Unclutterer

1. Posted by Gayle Bird - 09/04/2008

   http://www.shovelglove.com !!!

2. Posted by Fit Bottomed Girls - 09/04/2008

   I completely agree with Erin’s plan. Sure there are some training programs that give great results and will make you a muscle machine, but most people don’t need that and don’t have the time or patience to train like that. Really, anything is better than nothing. And usually the stuff that’s the most simple (like what’s noted above), is the stuff that has staying power.

   I might throw some lunges in the mix there or jogging if your knees are up for it.

3. Posted by C - 09/04/2008

   Great ideas! If you have a normal or good metabolism, I think this would definitely work. It’s similar to my routine and I have lost 100 lbs in a 5 years!

4. Posted by Sheryl - 09/04/2008

   Yep, I agree. Walking 20-30 minutes a day is cheap & easy, and the only equipment you really need is good walking shoes.

   Depending on the weather and the pollen count (nasty allergies), I either walk outside, at the mall, or use the treadmill.

5. Posted by cv - 09/04/2008

   Another relatively uncluttered way to go is working out with tapes or DVDs. You can get them from the library if you like variety, or find a small number that you like and own them, or even go the podcast route. You can get DVDs for aerobics, strength training, flexibility, etc., in short and long sessions – just look for workouts that don’t require big balls or steps or other bulky equipment. I have a set of three yoga DVDs that I love, and the only equipment is a mat.

6. Posted by Springpeeper - 09/04/2008

   Agree! I recently decided not to renew my fitness club membership when I realized that getting to and from the commuter train added up to one hour of brisk walking every working day… enough to keep me fit.
   Then I started taking the stairs at the office instead of the elevator. Next is to add sit-ups at home.

   Getting exercise while doing something useful (like getting to work, gardening, etc.) or something fun (walks, hiking, paddling, cycling, etc.) is more sustainable and fits better into my philosophy of life than exercise done just for the purpose of getting exercise.

7. Posted by Leslie - 09/04/2008

   Fabulous post! I have definitely shared Kate’s frustration with the “easy, fast, just ten minutes a day” workout that take up pages of magazines, which I can’t remember or when I do take the trouble to learn, I get bored and then have to learn another.

   I LOVE walking – you can do it with friends, you can do it by yourself, listen to music or an audiobook, change your route so you see different scenery – and it’s so easy.

   I also like classes – then the instructor changes it up and I don’t have to think so hard. I take about 3 dance classes a week, but of course that takes time.

   I definitely agree that if you don’t have a lot of time, walking is the way to go.

8. Posted by Mary - 09/04/2008

   Great post! Keeping fit really isn’t rocket science, and I think most people complicate it. Eat right, walk every day, and live a generally active life. Go for a hike every now and then, do some crunches while you’re watching TV, fitness DVDs are great…You may not win any marathons, but you’ll stay healthy, and that’s the goal, right?

9. Posted by LivSimpl.com - 09/04/2008

   Also, look for ways you can be active during your day. For example, take the stairs at work instead of the elevator (there are people in my building who take the elevator up and down the equivalent of one flight of stairs – it baffles me).

   Also, try biking to work or taking public transportation (which generally doesn’t drop you off right in front of your office), carry your own groceries to the car and take the long way occasionally.

10. Posted by Jeremy - 09/04/2008

    Burpee’s are excellent and require minimal space.

11. Posted by J. Todd Leffar - 09/04/2008

    I manage to fit in a good walking routine whenever I take the bus to work. 1/2 mile from home to the bus stop; 1/2 mile from the bus stop at the other end to my office. Repeat on the way back home and I’ve got 2 miles under my belt. I save money on gas in the process and my employer reimburses commuting expenses, so I’m coming out ahead. If it’s raining, I bring an umbrella. Cold? Just bundle up and bask in the warmth of my destination.

    I also sold our riding mower earlier this year (we live on 1/3 acre, which is just enough to make the riding mower useful) and bought a push mower. The exercise I get from using it to mow the lawn is great, and it honestly doesn’t take much more time than it did with the ride-on.

12. Posted by Julia - 09/04/2008

    My goal (which I’ve not met for over a week) is 3 days of 20-30 minutes rapid walking, alternating with 3 days of simple exercises that can be done at home. I have a list of 8 or 10 exercises; I pick any 6 and do two sets of 15.

    I have an exercise ball and a small set of hand weights but neither is truly necessary (although both help.)

13. Posted by Mike - 09/04/2008

    Crossfit! Seriously, check it out: http://www.crossfit.com. Look for a local affiliate in your area if you want to workout in a group. It may sound scary when you first look at it, but all work outs are scalable to your abilities, they generally post the hard version on the website, you’re responsible to scale it for yourself. You need minimal equipment and most workouts are done in 20 minutes. Check out their free Crossfit Journals where they explain the philosophy. I can’t speak too highly of this routine, I’ve been working out for years, but I stagnated until Crossfit. (I’m not affiliated with any gym, so I don’t get anything for my promotion, I just love it that much).

14. Posted by Anthony - 09/04/2008

    This is my fitness regimen….

    M – Weight training
    T – Off
    W – Weight Training
    T – Walk 30-60 min.
    F – Weight training
    S – Hike 40-90 min.
    S – Yoga

    Here is a great book on dumbbell training…

    http://www.amazon.com/exec/obi.....tterer-20/

    These are great adjustable dumbbells for an uncluttered workout area…

    http://www.powerblock.com/

    Good luck.

15. Posted by Cynthia - 09/04/2008

    Definitely walking everyday for 20 minutes is a great thing. I try to walk during lunch. I mapped out a 2 mile loop which takes me about 30 minutes to do. I then go and eat my lunch afterwards. Unless, I have meetings or something else going on during lunch I’ll usually get my daily exercise that way. Another way to get in some more walking is to park on as far away as you can when you get to your desination. Especially if you can do it at work, you could possibly add a good 50 to 100 feet or more of walking everyday. Every bit counts.

16. Posted by Brent - 09/04/2008

    Great post. I do pushups one day and situps the next. That way it’s a daily habit and I have the required muscle recovery time. Walking and two quick strength excercises like push-ups and sit-ups make for a great fitness base. With that you have the energy to do the other activities that come your way. It’s more fun to play then just “exercise” and playing is often exercise anyway. It just doesn’t feel like it.

17. Posted by Amy - 09/04/2008

    Strong second on Crossfit. (Also no affiliation) At first glance, it might seem geared toward over-the-top musclehead men, but I think it’s great for women, who typically do not get enough strength training (key for preventing osteoporosis and for being able to do more things). I am not particularly athletic or a crazy gym-rat, but I love Crossfit, both for being able to easily scale it down and for how it pushes me beyond what I thought it could do. And it’s very uncluttered – you can do all the exercises in a regular gym and many of them with little or no equipment. Even though it might seem a little scary at first, I highly encourage women to try it out.

18. Posted by Gillian - 09/04/2008

    If it’s cold out, put on the necessary clothes and walk outside. So I don’t agree with you on ‘a few laps around an indoor track if it’s cold outdoors.’ I certainly can get out, but I’d be hard put to find a track to do a few laps. If you’ve got ice in your winter, get a set of cleats (they make a huge difference). I have a dog and I don’t think I miss 5 mornings in a year. Another thing I find useful is to have a routine. Lots of good comments made already.

19. Posted by Greg - 09/04/2008

    I find it interesting that the advice in the post as well as in many of the comments suggests just exercising whenever you find the time. This doesn’t seem to fit with the unclutterer philosophy of a place for everything and everything in it’s place. You should have a place in your day for exercise and you should always put exercise in that place. I meet my running group at the same time every day and that’s a part of my routine. It’s much less cluttered than trying to run whenever I can find the time. Speaking of which, having a group (even a small one) that you meet to exercise with makes a _huge_ difference because it introduces accountability into your routine.

20. Posted by Marina Martin - 09/04/2008

    Ryan Lee has a subscription website at BodyBot.com that lets you pick a few simple exercises (i.e. crunch) in a drag-and-drop format (like making a cartoon strip) and then you hit “play” and follow along.

    You can change up the routine as often as you want, which makes it better than static DVDs, and most exercises require no equipment. (If they do, it’s a band or a kettleball, so if you don’t have those, just don’t incorporate those exercises.)

    I’m as surprised as anyone to be saying this, but a Wii Fit can be a really good workout.

21. Posted by HistoricStitcher - 09/04/2008

    I was overwhelmed by all the different exercise plans, and at the same time trying to regain my health after an exhausting illness. With the help of some online friends I met through a fprum, I developed an easy, no stress, make it as hard as you want exercise program to be done at home, with minimal equipment, to build both strength and endurance. It has helped all of us who participated.

    In essence, we do one body part per day, 2 exercises for each body part. The only exception being doing abs and back on the same day to keep the core strong. And it incorporates walking daily.

    I’m thrilled with the results, and have no intention of ever paying to work at a gym for general fitness again. At it’s most cluttered, I use one set of dumbbells, and an exercise ball. And the floor. Easy enough!

    Let me know if you are interested in any of the specifics. I’m putting together a one-sheet instructions page to share with the group as a visual reminder of what to do today. Just put it in a page protector and use a highlighter to mark off what you did today. Tomorrow you do the next on the list!

22. Posted by Erin Doland - 09/04/2008

    @Greg — I walk at the same time every day, otherwise it doesn’t get done. I don’t see what you’re referencing about “whenever you want” in the post …

23. Posted by Jessica - 09/04/2008

    I bike commute, and I sold my car last year. Not only do I get in a minimum 40 minutes a day, but I’m saving $400 a month, I’m a size 6 instead of a 14, and I don’t have to pay for parking or garage space. Plus, I think twice before going shopping or buying anything, because of the extra travel and the cargo space required. A bicycle can be the ultimate uncluttering tool.

24. Posted by McChris - 09/04/2008

    I’ve found something that’s worked really well for me, and it’s uncluttered – if you already own a bike. Last fall I got a bike trainer, a resistance device that attaches to the rear wheel of a bike. It’s far from a unitasker since it also serves as means for storing or displaying your wheels. I’ve been losing weight more consistently than I was with longer gym workouts, and it’s easier to workout if the equipment is already there. I also think it’s more attractive to have a little gizmo on the bottom of a real bike than to have some industrial-looking stationary bike hulking at your pad.

25. Posted by Journeyer - 09/04/2008

    Sounds great Erin! One other thing that can be incorporated daily almost without thinking is to put some extra elbow grease into the housework. By scrubbing instead of using chemicals or going superfast with the vacuum or as others have suggested by doing the gardening you can usually get your heart rate going. No extra equipment or gym memberships needed.

26. Posted by Stuart - 09/04/2008

    I run 2 miles in 15min.
    25 pushups > 50 situps > 25 pushups > 50 situps > stretches.

    This seems to work for me and it takes less than 30 minutes.

27. Posted by Sean - 09/04/2008

    Erin’s routine sounds like a good way for fit people to stay fit, but I wonder if it would be enough to actually lose weight. It’s not a criticism. I’m just curious. In the most pragmatic sense, I think the only uncluttered workout is one that works for you.

28. Posted by Johnny - 09/04/2008

    Well, walking, pushups and situps certainly would make a pretty effective minimalist exercise plan. That only thing I would add to that is pull ups or chin ups (or hangs for those not yet strong enough to pull themselves up). Pushups and situps are primarily anterior chain exercises. It’s good to keep your body balanced by throwing in a posterior chain exercise like pull ups.

29. Posted by Molly - 09/04/2008

    I’m lucky to live in a city and situation where I can have a super-uncluttered exercise solution: I own a bike instead of a car. I commute by bike 9 months a year (and I’m working on those other 3!), which means I don’t need a gym membership, exercise equipment, or any kind of schedule. I just can’t go anywhere without exercising. Even nearby errands require a walk.

    It’s not practical for many people, but lots of people could and don’t. And let me tell you—it’s wonderful. Wind in my hair, whipping past slower bikes, getting to pass whole blocks of backed-up cars at rush hour, no problems with parking or insurance, no monthly payment, no garage to keep clean, no car to keep clean, etc, etc, etc.

30. Posted by Daniel - 09/05/2008

    For years I used to lift with weights, following the Nautilus/Arthur Jones plan of 3x a week, 1 set per exercise. I wasn’t making much gains, so I tried volume training, and began regressing.
    Next I tried Mike Mentzer’s HIT consolidation program, where I was working split sets once a week, for a total 1 hour (!) a month. I made my best strength gains on that program, and stuck with it for 7 years.
    When I moved, I didn’t take my home gym with me, so I switched to calisthenics similar to Leo’s program. I find I don’t miss weights anymore.
    My 3x/week program takes 10 minutes a day:
    1) Hindu squats (video on Leo’s site)
    2) Hindu pushups/dand (ditto)
    3) hinged plank (similar to a static plank, it’s like a push up but with elbows on the floor and pumping the hips up and down, it’s the best abdominal exercise I can think of)
    4) pull ups
    That hits every major muscle group. I’m weaker than I was with weights, but I’m now without joint pains.
    Very uncluttered!

31. Posted by Mer - 09/05/2008

    Walking has done more for me than any other form of exercise. I also did the routine in Jorge Cruise’s “Eight Minutes in the Morning” for a month and you wouldn’t believe the results on my muscle tone and flexibility. I need to go back to that one. I suggest that book as a simple regimen that requires little time and no equipment except for a set of hand weights.

32. Posted by Chris - Zen to Fitness - 09/05/2008

    This is a great concept and an extremely good way to ease into fitness and exercise!! Great post

33. Posted by Leslie in Canada - 09/05/2008

    I do bike racing but I have managed to keep the masses of clutter (multiple bikes, clothing, parts, food, books) under control but for people unwilling to spend a lot of time working out you could do much worse than using FitDeck, which is a set of playing cards with floor exercises on them. You shuffle them up, determine how many you want to do and away you go. I bring my set on business travel and do a 40 minute workout in my hotel room without having to go to the gym. However, while you will build strength and flexibility with these, losing weight requires more extended exercise.

34. Posted by Joanne in Canada - 09/05/2008

    Fortunately my husband is as keen on walking as I am. Once each weekend we combine an 8-12 km walk (in good walking/hiking shoes) with an errand, e.g. a visit to the high-end cheese shop. The walk is usually 4-5 hours and we try to do it in a loop which involve cuts through green spaces and over hills. We also use the time to just talk and get caught up on stuff. Great for fitness and the bonding is bonus.

35. Posted by verily - 09/05/2008

    Good breakdown of a minimalistic routine.

    If I can manage the daily walk, I’ll be doing well. I do pull out the Wii fit at least twice a week, but I know it really should be more often than that.

36. Posted by Success Professor - 09/05/2008

    Thanks for the article. I’m going to try to add the sit-ups and push-ups to my elliptical workouts.

37. Posted by Ryan - 09/05/2008

    Good post. Just wanted to point out that Leo’s routine is aimed more at people who want a full-body workout.

    Situps, pushups and walking is good for beginners, but if you do only those exercises you’ll neglect many parts of your body and create muscle imbalances. Pushups, for example, should be balanced by a pulling exercise that work your back. And the best exercises — squat and deadlift — workout your whole body.

38. Posted by lahope - 09/05/2008

    For minimalist, but strenuous aerobic exercise that you can do at home, get a jumprope. For you multi taskers– you can actually jump rope while watching TV! Order the jumprope from a website that specializes in fitness supplies so you get a good one. Also, I highly recommend a yoga class. Everyone can fit in one class a week, and it has the added benefit of increasing your friendship circle–I met many of my best friends in yoga. But if you can’t get to class, pick up a yoga tape and learn a few basic poses.

39. Posted by gypsypacker - 09/06/2008

    Back in the living-in-a-pickup-truck days, mine was simple: 1-Walk to the bus stop. Keep walking back and forth while waiting for the bus. 2- If no-one is on the bus bench, use the bench for plank pushups and modified squats. 3-Walk another 2-3 blocks from bus stop to work.
    Kept me healthy on a minimalist diet, for two years. I’ve now aggravated my arthritic hands with a Bowflex , use a treadmill, and work at home without even a tag number or VIN…

40. Posted by Kyle - 09/10/2008

    Ditto checking out videos from the library – you can use the same video for a couple of weeks, then switch, so you a) don’t spend money on a video you don’t know if you’ll like, b)don’t have to store the videos, and c)don’t have videos that you’ve gotten tired of or advanced beyond. My wife favors yoga (the mat lives under the futon) and pilates with an exercise ball (which doubles as a chair at the computer desk!) A yoga mat could also be stored on the floor at the kitchen sink. They’re easily cleaned if food gets spilled on them, and are a bit nicer to stand on while working at the sink than a bare floor. Just because something is sold as exercise equipment doesn’t mean it has to be a unitasker!

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