What's the best workout routine that you can do at home?

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Gyms are not really my thing. Exercising in a room with tons of other people tends to freak me out more than it should, especially if I’m trying a machine or something for the first time, and when I had a gym membership I would always make excuses to not go.

However, at home, I can usually follow through if I plan to run or something. The thing is, I’m really bad at planning what I should do. I don’t really know enough about exercising to make a plan. The only thing I’ve attempted is running with my brother, but once it gets cold I tend to have either panic attacks or asthma attacks when I go outside, so that’s on hold for the moment.

So, what’s a good routine to do at home? I have no weights or any room for them. I’m not looking to lose weight, seeing as I’m almost underweight as is, but to just get in shape.

Edit: To clarify, a workout more designed to get stronger/build endurance. Getting buff or adding weight to my frame really means nothing to me, in the sense I don’t want to do things just to gain visible muscle.

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@Hart
Thank you soo much

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Buy a pull-up bar.

Pushups, dips (between two chairs), chins, one-legged squats, jumping jacks, leg raises and crunches wouldn’t be a bad routine at all.

For programming workouts and general info either tehjarvis’ suggestion (Ross Enamait) or George Lafay’s Methode of Musculation are good. Lafay’s is highly structured and thus better for a beginner.

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Seriously, P90X. You need a pull-up bar and some basic free weights, and that’s it. The routines are varied, you’ve got a clear schedule of what you’re supposed to do, it comes with a meal planning guide (which is relatively good advice, even if I knew enough about nutrition to not need it).

StrongLifts is a great program, and you can really do anything you want at home. P90X is tough to beat for building a habit (i.e., getting used to scheduling an hour a day to exercise).

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Tyson said:
@Tyson
[deleted]

I’m just starting p90x and man this thing is difficult the first couple of days. Plus I really can’t stand that guy. Once I get to the point where I’ve memorized the routine, I’m going to play some music instead of listening to his doucheyness.

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I know this isn’t what you asked for. But I would just like to say that if you challenge your fear of this, you will overcome it. I had the exact same problem, but then I started with Stronglifts and now it’s completely gone. It went away within a month.

Just make sure you get some kind of motivation for getting through the first tough few weeks, and it most likely will work.

I hope this doesn’t offend you; I’m trying to help.

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Check out p90x on bittorrent

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Get a power rack and a 300 lbs weight set, do some sort of 5x5 with jump rope HIIT.

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West said:
Get a power rack and a 300 lbs weight set, do some sort of 5x5 with jump rope HIIT.

>Get a power rack and a 300 lbs weight set

Are you fucking kidding me?

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Akira said:

West said:
Get a power rack and a 300 lbs weight set, do some sort of 5x5 with jump rope HIIT.

>Get a power rack and a 300 lbs weight set

Are you fucking kidding me?

I think he is suggesting to acquire a 300lb weight set, not to start straight off with squatting or deadlifting that amount.

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@Hart
It’s still a ridiculous suggestion for an underweight person who doesn’t want to get bigger or apparently stronger.

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Akira said:

West said:
Get a power rack and a 300 lbs weight set, do some sort of 5x5 with jump rope HIIT.

>Get a power rack and a 300 lbs weight set

Are you fucking kidding me?

You think he can pull and squat over 300 lbs to start with?

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Getting buff and adding weight go hand in hand with getting stronger.

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Check out the book Never Gymless by Ross Enamait. There’s also a ton of info on his site: http://rosstraining.com

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I jog 2 miles and do push-ups and pull-ups.

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Push-ups, sit-ups + light stretching (yoga), and shadow box. No equipment required.

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I like to do the Gold’s Gym Cardio Workout on the Wii. It’s fun and tracks my kcal burn. I don’t like the planning it takes to go to the gym, so I jump on the Wii and get my sweat on for at least a half hour. If you have a Wii, I recommend it.

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I literally just wrote this out elsewhere 1 minute ago, so it is cut n paste from cut n paste: You can get very fit or maintain a good level just with bodyweight exercises. Cut n’ paste from my comment history: I suggest squats (hindu & prisoner style), planks/bridges for the back and abs, and various push-ups (bent knee, military, close-arm, diamond, or hindu/tiger style).

I have heard marvels of the hindu squat. In my personal experience, it is a cardio lung-buster coupled with the snappy muscle-tendon-building attributes. If you watch the vid, you are supposed to inhale when you rise up FYI. It works your groin, stomach, back, and will help tighten and center your organs.

If you get a little bored of running, or are in a spot where you can’t get out for miles, would you consider the weighted jump rope? Check these sites: www.beastskills.com, www.bodyweightculture.com (I don’t like digging around this forum), americanparkour.com had some good suggestions and vids in their articles (must register iirc). I got the best advice from (internet-pitchman-but-real-deal) Matt Furey, especially his “Royal Court” (hindu squats, back bridges, hindu push-ups done correctly and in that order).

Targeting lower, mid, then upper body muscles, coupled with muscle confusion (variations of each exercise, switched generally every 3 weeks), 20-40 minutes elevated heart rate 5 times per week, shows results (and you don’t get bored). I preach them as I lost 70-80 lbs this way, with no gym and minimal free weights (for example: www.shovelglove.com, google “chishi weight”, and 1-gallon containers filled with water). I could go on and on, but I don’t have the links for everything I would suggest. Hope this all helps!

Edit: I second what bball2 said.

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I just got a TRX and I would say that would work really well for your goals. It’s too soon for me to give any sort of feedback on how stronger it has made me but their forums are active enough that you should find answers in that regard.