Working out at Home Help Please!!

cbaughman07

I need some help with my exercises. I don't have time to get to a gym as of right now and would like to work out at home instead. I am 291 lbs. and want to lose weight and get tone. I live in an upstairs apartment in an old house that is not really suitable for jumping and things. The windows creek and move just from walking into the rooms and I don't want to make a lot of noise either for people downstairs. I do have a ball if that helps but need some ideas on what type of exercises I can do. I tried to get a pullup bar for the doorway but even when a 150 lb. man uses it ( tried it once as the bar is very new) the doorway was creaking and the trip was moving lol. any suggestions would be great. I thought of yoga or something but am not sure if someone my size can do it as Ive never tried it. I have tried to jog but I have a very hard time running or jogging right now but will consider it.

p.s i was thinking of trying p90x, any thoughts?

NewTeena

I have a similar home situation so I bought an exercise bike. I also do some simple stretching exercises and I've changed from driving to walking when I can.

wells0707

There is a program called slim in 6. I completed it once and the jumping is very limited. If I remember correctly there are a few jumping jacks, but thats about it.

ahager88

Do you have a TV or laptop? I would try a few exercise DVD's. I would recommend Jillian Michaels' 30 day shred or Zumba. In order to burn some calories, you'll have to do a little jumping around. I would also start taking a 30 minute walk everyday, that is a great way to start losing weight. I would purchase a few handweights as well. Add me! We can support each other.

cbaughman07

thanks Ill look into the slim in 6 I do have both laptop and dvd - tv with the walking i think that might help my legs get stronger so i can run, and i LOVE to use a bike just not sure or any that work well that are cheaper (im on a somewhat tight budget)

DonnaRe2012

Leslie Sansone's walk away the pounds is a great low impact walking workout. I love it because I have bad knees and can't do alot of jumping around.

littlebean24

P90X is really tough from what I hear, but if you stick with it you should see results.. I use the Bar Method dvds. Its low impact and a great work out, but you will need to do something else for come cardio.

jz67

Sounds like an elliptical trainer fits your needs. Costco has a great offering that is very quiet and an exceptional machine for the money. The brand is Freemotion and it is made by the same company that builds NordicTrac. Easy on the body and an exceptional workout for a reasonable price. Good luck!

fionat29

P90X would be ok for the weight lifting bits, but it also involves plyometric training which is mega high impact and Kempo X which is a bit of punching and kicking. My husband complains when I do the plyo because we live in a mobile home and the whole place shakes. Lol!! Could you not start off just walking? I often take an hours walk just to burn the calories and you can go as fast or slow as you like.

leanmachinedream

My favorite exercises to do at home are pop pilates. Look up "blogilates" on youtube. Cassi Ho is an amazing person!

staceyrec

Jackie Warner's Power Circuit Training has almost no jumping except for a bit in the warm up - less than 3 minutes total though. Its not a very good cardio workout . I add cardio by skipping in the parking lot of my building sometimes, its a great workout. As a heads up, my downstairs neighbors complained a lot about Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred.

Ashlea_M

I'm in the same situation- I work at home and I live in a second storey apartment in an old building. I have an exercise bike, zumba on dvd, some other dvd workout programs, some free weights and a bar weighing 5kg.

Ashlea_M

I'm in the same situation- I work at home and I live in a second storey apartment in an old building. I have an exercise bike, zumba on dvd, some other dvd workout programs, some free weights and a bar weighing 5kg.

workout* at home oops

TheYankeeBelle

I am a big fan of P90X, but for the warm-ups there is good bit of running in place and jumping jacks. If you have the space, it's great for lunges. (not sure what climate you live in, but you could do the warm-up outside, then come back inside) I just bought some of those thick, foam "puzzle piece" looking mats that you see at gyms, but I got mine from Walmart for $18. Really helps with the downstairs noise.

Also, fitness mags put their at home work-out moves on their websites so you don't need to be a subscriber!

A tool that is much better for women than the pull-up bar is a good band around a door frame or bed post. Way cheaper and no damage to the structure. (you can use the bands for P90X instead of weights and pull-up bars)

You didn't mention if you have a heart rate monitor or not....if not, I strongly recommend getting one. Aside from this site, it's the #1 tool that has helped me shed 38 lbs.

Good luck and keep us posted!

natnatwilliams

Hi cbaughman,

Some of the best exercise you can do is simply going for a walk.
If you make sure you keep your pace up and your heart rate is elevated and you walk for at least 30mins then you've acheived your calories burnt goal for the day.
No equipment necessary!
I'm a really big fan or audio books and i've found that i'll go for a walk just so i can listen to the next part of the story!

Also, I've been googling yoga for beginners and there's heaps of youtube videos and sites with instructional videos available. I've not done yoga before this January, but they're pretty good at explaining how each pose should feel and i've started feeling really good and a little bit flexible (just not as flexible as the pretzel people who are leading the instructional video).
You could probably google pilates ball exercises too and there'll be heaps there! They're meant to be really good for your core.

If you get some dumbells then you can do weights without having to move around too much as well.
My last house was a creaker and i hated how everything rattled everytime i moved!

I hope this helped. Good luck!

angel_north

Stretching can be a key part of your exercise regiment and you can burn off calories and be nice to the people below you. Just remember never place your hands behind your neck if you are doing crunches, I was shown cross arms across your chest. Also as you can fit it into your budget there are hand and ankle weights as well as 1 pound- what ever wieght you need most call them dumb bells. Sears from time to time runs goods sales on their weights but they go really fast..

adf4

I also agree that Leslie Sansone Walk at Home or Walk away the pounds is a great way to go! I lost 30 lbs by doing this along w/ eating right! It wouldn't be an expensive start-up either! Best wishes to you!

Poohsta0

Try the 30 Day Shred and look into Nerd Fitness online. Nerd gives you a basic circuit workout using body resistance only.

angel_north

Nerd Fitness seems great for me since I am in front of a screen 10hrs a day. Thanks!

cbaughman07

thank you everyone for your posts. Just to answer some thoughts - I live in WI so it is FREEZING lol and I don't have a heart monitor. Normally I just check it myself, one of the problems that I have is it is hard for me to get my heart rate to go up. I know a lot of overweight people that can simply walk up steps or run in place or even just walk to get their rate up but I can't. I have always controlled my breathing VERY well naturally so it is hard to get it up there for the 30 min to hour I should have. The workout bands sound like just the ticket with some dumbbells for toning. During the summer months I do tend to walk a lot, one of the reasons I lost so much last summer. I walked everyday for up to an hour and half, i walked between 1 mile and 2 miles day then. My biggest problem with that now is that everything is frozen and icy and i am a clumsy lol thanks again for your help ill be looking into your options

asherby85

I just ordered Leslie Sansone: Walk at Home - 5 Mile Fat Burning Walk

It's a DVD where you walk in place, do knee and leg lefts. If you look it up you can find sample videos of her DVD's

angel_north

Lady I know cold also I am in Alaska and we just broke a 3 week -20 to -30 degree cold spell. One thing you don't want is cold joints and muscles.... As far as your heart rate start slow and build up your minutes. Try 1-3x's a day to build up to longer times. Maybe that might help. Worth a try??

ccchick

If you like to walk, but can't due to the weather, check out the local mall. Most open their doors early in the morning (before the stores open) and stay open until 9pm. Its a great place to walk especially if you have knee problems and you will never miss out on any sales!

porffor

Do you have the space for a x-trainer or even tredmill at home? I don't personally where I am now but borrowed one years ago when I had the space and it really worked to have it by the TV. I had set programmes I'd exercise through and it really worked as I didn't concentrate on what I was doing but what was on the TV! lol Sounds like you enjoy walking so maybe thats the way to go?

Good luck finding something.. I'm off to google Nerd Fitness now! lol

Angel1066

I walk a lot which is great cardio and will help to you to strart running. You can then move onto the c25k which is a running programme.
Good luck

chaitrex

I agree with LeanMachineDream, Pop Pilates is actually really fun. It's low impact, but it's also really hard.
Another good low impact, quiet exercise to do at home is yoga. Also, once you have the mat, ANY exercise you do on it is going to be more quiet for your neighbors. I live on the top floor of an old apartment building, so it's a concern of mine too.
If your building's stairs are pretty solid, you can try going up and down them a few times. It's a good warm up and sometimes even gets me winded. Go as fast as you can, then do like 10 jumping jacks or squats or whatever before heading back the other direction.

ValHallaGirl

Yep, i have the same problem!! There are spots where it's not as creaky but it's all wood floors here but, everyone else it noisy as heck here anyway! I still worry about the noise, even when i can hear people snoring from another apartment(and every other little noise). I think i might be okay until someone complains about my workouts. I always try to be quite when doing them anyway.