Unfit and exercising at home

None of the workouts are over 30 minutes, actually some of the yoga ones are but for what you want to achieve strength training is what you need to do.

The fat loss is diet but increasing your muscle mass by doing strength training will change your body shape and tone you up. Increasing muscle mass, especially around joints is important as you age.

Peloton Guide. It's on sale for £95 at the moment. Everything is on there. Strength, cardio, yoga, boxing, barre etc.

There are great programmes you can follow. An instructor runs through everything on screen and it will even count your reps. You just need a set of weights. It's something like £25 a month subscription so a lot less than a PT and will keep track of your progress.

You just attach it to our TV and exercise in front of TV so you'll be on camera.

I'm a PT and have recommended this to loads of people as a cut price option. Like any at home work out you have to have the impetus to actually do it but seeing your progress in your stats really helps and if you sign up to a programme knowing you have to do a certain amount of work outs in a certain timeframe to complete it is a huge motivator.

Jillian Michael’s ! Her app is called ‘the fitness app’ and I love it. Loads of beginning stuff on there.

also buy a smart rope and start skipping - that’s great for cardio.

main thing is to do a bit a day. Whatever gets you to do stuff. Start with 10mins and light weights and build up

The Jillian Michaels app has all her workout videos, 30 Day Shred, Yoga, Boxercise etc, plus other exercises and you can customise workouts to time and equipment available, there are also recipes and diet plans too

When I'm just starting to get fit though and want to improve my cardio I use the Refit Revolution YouTube videos, basically a bit like Zumba / dance aerobics it's quite fun and you don't need loads of space or any equipment and is great to just get you moving more. After a wee or something of that I move on to more intensive workouts.

Caroline girvan!! I'd say do a max of half her weights though as a beginner to avoid injury as a rule. Also pay attention to her advice on form.

That's probably my only suggestion for improvement with CG, she is extremely fit and uses quite heavy weights but is also extremely accessible. The two things are great in tandem and she's really clear and sensible on working to your own ability but I think a suggestion on what would be suitable for an able bodied complete beginner would be really helpful for each video.

I like team body project as well, it suits me as I can't do high impact due to back issues but there is always a low impact version given, even to the high intensity exercises. You really can make their workouts as hard as you like, so can start off low impact and body weight, and then add intensity and weights in when you are ready. They have lots of free workouts on You Tube but there are literally hundreds on the app and programs that 'start' you off and then progressions from there. Lots of people on the facebook page support groups say not to do the older Alex ones as they are too hard but actually if you get to the level where you want a challenge that's exactly what you need.

When you get the app you can filter your workouts too, so if you want weights/resistance you can search for that, or cardio, pilates/yoga/stretching etc.

I agree the Body Project is great. Free workouts on YouTube and their website, and you can unlock more by paying. Friendly couple, very relaxed, lots of low impact options.

As a PP said, try the Get Fit With Rick free videos on YouTube - lots of fun walking workouts there which are perfect to get you moving.
Just do what you can!

I am unfit but I love the Caroline Girvan 15 minute arms on YouTube. It's started to make a different after 3 weeks!

It would definitely be a good start I think. Find a few locally through recommendations and have a chat and explain what you want to achieve and your financial restrictions. See what they say/suggest.

For me personally, yoga and pilates are the only things I manage to stick to long term as I enjoy them. For beginners, Yoga with Adriene is great. I now follow Yoga with Kassandra, Charlie Follows and Five Parks Yoga. Seeing how far my body has come and what I can now do motivates me. For Pilates I follow Lottie Murphy.

Love this thread, thanks. There are a lot of upbeat walking videos on YouTube too.

I love Les Mills online - particularly Bodycombat. I pay a subscription monthly, but I think they have a few sample classes available as a free taster

If you can afford it, I would suggest getting a PT for a few sessions and see how it goes. It really helps with pointing you in the right direction, setting goals, accountability and helping with letting you know what you should be doing. I started a year ago and it's been amazing for me. I also do workouts at home and running in between times, log my food on MyFitnessPal (sometimes). The Couch To 5k app is great for beginner runners.

This is just me personally but at the beginning any exercise was cardio as I was just so unfit.

When I could do a lunge without falling over, pilates became achievable. And I started with tiny 1kg weights- initially I couldn't do a strength workout with any weights.

Annie Deadman is great - loads of workouts on YouTube plus she does regular programmes. Subscribe to her weekly newsletter and you’ll get a feel for what she’s about!

@BrightSkyPurple Bodyproject has levels, I started with one on Youtube, liked it enough to sign up and started with level 1.
The Real Start series is good and starts v low. Do not be fooled by the v overweight guy in the background - I thought if he can do it so can I. Quickly realised he had seriously put the hours in on his fitness.

I had a PT in the past but TBH I prefer just going to the spare room and doing a video in bra and knickers.

I love Bumps and Burpees online platform. It's technically pre and post natal fitness, which may not be relevant for you, but it has a Club section with workouts suitable for anyone - I'm stronger and fitter now than I was pre baby thanks to these classes. I pay £12 a month which is great value for how much I use it. In lockdown, I used them body project at home which I also liked but I now prefer the bumps and Burpees classes.

You mention wanting results and the likelihood of you giving up if the program is not effective. Results are not linear and can take many different forms at different times. I find a good PT is able to point to progress when I myself can't see it. I am a total data nerd but even so I sometimes struggle to be objective about my own progress. If you do it on your own I would certainly recommend tracking as many things as you can be bothered with to help you look objectively at progress before you throw in the towel on a particular program.

It can also be difficult to work out how to achieve your goal, even with all the of resources available online. As an example, I really wanted to be able to do push ups. I knew everything there was to know about push up form, progressions etc but even after trying for years, and achieving a very decent level of basic fitness, I could not do the push up. After hiring a coach it still took six months, but he was able to see where my weaknesses were and devise a program that did not feel like it was addressing push ups directly but actually was.

@BrightSkyPurple i found bodyfit by amy when I was looking for a TRX workout, and then I realised she had so much more to offer. I've been doing at least two of her workouts every week since 2020.

If you sign up you get alerts for new ones. She always does at live one at 9am California time on a saturday, so at 6pm UK time. She is very kind, not an influencer type, always makes modifications.

Would not say CG for a beginner, I've been lifting for over ten years and still find her 20mins workouts a challenge!

I recommend Bodyfit by Amy on YouTube. She has SO many different workouts, she uploads three a week, there is really something for everyone. I do her workouts with 8kg dumbells and a 12kg kettle bell, but you can do it with 1kg if you like. It will still make a difference.

Also there are some PMA fitness workouts on YouTube that I did every morning during lockdown #1 which really kept me ripped.

Also you can't go wrong with Joe Wicks.