Exercise: Taking It Home

Way back in January I wrote about how it can be confusing with all the information out there to know how much time should be spent exercising. And I spoke of how just even ten minutes makes me feel better. Well it's not just the quantity of time working out that matters. It's what you do with that time. Of course ten minutes of running will probably give you a better cardiovascular work out than ten minutes of slow crunches, but, dependent on your running posture, the crunches will probably have a greater effect on toning your abs than the running.

There are so many other options for exercise besides running and crunches though. If you like machines, most gyms have a bevy of options right there. I get bored on machines though - yes, even if there's a TV on in front of it. I actually am not a real big fan of going to the gym. Someone was kind enough to bring me on a guest pass to a very nice one recently. I enjoyed the class we took there and having lots of equipment ready-at-hand. Yet the idea of circling the parking lot looking for a spot because the time you can go to the gym is the same time 200 other people have available is not my idea of revving myself up for a good workout. I'm also not a fan of getting all sweaty and then having to bundle up to go to the car when its cold outside.

image from Koisny on Flickr

So, as you may have guessed by now, working out at home is my preference for my dedicated exercise time. Joining a gym is not out of question for the future but right now exercise videos are my prime (but not only) guidance. You can do them whenever you're ready. No parking lots. No waiting. No having to be seen by other people while you work out - if you want.

My go-to DVD series is The 10-Minute Solution. Each DVD has 5 ten-minute workouts to chose from that go with whatever the theme is for that particular DVD. But the best part is, they have a menu built in so you can chose however many of the 5 you want to do and what order you want to do them in. This lets you mix it up and not have to do everything in the same order every time. Also, if you have several of the DVDs you can do something like focus on just your arms one day and do all the arm exercises from several different approaches. It's important to let your muscles recover by not intensely focusing on the same area two days in a row.

I'll talk more about specific exercise DVDs in the future, but for now I'll leave you with this tip. Nervous about investing in an exercise program and finding out you don't really like it? Try before you buy. Check your local library. There's also exercise DVDs available from Netflix (although the selection seems to come and go).

©2011 Memo To My Health. Please do not republish our content without notifying us and getting permission.