Looking for probably a great deal of advice.

TMRevenant

I haven't a clue where to start with this post. Basically last year I decided I wanted to get into better shape and ended up trying to become more physically active, as well as cutting some of the crap out of my diet. The latter was quite easy, as I've never had a fondness for snacking and the like, but I ran into a bit of a snag. Past a certain point I wasn't making any kind of progress, and I know it's for two specific reasons.

1.) I had no idea what the hell I was doing in terms of exercising (Was doing bodyweight stuff).
2.) I didn't and still don't know how to cook, meaning whatever goes in and out of my system could be of no value whatsoever.

Something related to the two may be the fact I'm hypermobile and may have an abnormal BMR. I was physically assessed two years ago for Dyspraxia and from it I was told I apparently use twice as much energy as other people when doing even simple tasks. Which might be as a result of the flexibility, but I honestly wouldn't know -but I digress. It seems as though I definitely do need to learn to cook, and although I can easily just search for any random recipes, I would definitely prefer to get a hold of some kind of resource with crafting a healthy diet.

I'm well aware it's a lifestyle change and not something you can turn on and off. I'm perfectly fine with this as this is a change I would like to make for the better. I genuinely have no preferences when it comes to food nor any allergies which I know of so I have no issue treading into unknown territory with regard to what to eat. Someone I spoke to briefly had advised me to work on cardiovascular endurance before moving onto any kind of strength training, and as such, I planned to start doing the couch to 5k program shortly before Christmas.

Unfortunately, I twisted my bloody ankle the day right before I was going to start. Go figure! Anyway, I was hoping someone could give me some pointers for the things I'm trying to achieve, or perhaps tell me what I'm doing wrong, or could be doing better. One of the difficulties I've found with my inexperience is that I can't really create any kind of routine for myself as I don't know the ins & outs of each exercise nor the parts of the body they effect. I'm also ridiculously weak at the moment, and stating that I'm starting from scratch is a bit of an understatement.

esperanza1

TMRevenant wrote: »

I haven't a clue where to start with this post. Basically last year I decided I wanted to get into better shape and ended up trying to become more physically active, as well as cutting some of the crap out of my diet. The latter was quite easy, as I've never had a fondness for snacking and the like, but I ran into a bit of a snag. Past a certain point I wasn't making any kind of progress, and I know it's for two specific reasons.

1.) I had no idea what the hell I was doing in terms of exercising (Was doing bodyweight stuff).
2.) I didn't and still don't know how to cook, meaning whatever goes in and out of my system could be of no value whatsoever.

Something related to the two may be the fact I'm hypermobile and may have an abnormal BMR. I was physically assessed two years ago for Dyspraxia and from it I was told I apparently use twice as much energy as other people when doing even simple tasks. Which might be as a result of the flexibility, but I honestly wouldn't know -but I digress. It seems as though I definitely do need to learn to cook, and although I can easily just search for any random recipes, I would definitely prefer to get a hold of some kind of resource with crafting a healthy diet.

I'm well aware it's a lifestyle change and not something you can turn on and off. I'm perfectly fine with this as this is a change I would like to make for the better. I genuinely have no preferences when it comes to food nor any allergies which I know of so I have no issue treading into unknown territory with regard to what to eat. Someone I spoke to briefly had advised me to work on cardiovascular endurance before moving onto any kind of strength training, and as such, I planned to start doing the couch to 5k program shortly before Christmas.

Unfortunately, I twisted my bloody ankle the day right before I was going to start. Go figure! Anyway, I was hoping someone could give me some pointers for the things I'm trying to achieve, or perhaps tell me what I'm doing wrong, or could be doing better. One of the difficulties I've found with my inexperience is that I can't really create any kind of routine for myself as I don't know the ins & outs of each exercise nor the parts of the body they effect. I'm also ridiculously weak at the moment, and stating that I'm starting from scratch is a bit of an understatement.

Have you tried going to your local gym to ask for advice there?

cagefan

There is lots of healthy eating cook books which give basic nutritional information and are easy to follow (The healthy heart cook book being one example). In terms of exercise, you should probably do a combination of cardio and strength exercises. So one day you could run the next day do weights. Don’t run on consecutive days and don’t work same muscle group on consecutive days. Eg run Mon, wieghts tues, Run Wed, Run Thur wieghts ect. If you have an iphone you could download the couch to 5K app although this is very basic for some. Another idea is take up a class - martial arts such as kickboxing, Muay Thai, Bjj are fun and good for getting in shape or even Pilates and Yoga. But be sure to start off slowly and build up your fitness and strength. Hope my ramblings help

Orla K

You've never mentioned your goals or your stats weight, age, male female (presuming male from your post)

TMRevenant

esperanza1 wrote: »

Have you tried going to your local gym to ask for advice there?

I've considered it, but I don't think they offer any kind of free consultations. I'd prefer to see what I could do before having to go down that route.

cagefan wrote: »

Hope my ramblings help

They certainly gave me a lot of ideas to work with, if anything! I do Yoga on Mondays with my college, but I was thinking of taking up some kind of martial art. There's just such a huge variety to choose from. Another idea was joining the Red Cross, but I doubt that'll contribute much to my physical wellbeing.

Orla K wrote: »

You've never mentioned your goals or your stats weight, age, male female (presuming male from your post)

Ah, my apologies. I hadn't even thought to include that stuff - Yes, I'm male. I'm 19, and 5' 10/11" last I checked. Not entirely sure about weight, nor do I have scales immediately available. Doesn't offer much insight into measurements, but I'm chubby.

In terms of ultimate goals, I'm not really sure what to say. I'd like to become more capable of getting involved with certain activities. At the moment Parkour is a passion in my life but I intend to start cycling a lot in the future.

d'Oracle

TMRevenant wrote: »

At the moment Parkour is a passion in my life but I intend to start cycling a lot in the future.

Do you practice/participate in parkour?

TMRevenant

d'Oracle wrote: »

Do you practice/participate in parkour?

Yep. I'm part of the Dublin-based community, though I haven't trained in a while - which is one of the reasons I made this topic, having aforementioned running into a snag. Not a wall, thankfully, but my lack of strength at the moment makes climbing and the like incredibly difficult.

Barry.Oglesby

Oddly enough I'm currently working with not one but two hypermobile guys having never worked with one before. Proper strength work can really help with many of the issues involved. Would I be right in saying you might have been generally inactive in your early life? Not judging there just inquiring.

As regards to requiring CV endurance before moving to strength, you were just badly advised. There's no requirement for that. In fact I'd also hazard that with your hypermobility that running for distance isn't the smartest thing to do right now. I would turn that backwards and begin with strength.

kevpants

Noob in intelligent and well written request for fitness advice shocker!

The hypermobility/dyspraxia thing sounds interesting. Usually I'd tell someone to just get good at compound barbell movements for starters but you might do better getting in touch with a trainer like barry above or trying to find someone who has experience of working with "you people".... what do you like to be referred to as? Bendies? Stiffness impaired?

TMRevenant

Barry.Oglesby wrote: »

1:Would I be right in saying you might have been generally inactive in your early life? Not judging there just inquiring.

2: As regards to requiring CV endurance before moving to strength, you were just badly advised. There's no requirement for that. In fact I'd also hazard that with your hypermobility that running for distance isn't the smartest thing to do right now. I would turn that backwards and begin with strength.

1: Yes, and no. During Primary School I did gymnastics & swimming every single week, and it was during Secondary School that I got quite lazy. It was only after getting some personal issues sorted during the past two years that I decided to try get into proper shape. 2: Duly noted. Glad I decided to ask here, then - I'd hate to have been wasting even more time. Is there anything you could advise me with in terms of a starting point? As earlier noted, I was doing some bodyweight exercises before, but I didn't appear to be making much progress at all.

kevpants wrote: »

Noob in intelligent and well written request for fitness advice shocker!

The hypermobility/dyspraxia thing sounds interesting. Usually I'd tell someone to just get good at compound barbell movements for starters but you might do better getting in touch with a trainer like barry above or trying to find someone who has experience of working with "you people".... what do you like to be referred to as? Bendies? Stiffness impaired?

I like to refer to myself as retardextrous. A bit offensive to some, perhaps, but it's actually mostly because of the fact I do things with both my left and right hands, with left being my primary. Pretty sure it's a problem all lefties have. When I was told about my flexibility and the BMR "issue", it was kind of difficult to comprehend, as it was like having someone tell you that your entire life you had been breathing in an inhumane manner. You wouldn't really know the bloody difference until realizing it and comparing it to others.

I get some envy in Parkour and Yoga for my flexibility, and it's been a bit of a hindrance for certain things (I.E, this!), but numerous people have told me it's far easier to build strength than become flexible, so it's somewhat re-assuring.

Barry.Oglesby

TMRevenant wrote: »

1: Yes, and no. During Primary School I did gymnastics & swimming every single week, and it was during Secondary School that I got quite lazy. It was only after getting some personal issues sorted during the past two years that I decided to try get into proper shape.

Ok. It's something my other 2 guys have in common. They were fairly inactive in Primary/Secondary school. The issues with hypermobility only started to manifest themselves when they began training in their late teens.

2: Duly noted. Glad I decided to ask here, then - I'd hate to have been wasting even more time. Is there anything you could advise me with in terms of a starting point? As earlier noted, I was doing some bodyweight exercises before, but I didn't appear to be making much progress at all.

Well how did you chart your progress? By the language you're using I take it you didn't measure how you were doing.

Starting point would be to get an assessment. Ordinarily I'd say you could self assess with something like max effort bodyweight exercises, but with your issues I'd say you'd be better off getting an assessment based on balance, proprioception and stability. It might cost you a few quid but I'd say it would be an investment.

TMRevenant

Barry.Oglesby wrote: »

Ok. It's something my other 2 guys have in common. They were fairly inactive in Primary/Secondary school. The issues with hypermobility only started to manifest themselves when they began training in their late teens.Well how did you chart your progress? By the language you're using I take it you didn't measure how you were doing.

Starting point would be to get an assessment. Ordinarily I'd say you could self assess with something like max effort bodyweight exercises, but with your issues I'd say you'd be better off getting an assessment based on balance, proprioception and stability. It might cost you a few quid but I'd say it would be an investment.

I was keeping record of repetitions and sets every single time I'd trained. The old log is long gone, but I ended up starting over a second time earlier this year (which I still have). The idea, having read a book about it, was to work up from basic exercises (wall push-ups) to proper/more difficult one (the typical ground push-up, as the particular example), and I'd eventually gotten to a stage where I felt like I just wasn't improving whatsoever.

As I noted in an earlier post, I was actually assessed two years ago, but in retrospect it wasn't particularly detailed. Just got sent to someone from my GP having been told Dyspraxia might be an issue from a prior assessment (Found out I was Dyslexic during my Leaving Cert year.. argh). It probably would benefit me to get a more thorough report, but I would like to see what could be done beforehand.

Barry.Oglesby

TMRevenant wrote: »

As I noted in an earlier post, I was actually assessed two years ago, but in retrospect it wasn't particularly detailed. Just got sent to someone from my GP having been told Dyspraxia might be an issue from a prior assessment (Found out I was Dyslexic during my Leaving Cert year.. argh). It probably would benefit me to get a more thorough report, but I would like to see what could be done beforehand.

Based on experience what you can gain is an increased stability around the joints and an increase in neuromuscular efficiency. With dyspraxia (and I'm no expert on the condition, I'm just basing this on what I've done in the past) it's not that anything is different from a "normal" trainee, just that certain things are more challenging. There's nothing fancy in this you just need patience and time. Actually that last sentence should apply to all training.