Workouts

JUST GET OUT THERE AND ENJOY LIFE

Several years ago, I knew that if I was going to reach my goal of losing a great deal of weight that I needed to set up my own home gym. I took the extra space in my basement and started added workout tools. I put a TV and boom box down there so that I wouldn’t get bored. I can’t make any excuses about why I can’t get to the gym, mine is only down a flight of stairs. It isn’t anything fancy but it’s worked for me. Here are few of the readily available tools in my underground gym.

ACCUSPLIT AE170 Pedometer with Steps, Distance, and Calories Burned. My dad gave me my first pedometer. I have used this brand for over 5 years and I just love it. I tell my friends and neighbors that I have walked my butt off in Lakewood and it is true. This little trooper has helped me keep track of my long walks with my dog, Jerry. Every journey starts with a single step and this product has helped me keep track of my progress.

The Biggest Loser Workout, Volume One — Great workout that will tone and shape. Great place to start.

The Biggest Loser Workout: Power Sculpt and Cardio Max — This two-DVD series is a wonderful second step in getting fit.

Gaiam Pilates taught by Ana Caban — Pilates is much easier to learn from a DVD than yoga. Half the time while learning yoga you are bent like a pretzel making it hard to see the TV. Plus Ana is great instructor. In order to fully utilize the video, make sure to grab a Covered Resistance Cord Kit at the same time as the DVD.

Core Secrets by Gunnar Peterson — Good whole-body workouts. Focuses on building a strong core and overall flexibility.

Bring your bike inside and put it on a stationary rack

Hand weights and toning bands

Stamina Aero Pilates with Cardio Rebounder, Stand and Workout DVDs — Most expensive item in my collection but, once I dusted it off, it has been a wonderful machine for toning.

Exercise mat and hand weights.

 

Home, sweet home gym

Exercise is a very important in a successful weight loss program, if I didn’t know that before I started my transformation I sure know it now.

You can’t keep me in the house in the summer. I love to bike, swim and walk the streets of my lovely lakeside community. The warm weather and the breeze off the water make for the perfect conditions to stay active all day. The draw back to living so close to the lake is that those summer breezes turn into blast of frigid air in the winter. In short, I am forced underground to do my workouts.

I have told you that I am not nuts about the gym that I signed a three-year contract with so I came up with my own. It’s not anything fancy but I love it. It’s open 24-7, the cold weather isn’t a factor and I save the 20 minutes driving back and forth.

My dog knows the morning routine by heart. We get up, I get dressed and then he goes downstairs and waits by the basement door waiting for me to start my workout. He loves it when I get out the workout matt because it means I will be doing sit-ups. Jerry is a wise dog and figured out that he can get petted while I am doing side crunches. I like the fact that I can workout 20 minutes longer when I am at home and that I get to spend more time with my furry friend.

Biking indoors

My first love is walking and my second is biking. A sunrise ride in the summer is one of my greatest pleasures but the weather has turned so I brought my bike indoors.

When I started my weight loss mission I tried to do it on a budget. I didn’t take up a sport that cost too much. I bought this bike 14 years ago and it collected dust for years until I started riding 3 years ago. It only cost me about $130 dollars to make it stationary and it was money well spent. It is my first choice of a cardio workout in the cold winter months. I put a TV downstairs to help with the boredom. Not only do I get a good workout and I watch the news on the Today Show while I am riding.

The bike is a street hybrid, which makes it a chore to get the heavy bike down the steps so I wait until I can no longer ride outside to bring it to it’s winter perch. I set a cooking timer by it so that I can time my workouts. I wish I had the odometer installed on the back wheel and not the front but I didn’t think of it at the time. The setup I bought at the local bike shop has the front wheel stationary and therefore I have no way of knowing how fast I am going. I also got a cushioned seat, which makes for a more pleasant workout.

Know when to wear them and know when to retire them

Every spring I head to my neighborhood running store and treat myself to a new pair of shoes for the season. Let’s set the record straight. I don’t run, never have and really don’t care to in

the future. My arthritis is too bad and I enjoy walking so I let it go at that. I didn’t start my active lifestyle until my mid 40’s and I have learned to listen to my body and it is happy with a long and brisk walk.

When I go into the store there are so many choices it’s hard to pick just one. As a chick, I am drawn to the colors of the shoes, can’t help it but it is truth. I have learned through the last several trips that color is the last thing that I should be concerned with. Then there is the high price tag that comes with all the bells and whistles that they try to put in a shoe. When common sense sets in I sit down and tell the clerk what I am looking for in a shoe.

My wish list is simple, fit my foot, stay in budget and hope that the end product is a shoe that isn’t too ugly. I have a bad bone spur on my heal so I have to go with a shoe that has a wide heal.  For the last few years that has meant I left the store with a pair of Asics, but this time I left with a pair of Reeboks. The best fit out weighs brand loyalty for me.

The treads are worn out in my old pair and it is time to retire them. They are like tires so when the treads wear out it is time to get a new pair. Experts say several hundred miles should do it. For runners that can mean replacing them monthly but for me it means just several pairs a year.

I am looking forward to the comforting, cushy feel of the new pair. It is time to retire my old friends and put them in the garage for mowing the grass next spring.

Sex, Lies, and Videotapes

I hate to disappoint you but this blog has little to do with sex, contains no lies and so that leaves videotapes as the topic of the day. Since I have established that I hate my gym, I have found the best way to keep me moving is to pop a videotape or DVD into my TV to get my fanny in action.

I am a sucker for those late night infomercials and I have quite the collection of items that have promised to make me look like Christy Brinkley in a matter of weeks. In the past, I thought that just buying a workout tape was all the effort that I needed to make me look fit and healthy. Wrong. You actually have to do the workout and not just pop the video in the TV and think that is the workout.

Over time I have learned, at least for me, not all workouts are created equally. I love the ones in my workout suggestions. They do a great job of taking it a bit slow at first so that you don’t get discouraged. When I pop in a new one and all they do is scream at you to move your butt I tend to pop it back out and add it to my pile of forget this workout tape.

There are some workouts that are best for a studio situation like yoga. Who doesn’t want to relieve stress through working out but when you are bent up like a pretzel it is hard to see the TV screen. Pilates fits the relaxing and toning bill for me and you can actually do the workout and see what the instructor is telling you to do.

I am always keeping my eye out for a new workout to mix up my routines. A trip to Target always exercise routine.

“Balls,” said the queen, “if I had two I would be king.”

Oddly enough that is one of my mother’s favorite sayings but I know for a fact that she wasn’t talking about workout balls the last time she uttered those words. It is the first thing that I think of when people say balls, sad but true.

I love my workout spears. They are great for getting your core muscles in shape and half the time you aren’t even aware that it is happening.

I will admit that getting used to exercising on the round thing did take some getting used to. Balance and coordination aren’t my strong suits. Basically the first time I tried the thing I ended up doing a summersault and ended up with my feet over my head. Yep. I had fallen off the damn thing and couldn’t get up. The dog just starred at me and I think he even laughed at my first attempt. But I got right back up and tried it again and that time with more success.

Now, I grab the thing off of its perch and use it as often as I can to do stretches and situps. I strongly recommend it for those that want to get rid of that flabby belly that is such a problem for so many of us. Make sure that you keep it properly inflated because who wants a under-inflated ball in their home. Not me!

Check out: Core Secrets by Gunnar Peterson — Good whole-body workouts. Focuses on building a strong core and overall flexibility.