My home gym and exercise plan! Exergaming---too wimpy.
> Raymond:
>
> Thanks for sending this along. My New Year's resolution is to have my
> average weight be 40 pounds less than it is currently. Thus the Discovery Health's National Body Challenge could be a useful thing for me. I saw this on TV as
> I flipped through the other day but when I got your email I looked up the
> web site. I'm still not sure exactly what this is about other than a promo
> for Bally's Gym. However, I'll take another look tomorrow and register if
> it seems useful.
>
> By the way, here is my dream exercise equipment ==>
> http://www.expresso.com/index.html. I will be buying one of these during
> 2008. I am really interested in exergaming. I have been an online gamer
> for years and I want to move from that to exergaming - so I am getting a
> Nintendo Wii with the WiiFit attachment (as soon as I can get my hands on
> one - very hard to find these at present). Then I will get the S2u bike
> with internet service as soon as I can afford it. So just as well I'll
> start earning in a few weeks!
>
> If you see anything about exergaming in your extensive internet browsing -
> let me know. I don't think I know anyone who browses as far and wide on the
> internet as you do!
>
> I look forward to seeing you sometime in 2008 when you move over to this
> area again.
>
> Best of luck with your course work etc.
>
> Happy New Year!
>
> A
Happy New Year, A! Good luck on your new nursing job! Congratulations on finally finishing your MSN degree!
Glad you're interested in the Discovery Channel's National Body Challenge. Hey, you get a free 8-week membership to Bally's Gym. Why not?
Hmm...the Expresso bike looks useful, since it's a REAL BIKE. :p
However, I just tried the Nintendo Wii yesterday at my friend's place (tennis, boxing, golf, bowling) and find it useless and too wimpy for actually improving your fitness in a significant way. (Sorry Jen---who's gonna read this.) It barely increases your heart rate at all!
Our heart rates need to be at 50-85% of our maximum rate (220 minus our age) to have significant cardiovascular benefits. I worry that most exergaming is simply too easy on your body to have much real benefit.
Here are all my posts on exercise. Please check back for regular updates! I organize them all by tags, like "triathlon," "running," "kickboxing," etc.
http://tri-blog.livejournal.com/tag/triathlon
Exergaming and the Nintendo Wii Fit:
Part 1
http://tri-blog.livejournal.com/136920.html
Part 2: Dr. Ernie Medina, the founder of XRtainment Zone in S. California, actually found my Part 1 blog post on exergaming and emailed me.
http://tri-blog.livejournal.com/137385.html
Since I've been training for a triathlon for months, I've seriously looked into what really, practically improves our bodies.
Hard cardio workouts really work in dropping the pounds. From Sept. to Nov., I lost 2 inches from my belly (the fattest part) and 1 inch from my waist, from a rigorous workout of:
- kickboxing (3 hours/week, community college class),
- swimming (2 km/week, community college pool) with the Total Immersion method (http://www.totalimmersion.net),
- and running (10 miles/week).
- Occasionally, I also rollerblade (6.5 miles or 13 miles). It's great for building your butt and leg abductor muscles, plus it's lower impact on your knees. I usually sprint the whole distance.
My body fat is around 13%. I use a bioelectrical impedance Tanita scale (http://www.tanita.com/BodyCompositionM.shtml) to measure it. My goal is to get below 10% body fat. To do that, we must rigorously watch our diet and nutrition too. Drinking soda and eating lots of junk and processed food won't cut it.
I LOVE kickboxing as an all-around great workout! It works out your upper body, lower body, and abs. It includes body sculpting and martial arts moves, plus constant cardio.
My favorite program, which includes kickboxing, martial arts, body sculpting, and some dancing, is Turbo Jam! The community college course gave a fantastic workout, too. But if you can't take a course, Turbo Jam is your bet overall bet! Some of the DVD's instructors lost 45 pounds or even 70 pounds, doing those Turbo Jam routines.
http://tri-blog.livejournal.com/tag/kickboxing
http://tri-blog.livejournal.com/135627.html
http://tri-blog.livejournal.com/102097.html
Now I'm trying to build serious muscle and a 6-pack too, not only improve cardio endurance. I'm also buying stuff to round out my home gym. I don't want to spend money on a gym membership, and it takes too much time to drive there, etc.
So now I'm thinking of buying P90X, a fantastic, highly diverse, highly intense system of 12 workouts, designed to get you into ripped condition in 90 days:
http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/best_sellers/p90x.do?code=P90XDOTCOM
It's also made by Beachbody (http://www.beachbody.com), the company that makes Turbo Jam. (They have several good products. Check out Beachbody's stuff in general!)
Or I'm wondering about Turbulence Training (http://www.turbulencetraining.com), which claims to help you "Lose Fat While Gaining Muscle At The Same Time With Just 3 Short, (But Intense) Workouts A Week. Say Goodbye To Long, Slow Boring Cardio Exercises and Start Incinerating Maximum Fat In Minimum Time With Killer Workouts You Can Do In The Privacy Of Your Own Home In 45 Minutes Or Less..."
This girl, Maggie Wang, does Turbulence Training regularly, but she has also tried P90X. She blogs seriously about her body transformation efforts:
http://maggiewang.com/resources/
I've also just bought Bodylastics (http://www.bodylastics.com/), a light, portable set of resistance bands that let you replace weights, isolate specific parts of your body, etc. Resistance bands are a great thing to own if you want to strengthen muscle.
See this guy's site: http://www.iwantsixpackabs.com/
He shows videos and and his whole free programs that got him a 6-pack in 16 weeks, all from home. He swears by Bodylastics.
My most expensive piece of home equipment is the Total Gym XL (http://www.totalgymdirect.com), which I bought a few years ago for around $1500. It's a great machine that lets you do 80 muscle building exercises that mimic weights. Unfortunately, my house is too crowded now for me to use it. And it's too heavy to be portable. My new home will have space, however, and I plan to use my Total Gym regularly there, in my bedroom.
I also own a $7 jump rope by Altus. Jump rope is an excellent way to lose weight and burn tons of calories in a really short time. Try jumping rope for just 1 minute. You'll see what I mean! It's also lower impact on your knees than running.
Finally, I plan to buy a pull up bar to hook onto my bedroom doorway. Maggie Wang does a review of 3 popular bars:
http://maggiewang.com/2006/01/29/chin-up-pull-up-bar-links/
I will buy the Door Gym:
http://www.karatedepot.com/tr-ex-25.html
http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Fitness-DG-Door-Gym/dp/B00029A7C0
Bottom line: I am creating a complete home gym. I refuse to pay for gym membership and waste time driving to a gym. Plus I want to maintain my exercise routine and fitness in cold, bad weather!
My home gym:
- $7 Altus jump rope
- $65 resistance band set, by Bodylastics (convenient, portable replacement for weights)
- $70 Turbo Jam kickboxing DVDs (excellent cardio/body sculpting workout for upper body, lower body, abs)
- $45 chin up bar---the Door Gym
- $140 P90X program, hard core, total-body program to build a 6-pack, power, cardio, burn fat, and do yoga
- $1500 Total Gym XL, great machine that lets you do 80 exercises to build muscle. Upper and lower body. You can get cheaper, used models for a few hundred bucks. This is NOT necessary, if you buy weights and use resistance bands. (See this guy's site for what I mean: http://www.iwantsixpackabs.com/)
To save money on swimming (which is also a good cardio and total body workout), I take a 1-unit community college class (no lessons). The teacher lets us just go swim dozens of laps, with no instructions or requirements. It's the cheapest way to get regular access to an Olympic-sized pool that I know.
For major cardio (for fat loss), I rely on Turbo Jam (kickboxing), running, swimming, and rollerblading. Will also start biking, once I move to Belmont. I have major biking/rollerblading/running trails right near my house.
Am strongly thinking of buying Beachbody's P90X, which is a fantastic ALL-AROUND fitness package. Most people are not fit enough to follow it! It includes lots of weight lifting, pushups, pullups, and calisthenics, to build a 6-pack and muscles. It also includes DVDs for kenpo (martial arts/kickboxing), plyometrics (to develop explosive power for fast sports), cardio, stretching, and even YOGA!
Good luck, and let me know what happens! I'll see you soon after I move this Friday, to Belmont!
Raymond
>
> Thanks for sending this along. My New Year's resolution is to have my
> average weight be 40 pounds less than it is currently. Thus the Discovery Health's National Body Challenge could be a useful thing for me. I saw this on TV as
> I flipped through the other day but when I got your email I looked up the
> web site. I'm still not sure exactly what this is about other than a promo
> for Bally's Gym. However, I'll take another look tomorrow and register if
> it seems useful.
>
> By the way, here is my dream exercise equipment ==>
> http://www.expresso.com/index.html. I will be buying one of these during
> 2008. I am really interested in exergaming. I have been an online gamer
> for years and I want to move from that to exergaming - so I am getting a
> Nintendo Wii with the WiiFit attachment (as soon as I can get my hands on
> one - very hard to find these at present). Then I will get the S2u bike
> with internet service as soon as I can afford it. So just as well I'll
> start earning in a few weeks!
>
> If you see anything about exergaming in your extensive internet browsing -
> let me know. I don't think I know anyone who browses as far and wide on the
> internet as you do!
>
> I look forward to seeing you sometime in 2008 when you move over to this
> area again.
>
> Best of luck with your course work etc.
>
> Happy New Year!
>
> A
Happy New Year, A! Good luck on your new nursing job! Congratulations on finally finishing your MSN degree!
Glad you're interested in the Discovery Channel's National Body Challenge. Hey, you get a free 8-week membership to Bally's Gym. Why not?
Hmm...the Expresso bike looks useful, since it's a REAL BIKE. :p
However, I just tried the Nintendo Wii yesterday at my friend's place (tennis, boxing, golf, bowling) and find it useless and too wimpy for actually improving your fitness in a significant way. (Sorry Jen---who's gonna read this.) It barely increases your heart rate at all!
Our heart rates need to be at 50-85% of our maximum rate (220 minus our age) to have significant cardiovascular benefits. I worry that most exergaming is simply too easy on your body to have much real benefit.
Here are all my posts on exercise. Please check back for regular updates! I organize them all by tags, like "triathlon," "running," "kickboxing," etc.
http://tri-blog.livejournal.com/tag/triathlon
Exergaming and the Nintendo Wii Fit:
Part 1
http://tri-blog.livejournal.com/136920.html
Part 2: Dr. Ernie Medina, the founder of XRtainment Zone in S. California, actually found my Part 1 blog post on exergaming and emailed me.
http://tri-blog.livejournal.com/137385.html
Since I've been training for a triathlon for months, I've seriously looked into what really, practically improves our bodies.
Hard cardio workouts really work in dropping the pounds. From Sept. to Nov., I lost 2 inches from my belly (the fattest part) and 1 inch from my waist, from a rigorous workout of:
- kickboxing (3 hours/week, community college class),
- swimming (2 km/week, community college pool) with the Total Immersion method (http://www.totalimmersion.net),
- and running (10 miles/week).
- Occasionally, I also rollerblade (6.5 miles or 13 miles). It's great for building your butt and leg abductor muscles, plus it's lower impact on your knees. I usually sprint the whole distance.
My body fat is around 13%. I use a bioelectrical impedance Tanita scale (http://www.tanita.com/BodyCompositionM.shtml) to measure it. My goal is to get below 10% body fat. To do that, we must rigorously watch our diet and nutrition too. Drinking soda and eating lots of junk and processed food won't cut it.
I LOVE kickboxing as an all-around great workout! It works out your upper body, lower body, and abs. It includes body sculpting and martial arts moves, plus constant cardio.
My favorite program, which includes kickboxing, martial arts, body sculpting, and some dancing, is Turbo Jam! The community college course gave a fantastic workout, too. But if you can't take a course, Turbo Jam is your bet overall bet! Some of the DVD's instructors lost 45 pounds or even 70 pounds, doing those Turbo Jam routines.
http://tri-blog.livejournal.com/tag/kickboxing
http://tri-blog.livejournal.com/135627.html
http://tri-blog.livejournal.com/102097.html
Now I'm trying to build serious muscle and a 6-pack too, not only improve cardio endurance. I'm also buying stuff to round out my home gym. I don't want to spend money on a gym membership, and it takes too much time to drive there, etc.
So now I'm thinking of buying P90X, a fantastic, highly diverse, highly intense system of 12 workouts, designed to get you into ripped condition in 90 days:
http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/best_sellers/p90x.do?code=P90XDOTCOM
It's also made by Beachbody (http://www.beachbody.com), the company that makes Turbo Jam. (They have several good products. Check out Beachbody's stuff in general!)
Or I'm wondering about Turbulence Training (http://www.turbulencetraining.com), which claims to help you "Lose Fat While Gaining Muscle At The Same Time With Just 3 Short, (But Intense) Workouts A Week. Say Goodbye To Long, Slow Boring Cardio Exercises and Start Incinerating Maximum Fat In Minimum Time With Killer Workouts You Can Do In The Privacy Of Your Own Home In 45 Minutes Or Less..."
This girl, Maggie Wang, does Turbulence Training regularly, but she has also tried P90X. She blogs seriously about her body transformation efforts:
http://maggiewang.com/resources/
I've also just bought Bodylastics (http://www.bodylastics.com/), a light, portable set of resistance bands that let you replace weights, isolate specific parts of your body, etc. Resistance bands are a great thing to own if you want to strengthen muscle.
See this guy's site: http://www.iwantsixpackabs.com/
He shows videos and and his whole free programs that got him a 6-pack in 16 weeks, all from home. He swears by Bodylastics.
My most expensive piece of home equipment is the Total Gym XL (http://www.totalgymdirect.com), which I bought a few years ago for around $1500. It's a great machine that lets you do 80 muscle building exercises that mimic weights. Unfortunately, my house is too crowded now for me to use it. And it's too heavy to be portable. My new home will have space, however, and I plan to use my Total Gym regularly there, in my bedroom.
I also own a $7 jump rope by Altus. Jump rope is an excellent way to lose weight and burn tons of calories in a really short time. Try jumping rope for just 1 minute. You'll see what I mean! It's also lower impact on your knees than running.
Finally, I plan to buy a pull up bar to hook onto my bedroom doorway. Maggie Wang does a review of 3 popular bars:
http://maggiewang.com/2006/01/29/chin-up-pull-up-bar-links/
I will buy the Door Gym:
http://www.karatedepot.com/tr-ex-25.html
http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Fitness-DG-Door-Gym/dp/B00029A7C0
Bottom line: I am creating a complete home gym. I refuse to pay for gym membership and waste time driving to a gym. Plus I want to maintain my exercise routine and fitness in cold, bad weather!
My home gym:
- $7 Altus jump rope
- $65 resistance band set, by Bodylastics (convenient, portable replacement for weights)
- $70 Turbo Jam kickboxing DVDs (excellent cardio/body sculpting workout for upper body, lower body, abs)
- $45 chin up bar---the Door Gym
- $140 P90X program, hard core, total-body program to build a 6-pack, power, cardio, burn fat, and do yoga
- $1500 Total Gym XL, great machine that lets you do 80 exercises to build muscle. Upper and lower body. You can get cheaper, used models for a few hundred bucks. This is NOT necessary, if you buy weights and use resistance bands. (See this guy's site for what I mean: http://www.iwantsixpackabs.com/)
To save money on swimming (which is also a good cardio and total body workout), I take a 1-unit community college class (no lessons). The teacher lets us just go swim dozens of laps, with no instructions or requirements. It's the cheapest way to get regular access to an Olympic-sized pool that I know.
For major cardio (for fat loss), I rely on Turbo Jam (kickboxing), running, swimming, and rollerblading. Will also start biking, once I move to Belmont. I have major biking/rollerblading/running trails right near my house.
Am strongly thinking of buying Beachbody's P90X, which is a fantastic ALL-AROUND fitness package. Most people are not fit enough to follow it! It includes lots of weight lifting, pushups, pullups, and calisthenics, to build a 6-pack and muscles. It also includes DVDs for kenpo (martial arts/kickboxing), plyometrics (to develop explosive power for fast sports), cardio, stretching, and even YOGA!
Good luck, and let me know what happens! I'll see you soon after I move this Friday, to Belmont!
Raymond