I live in the country with no nearby organized gym.
I have no opportunity to take advantage of group fitness classes.
I exercise at home & need to find new ways to stay motivated. I’ve used online options & didn’t get much out of it. I like to figure out my own workout sessions. I’ve purchased a weight bench that’s wonderful for strength training and crunches. I sometimes use it for bench pressing hand weights but usually stick with a variety of crunches & sit ups. While my set of free weights includes eight-pound, six-pound & three-pound dumbbells, they are perfect for toning. I use high repetitions & low weights because I don’t want to build big bulky muscles. I am a five-foot three-inch tall lady in her mid fifties. I’m more concerned with calorie burn, slimming down & heart health. My workouts are largely focused on high intensity cardio. I make a point to thoroughly warm up & loosen and stretch my muscles & work the mobility of my joints. I then spend anywhere from thirty to forty-five minutes on movements that increase my heart rate, work up a sweat & get me breathless. I switch between running for six-miles, biking or paddling my kayak on the lake. I occasionally go through sets of burpees, squat jumps, jumping jacks & lunge jumps. One of the types of training I enjoy the most is jumping rope. I jump rope almost every day & frequently for the bulky of the hour workout session. I love that it’s a whole-body effort that increases stamina, strength & balance. It burns a lot of calories very quickly & demands some practice & skill.