Where to start?

Adam

Hi all!

I'm new to the Fitness forum as you may have guessed, and I've landed here by chance to a degree. I'm 22 next month, and I decided early this week that I would take the first step towards getting fit, so I haven't had a cigarette since Sunday after 5 years of smoking!

A bit about me: I'm 22, as mentioned. I'm 5'7" and just over 10st. I would never describe myself as fat, the majority of the excess weight I carry would be on my stomach and chest, and there's not a lot at that. I'm quite well built though, and rekatively well muscled for someone that hasn't done regular exercise in a long time!

I have a whole host of questions, and I'm going to be in this for the long haul. My primary concern will be my fitness level. As it stands, if I jogged a kilometre I'd be badly out of breath (probably sparking up too :P). I used to play a lot of football/basketball and cycled a lot too when I was younger, up to about the age of 14. Since then, I was part of a judo class for a year or so, and had a simple York bench that I would do a bit on every day. I used to walk a lot too, but living in Cavan this is generally a requirement!

Present day, I don't have an active job. I'm only working 3 days + Sat/Sun at the moment, and my spare time isn't filled with much of anything. When I am working, it's a 7-7 kind of day, with an hour break. I believe there is a small gym in my nearest town, which is probably an hour+ walk, I'll investigate that.

So where do I start? I want to begin working on my fitness so that I can run for ten minutes without needing an oxygen tank afterwards! Following on from that then, I'll want to lose a bit of weight, probably half a stone to a stone tops, and then work on toning up. I've been looking through the forum for a while first, and I don't know my %body fat, or understand half the abbreviations or jargon in the logs, or know how to keep track of my calories! Help?

Adam

Al_Fernz

Fitness is cumulative. If you can only run a mile without stopping - do that mile. If you can only do 8 press-ups before collapsing - do them 8 press-ups. If the only exercise you know is how to run - then run.

Trust me over time you will get faster, stronger and more knowledgable.

Just keep your plan and goals simple to start with. Everything will improve if you stay commited, work hard and keep researching and learning.

Adam

Al_Fernz wrote: »

Fitness is cumulative. If you can only run a mile without stopping - do that mile. If you can only do 8 press-ups before collapsing - do them 8 press-ups. If the only exercise you know is how to run - then run.

Trust me over time you will get faster, stronger and more knowledgable.

Just keep your plan and goals simple to start with. Everything will improve if you stay commited, work hard and keep researching and learning.

Thanks for the advice Al

I'm a bit confused though, as I would consider push-ups and running to be very different exercises in terms of fitness. For example, I can crank out twenty push ups, but I couldn't do fifty right now. That's because my muscles are tired though. Where as, if I started running now, I would have to stop after a certain length of time not because my muscles can't carry me any further, but because breathing becomes difficult. An example actually: I used to work in a job that was a good 4km from home. Occasionally I would run home, and I don't mean a light jog, I mean just short of sprinting. But I would have to stop three or four times for about 60 seconds or so just to let my heart rate slow down a bit and catch my breath, and get straight back into it again.

Am I making sense? I don't know, I'm new to it all so maybe what I'm saying is a complete contradiction of terms!

g'em

Hi Adam, welcome to the forum

A simple question (that invariably invokes a complicated answer!):

What are your goals? You've said:

Mirror wrote: »

I want to begin working on my fitness so that I can run for ten minutes without needing an oxygen tank afterwards!

And then...

Mirror wrote:

Following on from that then, I'll want to lose a bit of weight, probably half a stone to a stone tops, and then work on toning up.

If you want to be able to run, go out running, it really is that simple. There's lots of beginners' running plans on-line that will help you build up your stamina and speed and get you to a reasonable level of running ability.

You most likely will lose weight from running, but if you want to get 'toned' (by which I think you're inferring that you'd like to get a bit more muscle definition) you'll need to start doing resistance training. Running and lifting aren't necessarily mutually exclusive though and you can start out with simple bodyweight exercises like the ones described here.

Al_Fernz

Mirror wrote: »

Thanks for the advice Al

I'm a bit confused though, as I would consider push-ups and running to be very different exercises in terms of fitness. For example, I can crank out twenty push ups, but I couldn't do fifty right now. That's because my muscles are tired though. Where as, if I started running now, I would have to stop after a certain length of time not because my muscles can't carry me any further, but because breathing becomes difficult. An example actually: I used to work in a job that was a good 4km from home. Occasionally I would run home, and I don't mean a light jog, I mean just short of sprinting. But I would have to stop three or four times for about 60 seconds or so just to let my heart rate slow down a bit and catch my breath, and get straight back into it again.

Am I making sense? I don't know, I'm new to it all so maybe what I'm saying is a complete contradiction of terms!

The difference between the two exercises is that running for relatively long distances a form of aerobic exercise and resistance training like push-ups are is anaerobic.

Adam

g'em wrote: »

Hi Adam, welcome to the forum

A simple question (that invariably invokes a complicated answer!):

What are your goals? You've said:



And then...



If you want to be able to run, go out running, it really is that simple. There's lots of beginners' running plans on-line that will help you build up your stamina and speed and get you to a reasonable level of running ability.

You most likely will lose weight from running, but if you want to get 'toned' (by which I think you're inferring that you'd like to get a bit more muscle definition) you'll need to start doing resistance training. Running and lifting aren't necessarily mutually exclusive though and you can start out with simple bodyweight exercises like the ones described here.

Thanks for the welcome g'em

I guess I was wondering if there were advisable exercises to stretch my fitness/endurance in order to enable me to exercise to the point of losing weight and building muscle mass. But then, what is exercise other than tasks to stretch your endurance? So I guess I've realised my needs and it's just a matter of stepping up to the plate so to speak!

I did have another question and that was how do people keep up with their respective training if in a typical 9-5, or worse? As I mentioned earlier, I'm not too busy right now. But I will probably be in to 7-7 five days a week again soon. Any advice for this situation? Should I make time in the morning by getting up early, or would it be more beneficial to hit the gym for an hour in the evening? Or would it matter?

celestial

Mirror wrote: »

Thanks for the welcome g'em

I guess I was wondering if there were advisable exercises to stretch my fitness/endurance in order to enable me to exercise to the point of losing weight and building muscle mass. But then, what is exercise other than tasks to stretch your endurance? So I guess I've realised my needs and it's just a matter of stepping up to the plate so to speak!

I did have another question and that was how do people keep up with their respective training if in a typical 9-5, or worse? As I mentioned earlier, I'm not too busy right now. But I will probably be in to 7-7 five days a week again soon. Any advice for this situation? Should I make time in the morning by getting up early, or would it be more beneficial to hit the gym for an hour in the evening? Or would it matter?

All that matters is that you do step up to the plate and fit in exercise at the best time that works for you. It's that simple.

g'em

Mirror wrote: »

Should I make time in the morning by getting up early, or would it be more beneficial to hit the gym for an hour in the evening? Or would it matter?

The best time is the time you stick to There are minor physiological differences in training in the morning vs training in the evening, but consistency will override that every time.

Colm_OReilly

Hey Mirror,

Congratz on giving up the smokes and dedicating yourself to fitness.

For a comprehensive guide on what is fitness? look here.

If you like what you read, check out this site - www.simplefit.org, it's a good way to introduce yourself to fitness.

As always, ask questions, we'll be happy to help you out. But above all else, start!

Colm

Adam

Thanks for the encouragement Colm, and the links, that pdf is making an interesting read!