BEst and cheaper workouts

[jpiers]

Maintaining a healthy body is important. Proper fitness or workouts and eating nutritious foods are which are low fat diet and high in fiber. In this way, we can prevent possible sickness like heart disease, cancer and diabetes. But, What is the best and practical ways to have a regularly exercise? Because not all people can afford to go the gym.

[Draginvry]

Walk
Jog
Bicycle
Parkour

Between these four, you will never need anything else, except for some type of weights if you plan to train for strength.

[oai]

jogging and walking can actually get expensive esp. if you're very active. i think i change my shoes about every month, because i kill them! http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q94/SHOE_tutorials/current%20emo/thlaugh.gif for me, running and walking could actually amount to as much as going to the gym. you don't have to pay the price the gym asks for. you could actually ask them for a lower membership fee. it's kind of like haggling car prices.

[maui_butterfly]

gyms are unnecessary. in fact, they may keep you in a rut, or not allow you to be as intense or experimental as you would be in the privacy of your own home because of the public nature of them. sometimes we are scared to try something we think we won't look good doing in front of a bunch of strangers. when you're at home in your livingroom, you might be more adventurous!

(with all the money you have saved, you might consider getting some sessions with a private coach to give you some workout pointers and help you keep on top of your goals...)

free online workouts:
http://www.freeworkoutsguide.com/index.html
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/videos.asp

excellent free online yoga classes
the quality of the instruction here is extremely high, better than you will get at 90% of the gyms in America
www.yogatoday.com

gymless body weight exercises
http://www.rawveganfitness.com/gymless-bodyweight-exercises-t17.html
(just pick a few from each category -- upper body, lower body, abs/core -- and do as many as you can of each for about 20 minutes or so! try to beat the reps you achieved last time!)

8 minute...
Although the spandex quotient is fantastically high and the music must GO, this series of workouts from YouTube from a popular 90s workout video is a simple and effective way to get it done when you're not feeling the motivation/understanding to design your own workout.

8 Minute Buns http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnBhn7YSsnM

8 Minute Arms http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSby1UUhyts

8 Minute Legs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLIfN-31Bgs

8 Minute Abs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWjTnBmCHTY

You can do them individually, or do them back to back for a full body workout! All you need is a little spot on the floor and some dunbbells or handweights for the arms workout.

If I do it in a circuit I do it in this order. I've heard you should always do abs last, since they are smaller muscle groups. You want to exercise your larger muscle groups first for max effect.

at the park
are you a busy parent? you can get your workouts in at the park while the kiddies play!
http://just-for-mom.kaboose.com/park_workout.html
don't let public embarassment stand in between you and your health and fitness. besides, most people watching you will be thinking "good for her/him!" and might even get inspired themselves

excellent free online pilates series

Do just one, or string them together for a full 50 minute pilates class! (god bless the youtube revolution!!!!)


Pilates for Flexibility (10 min) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZopL5-P8zgs
Pilates for Sculpting (10 min) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WwK9lWwxnw
Pilates Burn (10 min) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKMofgI4eUY
Pilates for Bum & Thighs (10 min) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DefXxHEvVVA
Pilates for Abs (10 min) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmek7iASeCI

cheap workout videos
do you like workout videos? exercise tapes at half.com will cost you far less than a monthly gym membership. add a new tape to your repertoire every month as a treat for all the hard work you put in the previous month! or you can even borrow new ones from NETFLIX! or pick them up at thriftstores, swap meets, garage sales, etc.

cheap and easy at home equipment

craigslist is FULL of cheap free weights and exercise equipment that people are not using any more (probably very lightly used at that).
an excellent set of exercise bands will cost you about $35
a fitball will cost you about $20
you can get a jump rope for $6
a good kettlebell will cost you $80 (worth its weight in gold in my "home gym"... who am i kidding, it IS my home gym!!!)


fitball/swissball/stability ball
speaking of fitballs... i love mine. there are loads of workouts and exercises on youtube with these babies. here's one of my favorite tutorials.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IbDhaWDLu0&NR=1

crossfit
http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/excercise.html

Crossfit is an EXCELLENT resource for anyone who wants to learn more about functional fitness and develop workouts that build strength, endurance, flexibility, and core stability.

CrossFit is the principal strength and conditioning program for many police academies and tactical operations teams, military special operations units, champion martial artists, and hundreds of other elite and professional athletes worldwide. Their program is broad, general, and inclusive, making it the perfect application for any individual regardless of fitness level or experience. They use the same basic program and structure for elderly individuals with heart conditions as they do for professional athletes. The only variable is the load and intensity.

From their website: "The needs of Olympic athletes and our grandparents differ by degree not kind. Our terrorist hunters, skiers, mountain bike riders and housewives have found their best fitness from the same regimen."

Their website is loaded with information, video Exercise Tutorials http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/excercise.html, and each day they post a "WOD" (workout of the day) that is usually pretty advanced, but can be easily modified for people of all fitness levels using their suggested substitutions http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/faq.html or using the "scaled" WODs that the folks at Brand X Martial Arts put together daily based on the CrossFit WOD http://forum.brandxmartialarts.com/viewforum.php?f=16&sid=74059d7b82f8aa7e7fa9cdcec3157228

You can also go to YouTube and search on "crossfit" to gain more inspiration and knowledge!

and (shameless plug) the "workout of the week" on www.rawveganfitness.com!!! our next challenge starts july 1st. will you get fit this summer? oh c'mon! the time will pass anyway!

[angelia]

Maui Butterfly, you are a wealth of cheap exercise knowledge! Thank You!:)

[gritsnla]

WOW!! I've got to make a new bookmark folder for all these babies!!
Thanks!

[Draginvry]

Perhaps I'll make a demo video of all the stuff I do at the park. I rotate various basic isometric, plyometric, and calisthenic exercises. Here's a basic list:

dips
push-ups
sit-ups
pull-ups
chin-ups
circle-ups
squats
rockers
fireman's pole
balance beam
climbing
drops
vaults
muscle-up
stepping
rolling

[raweater]

Maintaining a healthy body is important. Proper fitness or workouts and eating nutritious foods are which are low fat diet and high in fiber. In this way, we can prevent possible sickness like heart disease, cancer and diabetes. But, What is the best and practical ways to have a regularly exercise? Because not all people can afford to go the gym.

Low fat is not quite important on the raw diet especially if you workout which burns the fat for energy. Fat is bad only when it's cooked as it becomes very toxic when cooked and has the opposite effect of when it's raw.

[tanishamarshall]

I have a lot of exercise videos. I do the Leslie Sansone walk videos the most.

[lori ann]

Wow! maui butterfly-thank you so much! I do enjoy doing my own thing at home way better than a gym. I have tried gyms in the past and they have not worked for me.

[firefaery]

My husband and I own a CrossFit facility. Workouts were conducted in the park. There's alot of parkour involved, and you can absolutely custom workouts that are intense, varied and effective that you can do in your home.

I have been actively training for well over a decade and I can challenge myself as much at home as at *our* gym. I have no real use for a regular gym. Free weights, kettlebells, rowers, sandbags, tires, plyoboxes, gymnastic rings and pull up bars are our main bits of equipment. You can also turn just about anything into a "cardiovascular" exercise and don't really need to isolate that part. We do sprints and some light jogs, but nothing long distance. The focus is on functional fitness.

Many of the workouts can done at a park on playground equipment or benches.

So, anyway....I vote other.

[lilylola]

While I prefer yoga to almost anything else, I have had very good luck doing the Curves Gym workout. I lost 25 pounds just doing the workout a few years ago, then stopped, and put the weight back on (EATING A COOKED VEGETARIAN DIET, FYI!!!). Now, while it's not my favorite workout, it is quick (I'm in and out of there inside of 45 minutes 3x/week) and absolutely effective. The drawbacks are that it costs $44/a month, is a boring workout, and they play cheesy techno versions of 70-80s songs (yuck!). Plus, most Curves are not open Sunday.

BUT if you have a schedule anything like mine (I work roughly 60 hours/week w/2 jobs) & am studying for a licensing exam for the state, then it's do-able and again, I gotta' tell ya-it really works.

Just my two cents!

Lilylola
Starting 100% raw for 30 days and pretty excited about it as of July 30th, 2008.