ok, this is what I did today - around 25 minutes of body weight exercises.
This is a calendar view of Garmin watch that I use. So you can see that I did not do anything yesterday. Today it is about 27 minutes of exercises. At right end is the weekly totals of distance I ran and total calories I burnt. Usually I burn around 3000 calories per week, but this week I may get around 2200 or so. My aim is not to boast about what I do - but to convey a few points.
1. Body weight exercises are gentle; but we experience the burn a little later. They are very safe; our movements are very much controlled by our body. There is no or very little scope for overdoing it. For example, when I reach my limit, I cannot do even a single push up - full stop.
2. We can vary the intensity as we can and like. We can do at home without any equipment; thousands of varieties of workouts. Nice ladies or handsome men [suit yourself] showing how to do these exercises on youtube. For me, I settled with push ups and bicycle crunches [that is one day]; and then biceps, triceps, mountain climbers - another day [see Jan 13]. With this, I ensure that I move different muscle groups on different days.
3. I have no time to go gym; neither do I like. It is not about money, but it is me. Prefer large grounds and cities [Like France, where I walked along a nice river as shown in my previous posts] to walk or jog.
4. Body weight exercises generally will be of short duration - see youtube for details. Very effective, even if you do for short time. Some workouts can be very challenging. For me, sit ups are very difficult; I just do 5 in a set and do 3 repetitions max. If I do more I cannot walk properly next day.
5. Heart rate normally lesser than jogging; but muscles will be directly engaged, stretched and twisted. Running tones your legs mostly; but running is most effective in building anaerobic fitness.
6. Some workouts may work effectively for you. For me, bicycle crunches and mountain climbers are very effective. Then comes push ups. Most women benefit from push ups especially if they have love handles and lose skin. So you need to find what works for you; but that takes a good time; like a few months. You need to record your workouts and watch your body response and improvements etc,
tomorrow I will try some 5k jogging at some increased pace of my own standards.
- David