Virtual Personal Trainer required!

[Vicx]

Hi guys

I was wondering if anyone could advise me of a work out programme to follow at home? I have a treadmill, rickety old bike and Xtrainer which I hate with a passion. It's all gathering dust and I am determind to get in there and use them again but have no idea where to start! I was OK when I was going to the gym because the guys there set out a plan for me and I followed it increasing it when I needed to but it's a bit daunting on my own. I broke my ankle over a year ago and haven't been exercising since and would love to get my fitness mojo back. Any help and advise appreciated! Thanks in advance. Vx

 

[Allan G]

i have an eliptical trainer, they are good for working most muscle groups in the body, do a few stretching exercises first, then 20 mins on the trainer followed by 20mins on the bike, take it slow for the first couple of days and slowly increase the resistance on both Remember to warm down as well with more stretching exercises or you may get cramp later on.

 

[Vicx]

Thanks Allan.......20 minutes??? I don't think I'll manage 2 but it gives me something to aim for I suppose! LOL

 

[Kate]

A few things:

- don't stretch cold muscles. Warm up for five to ten minutes before your warmup stretches - if you are going to do warmup stretches at all.

- do you have any weights, or things you could use as weights e.g. bottles of water? You should do some resistance training as well as cardio.

- what diet are you following?

 

[Vicx]

Hi Kate, thank you for your response. I'm following Slimming World (badly at the moment but will be on plan 100% from tomorrow) I do have weights too but never sure what to do with them or how many times! I thought I knew what I was doing but there is so much conflicting advice out there I'm not too sure how long I should exercise for - what intensity etc, some say 1/2hr some 1hr some 3 days a week some 5! At this moment I won't last 10 - it's very daunting isn't it?

 

[Lesleyfx]

One website I've seen with lots of advice is Prevention.com: Diet, Health, Weight Loss, Anti-Aging, and More! It's free to sign up, has lots of tools for recording food and exercise, and has expert trainers you can ask questions of... as well as software that will recommend an exercise program for you if you want. Well worth a nosy!

 

[Bastet]

Hi, if you have an mp3 player there is a brilliant download at cardiocoach.com. I would recommend the 1st of the workouts as you are coming back to exercise.

Basically, the workouts are written and narrated by a personal trainer. You can use them with your treadmill or your bike for sure, and probably your x-trainer too. You work at your own levels that he explains and he guides you through a 30 minute workout on whatever machine you've chosen. He starts you off with a lovely warm up, then you work a bit harder, then slow down, then work harder again. You do a proper cool down too. Its interval training and it is great. Because he helps you to decide what intensity to work at it means you get a beneficial workout but dont do any damage!
30 minutes sounds a lot, I know, but I find the time flies when I use the cardio coach on my i-pod.

If you dont have an mp3 player, you can order it on a cd to use with a walkman.

If you have any more questions I'll be happy to try to answer them.
I HATE exercise and as I said, when I use these workouts I actually enjoy it. I reccomend this system to anyone who asks! I no longer have my own treadmill, and cant afford to join a gym so I havent used it for about a year, but honestly it is really very good.

When I downloaded the workout, about 3 years ago, it was less than $10, but I have no idea how much it is now.