I've been sitting my days through for as long as I have a personal computer. The last time I did anything seriously physical was almost a year ago, in the university physical education classes; as soon as those ended (I quit university), ended any resemblance of healthy physical activity in my life. I'm starting to accumulate fat I can live without, I can't run for shit, run out of breath in a minute of any serious physical activity, and even kneeling creates a bit of difficulty.
So, starting tomorrow, I'm starting to get myself to physical fitness to the best of my capabiltiies.
It means that I start running. I can't handle breaking down after a minute of running. I'm going to train for endurance first and speed later, so that I'd be able to both run for a long time and to chase people running away from me. I'll start with a minute of running per minute of taking a breath for ten straight minutes, and build my way up as it becomes less of an agony. I endure discomfort doing my running in front of many others, so I'll do them around 6 AM in the park nearby; which is good anyway, because it will force me to wake up earlier, thus maintaining a much more productive timetable.
It means that I start doing muscle-building. I don't have money for gyms, so I'll do it using my body weight plus any additional weights if I ever stumble upon those. Push-ups, pull-ups, planks and anything else I fould enough evidence for being useful will go into this. If I come up with enough materials, I'll do my best to build my own set of weights.
It means that I start endurance exercises. Mainly, burpees, using this chart as a guideline for the first month. If I finish it, it would be incredible; I can only imagine how much energy I will gain as a result of such exercise. Given that it's meant to be a challenge, I'll separate it from muscle-building during the day, thus having two sets of workouts, one closer to morning and one closer to evening.
This will probably be an agony for my body. Still, I will do it, because I don't want to become a physical wreck by the time I have a family of my own, and I'll use the public promise I'm making right now as a motivator to get me started and keep me going at first. I'll lay out more specific plans tomorrow, in a separate post. Follow #tfgsworkout for more info.
For now, I'm going to sleep, because I have to run in the morning. I'll make a selfie in the park to prove my start.
Alright, cliffelam is on his way over. We are going running. I'll be lucky to make it 3 miles without collapsing. But... I'm going. The coffee is coursing through my veins and I'm as ready as I will ever be. Let's do it!
Wayward winds! Keep in mind why you're doing it, and remember to have fun with your results. What helped me is clear, achievable goals: so far, I didn't even want to miss anything because I know I can do it, as evident by the experience so far. Try Darebee's challenges - it helped me.
No need to join a gym. As long as you're motivated and dedicated, you can get an awesome workout without anything other than what you were born with. Body weight exercise can do wonders for you. Good luck!!
This is damn right. Fitloop have a pretty decent beginner routine that progresses as you get stronger! I recommend it highly :D If you're creative enough, you don't need any equipment to do any of the exercises. I have a tree in my front yard that's perfect for pull-ups and I use the dining room table for rows.
Good for you! I'm of the personal opinion that everybody should do some sort of physical activity everyday. I divide my time between disc golf and running. I try to run ~18 miles a week and play a round or two as well. I also like to go out to eat and have some beers, so I feel best knowing I'm balancing out the gluttony with some hard work and sweat.
I like to alternate my mileage and pacing for variety. Every week I like to do a long slow run (6 to 8 miles), two 3 mile runs at a quick pace, a four or five miler with a lot of elevation, and a one miler at a very quick pace. So each run takes anywhere from 2 hours to 30 minutes, with stretching and cool down walking. Of course a lot of this just depends on what you prefer. I like to run in the afternoon after work, while many people enjoy running in the morning or only have time in the morning. Some people prefer to run by time, not distance. And some prefer to run the same distance everyday. Find what works for you! EDIT: I use a website called RunMyRoute to map out my routes and mileage. Or if you prefer to run by time, I'd say just approximate how long it takes you to run a mile and just multiply that by how many miles you want run. Take an extra 15-20 minutes for warm up/stretching/cool down.
No problem! Warming up is going for a quick, very slow jog before stretching. This is important, as stretching cold muscles is less effective than muscles that have been warmed up by jogging a block or two. Then you can do a few stretches. I just stretch the basics: quads, hamstrings, calves. I also stretch my hip flexors, since I've had trouble with them in the past. I like to start my run slow and build up to whatever pace I am aiming for that day. Injuries occour when you overuse an area or you transition to quickly from a resting state to a more high intensity pace. Cool down is also important. I like to walk another block or two after finishing a run to allow my muscles to transition more smoothly to a resting state. Stretching is also important after running, as it releases lactic acid that built up during your run, as well as allowing blood to flow more effectively into those areas that you exercised and need nutrients the most. Stretching after you run is actually more important tha stretching before you run, believe it or not.
I've lived a really sedentary lifestyle most of my life. A few years ago I was biking regularly to work, but more recently I've become lazy and put on some pudge. I've started cycling again, and doing free weights. Just added planks to my regime, and I'm going to continue building in different exercises. #letsdoit !
Join the club! I'm addicted to my lakeside runs, and I'm going to begin biking to work as soon as I have a handle on what that entails. One thing, alarm bells going off here. I've known a lot of people who tried to whip themselves into shape and made the mistake of biting off too much. If you aren't a natural morning person, this little caveat could scotch the entire program. All through college I went for runs and bike rides after 10 pm. Sleep better, you still get the anonymity you're looking for, the weather is moderate in summer. Just a thought, you know what's best for you. EDIT: I'm the resident fanfiction-pushing hubskier, by the way. What do you read?so I'll do them around 6 AM in the park nearby; which is good anyway, because it will force me to wake up earlier, thus maintaining a much more productive timetable.
It took me a while to get used to it, but I got myself to wake up at 5:30 with little problem. From what I understand, I'll be sleeping even better once I get the exercise ball rolling, thus reducing the nightlag from waking up early. I appreciate the concern, either way. My ultimate goal is to wake up at 4:00. It's hard for me to do good with my time in late evenings (which sees more people running than early mornings), but the nightly silence gives me the necessary mood (and at winters, I'll be waking up at dark nights, too, which is even better). Besides, knowing that I woke up so early and have already achieved something of value gives a good feeling. I can't catch the connection between the two. Why would you want to know?If you aren't a natural morning person, this little caveat could scotch the entire program.
I'm the resident fanfiction-pushing hubskier, by the way. What do you read?
My point is - why would like to know what I read, and not, perhaps, what I write about/based on? How is my reading specifically related to my fanfiction writing? Have you considered the possibility that I may not be writing based on a book? :)
Have you entered any races yet? Maybe a 5k? I used to see running as "My sport is your sports punishment." Until only a couple of years ago at least. I found I was expecting too much improvement of myself too quickly. I've since adjusted my expectations. Adding a race 3 or 4 times each year has really lent additional purpose to my fitness regimen as far a my motivation and goal setting go. I'm down with the AM runs also. Gotta love charging up on endorphins as the day starts. Makes me feel like no problem will come along that day that I cannot manage.
No, I haven't entered anything. I can see how it can be a big motivator, so I'll give it a thought, but right now, I'm skeptical about entering anything. I justify it by saying "I do it for myself, not for a competition", but it sounds like a weak argument as I do. How quickly was too quickly? As for the morning runs - hell yes. It boosts both your confidence and energy throughout the day - unless you spend it, like I'm used to, sitting in front of the screen... and even that doesn't stop me from getting production momentum back.I found I was expecting too much improvement of myself too quickly.
As for the racing, I do it for myself as well. No weakness in that, anyone in a race is busting their ass. I do enjoy finding out that I've done well for my age group (I'm 41), but I'm really running for myself. I find that knowing that I have a race in the next month or so is great extra motivation for me to get off my rear on the days when I might otherwise pass on a run. As a bonus, the people at a 5k run are super nice and helpful. I've been involved in other competitive sports and I've never seen such a supportive group of competitors. Maybe it's also due to current timing technology, because each racer (unless it's a very low budget event) is timed individually from the moment his/her bib crosses the start to the moment his/her bib crosses the finish line. Oh yeah, have fun.
Oops. Sorry for the slow reply. My personal theory, is that since a person is timed remotely as they cross the start finish line, there is no competitive pushing and shoving and jockeying necessary at the start of the race. Before each person was timed individually, I imagine there was a boatload of jockeying for position at the starting line and made things more intense. I've only been running races for a couple of years. It's just my guess.
You can do it man! If you've not already check out Couch to 5K, I think there's an "original" one but definitely quite a few knock-offs so I'm going to link you to the NHS Couch to 5K page
Catch up, then! I'm finishing my first week today. Follow #tfgsworkout if you want to know more. I believe I'm listed the challenges I follow in the Day 1 post, so if you want to follow my steps, feel free to use those - or any other that you can find. I recommend visiting darebee.com: they have a ton of interesting stuff to do, whether you're a newbie like myself or a professional from another area of sports.
well actually I've cheated a bit: I've been trying to get back in shape for a few months now. Hopefully by doing this in a sort of group activity I can get more motivation to do my exercizes on a regular schedule, instead of haphazardly as I have been.
I feel like eating good (little but enough + good nutrients balance) shouldn't be attached to weight, as it's always a better option than any available: eating good will not only make you lose weight, but help you live more healthy.Most important thing is to EAT LESS (but a balanced diet).
Of course, but if you're eating potato chips and bacon for breakfast, fried chicken and pizza for lunch with coke, instant noodles with a cheese cake at night, then you aren't going to be losing weight. My point is that with a balanced diet, reducing the proportions of what is consumed will be beneficial to weight loss, and is more effective than just cardiovascular exercises or resistance training. It's not necessary to count the calories to achieve a deficit in caloric intake, but each item that goes into your mouth is a potential energy source you have to burn via running- but you only have so much vitality before you collapse. So I rank, in order of importance, eating less (but nutritious, less carbohydrates, maybe you can check out some vitamins to supplement your diet?) > resistance training (building more muscles allows you to burn more energy) > cardiovascular activity (pure running) in order of effectiveness in losing weight. Optimally, you could combine all three to achieve maximum results in the shortest time. That is my opinion.
You're right: this is the exact order they stand in in terms of weight loss. You can still build muscles while being fat, though, so if your point is muscles rather than weight loss, the priority list changes. Even then, I'd argue that eating healthy is important. If you care about the muscles you have but not the beer belly or fat pockets, why do you do it anyway? Caring about oneself is not a selective activity: if you opt to care - care for the whole thing, or you're already failing yourself more than you can repair for.
YES! It is always great to hear someone taking the first step towards a healthier lifestyle. One thing I didn't see you mention, but is really important is your diet. I imagine you have a plan already, so stick with it. The food you eat is as much a part of fitness as the working out itself. Only real tip I have for you is the muscle-building, always worry about form when doing exercises. I'll definitely be cheering for you man because about two months ago I started working out again. If you ever need some motivation there are people here on Hubski ready and willing (like myself).
Thanks! I'll remember that. As for the diet, for the next half a month or so it's an issue I can't solve. After that, I'm gonna live in an apartment of my own, and then I'm going to research the hell out of dieting properly. I know it is important, but so far, I hadn't had a chance to try it.
Damn, this is just what I needed to get back at it. I've been biking, both endurance and mountain lately, but I haven't lifted in about two months. I have the barbell and weights, just need to get back at it. If you can, the to do a vertical pushing exercise, like dips, and a horizontal pulling exercise, like bodyweight rows, to help balance out the push-ups and pull-ups. And once you can do 20, change it up and make them harder. Otherwise, you'll plateau fast. Best of lucky and have fun.