Working out at home

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indpls2002
indpls2002 Posts: 93 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I need some help. Right now, all I can do is work out at home but I don't have any idea where to start. I'm about 80 lbs overweight and I need to get it off yesterday! lol. What kind of cardio is good? What kind of exercise can I do (most of my weight is in my stomach)? How man reps? I need all the low down! LOL

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  • macdiver
    macdiver Posts: 145 Member
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    For losing weight diet is more important than exercise. It is too easy to out eat any exercise program.

    For exercise you should do both cardio and strength training. For cardio, what do you enjoy doing? I like to run outside (except for the winter). You could walk, run or bike outside. I have a squat rack and bench for strength training. You don't need this to start, you can start doing just body weight stuff at first. I think nerd fitness has a body weight program which has been recommended by several people on this site.

    Edit to add link to nerd fitness beginner body weight program

    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/09/beginner-body-weight-workout-burn-fat-build-muscle/
  • penneyEmma
    penneyEmma Posts: 36
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    I have been following the NERD fitness strength training program. While I found the site quite difficult to navigate and interact with i did manage to find my way to the Strength guide, paid my money and they sent me through the stuff. I follow the Dumbbell workout cause that's what I have access to. It has been very enjoyable so far, not too much that I dread getting up in the morning for but enough so I feel like I have worked hard - it makes me sweat!
  • baja572
    baja572 Posts: 94
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    any exercise is better than nothing...at home walking, Utube has free videos just put in what you think you might like an find something to do. Enjoy what you do and build from there. Welcome to your new life!
  • ajs03
    ajs03 Posts: 32
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    For me personally I started out with my Wii, it wasn't too intimidating and it got me moving. It isn't high impact or strenusous, but if you are doing nothing it is a start. I bought Wii Fit Plus, it has Aerobic, Strength and Yoga on it, and some other "games". I don't have the funds to get big equipment or do a gym, but this was reasonable. However, if you don't have a Wii (or similar system) the cost is higher to start.
    The important thing is to get up and move, anything is better than nothing. Check with your local community education too, often times they have stuff that is reasonable. Good luck! :smile:
  • megedoug
    megedoug Posts: 31 Member
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    You can rent workout videos from your local library or they are often on freecycle or craigslist. You certainly don't need them to work out but a variety does help you from getting bored
  • lose8stone
    lose8stone Posts: 10
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    DO you live in the UK? the Davina app is free on android, and they have some workouts on there - have only tried a couple of them, and they seemed really good
  • cgirly
    cgirly Posts: 56 Member
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    I downloaded some workouts from the Women's Health website. They seem to have a lot that you can access by signing up for free. The Power Pairs one is having definite results for me!
  • thinby40
    thinby40 Posts: 113
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    I recommend walking when you can. It's a great cardio workout. I have also used walking videos which include basic walking and aerobic exercises. Leslie Sansone has great walking videos that average between 3-6 miles. It's a great way to start and it's not hard at all. You can get these videos/DVDs on line at amazon or Walmart, Target. Good luck!
  • hmomomo
    hmomomo Posts: 15 Member
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    MacDiver is right, it's more important to restrict what you eat than start building a home gym - which is why MyFitnessPal is such a great site, and a good way to start keeping track of what you're eating (I'm horrified by how much extra crap I'm shovelling down my neck!).

    But working out at home is easy enough - the trick is to find something you enjoy and you can stick with. I like the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, as each segment is only 20 minutes long, and I'm always able to find 20 minutes to work out. Anything longer is difficult to find the time to commit. The Shred is quite tough though, so you need a certain level of fitness to begin.

    Try and get your basic level of fitness up by walking whenever possible, and being as active as possible. Then a circuits based DVD would be great, as it's good to get a mix of cardio and strength training. Good luck!
  • AmandaLynn101103
    AmandaLynn101103 Posts: 20 Member
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    If you do a search online you will come up with soo many different ones, but if you want to feel your thighs I have just started adding in the invisible chair exercise. It is simple and something I'm sure you have seen before but you just put your back against a wall and bend your knees like you where sitting in a chair (minus the chair of course) and hold it there. You can do these in reps but as for how long to hold it each time really depends on how your legs feel. I just started this week and have only been holding them for about 30 seconds and definitely feel my thighs doing so!
  • spicypepper
    spicypepper Posts: 1,016 Member
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    I use to go to the gym faithfully every day M-F from April until November 2011. I then got pregnant with #5 and had to stop going (tough pregnancy).

    Since the caboose was born the end of May 2012, I haven't had the time or opportunity to go back. At first I thought there would be no way that I'd lose weight from home, but I've successfully dropped 54 lbs from the comfort of my living room.

    How? Logging on MFP and Zumba!

    Zumba fitness is so easy and so much fun! I love it so much that I became officially licensed to teach Zumba Fitness basic this past Friday.

    I also do Jillian Michael's 30 day shred. You can find it on you tube.

    Best of luck and you can do it from home, but you have to be ready and motivated to make the changes.
  • sara6795
    sara6795 Posts: 29 Member
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    I Zumba in my living room every morning and managed to lose 20lb in 3 months so far. I bought a Kinect to go with my xbox 360 and a few different Zumba games...it was the best thing I ever did!
  • KatLifter
    KatLifter Posts: 1,314 Member
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    Check out www.toneitup.com, they post free workouts that are easy to do at home, recipes, self-care and motivation :)
  • bearwith
    bearwith Posts: 525 Member
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    Lots of free videos on Youtube and get yourself a skipping rope. Use tins of food as weights for resistance.
  • krokador
    krokador Posts: 1,794 Member
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    There's a great bodyweight program called You Are Your Own Gym (YAYOG) which basically requires no equipment aside from your own body. There's an iOS and android app which costs like 2$ with the programs already in it, and a bunch of videos of the exercises. And some great workout timers. Definitely worth it. And if you want the extra info, the book isn't that expensive, and the author actually just wrote a new book specific for women

    http://www.amazon.com/Body-You-Guide-Womens-Fitness/dp/0345528972/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1359299311&sr=8-2&keywords=you+are+your+own+gym

    I've heard really good things about that one even though I didn't read it myself.

    Since it's all bodyweight, the cost is basically nil, it's easy and most workouts are doable within 45 minutes including warmup and cool down. No matter what your fitness level is, you can modify the exercises to your needs, so that's another huge plus. You can stack in some cardio if you want, but the first time I got through the begginer program I only did like 3 or 4 p90x videos and some minutes of DDR on top and still got GREAT results :)
  • indpls2002
    indpls2002 Posts: 93 Member
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    Thank you to everyone that has responded. I've tried Jillians 30 day shred and my knees can't take it :( After doing that for a week, I couldn't even walk up my stairs. I've always had a gym that I could go too but now I can't afford it. I'm definetly going to check into everything ALL of you have told and see what works best. I'll keep ya'll updated on my progress! Once again, THANK YOU!

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