An Exercise Program

Exercising these days is difficult. I don't have much space, or money, or the ability to go outside and run. What I do have, in short bursts, is time.

That's something, right?

The other day, I started looking at various exercise programs. One that has always intrigued me is Curves. While I've never actually been to a Curves gym, I have heard a few things about it. Apparently, you do different activities for a duration of a minute, or three, or whatever. I don't know how long each segment is supposed to last, but each workout lasts 30 minutes. In the "exercise circle", you alternate between cardio and weights.

That got the little wheels in my head turning. It seems like a good idea to do a varied workout like this; it keeps you from getting too bored, and while you can work your whole body, you don't get terribly worn out in just one. So I decided to create my own Curves workout.

It's kinda cool, actually. I just took a piece of paper and came up with 15 different cardio exercises and 15 different weight lifting activities. I came up with an easy and a difficult version of each one. Then, I wrote each exercise down on a card, with its variation on the back. I did use two different colors of paper, one for cardio and a different one for weights. Then, I just got out my little kitchen timer (which conveniently has a memory button on it) and started doing each exercise. Right now, I do each one for 30 seconds. It's not much for each exercise, but I get a decent full-body workout in 15 minutes... and I end up sweating by the time I'm done! The exercises don't get boring, because I do each one for only 30 seconds, and I can shuffle the cards to mix up the order in between workouts. If I notice that one is too easy, I just flip the card over and do the difficult variation. Eventually I'll work up to doing them all on difficult, then on doing them all for a minute. I can do them all through twice, or I can do each one for two minutes... there are all sorts of ways to mix it up.

Also, eventually I may get to a point where I make up a more difficult set of cards, or one for stretching, or... I don't know where all I might go with this. It's nice, too, because I can get my own full workout in front of a movie doing moves that are way easier (read: less complicated) than some of those aerobic videos.

I feel smugly creative. :)