home exercising?

Question

any good ideas on how to work total body(including calves)with a home workout without taking up alot of space?

Answer 1

Dumbbells. Get the ones where you have to manually change the weight plates. And to go with it, get a fitness ball instead of a bench. You can use it just as you can a bench, and it will work your core muscles more by you trying to balance on it while exercising. With all this, you can get a full body workout (including calves).

You should be able to find all this for under $50. And they take up very little room (you can keep it all in a closet).

Answer 2

He is right - dumbells are great. There are only a few things that you can't do with dumbells.
Since you specifically asked about calves, use a step of a staircase to work your calves. Hold the handrail with one hand (just for the sake of balance, not lifting) and hold a dumbell in the other. With one foot on the step, lower your weight and push it back up.
If you are just starting you should use no weight and go slow - the calf muscle is often shortened from not being stretched out properly so stretch it carefully. You can even do this in public going up and down stairs - stretch the muscle out several times a day and THEN start building it.

As for Total Gym it's OK but you will quickly outgrow it. For the money you are spending on it you would be better with a club membership or even a bicycle and dumbells.

Answer 3

I would recommend the Total Gym. I've been using it for a while now, with excellent results....it folds up so it can slide under a bed and it's fairly inexpensive! Works muscles you didn't even know you had!

Answer 4

There are a bunch of exercises you can do at home with absolutely no machines or anything that takes space.

http://liquidparallax.com/2006/12/11/347-exercises-you-can-do-without-equipment/

Answer 5

Step aerobics. Sounds girly but I get compliments on my legs constantly. They are toned and built and it's because of step aerobics! It works everythign.