Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Works for Me: Exercise

I'm not a poster girl for weight-loss yet, but I have found a couple of things that really work well for me.

The Firm Express
This is a set of DVDs, 13 in all, that each contain a 20 minute workout.  The set is designed to last you 30 days, exercising 3 days a week, a different workout each time.
Why I like it: It is a vigorous workout in just 20 minutes, but it's completely doable.  It is constantly changing or adding different patterns so you're not doing 100 push-ups or 50 squats in a row.  And you're not doing the same workout day in and day out.  I get bored super easy so this is a perfect thing for me!
Why you might not like it: If you're new to workout or get flustered (meaning you're likely to quit) when you can't do it perfectly the first time, you probably ought to work up to this.  It's very fast paced.  And it's a little expensive - $104 with shipping included.

Another note about this workout is that I didn't start feeling the greatest impact until I started working out 6 or 7 days a week, shuffling some of the cardio workouts into the off days.  I still only worked out 20 minutes a day, but the daily as opposed to 3 days a week seemed to really give me the boost I needed.

This might sound archaic, but one of the biggest factors in my weight-loss is drinking enough water.  If I go a couple of days on less than a gallon of water a day, everything starts complaining and my body just stalls out.  If you've never been a big water drinker, I would say try drinking a set amount (a little more than normal) for a week and see if it doesn't make a difference.

Just like water, without enough sleep my body resists everything and doesn't utilize the workouts as well.

No comments: