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Posts: 6
10/9/12 11:46 P

My dorm has a few workout machines, which I usually use because the rec center is so far away! Does anyone have any not-embarassing ab moves that I could do while other people are around?

Posts: 71
8/27/12 10:44 A

Today's the fist day of classes for me and I live in a dorm with a roommate who doesn't go out much and always wants to hang out...I don't like working out if she's around so I'm fitting in spark workouts while she's in class and I'm here,and I'll do by cardio running at the track or doing machines at the gym.
Since I only have about an hour while she's in class it doesn't give me much time so I have to have my workout clothes set aside and my exercises planned. I'm also done pretty early in the day =]

current weight: 149.0

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Posts: 47
7/16/12 12:05 P

I usually work out in my house when nobody is here, it works during the vacation, but when i´m studying there is always someone around, my brother always makes funny faces or make me laugh, it would be great but ruin my workouts. What i do is to go to the University in roller skates is a little bit awkward when i arrive to the first class all red, but it is what you have to do to lose weight

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7/14/12 2:19 A

I am WAY too shy for that. Nope, campus fitness center for this kid.

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SparkPoints: (184)
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Posts: 47
8/10/11 11:05 A

My freshman year (lived in dorms) I actually told my roommate I was going to start working out, and she decided to join in! =)
For sophomore year, we moved into an apartment with two other girls from the dorm we knew, and last semester we were ALL working out. I am very happy I ended up with the roommates I got. They are all pretty fit too, so we are pretty equal in fitness. (One grew up on a farm, strong arms! One rides horses, and the third is a fellow XC and track runner.)

Perhaps you should offer for the new roommate to join you?

Edited by: XC_RUNNEH at: 8/10/2011 (11:11)

Posts: 2
5/29/10 1:19 P

@PaddleB6: I would have such a hard time doing kickboxing or anything like that in front of my boyfriend! Not that I would get embarrassed, but I'd feel like he was judging my form the whole time. He's a black belt!

@OP: I don't live in a dorm, so I never had that problem. But I don't work out in the main part of my house, cause I don't want my sisters watching me. My boyfriend's old roommate, though, used to work out in the dorm room they shared. It was pretty surprising the first couple times, but then we just started ignoring each other.

Posts: 136
5/18/10 3:50 P

I hate working out in front of others, and I tried to get over my fear by having my roommate join in. They never did. So what did this do? It got me to not do it either. I set around doing nothing, I got more and more aggravated at myself because of this.

So, 2 years later, and one less roommate (the problem one), I am doing this exercise thing by myself, my way, and painfully. I really wish I did have a workout buddy during the day.

Doing workouts at the gym is different because everyone is doing the same thing. Yes, I can't stand people watching what I am doing so they can later tell me what I did wrong, or what I can do differently.

Pounds lost: 16.0

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Posts: 66
5/8/10 4:21 P

I live with my husband and our roomie, and before I was living with my parents and brothers; I've always hated working out where others can see me. The only time I can work out in front of them is when they join in. I can do exercise machines without feeling self councious, I guess b/c they're sitting infront of me. Does anybody else have other's comment about your tenique, and complain that "you're not doing it right?"

Posts: 6
5/3/10 10:29 P

I love this thread, because it is mad awkward to workout with a roommate in the room. But I think if you can convince them to join for a little it can be fun.

Posts: 3
5/1/10 8:43 P

One of my favorite workouts is Namaste Yoga on FitTV, so we keep a couple episodes on the DVR at all times. I have walked in and found my other roommates doing it, even with the boyfriends!! We laugh about it, but then I'll get down to business and they know its time to leave me alone!!

Posts: 36
2/11/10 9:29 P

I don't live in a dorm but I do have roommates. I use wii fit to do cardio. The other day she walked in the living room and asked if I could do something else cuz it was annoying her... I can't stand her much.

Posts: 407
2/11/10 7:46 P

I can't exercise in my dorm room as my roommate basically let her boyfriend move in with us. It's hard enough finding alone time for me to shower nevermind working out!

Posts: 241
2/5/10 11:28 A

I used to delay doing any type of exercise because my roommate never leaves the house unless I do. I begant o really pack on the pounds because of this and so did he. I finally got fed up and when he's plopped on the couch watching tv, i'll start exercising/stretching right there in the living room. He only made a comment once..and I told him to wait a few months and we will see who has added more weight and who has lost weight. He's a pretty big guy so i'm hoping it will motivate him to get off his but..but so far he just try's to act like i'm not doing a thing.

Posts: 41
1/31/10 1:43 P

I currently live in an apartment with two other girls. I'm lucky enough to have my own bedroom, but really all I can do in here without running into furniture or walls is stretching. So, everything else I do in the living room. One of my roommates actually decided that seeing me workout was good motivation, and ended up buying a Wii Fit which we use together now (so I guess working out in front of one roommate came in handy for me in that way). Sadly, though, the other girl has a tendency to sit at our kitchen table and stare. It makes me incredibly self conscious, so I've been trying to schedule my workouts around when she has class (which works a couple days a week), but when I can't, I just try to convince myself she's there for motivation because I really hope that my body will look like hers thanks to my regular exercise. (Truthfully telling myself that doesn't make me any less unconfortable, but it kind of helps.)

current weight: 140.0

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Posts: 18
1/30/10 11:48 A

I often do stretching and strength training videos while my roommate sits in the room. At first it was a little awkward and she would say funny comments, but not it doesn't really phase her. In all honesty, I bet she is thinking that she should be doing the same thing. I love my roommate though, and often her comments are funny and only motivate me to work even more.

Posts: 53
1/27/10 9:20 A

Luckily I live in an on-campus townhouse with 5 of my best friends. I have my own room and while it's TINY, I have JUST enough room to do basic core workouts and most of my resistance band strength work. I haven't yet started indoor cardio but I will have to move to the living room for that. Luckily, I love my roommates and will just have to close the blinds for the floor to ceiling windows. :P The other day a few of us were chatting in the kitchen and one roommate, needing to work out but not miss out, dragged the yoga mat into the kitchen and started doing crunches next to us! :P

I'm really lucky. When I lived with other roommates, this never would have happened.

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Posts: 235
1/16/10 10:53 A

I never really had a problem like that, but last year when I would work out in my suite's common room and someone was coming in or out or something I would feel more motivated to work hard and do everything right because they could be watching. Even yesterday my housemate was in the living room while I was doin a dvd, she just got back from a run and was streching while I was working out and with her there I worked myself harder

current weight: 157.0

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Posts: 149
1/16/10 10:43 A

When I lived in a dorm I wanted to workout to Turbo Jam. I wanted to do it in my room so I used to try and fit the workout in when my roommate wasn't around. Sometimes she walked in while I was in the middle of it (sometimes with the boyfriend!!) but they didn't make me feel bad as they saw that I had to lose a lot of weight and that I wasn't comfortable working out in public so they let me do my thing.
Now I'm living in a house with friends and they know that when they hear lots of movement in my room, they're not to disturb me until I emerge. They're pretty respective of my workouts as they know how much it would mean to me to lose weight. I think if you can talk to the people that are stopping you from working out that they might surprise you how supportive they are.

Posts: 25
1/14/10 2:18 P

I don't live on campus, actually, we don't even have a campus, but everyone in the house knows that when my doors closed, they should knock before entering. This gives me the freedom to not only exercise without being stared at, but I can exercise in my sportsbra and pants, so much better :D

Posts: 13
1/12/10 10:08 P

So, I am lucky enough to live with my boyfrinend and so I at least have someone I love who gets to watch me. However, when working out to my Turbo Jam cardio work out (rather fun, I might add)and doing these kicks front, back, and to the sides I look and feel pretty ridiculous. When I am alone then I dont really care...I'm just so proud of myself that I am even up in the morning and burning calories. But then my honey wakes up and silently watches me make a fool of myself. When I eventually notice him standing there I just get self concious and start looking my balance, or kick something... in general turn into a clutz. it sucks.

Posts: 7
1/11/10 10:25 P

At first i was really hesitant with my roommate watching (a 98 pound calorie counting freak) but i find that if i just say "hey i'm gonna work out in the living room in ten mins" before i start awkwardly kickboxing ... well it takes some of the shock away haha

Posts: 28
1/8/10 10:38 P

I've been doing some P90x workouts (Kenpo Cardio and Yoga) in our living room. I'm on campus in a suite-style dorm with 2 bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen and living room per suite.

I could care less if my roommate (a girl) is watching as she is locked in her room all day doing who knows what. My only problem is trying not to wake people up that might be below me when I'm jumping around.

Posts: 40
1/8/10 2:48 P

Sometimes it can feel like your roommate/friends are judging you at school. The best way to avoid awkwardness is to make a joke about how it may look dumb but you're preventing the freshman 15/sophomore 20, what not. Then invite her along. In my experience other college students have more respect for you if you're capable of keeping up a workout routine while dealing with a busy schedule.

Posts: 9
1/7/10 11:22 A

A good tip is to put on a headset and listen to your favorite work out music and you start to lose concentration of everything around you.

Posts: 24
1/4/10 7:44 P

Both my roomie and I workout in the room, but it's always less awkward when shes not there. We put our semester schedules up on our board so that we know when we can have our individual work out times.

Posts: 3
12/7/09 12:07 P

If my roomie isn't in the dorm then I might be able to do some crunches or a few things, but she always walks in and just looks at me weird. So I try to save my workouts for the gym. Where at least everyone else is doing fitness stuff even if they do look at you.

Edited by: COMMONVANITY at: 12/7/2009 (12:07)

Posts: 27
12/3/09 4:55 P

I totally know how you feel. It's like that at my boyfriend's house, where I basically live. His younger siblings own the only room I can work out in, so if I steal their TV, they will watch me work out. I either have to wake up really early, or do it late at night.

It's lame. =[

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Posts: 214
11/29/09 11:55 P

I have the same problem, but it's with housemates. One of my housemates is male and an ex-boyfriend, so I get far too self-conscious to workout here.

Posts: 8
11/29/09 8:20 A

Today I decided to work out with my roommate still in the room (following a video) and she decided to join me! It was great!

You never know, if your roommate understands your goal, maybe they will make their own personal goal and make it more fun for you!
I was more motivated to do everything right with her as well, which was awesome!

Posts: 71
7/13/09 2:38 P

It's definitely hard to workout with a roommate especially if they don't have the same goals as you. I was and still am great friends with my roommate for the past 2 years. I had goals of running a half-marathon and staying in shape while she was more looking just to be active. There were times when I would feel guilty because she would say "well I should go workout." Then you offer to have her join and she is at a completely different level. What worked best for me was to start off running with my roommate and then make a loop for the distance she wanted to go and then drop her off and continue till I reached my distance goal. You got the best of both worlds: You included your roommate, but also got the workout you wanted to get in!

Posts: 44
7/13/09 11:00 A

While I don't live in a dorm, I understand the dilemma. The simplest way to deal with a staring roommate would be to just ignore them and concentrate on bettering yourself. If you have the room and the funds, I'd go buy a folding screen to block their view. This could be useful for more than just during workout times, too. I know they sell them at Hobby Lobby, but I'm not sure how much they cost.

current weight: 168.0

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Posts: 10
7/10/09 1:52 P

I totally know how you feel! My sophomore year, my room was in the shape of a Z so I would do my post-cardio ab workout/ pushups in the part my roommate wasn't in. This past year though, it was just a rectangle so a lot of times I didn't do that part of my workout if she was in the room because I felt like she was watching.

I didn't want to keep missing this part of my workouts though, so I tried to go to the gym or run outside at a time when I knew she wouldn't be there when I was done. I also started doing that part of my workout outside of my room. One day for instance, I ran around campus and stopped at a grassy area with no one around and did crunches there. If I did my cardio at the gym, I would use the mats to do the strength exercises. I felt more comfortable doing crunches in front of strangers than my roommate, which I guess sounds a little weird. It was probably because I knew they had similar goals to mine.

Posts: 15
7/10/09 11:30 A

I've just recently got into the working out thing and thought about how strange it would be to do the post-cardio strength exercises in my dorm room. My previous roommate was a starer and would probably have stared at me or asked me why the heck I was working out.

Glad I'm not living with her again next year, but I will be getting a new roommate. Does anyone else feel weird about working out in your dorm?

Edited by: GOLDENTIGRESS12 at: 7/10/2009 (11:31)

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