As I mentioned in a previous post, my school gym is closed until after the New Year’s for construction and the winter break, so I am doing my best to avoid drop working out altogether.
Step 1: Resume the DVD workout challenge.
Step 2: Set up the world’s smallest home gym in my living room (or more accurately in the free space between my bed and the kitchen since I live in a studio).
home gym setup
My home gym is comprised of 3 things: a yoga mat, a stability ball and some resistance bands for strength training. I already had the yoga mat and purchased the stability ball and the resistance bands online for less than $50. Score! They came with DVDs which include some basic moves. Score, score! Let’s see what we can do with them….
First, I did the Jillian Michael’s 30 days shred DVD (level 3). It includes cardio and strength components and it only lasts 20 minutes. Most of the strength circuits included plyometric moves and used only my own body weight. It was fairly easy to modify the rest to use the resistance bands instead of the hand weights.
Then, I did some ab work on the stability ball. Regular crunches, side crunches etc. I also tried some plank variations on the ball – boy, were they hard! Would any one be interested in seeing the routine I followed in more detail?
All and all, I feel that this was a quite good and short (approximaltely 45 minutes) workout. At the end of the shred I was sweating like crazy and my heart was pounding, always a good indication that you worked out hard, right? And after the abs exercises I felt my core tight and tired. Maybe I can finally work on my core strength?
So, do tell me: How do you work out when you do not have access to a gym? Maybe you do not go to a gym either way? And do you have any good suggestions of exercises I could do in my mini-home-gym?
I love home gyms! I say the smaller, the better. People who buy all that fancy equipment and space tend to never use it. It’s amazing how thoroughly you can work out on DVDs alone!
I think I am growing to love my tiny home gym as well! You certainly seem to use DVDs quite a lot. Maybe you can suggest something nice?
I don’t belong to a gym! I have free weights (not too expensive at Target), a yoga mat, and a treadmill (yeah it’s a big purchase but a gym membership for two people for 1 year plus parking was more expensive than the treadmill). I also use the stairs in my apartment building!
Well, if you put it that way it certainly makes more sense to not belong to a gym. But in my case, you forget something: students get free access to the school gym!
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