Hey there. I want to start exercising more, though it's really hard to get myself to actually get up and do it, I'm still trying.

Here's the thing. I have a gym at my school that I commute to. I've used it but I find that even though I try to keep the workout low (30-40 mins) I still end up sweaty since I am out of shape and since I'm too shy to take a shower at my school I've stopped working out there. I'm thinking I might still use it on the two days of the week that my classes end early so that I'm going home anyway right after.

However, my parents have a type of elliptical in the family room that I like to use when there is no one home, which usually allocates to being about 2-3 times a week.

For the other times, while they are home, I want to do excerises in my room so that there isn't anyone to bother me. I don't want to do jumping jacks or use a skipping rope since that makes noise. I was thinking along the lines of sit-ups, crunches, and push-ups but I'm not sure if they will really help as a cardio or how to divide them into sets to meet 30-40 minutes.

Any tip on how to allocate my working out time?

Hello..

First, you shouldn't be ashamed, embarassed or anything else of yourself. You should be proud of who you are and what you want to accomplish. How come you don't want to exercise when nobody is around? We all go to the gym for a common reason.. to lose weight/get healthy. If you don't want to exercise around anyone, how about just going out for a walk. Do you have any friends at school that use the gym or can become a buddy with you. When you have someone to exercise with, it makes it a little easier.

I used to be embarassed when I went to the gym. I didn't want to use certain equipment because I didn't want people to watch me. Now, I realize most of them are in the same boat as me. We are all there to lose weight.

Bring out that confidence you have inside and become strong!!

Good luck with all you do. You can do it!!

Try a step. A high one will keep your heart rate up. Especially if you use your arms while stepping up. Control your stepping and it shouldn't make noise. You can have a routine with sets of sit ups, push ups, and try some tricep dips if you have a chair or you can do them on the step. Between sets of those: step up on the step, alternating leading legs, for a minute or so to keep your heart rate up.
So something like this.... 10-20 situps then use the step, then 10-20 pushups then the step, 10-20 tricep dips then the step. Repeat 2 or 3 times. You can also use the step for incline push ups (feet on step hands on floor). Hope that helped. Magazines have some good routines if you know where to look just to keep things fresh but that should get you going. Also free weights are nice too.

I would argue for you to do a more complete routine at your school gym, but that's not what you asked for...

For something that can be done discreetly, try exercises such as the goblet squat: take a dumbbell and hold it vertically with two hands, grasping the top "bell". You'll want to keep it a little bit below your chin (I usually have it just away from my sternum) , at a spot where you can feel your mid-section doing some balancing, but you are not putting all the strain on your back (very important!) From here, just do squats! Stick your butt out a little bit to make sure you are using your legs and not your back. Last bit I can think of to help with this exercise is to try and keep the pressure on your heels, not your metatarsals (front of the foot)!

The reason for doing this exercise is that it engages TONS of your muscles and really gets you breathing hard without needing lots of equipment or space. The only hurdle you will have is getting a dumbbell of the right weight, or being inventive and using something around the house

You can do a circuit by performing this squat, switching to crunches or planks (google and youtube can give you good demonstrations), and then to curls or pushups, back around to the squats.

The idea is to build muscle (therefor raising your resting metabolic rate) while getting an aerobic workout in! Hard breathing means a revving metabolism!

Oh, I just remembered, it would be good to use the elliptical before and after doing this, to warm up your muscles before the "lifts" and to loosen them up afterwards.

Basically, best bang for the buck is doing leg exercises that involve "holding" the weights you use. The action itself isn't that difficult, but your body will work hard to deliver all the oxygen to all the muscles you are using!

Hopefully you can use some of this advice, it comes from my experience as an amateur bicycle racer who has always had to deal with a tiny apartment and is too cheap to buy a gym membership