I guess I should have mentioned it but I’m going from roughly no activity to wanting to get in shape, is that still a good starting point? I didn't understand much of anything said in that thread and I'm not really concerned about beefing up so much as slimming down and being more healthy overall. I don't want 'guns' per se but I'd like to be lean I'm not very educated on the subject in general either. Could I potentially start with good ol' fashioned sit-ups and push-ups?

Hi all,

We recently purchased a treadmill, exercise bike and a rowing machine to start up a home gym. We were gym members for the last few months but found it was cheaper to buy the stuff we use than to keep paying fees, and these three pieces of equipment were really the only things we used there anyway.

What we need is an exercise plan that we can stick to.
We are thinking of starting out at 10 mins on each piece of equipment and rotating between the 3. Then slowly increasing time, until we are 20 mins on each (for a 1 hour workout). Also we are going to try for around 4 times a week.

Can anyone suggest a better plan, or is this ok?

We are a 22 yr old male 96kg's, and 20 year old female 79kg's.

We would like to lose as much weight as possible in 18 weeks for an overseas trip! So help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks
Mike and Tiff

read the stickied threads in this forum and in the harsh truth and you should get some ideas of what you need to do

I am sure that you heard of circut training. place some handweights inbetween each peice of equiptment . start with a warm up and then get on one peice of equiptment after 3-5 minutes lift some weights- keeping the heart rate elevated hit your next peice of epuiptment. Same thing 3-5 minutes and hit some weights. Keep lots of variety and keep your heart rate elevated. You can also obtain a mini trampoline and include that in your curicut. You could hold onto some light and weights and incorporate some boxing moves. Good luck to you

Adding resistance training to the mix would serve you well.

And not this fluff, 3lb dumbell stuff either.

Personally I do take offense to the word fluff. If I can get clients to work out it is a starting point. Steve it depends on what you do with the 3 lb weights. Yes you are a male and stronger but..... have you tried going through a motion super super slow to really work the muscle? I am talking about to the count of 10 for the contraction movement and 10 for the elongation motion. When I work with females they are not interested in lifting heavy weights they want to sculpt muscle and we do use lighter weights and a few more repetitions but with super super slow you are speaking about a round of maybe 10 reps.

Please remember that each person is an individual and there are so many various ways of working out. There is no right or wrong. I used to work out with body builders but with age I decided to concentrate on those that do not work out at all, and for some 3 lbs is heavy. For others that have worked out for some time super super slow is another whole workout

Your right. I stand corrected. I've encountered clients myself who start with no weight at all, simply going through the motions using their own body weights.

I didn't really mean it how you took it... but I certainly see where you are coming from.

I'm just not a fan of the guru trainers out there that promote light weight high rep movements for "toning."

That's all. Sorry you took offense.

You mean concentric and eccentric contractions?

And no, I don't train like that. Long eccentrics are too neurally demanding for pretty much anyone, even elite athletes, to be used too often.

Can you please explain to me how you "sculpt" a muscle?

Whoa there nelly. Calm down. Stop making assumptions that I'm short-sighted and only train people one way. Now I'm taking offense. Please save the lecture for another day.

You're right to a degree. There is no one-right-way to train.

There are cetainly wrong ways to train.

I agree.

Can someone suggest an at home routine that consists of approximately 30 min cardio type training and approximately 20 min resistance training inside my home?? I would like to alternate between home and gym b/c I tend to get my exercise done in the morning and it’s hard going to the gym all the time. Thanks in advance!!!!

check the stickied threads in this forum -you should get a lot of the info you're looking for

Hey everyone.

Sadly I don't get chance to go to Gym so I was wondering if there was any exercise I could do at home?
Another downer is I don't have room for Equipment so kinda need something I can do with household stuff.

I was told using my bottom step to up & down will be a good way to get some exercise if I do it enough but what else can I do from home?

Hi
I would suggest some Billy Blanks Tae Bo tapes, or other workout videos/DVDs. I don't own any free weights, but have filled up a couple of plastic, very large juice bottles with water and I work my arms with those. I also do situps and girly pushups. My main workout, though, remains my blessed treadmill!

Good luck
ABBA

Actually gonna look into getting one of them Bikes.
Hoping I have room for it

to LinzeeBinzee
To help you with your workouts you will need to come up with a hand full of exercises that you like to do. Put on some fun inspiring music with a beat and perform those hand full of exercises. Lets say this is on a Monday. On wed. come up with some other exercises that will work some other muscle groups that you did not hit on Monday OR add in some variety to the exercises that you did on Monday. On Friday add in some others that you are not crazy about just so you do work the muscles that you need to.
If you e-mail me separately from this I will be glad to walk you through a hand full of routines that I give my clients. I can be reached at Ellen@isobreathing.com.

= guru

................

There are so many ways you can use the home exercise equipment you have! And so many resources! First, here are a few really good youtube workouts:

Pilates Mat
YouTube - pilates mat workout

Abs:
YouTube - ab workout

Also, for a great selection of exercise DVD's, check out Exercise, Workout and Fitness videos & DVDs .

Lastly, this there are many different free online workout videos. Here is a URL to one: Workouts on Demand.* Free exercise videos online.

Most importantly, set up your program with exercise types that you naturally enjoy---and simply do them more often and push harder!

Good luck!