I just finished a 40-minute workout and feel what I like to call melty. This is a state of happy muscles and happy mind. I am completely relaxed; I’m at home in my body; and my body—even if it aches a little—is thrilled to be alive, positively humming with pleasure. It’s the feeling I associate with having had a really good orgasm or two.

This is the way I think we should feel after most workouts, if not all of them.

I do want to note here that I do not work out for weight loss. I have tried it but never had success. I work out to keep my body feeling good and fit—my joints and muscles less stiff and sore, heart and lungs stronger and more efficient, my blood pressure down. I have found that diet is far more important to my weight loss than anything else is, though I have not found any one thing that keeps my body losing weight. I would probably lose more weight if I were to devote more of my time to aerobic exercise (every day instead of every other day), but right now, my body reacts strongly with pain and inflammation if I do daily aerobic exercise that is more strenuous than slow walking, and my weather and home setup do not allow for walking every day.

Being overweight and obese for most of my life, I have tried bunches of workout routines, using gyms, videos, weights, and machines. I have also been the person who both worked at a desk all the time and never could find the time to workout, even though I love the feeling that my muscles have worked.

The Challenge: Inactivity plus Pain

I have to admit that I prefer long, slow workouts, like playing in a pool for hours on end, or walking or hiking for a couple of hours. But with two kids and a bunch of plates in the air, I don’t always have time. In fact, when I saw that the video I had chosen today was 40 minutes long, I nearly didn’t do it. And in fact, I often do only part of that video because I either don’t have the stamina or don’t have the time.

Back in 2009, after I was diagnosed with IIH, I was told that losing weight was the only way I would likely be able to get rid of my symptoms. But here’s the problem: I was still anemic after a hemorrhage, even walking was likely to give me headaches, and the medications I was on gave me tremendous brain fog and took away almost all of the little energy I had remaining. But I hated to sit around and do nothing. It made me feel even worse mentally and physically. Even when I’m sedentary, I still HAVE to move, at least to walk around outside or something, or I just feel wrong. So at that time, I might clean out a shelf on my refrigerator—take every item off it, clean the shelf with warm soapy water, then replace everything—and call that exercise. Or I might clear off all the books on one shelf of one of my bookcases, dust the books and the shelf, and put the books back. I might walk down to the mailbox and back.

That’s how I started. I had to start somewhere. I just had to. Sitting around all day, even when it’s working at a computer, makes me feel like a lump, and everything aches. I far prefer the ache that comes after activity to the aches that come from sitting around. It is important to remember that when it comes to exercise (so long as you are maintaining form so you don’t injure yourself)…

Anything is better than nothing!

And that’s what led me to my solution.

The (Beginning) Solution: Isometrics and Gentle Yoga

Then a friend told me about isometric exercises and the great results he’d had from that, so I found two videos from J. B. Berns that involved isometric exercises. I needed no weights and could do everything in my living room. Or bedroom. Or anywhere, really. And the stronger I got with them, the more challenging the exercises got. But at first, they were doable. AND THEY DIDN’T GIVE ME HEADACHES!

Quick shout-out to Forest Spiral for a recent generous donation!

Then I discovered that the pregnancy yoga video I had been doing during my pregnancy was actually a great thing and was VERY helpful. It was gentle enough that it didn’t give me headaches, and it didn’t invert my head, causing all those fluids to rush to my head. So for the next year, I alternated: one or two isometric videos (7–20 minutes each) one day with a yoga routine the next day. Sometimes I would throw in other strength-building, aerobic, or yoga routines. I felt the best I could remember feeling as an adult (I was 29 or 30). I was still fat, but I could move gracefully, and for perhaps the first time, I felt comfortable and at home in my body almost all the time.

The Optimal Solution (for Me)

Since then, I’ve been at various fitness levels as my life has changed from my husband working outside the home to working inside the home, having zero children then one child and then two children, and having very little computer work to having almost constant computer work and almost everything in between. I’ve experimented with all sorts of videos. I have also experimented with lifting weights like my spouse, and with doing squats and burpees as a “perfect” combination exercise. Ugh. I managed to hurt my knees despite careful modification of the exercises and focus on my form, so I was unable to exercise without pain for months.

I am largely “stuck” at home, since I can’t drive, and I have a large area in my living room to work out in. I like to walk outside when the weather permits, but with my limited vision, any outdoor walking has to be done pretty slowly and carefully. So I’ve invested a lot of time and money in trying workout videos that help me feel good, don’t require me to have special equipment, and can be done in my living room or, in a pinch, a little rectangle of clear space at the foot of my bed. Of all the various routines I’ve tried, I find that I have the best results in doing cardio and then yoga/tai chi/qi gong/isometrics/strength building on alternating days from Monday through Friday, with weekends off for “recovery,” though I am often doing housework or lawn work on the weekends.

Always Awesome for Me

My favorite exercises involve both my mind and my body. Because I am obese and also have limited vision, along with a number of injuries I’ve collected from falls over the years from my limited vision, I don’t like anything that moves too quickly, because I find it’s more likely to lead to injury. So I like things that get my heart rate up and use my larger muscle groups while also getting me to focus on form—something that makes me focus on my body, rather than “checking out.”

Here are my favorites (in no particular order), the ones I have come back to over and over again, in all of the states and stages of fitness I have found myself in:

• Body Groove’s Delicious Dance (Misty Tripoli). I like this one so much that I’m trying to figure out which of the other Body Groove collections to get next. The best part is that you can modify the moves to your needs and abilities. Misty encourages you to do it your way; she’s just a guide. As she says, so long as you’re grooving, you can’t get it wrong. So on days when I choose a video that involves jumps but my knees just can’t handle it, I bounce or wiggle my butt more, or I simply use little stomps and just groove to the music. So long as my heart rate is up and I’m sweating and feeling good, I know I’m doing it right. (If you have streaming capabilities and/or want to try something out before committing to another DVD on your shelf, there’s also a streaming option, in one-month or one-year subscriptions.)
• Rehab Your Body at Home. This is one of those isometric videos I mentioned earlier. Its focus is more on rehab, so it’s great for when I’m feeling a lot of tenderness or stiffness in a particular area of my body. But it’s also great as part of the overall rotation to keep me feeling good.
• The Perfect Pregnancy Workout vol. 3: The Ancient Art of Belly Dance for Labor. I feel good whenever I do this routine, pregnant or not.
• Natural Journeys Yoga Pregnancy Pre & Postnatal Workouts. I’ve used this one during, between, and after four pregnancies. It’s my go-to yoga video.
• The Isometric Total Body Workout. Isometrics use your own resistance, so they get harder as you get stronger, and they’re easy enough to do when you’re in no shape at all. All the equipment you need is a chair and maybe a yoga mat, if you so desire. You can do one at a time or even two or more in a row. And they’re easy enough to remember that you can eventually do them without the video. The best part? Every one of these exercises works your core—and therefore helps with balance, metabolism, and back pain! J.B. freuently reminds you to keep your core tight and to keep breathing. My back pops pleasantly and easily every time I use any of these videos.
• 5 Day Fit Chi. My spouse actually bought this several years ago … then never used it. Finally, I cracked it open and found that I really enjoy it. I enjoy all of the routines on it, and some days, some of the routines are better for me than on other days. These routines all offer large-muscle workouts, without any weight lifting, getting down on the floor, or jumping around.

Awesome When I’m in Really Good Shape

There are a couple of routines that I really enjoy but that I cannot always do. If you feel perky and think you might be up for the challenge, I highly recommend them, because they are fun in their own way:

• Circuit Burnout 90. This one is really intense, but it feels upbeat and supportive to keep your motivation up. After a few starts and stops—the stops are usually caused by aching knee joints—this one has sat on my shelf for a while. My particular problem with this program is that I get too into it and give it my all … which may have been fine in my 20s or if I were in better shape. But I’m getting older and have fallen into several states of inactivity over the past few years, in addition to being obese, so it’s really easy for me to injure myself while doing this one. I’m keeping my eye on it as something to keep working toward, though. (Bonus points: it’s got a clear plan to get you in better shape in 90 days, complete with a wall chart and sample menu—and the recipes are actually TASTY instead of bland or just plain gross.)
• Yoga Burn. This one was created to combine yoga with fat-burning so you don’t have to spend so long working on both. I love to use this program but keep falling off the bandwagon before I can accomplish even the first Foundational Flow. It’s built on you dedicating 45 minutes a day 3 times per week. Even with my kids at school, it’s hard for me to find that kind of time—I usually top out at 60 minutes for my daily workout allowance, which includes time for a shower and a post-workout snack/shake. However, I highly recommend it if you like yoga and have the time. It starts pretty gently, the narrator is very encouraging, and you can progress in fitness quickly.

That’s it. I have a few other DVDs that I throw in for variety, and they do a fine job, but they aren’t exceptional in any way, in my opinion. As you might have guessed, I’m always on the lookout for more good home workouts (seriously, I crave variety in my workout routines!), so tell me: what are your favorites?

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