The college lifestyle is a hectic one and I’m sure most of you have nixed your trip to the gym once or twice, to instead, catch up on sleep, homework or last week’s Gossip Girl.
Although, sometimes it is okay to skip out on the gym when you need to catch up on sleep or school work, there are alternatives that allow you a quick, effective work out at home.
While most of you have heard of at home fitness videos and plans, many people remain skeptical of their effectiveness. An important aspect to remember when participating in any type of fitness plan is, whether working out at home or at a gym, there is more to loosing weight or getting in shape than what happens during your workout. Many people forget that ample physical activity and proper eating habits go hand and hand. More people would see results from any kind of physical activity if they pair healthy eating with it. So, brush the skepticism under the carpet and squeeze one of these at-home workouts into your schedule, even if you have to set that pesky alarm 30 minutes earlier.
Here are some of my favorite work outs to do at home that are quick, easy and effective!
P90X: P90X is a 90-day DVD collection of workouts for all body parts. The science behind P90X is that it creates muscle confusion that constantly challenges your muscles with a vast variety and different intensities. My favorite? If you don’t want to buy the entire DVD set, Google the AB RIPPER X work out. A quick 15-20 minutes ab work out that, if you do 2-3 times weekly, I promise you will see exciting results (don’t forget to also be participating in cardio 4-6 times a week and eating healthy)!
Insanity: Insanity, much like P90X, is a 60-day body conditioning DVD set. With just 45 minutes a day you can take the “Insanity Challenge.” The method behind these workouts? Max interval training. This involves long bursts of maximum-intensity exercises and short rest periods, mixing anaerobic and aerobic intervals.
30 Day Shred with Jillian Michaels: Everyone knows Jillian Michaels from NBC’s The Biggest Loser. She is one tough cookie and so are her workouts! 28 minutes work outs allow you to take less than a half hour out of your hectic college life and get pushed around by one tough chick. Much like other workout videos it’s short bursts of anaerobic and aerobic exercises mixed together to shock your body into the best shape possible!
Tone It Up!: Meet Katrina and Karena, two California girls who love fitness. The Tone It Up! Website (toneitup.com) has free videos, recipes and fitness tips and tricks that will allow you to motivate yourself for quick and easy workouts. This isn’t a fitness plan, but there are several online videos (for free!) that will show you some new moves to use in the gym or at home. I also recommend you look into their fitness plan that gives you even more work outs, recipes and an actually guide to follow to get in some of the best shape of your life. I urge you to check this one out!
All of these options are great options for anyone who has a super busy schedule, like all of us do! Also, each of these options include some type of nutritional guide that will help you keep up with not only staying active, but eating healthy as well. Put these together and you have yourself quick, easy and effective workouts!
Pictures from: Beach Body, Jillian Michaels, and http://toneitup.com/blog/