your favorite exercise?

abbyph311
abbyph311 Posts: 45 Member
edited September 26 in Fitness and Exercise
I'm pretty new on here. I've been dieting on and off for a few years. This time I need to get serious about it. Last year I broke my leg, which equaled zero exercise for over 6 months. Now I'm slowly getting back into walking everyday. My favorite exercise used to be the elliptical. I think I liked it because it was easy. I could crank up my Ipod and do a quick 20 minutes to work up a sweat. Now I moved farther away from the gym and I don't really want to pay $800 for my own elliptical. My 2nd choice is my bike. I used to pull my kids around in the little cart behind it and it really made me tired! I like exercising and actually feeling like i accomplished something.

So what are your favorite forms of exercise and the best ones that worked for you?

Replies

  • DanOhh
    DanOhh Posts: 1,806 Member
    Walking outside.
  • bgeer34
    bgeer34 Posts: 135 Member
    I love to go to Zumba class at the gym.
  • LongMom
    LongMom Posts: 408 Member
    DANCING!!! I started with Zumba over a year ago and I now consistently go twice a week to a Zumba-on-steroids class called Fuzion. I have never ever stuck with something as long as I have with dancing aerobics and I don't see any end in sight! I also dance with my two young daughters whenever music comes on ;)

    I love pulling my girls in their bike cart when the weather is good and will do that this summer as well (Sat morning Garage sale run wOO hOO!). I also have a pool, so i do a LOT of swimming in the summer :)
  • ejmcam
    ejmcam Posts: 533 Member
    I like the elliptical, and the treadmill. On the treadmill I do a 14 or 15 incline at 3.6 mph. You work up a massive sweat and burn a ton of calories, not to mention what it does for the Glutes! Good pain! I usually switch it up between those 2 at the gym or do a combo of both to equal 45 of cardio a day (give or take a few minutes)
  • AngelaPowPowPOW
    AngelaPowPowPOW Posts: 293
    normally it's walking outside, but the weather urned back to winter about two weeks ago. ZUMBA, though...wow! I love it sooo much!
  • marthamae813
    marthamae813 Posts: 70 Member
    You can get an elliptical at walmart for like 300 bucks. Nothing fancy but Im starting to love mine. lol. I also love yoga.
  • LillysGranny
    LillysGranny Posts: 431
    Fitness Kickboxing -- we punch and kick bags plus a lot of "Insanity" kind of stuff. Busts stress and blasts about 600/hour if you work hard. Look for a martial arts school in your area and I'll bet you can find a class. Zumba is fun, too.
  • Sarahland
    Sarahland Posts: 65 Member
    I love ZUMBA and the elliptical. I bought an elliptical on Walmart.com for like $150, so you don't have to break the bank for one.
  • velix
    velix Posts: 437 Member
    while not my 'favorite', my most effective (and very low cost) at-home exercise for cardio is aerobic stepping - I use the bottom step in the basement, strap on my HRM, put my headphones on and step up (and down) the bottom step for anywhere from 30 -90 minutes depending on the rhythm I get into.

    Done at a decent pace, and alternating between regular size steps to longer, lunge-like steps (stepping further back from the bottom step), I can get the same caloric burn as when I am using the elliptical or AMT (all motion trainer) at the gym.

    To get a broader workout in at the same time, I also like to use a 5lbs weight in each hand, and can sneak in a few reps of lifts to the side, to the front, etc, and I alternate that with a 2kg medicine ball that I throw from hand to hand - both close to the body and with arms outstretched - this works your arm muscles amazingly, helps with agility and gets the heart rate pumping a good extra 10-15bpm extra.

    Hope that helps. Good luck with all your health endeavors!
  • bparsont
    bparsont Posts: 50
    Costco and sams club also have good prices on ellipticals. Walking for me does good, treadmill, gardening, grooming my horses, these all have a calorie burn to them according to MFP data base.
  • kellyyjean
    kellyyjean Posts: 499 Member
    I love to go to Zumba class at the gym.

    Is that easy to pick up?
  • BonitaAppleBomb87
    BonitaAppleBomb87 Posts: 79
    Boxing, kickboxing, & the elliptical you burns tons of cals and its good for stress
  • proverbs31chick
    proverbs31chick Posts: 485 Member
    My favorite is the cool down, because that means I'm finished...hehe. I actually like the 30 day shred level 2 and the treadmill.
  • sammys1girly
    sammys1girly Posts: 1,045 Member
    I love the lower body arc trainer at the gym. It burns off more calories in a shorter amount of time
    than other cardio machines but is definitely a workout!
  • baisleac
    baisleac Posts: 2,019 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/baisleac/view/hiit-mrt-circuit-training-whatever-you-want-to-call-it-92808

    Each time I can go a little farther, I feel like a god... and a little like throwing up. :laugh:
  • dinas3boys
    dinas3boys Posts: 3
    I have not been working so a gym membership nd an elliptical are out for me at this time. So I've been working out at home with DVD's. Jillian Michaels has a good 30 day shred workout that is pretty intense as well as a 6 week 6 pack workout. I've been kept interested by alternating all the DVD's I have like Taebo and Dancing videos. Next will be going to Zumba classes at the local park district near my home.
  • Homer3D
    Homer3D Posts: 318
    I like being outside so I do a lot of jogging and biking. At home, I play on the Xbox kinects with YouShape. It is fun and it really does make me sweat.
  • ChantalD75
    ChantalD75 Posts: 680 Member
    Jillian Michaels is my favorite.... she gets on my nerves but her workouts sure work me and it's done before I know it!!!! :smile:
  • FairyMiss
    FairyMiss Posts: 1,812 Member
    love the elliptical. i actually download tv shows or movies to my ipod, get going my concentrant on the program or movie and before long i am drenched and at 30 minutes.

    i also love strenght training on the machines at the gym.. love the gym , just love being there LOL.

    keep wanting to take some zumba classes there but have not been able to get the timing right

    but my over all favorite exercise is my absolute favorite activity BELLYDANCING !!! love love love it.

    got class tonight, wish i could find a place with more than one night a week, (not that i could find the time, with my kids activitities which is dance also btw, and he comes first)
  • FairyMiss
    FairyMiss Posts: 1,812 Member
    Jillian Michaels is my favorite.... she gets on my nerves but her workouts sure work me and it's done before I know it!!!! :smile:

    how long are here averge work outs , are they all standing stuff or anythign on the ground, i asked because i am wondering if this is something i can take to work with my lap top and do at lunch.
    i currently ...well was , got to get back to. doing rachel brice's serpentine at work
  • awelch79
    awelch79 Posts: 233 Member
    Zumba is easy to pick up and I love it! Ill do anything that gets me sweating, but I need the motivation of group classes at my gym. I also LOVE yoga and Pilates---a great workout, but not cardio. I firmly believe Pilates is what helped me with my core....
  • rachmaree
    rachmaree Posts: 782 Member
    For at home or outside- Jump rope! Burns loads of calories and you really feel it, plus you can easily mix it up by doing different jumping styles. I also cycle with my husband.
    I do love lifting weights though, and usually lift 4 times a week at the gym. I try to follow zuzanas workouts sometimes on www.bodyrock.tv but they are super intense. This week our gym is closed so I am following some cardio workouts from the internet and doing pushups/ dips/ squats and abs at home.
  • lipt8611
    lipt8611 Posts: 60 Member
    if you can't join a gym, run. it's a great workout, it's impossible to be bored (create a new route!), it's ALL ON YOU (which, in my mind, =a great sense of accomplishment) is FREE as well as extremely therapeutic.
  • karensoxfan
    karensoxfan Posts: 902 Member
    My actual favorite exercise is figure skating, but it's not realistic to fit into my schedule on any regular/predictable basis.

    My regular exercise that I like enough to keep doing is running. I'll do TV workouts if I can't run for some reason, but I don't like them NEARLY as much.
  • Jovialation
    Jovialation Posts: 7,632 Member
    Going out to concerts and dancing and being in mosh pits, LOL


    Really, tho, I love dancing. DDR, Just Dance, etc....or just hopping around my livingroom.

    I dont do these separate from the workout vids I do but I LOVE BICYCLE CRUNCHES
  • mursey
    mursey Posts: 191 Member
    I love weight training (during quiet hours in a nice gym) but for cardio:

    I like intervals of jogging up stairs in a park, you don't get bored, you are outside, and you can see people with their dogs, little kids, all playing and it's just nice scenery. . .

    I also do the same but in the hilly areas of town (I live in San Francisco so that's pretty easy to find)

    I canNOT run on a treadmill. . it's just too boring so when I am inside I like that "Stepmill" thing stairmaster makes. . the tall conveyor belt of stairs. . you can burn so many calories in a short amount of time and you can still look at a magazine or something.
  • DKBelle
    DKBelle Posts: 585
    Walking with dumbbells, bike, p90x, www.bodyrock.tv and I am getting soon insanity DVD can't wait :)
  • rmhand
    rmhand Posts: 1,067 Member
    Pilates and body sculpt class. Tons of fun. Definately because of my instructor. Rollerblading, biking outside.
  • befitcoachuk
    befitcoachuk Posts: 13 Member
    For me you just can't beat getting out in the fresh air of the countryside and having a long run..... I am running about 6 miles twice a week at the moment and looking forward to getting the distance back up to where it used to be and heading off over the South Wales mountains - absolutely beautiful scenery :o)

    Whatever exercise you like that makes you sweat and gets the heart racing is fine with me though (I also do circuit training, bootcamp, boxercise, body attack, body pump, weights and swimming).
This discussion has been closed.

Categories