http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/focus-t25-workout.do

its a great starting program as you dont have to create your own routines or cycles, can be done at home, requires no equipment, and is only 25 minutes long, great if you have a busy schedule, its not as hard as Insanity or P-90X, and depending on your body type, you wont have to have a strict diet as you will burn so much calories that a little junk food won't hurt, so you dont have to jump into a huge commited diet with a lesser intense routine, thats not to say you cant eat absolute shit and expect results

try something that is fun and active but not necessarily straight up exercise

for example I picked up skating as something to get more active and I also got a friend into it too. after skating for a month or two I decided to try running a bit and it was wayyy easier that I remember it being just from all the leg strength and stamina I'd gained.

some ideas:
walking
biking
longboarding/skating
swimming (although this is more of an actual work out)
etc

edit: kayaking? do people kayak?

there's several c2 5k phone apps that are p nice at getting you decent at running in a couple of months

u should go to a gym tho running is fucking gay

also if ur back hurts this is a good place to start :)

you could simply lose weight by calculating your maintenance calories and eating below that number. losing weight is essentially a numbers game and is based on calories in (consumed) versus calories out (expended). if you go to the aforementioned link, i've used the mifflin-st jeor formula for both my bulking and cutting cycles with good results. piggy backing on what mr harvard said, there are no real "junk" or "bad" foods; it's more so foods that do or do not fit your caloric needs and weight loss/gain goals (or overall health, if you get into the micronutrient aspect of nutrition).

also, alosec has it right. doesn't sound like you want to weight train, so find a means of cardio/bodyweight exercises that you enjoy doing, eat at a slight caloric deficit (after calculating maintenance), and steadily lose weight.

if you need help with any of this, feel free to add me.

Start with one of those C25K apps, you'll be surprised and relieved when running stops becoming a chore and turns into something you actually look forward to. Lifting is great don't get me wrong but if you want to lose weight and feel better without going to a gym start running, it's seriously awesome.

working out with a buddy helps, you can keep each other accountable and it's fun to work out with a friend

EDIT: Also listening to audio books is a great way of passing time if you get bored while working out like I do... you get to listen to all those books on your list that you've been too busy to read all the while distracting yourself from being out of breath and suffering

Running is excellent for losing weight and improving your mental health. Start out small, even half a mile will get your heart racing and your metabolism sped up. Finding a nice trail to run helps as well, doing laps works but its nice to look at different things as you go. If you are so heavy that you have knee and ankle problems you should first use an elliptical because the one downside of running is that it is high impact which does put stress on your ankles and knees especially. As you keep running you can gradually increase the distance as you feel comfortable. The great thing about running is that you require no real equipment or gym memberships, and you can virtually do it any time of the day or week. I highly recommend running every other day to give your bones and muscles time to recuperate because you do burn a lot of stored up nutrients when you run.

The mental benefits include confidence from undertaking and completing a goal you set for yourself. You do also gain extra energy and endorphins from the 'runners-high'. Running also relieves you of many stresses you may be feeling, as well as pumping more oxygen rich blood to your brain so you usually think faster with greater clarity.

I have been running for over 5 years and it has positively accentuated nearly every aspect of my life, even my tf2 play has improved with running. Finally lots of people run so you can make friends, who can challenge and motivate you continually improve!

I went from being "skinny fat" at 220lb to looking buffer at 185lb. All I did was use a calorie counter app and hit the gym for at least 1 hour any time I could go. At first it felt like a chore but eventually you start loving it. :-)

If anyone is interested, the app is called myfitnesspal.

Setting goals can really help you get motivated. I'm currently working towards running a marathon this spring and my running routine has me in the best shape I've been in years.

Find a sport(s) that you enjoy playing, and it's likely that you will get enough exercise from just playing. I remember two a days for football and a few for baseball in highschool, but I was always afraid that in college that I would gain the freshman 15. Even though I ate tons of shitty food and massive amount of calories, I actually lost weight and gained better abs until after college. The reason, surprising to me, was playing club indoor volleyball and club sand. It didn't seem like a "workout" but I honestly think I was burning more calories than I would during 2 a days. The difference was that I wasn't running 40 laps because someone told me too, but rather spending 4-5 hours doing something that was fun.

wrong thread

If you could give a little more information as to what you have at your disposal, I think that you will be able to get a more helpful response. Running isn't as stellar an idea if you already have low-back issues/instability. If you're like me, and despise distance running, then there are other (more fun) ways to keep in shape year round. If you're like 99% of humans, and want to look better naked, there are some programs I can recommend that come with pictures/videos of all exercises, etc. Are you planning on joining a gym?

Sounds like elliptical or one of those stationary bikes would be good. My back isn't as bad as it was before, but sometimes it cramps up very suddenly and it's quite painful. No ankle or knee problems luckily.

I do have a gym at my university, it's just I'd need to make time to drive out to campus [Usually I don't get there until 6pm, I have late classes]. That's why I'm wondering what's an easy thing to do at home or around my neighborhood.

Thanks for all the replies so far!

Main thing is whatever you do you need to be having fun, if hot woman are there is an added benefit.

when i started exercising ddp yoga was pretty good, didn't require any equipment or going outside, only took about 20-30 minutes a day and it was pretty fun

there's a bunch of videos on the youtube about it if you wanna look into it

e: even though it's called yoga it's more of a workout combined with it

Make sure to clean up your diet when you start to work out, it's definitely a lot easier to get the most out of your body and push yourself if you've been chowing on veggies, healthy fats (like olives, avocado, some other shit), healthy proteins etc, and DEFINITELY stay hydrated. Dehydration sets in before thirst so in general if you're thirsty you're doing it wrong (and also being dehydrated can slow your metabolism WAYYY DOWN). Avoid sugars, but if you're exercising pretty regularly and you want a soda or whatever every once in a while it's not a big deal I feel like most people when they force themselves away from the foods they want the most wind up binging on it whenever they "relapse" just try to not make it a habbit. Also I used to be like WAYY into soda but once I started properly hydrating and taking care of my diet I don't crave it ever, tea and water are kind of my favorite things now which I wouldn't have said like 2 years ago.

For losing fat I'd recommend interval running alternating running/sprints with walking/jogging, as time passes try to increase either the time you spend running or the distance you spend running while decreasing the time you spend walking/jogging. Personally I like to run outside (away from places with high pollution) because I feel like running to new places and discovering shit while I run is what keeps me from getting suuuuper bored like looking at numbers on a treadmill can only keep my attention for 15 minutes max.

My goal is always to push my heart when I run and really try to hit that sweet 180-200 bpm mark (this might be different for you, iirc its dependent on age what bpm you should be at to get this effect), if you do it long enough your body will release HGH (you can tell when this happens because your skin will be flushed red and you will probably be breathing very hard and sweating very quickly; I usually feel a warm flush throughout my body and when I calm down I start to feel realllllly good) which iirc helps your body/organs get stronger and hitting that bpm increases your post-exercise oxygen consumption which will light up your metabolism for like 24 hours (basically getting your heart to go really really fast for 15-30 minutes a day, regardless of how you do it will help with burning fat a lotttt).

For building muscle hit the weights hard (or use bodyweight workouts) and make sure to eat a meal high in carbohydrates and protein soon after (I like to eat mainly veggies here and protein I usually mix a powder into milk, but its probably better to get it through natural sources like chicken or something) and make sure if you're really working the muscles you get a looot of grams of protein like I think last I heard it was pretty much your body weight in grams of protein, idk I'm 210 but I dont really ever get more than 180 g's on a given day, and thats a high point, the protein will help rebuild your muscle much stronger but keep in mind carbs (from veggies and grains) are what rebuild your muscles so you want to get loads of those in too.

AND MAKE SURE TO STAY HYDRATED (SUUUUUUPER IMPORTANT)

Also I've heard people say if you want the "toned" look you should do loads of low intensity exercises like lifting 5 lb dumbbells like 100 times and I've also heard that the toned look is just having a low % of body fat and a good amount of muscle and that people that tell you to lift low pound weights to get that are essentially wasting your time since you will get results but it'll take a lot longer to do 3 sets of 100 reps than using a higher weight and doing 3 sets of like 5 reps. But I dont know I haven't actually done my own research on the topic, so if someone else wants to come in and confirm one of those two things that'd be cool otherwise just do some reading.

Oh yeah and like doing your own research and learning about nutrition, fitness, workouts etc is what I do whenever I start to lack motivation, if I force myself to keep learning about it it usually rekindles the desire to go work out.

I'd rather have hot men to look at, but I'm not picky when it comes to either gender. Win-win!

if u actually have back problems (see a physician/chiropractor/whatever first) pls dont lift waits/do strentuous exercise until u no things because herniated/bulged disks will fuk u and it really isn't fun

unless u were doing heavy lifting in a previous job tho there's a good chance that back pains are related to muscle imbalances or tightness from being a nerd who video games all day

and if u do wanna gym just go 2 class and then bring extra shorts with u, ez

As said before, going with a friend usually makes it quite enjoyable and what I usually do is to try to have "friendly" competitions between each other doing a certain exercise in short bursts. I find that the competition makes time go by faster and makes me work harder.

Since nobody's mentioned it yet, its really important to get the right amount of sleep. Your body does most of its healing while you sleep so you'll need 7-9 hours to keep feeling healthy/able to exercise. And breakfast is really important too, your body will go into a fasted state and slow its metabolism way down when you fall asleep and the easiest way to get your body back into a regular state is to eat something and hydrate (tea, coffee, water will all do this, some people say caffeine will dehydrate you but the idea that the diuretic effect of caffeine will dehydrate you has been debunked by a few studies) or exercise (I think its easier to just eat but that's just me). I usually eat some oatmeal and fruit when I wake up and drink coffee, and if I do any heavy exercise soon after I might eat another small breakfast (like a few eggs or something) just to give my body nutrients and keep me feeling energized after.

Edit: don't oversleep though, that'll often leave you feeling shitty when you wake up and just makes it so you spend more time in that fasted state. If you've really pushed yourself the day before your body might make use of more sleep to recover but in general oversleeping is just shitty for you and can lead to lots of mental health problems as well as physical.

Learn from the master of fitness, Dane
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzeGWUidwLA&list=UUxWQaj1gqQzHkzd0oXkR2bA

http://pastebin.com/4hdf1uaP

Like other people have said, you should really look into your back issue(s) first. You say you have cramps; does this happen when inhaling deeply after having done something strenuous? I ask because I had a heavy "pinching" feeling when inhaling after one-arm pullups and/or dragon flags, and I realised I hadn't been stretching my core enough.
Regardless, see a physiotherapist and based on their recommendations, tailor a regimen for yourself; whatever you do, ease into it.

As for cardio vs. strength training, I'm very firmly in the strength training camp, although I do agree that some level of endurance is good, and plyometrics(explosive strength training) is great.

With respect to running, be warned that it's absolutely terrible for your joints(no matter how "well padded" your shoes are), especially if you run like most people do. Running is also a pretty poor exercise in terms of a time-to-benefit ratio as you do a lot of it, for a long time, for very little in terms of practical fitness.
If you really must run, I'd recommend looking into barefoot running; more specifically, landing on your forefoot rather than on your heel, while minimising head-torso bob. But do not go straight into barefoot running a mile a day out of the gate. You have to do it very slowly, or you'll risk injuring your Achille's tendon or overloading your calves. Start out walking barefoot, landing on your forefoot, somewhere with hard surfaces for 30 minutes every other day, see how your calves and feet feel. Stop if you feel pain or soreness. When you can properly walk barefoot with no pain, try running 10 or 15 minutes every day or every other day with no shoes on. Progress as above.

If you want to make the most of your time spent exercising, low rep, high intensity exercises are your best friend. Sprinting, planks, box jumps, pushups(and variants), pullups(and variants), squats, bridges, and more. Best part is only a pullup bar is needed for the stuff I mentioned.
With simple bodyweight exercises like these, you'll see great results in probably 4-5 months. If you're not happy with that time-frame, you can always join a gym and move onto heavier free weights(avoid machines as they do little for your balance and stability) to see results faster.
Since you're a woman(I assume), I imagine you may be afraid of "getting bulky", but you needn't worry about looking like a female bodybuilder, or anything near that without massive amounts of heavy lifting, a ridiculously high protein intake, and a lot of supplementation. Oh, and sometimes hormonal "aid".

Lastly, diet is key. Cut out the carbs, sugar and grain oils as much as you can manage, but try and replace them with high quality meat(avoid low-fat meat), fats(ghee, butter, coconut oil), vegetables and fruit. Meat is good for two reasons. One, it builds muscle and/or prevents muscle wasting, which is very common in high-carb low-protein endurance athletes. Two, it is very filling on account of the fat and protein, when compared with an equal amount of carbs. What this means is if you were eating 600 grams of carbs per day or 600 grams of protein per day, you'd gain more lean mass(muscle) and put on less fat with the protein, provided there was adequate daily exercise.
Calorie counting will help you lose weight and possibly gain that skinny-fat look, but is terrible if you want even slight muscle definition. If you want a lean physique with muscle definition ranging from slight to ripped, put less emphasis on calorie counting, and more on getting high quality fruits/vegetables, fats and approximately 0.8g of protein per lb of your bodyweight per day. So if you're 110lbs, you need approx 88 grams of protein per day. Just keep in mind that 100 grams of beef, for example, does not equal 100 grams of protein. You need to check the protein content per 100g of food you're consuming

Lastly, here is a visual aid for some simple bodyweight exercises:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19664301/progressions.jpg

Stole the words right out of my mouth with all your other points, and yes, you are correct in thinking low intensity, high reps is a waste.
Like how Gwyneth Paltrow got "toned" with 3lb dumbbells. Personally, I hate the term "toned" because it's vague and sometimes misleading in that people use it to describe taut skin, average-ish bodyfat, low muscle mass in women while also using it to describe low bodyfat and high muscle mass in men.

Oh, those are some good links. Noticed the Ido Portal stuff in there.

I have them sometimes, they've been less frequent now. When I did have them more often usually that would be from moving from a resting position I've been in for a long time [sitting for hours, lying down] to standing.

Thank you for all these responses guys! I'll be taking a look at all the links soon.

Admittedly this got more complex than I expected, but I'll do a good read through everything.

Yo drink like 3x more than you think you need. dehydration can set in a lot faster than you'd expect.

I don't think I will ever understand the whole bodyweight craze. If you use the university facilities after your classes are finished, get in a hard half hour workout, and some cardio, you're going to sleep like an absolute legend. Working out either early or late has tons of dietary implications that can make weight loss remarkably easy, since you really shouldn't be having too many carbs throughout the day, just around your workout. If you want to do bodyweight, I'd recommend some kind of video series, because you're never going to work as hard if you're standing in your living room staring at a piece of paper. Also, if you work out and eat correctly, you don't have to subscribe to this beta distance running crap. Distance will never be as healthy as people proclaim it to be, but that's an argument for another medium i'm going to guess.

http://forum.steelfactor.ru/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_id=331904

http://articles.elitefts.com/tag/beginner/

distance running is more about the health benefits of a strong heart than fat loss or body sculpting
sprinting is much more effective for cutting based on broscience I heard once but yeah

so much bad advice

2 things.

- Do something physical. Anything. Intense for short bursts (lifting), less intense for longer duration (running). Key thing is, it needs to be fun for you. You have to stick with it. You're not doing an 8 week fatburningasssculptingkillerab program.

- Eat less calories. If you are trying to lose weight, this will help more than any exercise program. It's also important to drink more water and get micro nutrients from eating decent foods, but the key thing for weight loss is being in a caloric deficiency. Here is a tool to get an idea of how many calories you should be consuming.

"For building muscle hit the weights hard (or use bodyweight workouts) and make sure to eat a meal high in carbohydrates and protein soon after (I like to eat mainly veggies here and protein I usually mix a powder into milk, but its probably better to get it through natural sources like chicken or something)"

its generally better to drink the whey protein thingy after a workout because of how fast it digests, also lifting weights is super good for burning calories thus burning fat (as long as you dont eat too much yknow) lifting makes you hungry af