you don't hurt yourself following her poor form. If you listen to her directions for squats and such and don't follow what she is actually doing, though, thats fine. She talks about proper form, but apparently didn't have a mirror on set to see that she wasn't actually doing it. Chalene Johnson has some great programs in the Turbo stuff. I'd recommend starting out with Turbo Jam and building up to Turbo Fire. I also like Shaun T, but again, I'd start with his Hip Hop Abs and build up to more advanced stuff like Insanity. For any of these, you can do them with just the basics of a set of dumbbells and a mat and some won't even need that. When shopping for exercise videos, I highly recommend looking at www.collagevideo.com because they have sample videos up that you can look at before you buy. Even if you don't buy from them, they are a great resource for personal knowledge of the workout before you choose what you want to do.

funfitfoodie

I'd say something like 30DS or Davina McCalls workouts are a good place to start. You need to work on you fitness levels before you should tackle something like P90X or Insanity.

As for equipment to begin with I recommend:
MUST HAVE: yoga mat
jump rope
resistance bands
ankle/wrist weights
dumbbells

If you progress to something like P90X the equipment needed is listed on Wikipedia.