Exercising Without Any Exercise Equipment

If you have a flight of stairs, you have a stair master. Just go up and down them until you get a little winded. Repeat this every day till it gets easy, then add a few more reps. It's great for toning up the legs and behind.

The best exercise ever - jump rope. I do 3,000 skips outside of my home, and it takes me about 1/2 hour. It works your arms as well as your abs and legs, and doesn't cost anything. One $10 rope.

If you're embarrassed about jumping rope in public, well, don't be. Boxers do it.

I asked the mamas here for advice about at-home workouts. I felt like my gym membership wasn't cutting it.

Many recommended Jillian Michael's 30-day Shred DVD. I got it and a couple 2lbs hand weights but was really skeptical.

Consider me a convert. I was spending up to 5 hours a week at the gym but the 20 minute workouts on this DVD pushed me way harder than I was apparently pushing myself at the gym. One minute into the DVD, my heart was pumping and I was sweating.

I think her workout had a definite impact on my abs. Though I wasn't carrying fat around my middle...I had lost all tone due to babies. And she also does a pretty good job on the arms.

Running will tone your body overall, but you should also add squats and some light resistance-training (small hand weights). I usually run 3-4 nights per week for 30-40 minutes and then 2 nights a week I do squats and light lifting. I haven't lost a significan amount of weight, but have definitely toned myself down two pants sizes.

Good luck!

push-ups, planks, and lunges are the best for those areas. Barnes and Nobles have great workout books with pictures.

Push ups, sit ups, lunges squats - regular and plie. If you have stairs, walk up and down them for 20 minutes. Since you can get to the track 3 miles/day, 3 times a week is a good goal initially. If you really enjoy it, you can certainly run more!
Planks, crunches, bicycle moves are all good for abs. (Planks, esp!)

There is lots you can do. Dance like a crazy woman to your favorite music! Whatever gets your heart rate up. When something starts to get easy, it's time to move on to something else or take it up a notch in intensity.

You may want to invest in a pair of free weights, not to expensive and they are hardly take up any room. There are many arm exercises you can do with them, you can also you cans or water bottles instead of weights. If you are going to be doing walking and/or running ankle weights will help build your legs up a little faster. As one other person mentioned, up and down the stairs is great and you will feel the burn.

For your abs, variations of crunches are great, use your legs too. I love my exercise ball too, I use it for abs, a desk chair, sit on it when I use free weights for my arms, watching tv, etc. It is another piece of equipment that takes little space and costs about $10 and has many uses and is fun while exercising.

Try to aim for 4-5 days a week to exercise, but you can start with fewer and work your way up too. With the kids, take a walk during the day and wear ankle weights if walking is too easy or carry some kind of weight. Heel raises on any stairs at home will strengthen your ankles and improve calf muscles. Check out the fit channel on tv and watch some exercise programs to follow along or get more ideas. Sticking your arms out to the sides and doing tiny arm circles in each direction is great, try for 30 seconds each way and then increase the time.

Good luck and have fun!

You might check out the couch-to-5k program. It's a running program. I have a friend that has done this and is now running marathons less than a year later. My goal is not to run marathons but to lose weight and exercise. I started last night and it wasn't bad at all. You can download the podcasts from Robert Ullrey's site to your mp3 or phone. He will tell you when to walk and when to run.

Check out the No Excuses Workout www.noexcusesworkouts.com. There is a free section.
Also www.sparkpeople.com for free exercises, support, nutrition and all kinds of good stuff. Just started that one myself.

the only thing i have is a mini stepper and is working pretty good you see results in one month and it helps you reafined the butt area and the stomach area and tone legs pretty quickly i do about 1 1/2 hours daily.

I think running is a great start. Any chance you can get a heart rate monitor? The idea is to keep your heat rate elevated for at least 45 minutes. It does not matter how far you run if you are not considering entering a marathon but the idea is to just keep the heart rate up.

I would also do some sort of weight lifting. I have been weight training for over a year and I love what it has done for my body and posture. I have lost weight before without weight training and adding some tone to the body does wonders for your attitude and health. I have not caught a cold in almost a year! And I was always sick before exercising.

Good Luck

Does the middle school track have stands (where people can sit)? I ask because you can use those stairs to run up and down or just step up and down using one leg for 15-20 reps and then the other 15-20 reps stepping up on the step then down. That really works the legs and butt especially when you squeeze your muscles on the way up and down.

A gallon jug can be used for the backs of those starting to flab arms. There are alot of exercise tips you can get online regarding how to use the things around your house to work out with or just modify actual weight lifting exercises by incorporating ordinary household items.

Working out at least 3-4 times a week is optimal according to my personal trainer. Good luck on fighting the fight against aging and remember all the hard work you put in now will be helpful now and have a 10 year lasting benefit. just stay consistent.