anotherdemocrat has asked others to help with Monday Fitness, so I’m taking a turn today. If you’d like to be in the rotation, see info at the end of this diary. Since this diary is about free resources for exercising at home, just skip down to my list below the fold if you don't want to read about my personal exercise history.
I’m in my mid-fifties and have done various things over the years to be fit and currently exercise at home, using programs on TV. In the past I have run, which I loved, but eventually my knees couldn’t take it (turns out that being a bit knock-kneed and running don’t mix very well). I’ve swum laps, which I also loved and which helped recuperate my knees; downsides are that it requires driving to a pool (at least part of the year) and usually a gym membership, and in my experience most gyms have a relatively short pool and don’t always keep the water in very good condition (ugh). I have belonged to gyms of various sorts over the years and typically use them for a while, but then usually get tired of the extra time involved in driving to the gym (I’m self-employed and work from home, so it’s not "on my way" to go the gym) and paying a membership fee. I’ve also walked regularly at different times.
I was an avid skater for a number of years, skating in quad skates at the rink, participating in speed skating workouts at the rink, and inline skating outdoors (Austin has one of the world’s best places to skate outdoors--the Veloway; my longest skate was 8 laps there, 24.8 miles). Skating is my very favorite form of exercise - really more like play for me - until I developed plantar fasciitis. (It’s an inflammation of the fasciae on the bottom of the feet that I probably got because I had undiagnosed hypothyroidism.) That took more than a year to get over. Skating again is in my future.
Over the years I’ve sometimes done workouts to programs on TV, ever since I discovered Body Electric on PBS many years ago. While I was getting over plantar fasciitis, I started doing that again and also discovered a yoga program, Inhale, on the cable channel Oxygen. (Yoga runs a close second to skating as exercise I enjoy.) I worked out to both programs daily for a long time, and that was great. I can’t say exactly why I stopped that routine, except that I can get bored with doing the same thing after a while, and it’s also easy for me to put off exercising when I get real busy on my job. And once I get out of a regular routine, I have a hard time establishing one again.
So now I am getting back into the groove of exercising, and I’m doing workouts that run on TV, at least for now. (Later will probably be doing some stuff outdoors again too.) For me there are a lot of advantages to this: no gym expense, no driving, minimal equipment (or none) required, tons of variety, and easy to fit into my day. I have digital cable, and a couple of years ago I found the Fit TV channel, and I’ve also recently discovered the Exercise TV On Demand channel. But even if you don’t have cable, there are other options for getting such programs for free.
Here’s my personal rundown of equipment and programs. And please add any others that you like in the comments!
EQUIPMENT
Most TV exercise programs require minimal equipment or none, beyond some fitness shoes. Usually you can start with nothing, see what you like, and then gradually buy the few bits of equipment you might need. My equipment:
* General fitness shoe (a podiatrist recommended that they be flexible when bending toe to heel to toe, with firm support at the heel)
* Yoga mat (under $20; handy for lots of types of workouts
* Neoprene dumbbells: pairs of 3-, 5-, 8-lb, , plus one each 10-lb and 15-lb (under $5-under $20 each)
* Stability ball (under $20; I like workouts with the stability ball, and it makes a good alternate desk chair.)
* Towel and small blanket: Sometimes use these for yoga.
* VCR/DVR/TiVo: If you have a way of recording TV shows, I highly recommend recording programs in the workout series you like. Then you can do the workouts whenever it suits you, and you can build up your own workout collection on videotapes or DVDs. It’s also handy to have your own collection if a channel stops carrying a series you especially like.
EXERCISE PROGRAMS
PBS
These vary locally, so check your PBS station(s). You may have different programs, at different times. In Austin (CST) we have Classical Stretch: The Esmonde Technique at 6-6:30 am and noon-12:30 pm; Body Electric at 6:30-7 am; and Wai Lana Yoga at 10:30-11 am.
Classical Stretch: I haven’t followed this, so I did one the other day. I thought it was pretty good, but you have to be careful. She frequently uses the word "force" (e.g., "Force your knees open"), and also said to "bounce" during a particular stretch. Sorry, but both of those instructions are dangerous advice. If you watch this one, you have to stay alert so that your brain doesn’t automatically have you forcing and bouncing while you stretch.
Body Electric: This is one of the best workout shows there is, IMO. That’s probably why PBS has been running it for about 30 years (or maybe longer). Margaret Richards is a master of packing a beneficial, tough yet safe workout into less than 30 minutes. If you only watch it, it looks deceptively tame. If you do it, you soon find otherwise.
Wai Lana Yoga: This has its good points, but I think it would be a good idea to have at least a few yoga classes under your belt before trying this. She gives minimal, if any, instruction on her poses, and she takes poses in advanced positions without explaining how to modify them if you’re not already a pretzel. It’s easy to injure yourself if you try to mimic an advanced stage of a yoga pose that you haven’t worked up to it gradually over time.
CABLE TV/DIGITAL CABLE
Inhale (on the Oxygen channel)
Steve Ross website
Some comments on the show posted at yoga.com
This doesn’t seem to have its own page anymore on the Oxygen website, but the above links have some info about it. In Austin this show runs at 5-6 am M-F, so I’m guessing that on the East Coast it starts at 4 am it may run at some ungodly time in your area. That’s what VCRs and DVRs are for. When I first started tuning in to this program, the instructor, Steve Ross, really got on my nerves. Plus he played music you’d hear on the radio - e.g., U2, Sting, Steve Wonder - which seemed practically sacrilegious to me, having had some yoga classes in the past and taken them "very seriously." Well, Steven grew on me, and what can I say? Now I really like doing yoga to contemporary music. He’s all about lightening up, and he won me over. A downside is that he doesn’t give much instruction about poses. So again, it would be good to have a few yoga classes in your past. Or just remember that the purpose is not actually to do the pose but to work toward it. You get all the benefit you need by moving toward the pose.
Fit TV channel (digital cable)
This channel runs a wide variety of workout programs nearly 24 hours a day, from yoga and belly dancing to intense cardio and conditioning. For a few hours in the afternoon and evening, they run health/fitness-related shows and some paid advertising in the wee hours. Sample some of the programs, find what you like, and set your VRC/DVR. My favorite series so far have been Caribbean Workout and Breathingspace Yoga; these aren’t running them now, but I have some on videotape. If Breathingspace Yoga ever comes on again, it's good about giving details of each pose.
Exercise TV On Demand (digital cable) and Exercise TV online
Free workout videos
Free workout plans
Even though I’ve had digital cable for a while, I only recently discovered this channel. It’s really great - it has workouts from under 5 minutes to an hour, and you can run them whenever you want. There’s a lot of variety to choose from, and they also have workout programs for designated periods of time (5 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, 30 days). You can do these whether you have the channel or not. Download the workout schedule from the website, and then use the programs that are on the TV channel, or run the programs online. They don't offer all of the programs for free online (of course they want people to buy them), but I think they have enough free ones available that you can make do with them. I recently did the 2 Weeks New You one and lost about 3 pounds, plus 1 inch off my waist. Now I’m starting the New Year New You program (30 days), which has a 30-day workout schedule and menu planner. It’s free to sign up for this; then you download the schedule/menu planner, and the workout of the day is available online for free. If you start it now, you may be picking up somewhere in the middle of the workout schedule (I’m not sure, since I’m using the TV programs), but that doesn’t really matter. I just did the first workout of this program yesterday: Less Is More Cardio. It was a killer! (In a good way.)
Discovery Health channel (digital cable and online)
Body Sculpt with Gilad (7-8 am CST): This isn't one of my personal favorites, but it’s certainly a good workout.
Online: Also has a free National Body Challenge program. It has some online workout videos by Gilad and Dr. Oz.
ONLINE
Exercise TV (see above).
Sparkpeople: This is a terrific online resource. I was using it for a while, but I’m terrible about taking the time to do the record keeping. I may go back to using it again. It’s all free. You sign up, enter your current stats and goals, and get an exercise and eating plan. There are video clips and instructions online to follow for all the exercises. Lots of reward mechanisms and socializing too, if that floats your boat.
eHow’s How to Find Free Online Workout Videos: Lots of links here (under "Resources" at bottom of list).
Google: For more, you can search the Google for "free online workout videos."
YouTube: Search for "workout."
UPDATE:
One Hundred Pushups: An online site that looks great, recommended by The Other Steve.
PUBLIC LIBRARIES
Usually have workout videos that you can check out.
Want to write a Fitness Monday diary? From anotherdemocrat: If this is to be a continuing series, we need hosts. Please go to the gmail account I set up at gmail.com and sign in - username is FitnessMonday, pw is exercise - and add your name to the calendar. We need you, yes, you to sign up to host if this series is to continue.