Getting fit (Not a new years resolution)

Hey all,

Quick background: I smoke 20 a day, drink maybe 10-15 pints a week and eat well. It's 6 weeks to my 30th and I want to be a little fitter for it. The smokes will be going In the next week or four.

I plan on running, eating well (no more red meat/bread/cheese), cutting the drink out completely and excercising.

My problem however is "The next day".

You know when you're muscles hurt and ache and you have to go for a run/excercise. How do you guys motivate yourselves to carry on and do it? Thats the part that always got me.

MrPain

First thing as I'm sure you're well aware the smoking needs to go, there are plenty of sources of help for quiting out there. The most important thing is you must really want to quit. This will help with your aerobic capacity and thus your running when you quit.

With relation to muscle aches it's a sign your working yourself which is good. But maybe you should have a recovery day or two inbetween sessions at first till you've built up stamina.

have a look at the stickies in relation to nutrition to see how good your diet is and post it up here so we can offer our advice.

rubadub

Papa Smut wrote: »

You know when you're muscles hurt and ache and you have to go for a run/excercise. How do you guys motivate yourselves to carry on and do it? Thats the part that always got me.

I cycle to work every day, yes even in this weather, motivation is quite easy, go to work or lose my job. If I was to take the bus it would take me longer than walking the entire way (between walking to the bus, waiting and walking to work from the next stop), so I would sooner walk. I have the use of a car the odd time, takes longer than cycling and I hate being stuck in traffic, so I never drive, even if pissing rain.

You need recovery as mentioned, any pain goes away quickly enough after regular exercise. Except DOMs from squats, but sure you grow to love them.:D

G86

Papa Smut wrote: »

Hey all,



My problem however is "The next day".

You know when you're muscles hurt and ache and you have to go for a run/excercise. How do you guys motivate yourselves to carry on and do it? Thats the part that always got me.

That's kind of the part the motivates me to be honest, cause I KNOW I've done a good workout. It's always worse at the start of a new program though, once you get into the swing of things it's not as bad.

Agent J

Papa Smut wrote: »

You know when you're muscles hurt and ache and you have to go for a run/excercise. How do you guys motivate yourselves to carry on and do it? Thats the part that always got me.

The pain goes away and gets easier to deal with as you get fitter.

Besids its actually nice reminder of the fact you have done something productive.

Oh and my other question (may seem like a silly one) if it takes me say, 2 hours to do whats billed as a 1hr workout, (due to taking breaks/taking time etc.) Will it make a difference?

Nate--IRL--

Starting out, you should work at a pace you feel comfortable with. The next week you will seek to improve that pace / work achieved. This aspect of beating what you did last week is a good motivator and will be very rewarding as visibly see and feel your fitness improve.

I would also recommend looking at Interval training, after your initial month or two. After you reach a point where you can manage 30 mins at about 150bps heart-rate at your chosen cardio exercise, you should be ready for Intervals. Not only do they keep exercise from getting too boring, intervals will also dramatically improve your fitness capacity.

Should you decide to hit the weights, here is a guide that helped me immensely starting out with weights and Diet.

Diet is key and it doesn't mean giving up stuff like red meat/bread/cheese or even booze, as in your original post. All that is required is that you understand what exactly you are putting in your mouth. Once you do, eating right is easy. It is also a good idea to have a cheat meal/drink once a week, as a reward for all your hard work during the week.

Nate

Mellor

Papa Smut wrote: »

I plan on running, eating well (no more red meat/bread/cheese), cutting the drink out completely and excercising.

Most people, (me included), think they eat well when they post here first.
post up a diet, chances are its not as good as you think