what are some basic excersizes i can do at home when just starting to excersize?

Question

i am wanting to work on losin my weight and am going to be gettin a membership at the YMCA. I am just wanting to know some basic helpful techniques to do at home and when is the best time to do them and how long?

Answer 1

let me just tell you that the one i adore a ton is the crunches. i started doing these morning and night and i am losing inches. you don't lose weight w/out aerobic exercises...but you do lose the inches..which means smaller jeans!!! hehe. anytime i'm here to talk. IM and 360 attached to my profile. *muah*

Answer 2

Hi!

To get you started, aerobics are best kind of exercise to start losing weight. Do 30-45 minutes of brisk walking, or stair stepping at home, and/or engage in vigorous housecleaning. If you can't do 30-45 minutes daily, then break them up into sessions of half the time and do them a couple of times a day.

Do this at least 4x a week, but the more days a week you can do it the better!

Walk more whenever you can in general, e.g. walking to the bank and leaving the car at home.

If you do the aerobics, you'll not only start losing weight, but you'll increase your stamina and your leg strength. This is an excellent foundation for more stenuous exercise when you sign up for the Y.

Try to do some simple strength builders like lifting groceries as though they were weights (be careful not strain your back!), doing simple isometric exercises by pushing against door jams several times a day and holding it for 10-15 seconds, and/or using a little extra pressure if you're waxing a table. You'll find that as you tone and firm up your muscles, they'll actually help you burn calories faster, even when you're resting!

Also watch your diet by eating smaller portions (if you eat a lot) and watching out for the sugar! This'll help you to lose weight!

As to when to exercise, that's completely up to you! When you have time, when weather and traffic conditions are best (if you walk on the street), whether you're a morning, afternoon, or evening person, and when your exercise buddy is available if you exercise with someone else (an excellent idea by the way!)

And on top of it all--have fun!!!

Bye the way, if you decide to do the vigorous housecleaning for exercise and you run out of things to clean, you can always come to my house!

Good luck!

Answer 3

Working out for 20 to 30 minutes at a time 1-3 times a day is a great way to start. Always begin by stretching out and breathing in long steady breathes to increase oxygen flow to your blood. Don't start out at a fast rate. Keep a pace that you can manitain through most of the session and then finish with a slight increase of pace and follow with a slow down period at the end. There are so many things you can do with little to no equipment/items. It really depends on where you would like to try an concentrate 1st. For me it was(and still is) my abdomen. You can do several exercises for this area with a standard, stury straight back chair. Sit ups are tough if you are out of shape, but you can begin to increase your tummy strength and endurance by leaning forward while sitting and touching your chest to your legs/lap in a smooth slow pace forward and back to an upright postion, shoulders back. Keep your pace steady and fluid, don't count repatations, just do it for a mearsure time. Start with 5 minutes and increase by 5 minutes as it becomes easier. A continued variation of this will have you twisting at the waist bringing one arm to the inside of the opposite leg and vice-versa. This is just one easy exercise that started me out to more advance exercises. You can find a plethora of exercise sites to view other exercises and for different areas. The key id not to start out with something you can't maintain.It makes quitting much easier. work your way up and be consistant. Have someone to work out with is a great way to stay motivated. Diet is also important. Joining a group light Weight Watchers is an excellent way to gain an instant support team, and it is a fairlly affordable membership($12 dollars a week).

Answer 4

The Best Exercises to Lose Weight Quickly
http://www.weightloz.com/category/The-Best-Exercises-to-Lose-Weight-Quickly.html

Answer 5

I like to do aerobics videos. You can often rent them from your local video store for free, or from the library for free. Remember to stretch both before AND after exercising, especially if you're just easing into an exercise routine. For aerobics, you should go for at least 25 minutes.

Walking is good too, starting around 40 minute brisk walks and increasing the length of time and pace as you progress. Make sure you stay hydrated while exercising.

It's good to mix up your exercise routine. For example, don't go jogging every single day. You could go jogging one day, walking the next day, aerobics after that, and biking the next day. I think they refer to this mixing up of exercise as sort of cross-training. It's better for your body and muscles.

Answer 6

Go to womansday.com. They have (or used to about a year ago) a simple, but good, easy to follow workout that you can printout.

Answer 7

20-30 minutes of aerobic dance every other day.

Answer 8

read tips and articles on weight loss and exercise programs to help you on this site

Answer 9

Keeping it really simple:

--ab work is good. As the first Answerer mentioned, crunches are your friend. Get a towel if you want to, and lie down on the floor on it, at the end of your bed or in front of your couch...put your feet up such that your upper legs, knees to hips, are at a right angle, up-and-down, off the floor, feet and calves on the couch or bed. Rest your hands gently *on top* of your head or on your chest, and *crunch* your stomach muscles into the floor as you raise your shoulders off the floor with your stomach, only. If your hands are on top of your head and you find yourself going up quite a bit, try twisting a little as you go up, moving your left elbow to your right knee, and your right elbow to your left one...do as many as you can in one go, but you want to aim for 26, breathing it out with each letter of the alphabet as you go up, breathing in as you go down.

Then, when you are done with that....lie down on your bed, or if possible off the end of your couch. Leave your butt partly hanging off, legs too. Keeping your legs straight, raise them off the floor and up to a near-v position with your lower abs pulling them up. Again, breathe out as you go up, in on the way down, and aim for doing one alphabet (26 repetitions, a to z) in one go.

--cardio is a must if you wish to lose weight. Two of the most efficient ways to get cardio going, cheaply, are...stair runs and skipping rope.

With stair runs, the idea is simple enough. Find either a long flight of stairs in your apartment building, or one in a building you go to frequently, like at work or school, should be at least three stories (six flights) of stairs. Run *down* the stairs from the top to the bottom, then *walk or jog* back up. Repeat as many times in one go as you can, aiming for doing it 26 times (if you are running 3-4 stories at a time) as you get better at it.

With skipping rope, you get a jumprope--ten buck or less at your Target or Wal-Mart types of stores-- and twirl the rope in your hands (from the handles) passing the rope under your feet as you lightly jump, bouncing from foot to foot. *This* is an acquired skill though, and not everyone can do this. But there is a cheat. :)

When you've bought your jumprope, take it home....measure it out so you have half a length of rope to each handle. And *CUT* the thing in half, tying a big, firm knot in each half at the end for weight and balance purposes. Now twirl the half-ropes in each hand as you skip or jump in place, *without* worrying about tripping over the rope or stubbing your toes. :) Why do this?

Skipping rope is one of the most effective forms of cardio known to man. 20 minutes of continuous rope skipping gives the same amount of cardio workout as *one hour* of running. Just be sure to a) have a good mat and/or a good pair of shoes on underfoot, and b) *stretch* your calves after skipping, so they stay flexible. You stretch your calves by basically bringing your feet up, to say a chair, one at a time, resting your toes on the chair, and then *slowly* put your weight on your foot in the chair until your heel is lower than your toes and you *feel* a good stretch in your calf and achilles' tendon at the back of your heel.

And that is it for now, really. There is more yes, more stretches and more in the way of strength training, but this is a really good start for a beginner to start with. :) Just be sure to have good shoes on when you do cardio, and be sure to have a towel or mat under you when you do crunches....

Oh, nearly forgot....you likely want to do this stuff, well, the minimum is about 3 days a week, but some can do it more like 4 or 5....whatever works for you....though most folks swear by working out the standard three days a week, first thing in the morning.

Hope this helps!