You want to get more exercise, but you just don't have the time. Between working, sleeping, eating, socializing and those four hours of required television viewing, you just have too much to do during the day to actually worry about getting some exercise.

The good news is that there are many ways to get a proper workout without having to spend major amounts of money or blow three hours of your day. As long as you have a carpet or mat-like floor surface and a few household items, you can construct a top-notch home exercise routine.

Some things to keep in mind:

1. This routine is easy on the wallet, but not necessarily easy on the heart rate. Just because you're doing it cheap and quick doesn't mean that you aren't going to sweat.

2. Before undertaking any new physical hobby, let your doctor know about your new exercise plan.

3. You may have to buy something, like a ball or a jump rope.

Assess Your Fitness Goals

Before you even lift a finger (much less a heavy object), figure out why you want to exercise. There are different goals (and combinations thereof), and yours will affect what your routine will look like. What's your primary reason for wanting to work out?

1. You want to lose weight. This, along with reason No. 2, below, is the most common reason for wanting to get some exercise. If you want to lose weight, your exercise routine will consist mainly of cardiovascular exercises. Also consider that, for any cardiovascular exercise to be of any benefit to you, you must do it for at least 25 minutes.

2. You want to tone or strengthen your entire body (or a specific part of your body). Are you sporting more of a one-pack than a six-pack? Whether you want to be sleeker and firmer or huge and muscled, there are many things you can do at home without spending any money.

For toning and strengthening, you are going to concentrate on lifting heavy objects (for toning, you do more lifting with a lighter weight; for strengthening, you do less lifting with a heavier weight).

3. You just want to feel better in an all-around kind of way. Beta-endorphins are your brain's "feel-good" drug, and any form of exercise gets those endorphins pumping through your body, making you feel better both physically and mentally. This is especially true if you exercise in the morning: Studies show that substantial exercise in the morning keeps your endorphin levels elevated throughout the day.

4. You need an activity to help you relax and relieve stress--the "catharsis" argument. Some people feel that if they kick along with a Tae Bo tape, it helps them unleash frustration and anger, relieving stress in general.

Ideally, a proper exercise routine will help you accomplish all of the above. Exercising on a regular basis is bound to help you lose weight (as long as you're not scarfing down cheeseburgers 24/7), tone up, feel better about yourself and relax.

Assess Your Lifestyle

Figure out how much time and money you're willing to devote. A home workout means that both of these potential negatives will be much lower than if you had to go to a gym, but to create a proper regimen, you still need a general idea.

Here's how to arrange a time schedule for your exercise routine:

1. Sit down with a daily schedule and pick out times in your week that could be devoted to exercising. The available slots in your schedule will determine what types of exercise you put into your routine. For instance, if you only have time late at night to exercise, you won't want to jog around your neighborhood as part of your routine.

2. Don't forget to consider those 10- to 20-minute lags in your day (probably the times you usually grab a snack). You can do stomach crunches in the morning while you wait for your coffee to drip. You can do a power aerobics session (such as jumping rope) while you wait for your clothes to dry.

3. Longer slots of time can be used for slower-paced activities like walking or hiking. This is especially appropriate for weekends. Chances are the time is somewhere there in your schedule. The trick is to find activities that fit into your lifestyle and to keep it fun. There are probably a lot of other activities that you would consider more fun, but as soon as those beta endorphins start kicking in, you'll be hooked.


"Cheap" doesn't mean "free." So you may have to spend some money on a few items:


1. Sneakers: Almost any exercise that you do will require a good pair of sneakers. Even though you're in the comfort of your house and you'd like to exercise barefoot and naked, you need to wear sneakers to save the wear and tear on your joints.

2. Safety equipment: This equipment (for example, a helmet and/or wrist guards) is necessary if you decide to go biking or rollerblading. If you don't want to buy the equipment or can't afford it, don't do those activities.

3. Exercise surface: If your entire apartment is hardwood floors, you'll have to get either an exercise mat or a piece of carpet big enough for you to work out on. It's just too hard on your body to do vigorous exercise on hard floors.

Plan a Routine

1. Power-Walk. Many people love to go jogging. However, jogging takes a serious toll on your knees and doesn't necessarily do much more for you than a brisk walk. Thus, we recommend power-walking for exercise. Although power-walking doesn't burn quite as many calories as jogging, most doctors agree that power-walking is better for you in the long run anyway (it exercises more muscle groups).Try power-walking in areas where you'll have to walk uphill. You'll burn more calories and tone your muscles quicker.

If you don't feel that your heart rate is up quite high enough, try alternating jogging and power-walking. You should be sweating and pleasantly red, but you shouldn't feel as if you've just run a marathon. Find a happy medium.

If you get a cramp in your stomach, slow down a little and breathe evenly. Most stomach cramps during workout sessions come from the exerciser not breathing properly. So fight the tendency to hold your breath while you work out. Take long, even breaths, and the cramps should go away.

2. Jump rope. Jumping rope isn't only for little girls in pink dresses and pigtails. It's a fantastic way to get cardiovascular exercise while staying within the comforts of your home. Five minutes of jumping rope has the calorie-burning power of jogging one mile. Of course, you have to engage in real jumping-rope action--going quickly, not doing those little "double hops" in between each turn. Rent "Rocky" and learn from the master.

3. Use workout videos. There are tons of good titles out there, most of which are relatively cheap. But avoid celebrity or high-profile videos, which usually get bad reviews from the experts. Try to find a video with a lower-key veteran of the exercise world. You can pick these up for cheap at most video stores. If money is very tight, record a few ESPN shows and use those.

4. Tone up without those fancy home gyms. You can get the same toning effects without fancy machines and without the guilt. Almost any kind of strengthening or toning exercise (like push-ups, squats and sit-ups) can be done by using your body weight as natural resistance. Gyms aren't nearly as necessary as you think.

Pick up a couple of issues of an exercise magazine to develop a list of toning exercises that target your "problem" areas. Use heavy soup cans for exercises in which weights are needed.

5. Make use of your stairs. Play some music on the CD player and start walking up and down the stairs. Push from the heel, not the knee, and alternate between going up every step and skipping a step. And don't hold onto the handrail. Keep your heart rate up, but stop if you feel dizzy; the stairs are not the best place to collapse in a heap. As you advance, start walking up and down with soup cans.

6. Dance. Blast the radio and enjoy. Stomp those feet. Flail those arms. Move to the beat. Don't worry; no one's watching. It's cheap, easy and sweaty.

7. Ride your bike or roller-blade. Again, don't forget the safety equipment. Rollerblade to the market to pick up some milk. Bike your way to work and back. You'll save money on bus fare, and you'll arrive at work with your beta endorphins pumping.

8. Take a hike. Again, make sure you have the right shoes. Unfortunately, there may not be places around you to hike, but there's no reason that, on a sunny Saturday, you couldn't hop in your car and head to a hilly outskirt of the city.

9. Clean. Cleaning burns tons of calories. Chase the dust bunnies and burn the fat.

If you're extra busy one week, try to compromise. Combine exercise with things you have to do anyway. Run around the block a few times with your dog. Jog to the corner market instead of driving. These things are free and easy, and they'll help ease some of the guilt you'll feel from wavering from your usual routine. Do not keep doing an exercise that you hate; it'll make you quit. Instead, switch to another exercise. And to keep yourself from getting sick of your exercises, vary your routines every couple of weeks.