Beginners Home Fitness Program?

October 25, 2015 9:56 PM

What are some recommended home exercise programs, with videos online or DVD, to guide me through workouts on a daily/weekly basis that are very friendly to beginners and exercise n00bs? Personal recommendations are especially welcome!

I've heard some things about PX90 or Insanity or Pilates, but don't really know what they mean or if they would be good for me. Point me to something I can buy on Amazon or a website/app I can subscribe to.

Goals: Overall improved fitness in my entire body since I am very much NOT fit right now. :( Weight loss would be a very nice intended outcome

Some considerations:
- Must be at home. Portability is not an issue, but I do not have any equipment. I am open for minimal equipment purchases, if very specific guidance is given, e.g., buy this free weight at this poundage
- No prior injuries / physical issues
- Must have visuals, e.g., videos, dvds
- Ideally have something more exciting than just doing the same thing over and over again, e.g., couch-to-5k kind of sounds super boring and would require getting out of the house
- Prefer NO/minimal coaching on food / diet
- Time spent per session is ideally closer to 30 minutes, but up to an hour tops
- Cost?? I guess I am open to more expensive programs if you can provide some sense of the "longevity" of the materials, e.g., does PX90 "expire" after 90 days or simply no longer relevant b/c you are batman at the end of 90 days?
- Must be very structured, e.g., start here, then do this program for 2 weeks, then this, etc.

Thank you!

posted by ellerhodes to Health & Fitness (16 answers total)

Best answer: DDP Yoga.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:49 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I have been watching the FitnessBlender videos on youtube. They have hundreds of videos to choose from. There are many bodyweight only videos. They also have their own website (fitnessblender.com). You can purchase "programs" on their website for less than $10 and they tell you which videos to do and on which days. I bought the 4 week bodyweight-only fat loss program. It was difficult but it got me into great shape. They also show you modifications for some of the exercises if they are too difficult for you.
posted by Nicole21 at 11:09 PM on October 25, 2015 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Dirty Yoga. Very clear, very well explained. I just keep buying the one month $15 Prep classes over and over, but if you subscribe properly they send you three classes a week. Very orderly.

I do the yoga at home on a rug.

There are some good free yoga tutorials on YouTube, but have found dirty yoga worth paying for.
posted by jrobin276 at 12:59 AM on October 26, 2015

Best answer: GMB's workouts are a lot of fun, and the people are extremely friendly and supportive. There are a few things on the website you can try out for free.
posted by fmnr at 2:25 AM on October 26, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I like Leslie Sansone's Three Mega Miles. Aerobics at a good level for beginner, and also some muscle work with a band (which comes with the DVD). You can do all of the workout at once or just a part if you're short on time. Her website has a lot of other videos as well.

This site (which also contains a lot of detailed reviews plus a message board for questions) offers this advice for choosing home workouts.
posted by JanetLand at 4:37 AM on October 26, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Warrior Xfit
posted by tman99 at 5:53 AM on October 26, 2015

If you have Amazon Prime, they have tons of workout videos that you can stream for free to decide what you want to focus on. This is not very structured but it will show you what each kind of workout is and see if you love or hate it.
posted by soelo at 7:28 AM on October 26, 2015

Do you just want an aerobic program, or sorta any fitness program? I always suggest some sort of strength program, rather than/in addition to something like Insanity. Reddit's Bodyweight Fitness beginner's plan is excellent. Solid progression, quick workouts, very little equipment required (a pull-up bar would be necessary; those are fairly cheap though).
posted by protocoach at 8:56 AM on October 26, 2015

Best answer: Kudos for wanting to get into better shape!

I have two secrets for you: First, every fit person who exercises started out as a beginner. Second, despite what the exercise industry will try to sell you, there is no perfect video/program that gets around the fact that you have to stay motivated to actually do the work. Every exercise routine gets boring given time, you've seen all the ads for the fads over the years. There is a billion dollar industry devoted to making you think otherwise, and promising you motivation.

You don't need to buy a video or fancy equipment to find motivation. Doing some exercise, and making this into a habit that is part of your life, no matter the exercise, is loads better than doing nothing at all. Understanding and sharing your specific goals for fitness will get you better recommendations for specific videos.

In lieu of recommending a product you can buy/rent, I am going to very strongly recommend heading over to the /r/fitness wiki and starting there to help you assess your goals as a beginner.

Don't dismiss Couch to 5K so quickly. I had success, and return to the program when I fall off the wagon. Podcasts as a beginner, especially C25K specific ones, help make walking and running less boring.

If you're reluctant to leave the house, I'm also quite partial to the /r/bodyweightfitness beginner routine, which I do at home with no equipment beyond a pull up bar. There are youtube videos that show you how to do the basic exercises, and a free smartphone app.

If you need a specific goal to work towards as a beginner, here are 3, why not pick one?
* Strength: be able to do 10 (100?) push-ups with correct form in X minutes
* Aerobic: be able to walk (run?) a mile (5K?) in X minutes
* Flexibility: be able to touch toes/do a split/do a specific yoga pose

Good luck doing the work and staying motivated!
posted by enfa at 9:01 AM on October 26, 2015 [4 favorites]

Nthing Yoga.

I know you say "Prefer NO/minimal coaching on food / diet", but it's pretty hard to lose weight without some modification of diet.

You might also check out the Hacker's Diet which is a combination of diet & exercise, but more generally lays out how to become fit and some of the numbers of getting fitter & losing weight.
posted by gregr at 9:11 AM on October 26, 2015 [1 favorite]

I've been using the "Move" app for iphone (note, it's Move, not Moves, which is a similar but not as good one). For $3 you can choose tons of different exercises (body weight, stretches, some yoga stuff, some cardio) and set a timer to go off at different intervals throughout the day. When the timer goes off the app assigns you an exercise, and once you complete it you click, "I did it!" It tracks each exercise you do through the day.

I've been using it at work, and find that through the day I'm doing 10-12 exercises which is usually enough to make me sore, but each exercise is short and simple enough to fit seamlessly into my day. I've struggled for a while with getting myself to exercise, and this is the one thing that has stuck, since each exercise takes almost no time. I kind of love it.

(When the exercise pops up on your phone, there's a link showing you how to do it, if it's unfamiliar to you.)
posted by odayoday at 2:06 PM on October 26, 2015

Best answer: FitnessGlo is a website with lots of streaming videos, with lengths of 5 to 60 minutes (seems like most are 10 or 30 minutes). They tell you what level each video is, and let you sort by level. They also have 8-week programs where they tell you which videos to do each day. It's $12/month and it's very easy to cancel if you don't like it. Each video has a thumbnail image that usually shows what equipment, if any, you need -- the only essentials are a set of light and heavy hand weights. For a beginner, 2 and 5 pound hand weights would probably be good. If I were you, I would start with the 8 week beginner program, and once you finished with that and were settled into an exercise routine, you could probably just pick whatever videos you felt like doing that day that added up to 30 minutes. I was a member for a few years and really liked it.
posted by chickenmagazine at 6:10 PM on October 26, 2015

Best answer: I'll mention my all-time favorite for being a great workout that exercises the major muscle groups in a balanced way, can be done by someone with n00 extra pounds, as well as someone completely fit and of normal body weight, and because I have previously lost 60+lbs with it, and still use it as my warm-up to a good run, or a basic workout to help me maintain. It incorporates a warm-up, 6 cardio intervals, and 6 strength training intervals, plus cool-down, stretch, and abs section. (so just when you start to feel like you've had enough of the cardio interval, she switches to a strength interval, and your heart rate stays up). She is very motivating, too! An oldie but goodie, is:
Susan Powter's Burn Fat and Get Fit.

She speaks of her weight loss of 133 pounds, and I think this helps her to understand that not everyone can jump around and do certain things at top speed or intensity without injury, but also that you need to motivated to work harder than you have done before.

The only equipment that you need (but it isn't required - the exercises can be done without them), is a step/bench for step-ups. I like to also have some dumbbells, but you can start with soup cans or nothing at all. A mat is nice, but a towel also works.

Oh, and although this particular video is my all-time fave fall-back (also due to the music that isn't aimed at a narrow group of tastes)... I have tried a few other videos of hers, and they just weren't up to par. This is the one, hands down.

Also, I've purchased dozens and dozens of workout videos and DVDs over the span of 2+ decades, and the really good ones are rare indeed.
posted by itsflyable at 6:11 PM on October 26, 2015

Good on you for wanting to get in shape!

I was in a similar place a year ago, and it's been awesome learning about health and fitness and seeing how I've changed for the better as a result. I also looked into P90X, 7-Minute Workout, Slow-Carb diet, etc. and then realized that for me, it was less about starting on some sort of program, and more about changing my lifestyle. So I started simple and easy, and went from there.

I started with yoga, and the Yoga Studio app ($3.99) allowed me to look up all the poses and learn about them while easing into an eventual lifestyle change.

The app has different types of routines (strength, flexibility, balance) at different levels (beginner, intermediate, advanced) and durations (15, 30, 60 minutes), and it lets you create your own routines once you get the hang of things. Each routine has video and a voice-over, as well as soothing sounds/music if you want it. Add in a yoga mat, and your total cost is about $25.

After a few weeks of doing it alone in my living room, I went to a real-life yoga studio with a friend, and didn't feel awkward or clueless at all.

Yoga is pretty great for overall physical health, as well as mental health. I'm rarely in a bad mood these days, I smile a lot, and I've become much more outgoing and friendly in social situations. (I've sort of became the opposite of who I used to be a year ago.)

I also walk a lot more now, take the bike instead of the car when I can, started weightlifting, got back into playing drums on a regular basis, and discovered I really like hiking.

You will also need to give serious thought to changing your diet (and not "going on a diet"). This took me a while to accept, but it really is an important part of the equation. Everyone is different here, but I would recommend educating yourself on TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure), caloric intake, and macronutrients. If you do it right, you can lose weight just by eating better and consuming less calories than you burn. I lost 10 pounds this way in a couple months by simply reducing sugar and carbohydrates. (Yoga doesn't burn very many calories.)

And you need to stick to whatever you start doing. Keep your long-term goals in mind and do your workout routine even when you don't feel like it. The funny thing is that afterward, you feel great and kind of silly about not wanting to do it earlier. Over time, you'll see results and it starts to become a part of who you are and what you do, and it's pretty neat to see how small day-to-day changes can lead to big life changes.
posted by subliminable at 6:34 PM on October 26, 2015

Response by poster: Thanks for the answers thus far. My desire to NOT see any coaching on diet is that I am looking to improve this outside of a program. I know it's important, but don't want it mixed with the program.
posted by ellerhodes at 7:08 PM on October 26, 2015

The Nike Training Club app is just what you're looking for. Totally free, tons of beginner programs, videos for every exercise, 30-45 minute workouts, little to no equipment necessary. I use it at home all the time and my fitness has improved immensely (as has my knowledge of basic exercises).
posted by thebots at 7:50 AM on October 27, 2015