while ago on a whim i bought the type of chin up bar that fits in a door frame. i’m a skinnyfat lazy bastard and am not motivated to exercise at all, but putting it up so it’s just there when you walk about the place makes it somehow more enticing than some equipment you have to specifically make time to use

You definitely can start this way. When I started, I got some help from a physical therapist–I had really messed up my back, and in addition to helping with the acute issue, they also selected a set of exercises and numbers of reps for me that I could do at home, and that was a great starting point for my exercise routine. It was pretty short and focused, so it was easy to find time to do it every day, and the practice of keeping at it was really helpful. My health insurance covered most of the cost of the physical therapist; I had to pay a copay, but even then it was just a couple times a week for maybe two months, so not exorbitant. Insurance is generally willing to help with this stuff for a little while because they know that if your health improves, it’s likely to reduce their future costs. So it’s worth looking in to whether yours would help with something like that just to get yourself going. I don’t think you need to have an acute problem to take advantage of that; I think having a specific goal for improvement is adequate. (They want measurable goals, like “I’d like to be able to jog five minutes without getting winded,” or that sort of thing. I believe mine was “I’d like to be able to spend a day out walking around a garden with my family without being laid up the next day by my back.” Which reflects where I was at the time. But, y’know, anything that reflects where you currently are, and something that you might be able to achieve in a six-to-eight-week timeframe, is probably a good goal.)

Doing that regularly also got me listening to my body, and that got me to gradually expand my routine–I eventually understood that some of my back issues were propagating up from hip issues, so now I work on those, and some of those are coming from limited ankle mobility, so I’m also working on that, and working on that has got me doing “goblin squats” that has gotten me to stop thinking of dumbbells as something to avoid. I’m also getting closer to being able to do pull-ups; I got a pull-up bar because just hanging from a bar sometimes can really help with a bad back, but at some point I started thinking about how much more I enjoyed moving when I was a kid and took gymnastics classes, and back then I actually had the strength to do things like pull-ups. So now I can do some resistance-band assisted pull-ups, and hopefully in a year or two I’ll be able to do the proper thing.

Picturing enjoying movement is something that really motivates me, actually. Like, I used to enjoy biking and ultimate frisbee. I don’t, now, but I think I might enjoy them again at some point. I think I might also enjoy parkour, if I can get into that kind of shape, but I recognize that may not be an achievable goal at this point. I had a kind of enthusiasm for brief bursts of very intense movement, like sprinting up a flight of stairs two at a time, or climbing up onto a loading dock in a single giant step.

At this point I do a basic set of dumbbell weight exercises, squats and lunges, push ups, a back stretching and exercises routine, assisted pull-ups, and a walking/running aerobics routine. It’s not a ton, but I’m really in vastly better shape than I was when I started a few years ago. I do have a handful of equipment–the dumbbells, a floor mat, a couple of foam rollers, an exercise ball (for trunk lifts, which are good for a weak lower back), a doorway pull-up bar, some resistance bands that I basically just use with the pull-up bar, and the biggest thing is an elliptical machine for when the weather is too bad to do the aerobics outside. There are ways to do it without a machine, like jogging in place or doing rapid shallow squats, but the machine is kind of nice–it’s hard to explain, but it really helps to have the exercise take place in its own little isolated space, or even just in its own mental space. I actually also have a little lighted sign that I made (it’s a recreation of the neon sign for an exterminator’s in my home town that always tickled my fancy back then–it’s got a giant neon rat in the middle) and I like to turn that on in my room specifically while I do my exercises there (everything other than the aerobics and pull ups), just because it kind of marks out the distinction of exercise time. It helps make it a ritual, and that helps make it a habit. As I say, hard to explain, but it feels like it matters.

I will say, this routine has also helped me lose some weight. I’m down about 45 lbs (~22kg) from this time last year. That’s mainly down to diet changes, but I did ramp up my exercising while doing this to be sure that I was losing fat rather than just losing muscle. I’m still a lot heavier than I’d like, but I’m definitely proud of how far I’ve come. I’m improving in other measures, too, like my resting heart rate is down from around 100 to around 80, which, again, is not where I’d like to be, but represents movement in the right direction.

So, I do think the physical therapist helped a lot with getting me started, but most of my work I’ve done at home, and without too much in the way of equipment.

Would I have done better, faster by going to a gym? I dunno. I definitely know that friction is a big factor. If it’s hard to actually go do the thing, then it’s easy to make excuses not to go do the thing; needing to actually travel to a gym definitely counts for that. There’s kind of a balancing act in making my routine easy enough and pleasant enough that I’ll actually do it, but also challenging enough that I’m still gradually improving. Sometimes I need to let myself slack off at something a little as an incentive do just do the thing. And sometimes once I’m actually doing the thing I don’t need the slack after all.

Bit of a rant, I guess. Sorry, it feels like so much of this stuff is, like, techniques for outwitting part of my own brain, and it feels like those are things other people might be able to use, but I’m not sure how transferable they really are. Hope it helps.

Good luck with your journey! I know I’ll need luck on mine.

First off - I’m excited for you!! Your future self will be so fucking grateful.

I absolutely think at home workouts are a fantastic starting point.

I get the gym can be intimidating and if that stops you from working out then do something else.

But major note is: what’s your goal?

• Lose weight?
• Gain muscle?
• Just be stronger?
• Something else?

If you are trying to lose weight, your biggest goal should just be more activity + calorie deficit. You can only do strength so often and while it will help you lose weight, it’s way better to do strength + walking (or other easy cardio).

I recently lost about 15 pounds in the last 6 ish months and I did it by getting around 10,000 steps per day and 1-2 strength training days per week, and being on a calorie deficit.

If your goal is to gain muscle, then you can absolutely do that with minimal weights or just bodyweight at the beginning.

Personally this got a little boring (if just a lot of reps and for me doesn’t feel as fun as some of the gym equipment I use now).

But above all: DON’T underestimate the dieting portion. Whether your goal is to gain muscle or lose weight, what you eat is half if not more of the equation.

Happy to share more details but didn’t want to type a book without knowing what you need :)

Good luck!!

Honestly it makes me sound like a shill but the Apple Watch / fitness+ stuff has been incredibly helpful and motivating. I went from not doing anything to getting at least 30 mins a day after about 6 months. I work from home and am the primary caretaker of a toddler so getting to the gym hasn’t really been in the cards.

The real trick is sticking to it. But I promise it’s worth it for you and everyone in your circle. You can do it!!

The best form of exercise for you is the form that you actually do consistently week after week. If this means working out at home, then that’s fine. Given that you’re not trying to break any records, this might just be fine for you.

I’ve done many different forms of working throughout the years, one of which was to work out at home/local outdoor gym. I did this because there were no gyms at what I considered to be a reasonable distance from home, and I considered that to be too much of an impediment to actually get the work done consistently.

I did get stronger from it, and used it as a part of losing weight, which I wanted on account of being overweight at that time.

I’ve since stopped doing that routine and moved to lifting weights at a gym, which I considered attainable since I moved to a place with gyms very close by. I did this because working out at home had basically reached a plateau as far as strength was concerned - lifting weights at a gym will get you stronger at a faster pace.

I think checking out the stuff that Hybrid Calisthenics does could be worthwhile for you. Do some stuff at home for now if that feels better for you, and then evaluate later on if it keeps working for you.

Very reasonable approach to start at home. You can get absolutely shredded doing just a small handful of body-weight resistance exercises: pushups, pull ups, squats, lunges, and maybe sprawls. That’s literally all you need. Add in some yoga or pilates routines occasionally to strengthen your core further, a ton of material for that on YouTube. Congrats on the big step of starting your fitness journey!

https://www.bowflex.com/product/1090-adjustable-dumbbells/710000.html?adID=DOFG2BFEED1&gad_source=1

I have a set of these (I didn’t pay retail, got them cheap off Craigslist). Adjustable from 10 to 90 lbs and a bench press. With these 2 things, I can do most exercises from the comfort of my home. I have no gym membership, but stay in decent shape. At the end of the day, it’s all about your discipline and sticking to it. Imo it’s much easier and more convenient for me to just go to my garage to work out vs driving 15 mins to/ from. It’s not for everyone tho. Some people like the social aspects of a gym.

During covid I built a home gym (power rack, barbell and plates) never having touched any of it before in my life, and built a wrestler’s physique. It is absolutely possible to go this route. The amount of information available online now is incredible, and in some ways you would be better off teaching yourself versus going to a personal trainer in the gym. They tend to baffle you with BS, and “manage” your program for you with all kinds of wacky exercises.

The recipe is deceptively simple. You don’t need a gym full of machines, a barbell at home can get you yoked. If you are interested in going this route let me know I can point you in the right direction

I spend a grand on a nice adjustable dumbbell set and a bench and went from 165lbs to 210lbs over the last 18 months with a combination of weight training and eating better. It’s absolutely possible to work out at home with the resources that are out there these days. I do miss some of the equipment at the gym but the convenience of a home gym is just too good.

I would point out that getting lean/shredded is not a function of the gym, it’s a function of the kitchen. You cannot out exercise a bad or even mediocre diet. You can use a gym to build muscle, increase flexibility, or improve cardiovascular fitness, but there’s no avoiding making changes to your diet if you want to decrease body fat.

Can someone reply to this comment with pointers or guides on high-protein vegan/vegetarian diets for reducing body fat?

You can absolutely workout at home with almost no equipment. You will need something for pull ups and that’s pretty much it. Google “calisthenics” - that’s what bodyweight exercises are called. It’s a whole world of knowledge with books, blogs and YT channels covering the topic. Many would argue that this type of exercise is actually healthier than using gym equipment.

I started doing this 4 years ago and I can highly recommend it. I hate public places like gym and I don’t like wasting time for getting there and back so exercising at home is perfect for me.

I started with just running outside and some workouts to follow along to on YouTube.

Growingananans channel has some great bodyweight exercises which you can add weights to, and some are with weights as well. There are a lot of others as well. Lots of channels also show modifications for beginners that make the exercises easier until the beginner develops the stamina/muscle to do the harder versions.

I spent a year and a half using weights and you tube exercise videos when I didn’t have access to a gym. My apartment complex has a gym included in rent now so I may add well get my money’s use out of it, but even then I still use YouTube exercises.

I also really like Paula B’s exercises even though they’re for older women and I’m not quite there yet. Still her constant movement still gets my heart rate up despite them being more moderate workouts. They’re also easy to modify to more heavy/high intensity by doubleing the speed you do them or adding weights, so she’s great to begin with and even grow with. Grow with Jo (Gro with Jo?) Is also also someone great to begin with and and intensity to when you are ready.

You never need to go to a gym to get fit. It could help, for some people, but it is not a necessity by any means!

You don’t even need weights or equipment; calisthenics are valid.

21 days to form a habit.
2 days to unform it.

Stick with what you’re doing for 6 weeks, then ask yourself this question again.
There’s no wrong answer. They key is to keep doing it.

I’ve trained calisthenics, plyometrics and power yoga at home for years and I’m very happy with the results. Just search on Youtube for advice and workouts you like. Use your common sense: look for people focusing on tried-and-true ideas and don’t use performance enhancing drugs.

My favorite channels are Athlean-X, Calisthenicmovement, The Stone Circle and Breathe and Flow.

Also, get a mirror or film yourself to check your form, or have someone watch you. After a while, you’ll start feeling whether something is right or wrong, but at the start it’s useful to have a visual check.