apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

except for when company's over, i tend to leave my hand weights in full view. that way, even if i only have time for a few arm curls when getting ready in the morning, at least i'm doing something!

also, for those of you with comcast, the on demand workouts are great! new ones come out pretty often, which keeps me from getting bored.

also, a couple christmases ago my little brother got me a mini trampoline. i usually don't get very intense workouts from jumping on it, but it's a lot of fun! (i used to love jumping on our big outdoor trampoline as a kid, hence the gift.)

My living room doesn't lend itself to working out in front of a DVD. I am too picky about my furniture arrangement to leave a gaping space in front of the TV just for working out. So I started playing exercise DVDs on my computer instead. My office setup is a nook in a loft space, and there's a decent amount of floor space there. Plus, the railing of the loft works nicely as a ballet barre for the NYC Ballet Workout. If you have a laptop you can set it up anywhere you have space.

My cable provider has a free on-demand channel of nothing but workout videos (the channel is called Exercise TV On Demand). Some of the videos are short - just 5 to 10 minutes - while others are half an hour long or longer. I like it because it allows me to try out tons of different types of exercises (so I don't get bored). Plus I can do it any ol' time I like at home. And since we have to pay the cable bill anyway, it doesn't cost anything extra.

As for motivators? Guilt works pretty well. Seriously! If I don't work out, I just keep thinking about how I should work out. That just makes me feel like crap. If I actually take the time to work out - even for just 15 minutes - I feel better. Also if there's a video I know pretty well & I don't want to listen to the same inane chatter over and over again, I'll put the video on mute & listen to NPR instead or a podcast off of their website. I especially love working out during "Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me". The laughter definitely distracts my mind from the hard work my body is doing.

I cxled my NYSC membership back in September and started to work out at home. I rearranged my furniture in the bedroom and not only I get to work out regularly but also taking shower at home is great.

The reason for cxlation not due to financial circumstances (cause my company pays for it) but taking shower at the gym was gross to me... Now I do not have that excuse and I love it. The only thing I miss is the belly dancing classes but my sister sent me videotapes from Turkey :-))

I would agree with the "delegating a specific time" idea - we use to drive 30 minutes to a 24 fitness twice a week for a year for workouts, then we moved to a new place which had not only a gym but a park 1 block away with one of the best jogging paths in the city. Unfortunately our work outs have really gone off track, and recently we deduced it was because we no longer alloted a specific time for them because they were always so close at hand. Its so easy now to say "oh we can go first thing tomorrow instead" and then never do!

So its actually worked against us, having the means close at hand. Funny how that happens!

Obviously correcting this became our new years resolution and we have been doing a lot better allotting specific days and times for it.


I also wanted to throw in the ring that working out with someone else can be a good way to keep yourself on track and motivated. When you have someone else you would be letting down its a bit harder to act on petty excuses. It can also be more fun and pass the time more quickly with someone else.

I have always despised gyms and exercise in general. I've never been able to make myself workout regularly before this year, but I've been using My Fitness Coach on Wii for 30 minutes a day, 6 days a week since December. I can't wait until the weather gets warmer so I can add biking and walks for variety.

The key for me was finding a form of exercise I don't hate (and kind of like actually) that is convenient. I also exercise right when I get home from work. I don't sit down, I don't turn on the TV, I change and get to it. Otherwise I'd probably find too many reasons not to.

Once you stick with something, noticing positive changes in your body is very motivating as well.

I find exercising with someone is the best motivation for me.

Exercising in a fairly uncluttered location. I find that if I can see laundry, piles of paperwork, even worse household accounting I can't focus on a good workout.

I love love love Namaste Yoga and Total Body Fitness with Gilad on the Fit TV. I use my DVR for both of those shows. Gilad is pretty motivating himself and the exercises last less than 20mins. Easy peasy in the morning, I just pull out my Yoga mat and get going.

Even though it's only about 25 mins of exercise, I generally feel it the next day because he incorporates a lot of lunges and weights into the mix.

Crazy question, but does anyone know where those curtains are from?

I recently purchased Tracy Anderson's Mat Workout (which I love) and also her Cardio Dance DVD (which I hate with a passion). Has anyone else done this workout? It is so freaking hard! I'm fairly coordinated and am really struggling.
As for motivation....I am still looking for it. Its too easy to find other things to do at home instead of workout. I really need the gym (& classes, especially) to keep me motivated.

I work it into my TV routine, which I enjoy, so the workout portion isn't that much of a drag. (I find going to the gym to be incredibly boring and would rather do anything else!) When I first get home, I put my wireless headphones on and do the elliptical machine while I watch a show that I taped earlier that day (such as Bones or Remington Steele reruns). After dinner if I'm still in the mood to fit more in, I do crunch/stretches/etc. while I watch something in primetime.

I keep fantasizing about getting wii fit, but I think I'd get bored if that's all I was doing at once.

I agree with Healey, I canceled my NYSC membership and splurged on a Gazelle. However, I have not been using it nearly enough because I have such a MESSY apartment. I hate cleaning, I hate organizing. Hate it, hate it, hate it! BUT when I am on the Gazelle watching Six Feet Under all I can feel is overwhelming GUILT over the messy apartment.

Any advice for not feeling guilty?

amarie,

I have both Tracy Anderson DVDs, and I agree: the mat workout is really, really good (the ab part may look a bit idiotic, but it's really effective). I actually do that one every day. The first time I put the Dance one in, I felt ridiculous. However, I think if I actually spent the time to learn the choreography, it wouldn't be so bad. My overall complaint with her DVDs is that she doesn't give cues very often. The NYC Ballet workout is pretty good...the narrator is hilarious, heh.

As far as motivation goes, I usually feed off the energy of my co-workers, even though we live in different cities and work remotely. There have been many times when someone will end a chat conversation with, "OK, I'm off to work out," and I'll think, "Hmmm...I should do that too..." and will peel myself away from the computer for at least an hour of exercise. Another good motivator is signing up for a specialized class--I signed up for ballet at the local dance studio, and it's been great to have a set schedule and learn new things each time. Painful, but great.

I'm out of the pattern right now, but about ready to start up again. The only thing that works for me is to have a regular, mindless routine that I do in the morning (before I am awake enough to argue myself out of it or forget or get too tired!)

When I was being good about it, I did a half hour on my exercise bike (a good one), for warm up and cardio, then a hand and ankle weight routine from Miriam Nelson's "Strong Women..." books. I do it three mornings a week and no excuses...

I work out at home, gyms give me weird anxiety issues and I hate showering multiple times a day. (So I work out at home then shower and go to work.)

I think the advise to "find something you enjoy" to be hilarious! If I ENJOYED physical activity I wouldn't need an exercise program, it would take care of itself!

Okay, I know this is weird but Nick Jr. had this show called Lazy Town that was set up to get kids motivated to eat right and exercise. I don't know what it says about my mature mindset but nothing gets me more motivated to work out than that show does. Maybe they have something subliminal going on with their Swedish modern furniture, or brightly colored sets and costumes. Irregardless (I still don't consider that a word no matter what Oxrford says) I can't sit still after watching an episode. Alas it's not on anymore but you can find DVDs of it on Amazon or half.com. You can get some good ideas for your interiors too.