Best exercise option for 30 min

rschreiber
rschreiber Posts: 23 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I can budget no more than 30 min 4-5 times a week for exercise. I have a toddler and a preschooler, so my time is pretty tight. No gym membership, and I do walk in addition at least 3x a week. I get overwhelmed by all the choices out there for exercise DVDs, etc. What will give me the biggest bang for my buck in terms of fat loss and building lean muscle mass? I have been doing a circuit training DVD that includes things like squats, lunges, lifts, crunches, plus lots of exercises with dumbbells. I enjoy it but fear its not "cardio enough". Any suggestions?

I'm mainly thinking hard on this because I've been stuck after 7lbs lost - the scale hasn't budged in 3 weeks. Feeling like maybe something needs to change....

PS - I tried Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred and it was just too much for me at this point. So that level of workout is a little advanced for me...

Replies

  • WhiteRaven
    WhiteRaven Posts: 138 Member
    There are some really great shorter workouts on www.fitnessblender.com Click on workouts, and choose one that works for you. Or you can click on Exercises and choose one that is more targeted!!!

    This is a free site that accepts donations. They do not solicit for them at all. I have found it to be a pretty good resource when looking for a routine!

    Check it out.
  • abheshek
    abheshek Posts: 525 Member
    swimming 20 lapses @ 50 meter pool.....provided you have the stamina
  • Tempe729
    Tempe729 Posts: 270 Member
    I recommend this book! All free-body home exercises & it plans out workouts for you to do & shows you how to do all the exercises & what not... I love it!

    http://www.amazon.com/Body-You-Guide-Womens-Fitness/dp/0345528972
  • soni_me
    soni_me Posts: 95 Member
    I like kickboxing/boxing and circuit training, because they help me burn the most calories in the shortest amount of time. I do the workouts on my cable OnDemand. I also have a few dance and sculpting workouts as well. I also have little ones and prefer to do my workouts @ home.
  • IzzyBooNZ1
    IzzyBooNZ1 Posts: 1,289 Member
    There are some really great shorter workouts on www.fitnessblender.com Click on workouts, and choose one that works for you. Or you can click on Exercises and choose one that is more targeted!!!

    This is a free site that accepts donations. They do not solicit for them at all. I have found it to be a pretty good resource when looking for a routine!

    Check it out.

    agree ! Also zuzkalight is awesome ! also free on YT and her website

    oh that reminds me, http://www.blogilates.com/
  • Lbf321
    Lbf321 Posts: 81 Member
    I also have a toddler and a preschooler. At first I had to break up my exercise throughout the day, now I wake up early and eat then exercise for an hour, all before my kids wake up.
  • katy_trail
    katy_trail Posts: 1,992 Member
    basic lift program 3 days a week, you can do it less than 30 each day, and as long as you are in deficit
    and eating enough protein, you'll lose fat

    you need a barbell, clamps,and plate weights.
    if you can a bench to do bench press would be great too
    you can get them all on craigslist, not very expensive
    probably 100 or less, and you wouldn't need to buy anything else for awhile.


    if you can't afford that, some used dumb bells

    or just do body weight exercises
    nerdfitness is popular
  • k916and
    k916and Posts: 27 Member
    There is an app for your phone called Fitness Buddy. It's amazing. There are different workouts already built in ranging from weight to stability ball. It provides all the info you need as if you have your own trainer. You are even able to personalise your own workouts. Best $1.99 I've ever spent! Good luck!
  • AlongCame_Molly
    AlongCame_Molly Posts: 2,835 Member
    I hope I don't sound pushy when I say try Thirty Day Shred again! Even if you have to stop and rest -- or even quit! after 5 or 6 minutes, you will only go up from there. Keep at it, and I promise you'll slowly start to notice you can go a little bit longer every day.

    I thought I was going TO DIE when I started. I couldn't even finish the first circuit. But by the time I got to Day 18, I was getting bored with Level 2 ans wanted to skip ahead to Level 3! I finished the entire thing, being able to do the non-modified moves, and now can run a 5k. And I was the laziest, most out of shape person I knew. I had friends who were 100+lbs overweight who could run longer than I could. And I did it.

    Your body will surprise you. Challenge it! I really think you can do it!
  • Sonjalalala
    Sonjalalala Posts: 101 Member
    Youtube is your friend :)

    I started out with Zuzana:
    http://www.youtube.com/ZuzkaLight
    http://zuzkalight.com

    I definitely modified the exercises in the beginning but you'll eventually get stronger the more you stick with it. Recently I have incorporated new routines from HASfit:
    http://www.youtube.com/user/KozakSportsPerform

    Browse all videos and you'll find lots of different options for women, including cardio workouts.

    Jogging, kickboxing, zumba are all good cardio too. Best of luck!
  • kpile1
    kpile1 Posts: 5
    Have you been on pinterest?? Its got a ton of work outs you can do in your home, just type in fitness or exercise and there are lots of ideas for you, like another person mentioned, if you have to take breaks, just do that and just try and limit the break to 30seconds to a minute so that you can keep your heart rate up!
    Keep it up! :)
  • metacognition
    metacognition Posts: 626 Member
    Try HIIT outside twice a week. Warm up for five minutes walking, then alternate 1 minute intervals at the hardest you can go (be it fast walking, running or sprints) followed by a minute or two of recovery.

    I swear, doing HIIT right makes my face as red as a tomato in 30 minutes flat. Definitely the hardest workout that I do, and so much fun!
  • tjham1
    tjham1 Posts: 45 Member
    I like the old school Richard Simmons videos. *blush*
  • katy_trail
    katy_trail Posts: 1,992 Member
    Try HIIT outside twice a week. Warm up for five minutes walking, then alternate 1 minute intervals at the hardest you can go (be it fast walking, running or sprints) followed by a minute or two of recovery.

    I swear, doing HIIT right makes my face as red as a tomato in 30 minutes flat. Definitely the hardest workout that I do, and so much fun!

    totally agree, but if you're doing walking and HiiT, then it's all cardio
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,992 Member
    I can budget no more than 30 min 4-5 times a week for exercise. I have a toddler and a preschooler, so my time is pretty tight. No gym membership, and I do walk in addition at least 3x a week. I get overwhelmed by all the choices out there for exercise DVDs, etc. What will give me the biggest bang for my buck in terms of fat loss and building lean muscle mass? I have been doing a circuit training DVD that includes things like squats, lunges, lifts, crunches, plus lots of exercises with dumbbells. I enjoy it but fear its not "cardio enough". Any suggestions?

    I'm mainly thinking hard on this because I've been stuck after 7lbs lost - the scale hasn't budged in 3 weeks. Feeling like maybe something needs to change....

    PS - I tried Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred and it was just too much for me at this point. So that level of workout is a little advanced for me...
    Fat loss is probably more doable for you since building muscle means calorie surplus and progressive resistance training. It's practically improbable to do both at the same time (there are a couple of exceptions).

    In 30 minutes you can do a full body HIIT workout.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • rschreiber
    rschreiber Posts: 23 Member
    [/quote]Fat loss is probably more doable for you since building muscle means calorie surplus and progressive resistance training. It's practically improbable to do both at the same time (there are a couple of exceptions).

    In 30 minutes you can do a full body HIIT workout.

    Thanks for all the input. Can you tell me a bit more about fat loss vs. building muscle? If I'm doing circuit training with dumbbell work, will that be for fat loss or building muscle? I would assume that anything with weights would build muscle? Does that contradict my weight loss goals? Confused...
  • katy_trail
    katy_trail Posts: 1,992 Member
    you're still new to lifting, so if the weight is challenging, we're not talking endless reps, 8-10 would be good per set, maybe 2-3 sets.

    so you may get to build some muscle bc of newbie gains, this could be a few months.
    in the mean time, as long as you are eating enough protein, using your muscles (lifting) and eat at a deficit,
    you'll lose inches, possibly the scale will go down too. but inches lost means fat loss,
    that's what i've been doing for the past month and i've lost over 10 inches, you can do it too.
  • katy_trail
    katy_trail Posts: 1,992 Member
    when you're more experienced, you'll need to be at a slight surplus in calories, to build muscle. but even if you don't end up building muscle now, you want to keep as much muscle as you can. so what you would be focusing on is fat loss, and if you end up building muscle too, then that's great, but it will take many months of training to build a pound of muscle.

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