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Okay, I'm officially pathetic. I've pretty much neglected exercise for the past several years, and the past hour or so was a pretty rude awakening. I've gotten somewhat overweight and want to lose several kilograms and generally get more fit, so I started today, and the results were pretty dismal. Just 50 situps later my abdominal muscles are grumbling in a manner that tells me they're going to be killing me tomorrow, I can only manage about 20 pushups, a grand total of four chin-ups and the run I took was more like a crawl, and didn't last half a mile before I was ready to drop. The funny thing is, I can easily walk five miles at a clip that has most people jogging to keep up and it doesn't tire me much, but running even a relatively short distance is pure murder.

Well, anyway, I'm going to start getting rid of all the extra lard right now, so any and all useful suggestions would be appreciated. Just bear in mind I don't have access to a gym, so it has to be the kind of stuff you can do at home and/or outside. I figured a good, hard two-hour walk every day should get me off to a good start, as well as working on situps, pushups, dorsal extensions and the like. Of course, snacks, soft drinks, candy and the like which I'm all too fond of for my own good are also out.

Now ot's just going to be a test of willpower to see if I can actually achieve these goals. Wish me luck.

Edi

Edi wrote:I figured a good, hard two-hour walk every day should get me off to a good start,

Why would you want to walk when you just told us running 1/2 a mile was murder, but you can walk at a brisk pace easily? Are you a quitter? After just ONE run, that's it?! Come on Edi! Running is the best fat burner BY MILES, JUST DO IT! Get ANGRY AT THE PAIN! KICK ITS ASS! WAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! No but I'm very serious in saying running is the ultimate fat burner. I eat chocolate, ice cream, pastries and other fattening shit every day, but I'm as fit as a fiddle because I'm a daily runner. Stretching tip: it's much more important to stretch AFTER the run then before.

as well as working on situps, pushups, dorsal extensions and the like.

Sit ups and push ups are always good. Every day do them. But do inclined pushups, as the other type is only for girls and wimps.

BoredShirtless wrote: Why would you want to walk when you just told us running 1/2 a mile was murder, but you can walk at a brisk pace easily? Are you a quitter? After just ONE run, that's it?! Come on Edi! Running is the best fat burner BY MILES, JUST DO IT! Get ANGRY AT THE PAIN! KICK ITS ASS! WAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! No but I'm very serious in saying running is the ultimate fat burner. I eat chocolate, ice cream, pastries and other fattening shit every day, but I'm as fit as a fiddle because I'm a daily runner. Stretching tip: it's much more important to stretch AFTER the run then before.

The pain hurts. to keep moving on, feeling yourself slow with every step you take, the lead increasing, your chest heaving, and waiting for that slow, ever so slow second wind to catch up with you.

God, it hurts.

What's an inclined pushup? Putting your legs up on something?

I can do ~60 regular pushups in just under a minute. Hurts like a motherfucker for a few minutes after though.

Just keep it up.

Eat sensibly, and work til it hurts regularly. I find it helps to join a regular class, so I have no excuse, but you may find working by yourself works better.

Get an all round workout, whatevr you do. Arms, abs, legs, chest, and cv, cv cv. Running's good. (don't focus on one exercise. tis bad)

Something that worked for me:

FORCE yourself to run a mile, fuck the pain. No matter how much you want to drop, just keep running. It'll be over soon enough. After about two weeks of doing this I was running a mile in about six minutes and thirty seconds - not bad, considering I had never run a mile under 8 minutes and 30 seconds in my LIFE up till then.

What's an inclined pushup? Putting your legs up on something?

I think that's when you do pushups with your hands not on the ground, but on a table or some other elevated flat surface. Basically you stand on the ground, lean over, put your hands on the table, and do a pushup. You keep the same position as a normal pushup - straight body, no bending or anything like that - but you do it on an inclined surface.

PainRack wrote:The pain hurts. to keep moving on, feeling yourself slow with every step you take, the lead increasing, your chest heaving, and waiting for that slow, ever so slow second wind to catch up with you.

God, it hurts.

Yeah I know. But if you keep at it, everyday, it'll hurt less and less. There's a point all serious runners pass when running stops being painful and starts becomming enjoyable. Don't stop, you'll find that point one of these days.

Joe wrote:

What's an inclined pushup? Putting your legs up on something?

I think that's when you do pushups with your hands not on the ground, but on a table or some other elevated flat surface. Basically you stand on the ground, lean over, put your hands on the table, and do a pushup. You keep the same position as a normal pushup - straight body, no bending or anything like that - but you do it on an inclined surface.

You're wrong, Vympel is right.

I've come a long way, and I'm probably older than you. I used to dance a lot, and was very lean and strong. In my twenties, I piled on more weight and lost most of my hair. Not fun.

Lately, however, I've improved my diet tremendously and my hair is healthier and fuller than it used to be, I've lost some weight, and am much stronger - not quite as flexible or with as much endurance as in my youth, but certainly stronger and healthier than I was a few years ago.

The only thing I can ADD to the above comments is that a mirror helps get your ego into the job; wanting to look good as well as be healthy is a good motivator, and you'll feel great the day you don't have to inhale to show off your abs.

BoredShirtless wrote:

Joe wrote:

What's an inclined pushup? Putting your legs up on something?

I think that's when you do pushups with your hands not on the ground, but on a table or some other elevated flat surface. Basically you stand on the ground, lean over, put your hands on the table, and do a pushup. You keep the same position as a normal pushup - straight body, no bending or anything like that - but you do it on an inclined surface.

You're wrong, Vympel is right.

Actually, I'm pretty sure you can do 'em either way.

BoredShirtless wrote:

Edi wrote:I figured a good, hard two-hour walk every day should get me off to a good start,

Why would you want to walk when you just told us running 1/2 a mile was murder, but you can walk at a brisk pace easily? Are you a quitter? After just ONE run, that's it?! Come on Edi! Running is the best fat burner BY MILES, JUST DO IT! Get ANGRY AT THE PAIN! KICK ITS ASS! WAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! No but I'm very serious in saying running is the ultimate fat burner. I eat chocolate, ice cream, pastries and other fattening shit every day, but I'm as fit as a fiddle because I'm a daily runner. Stretching tip: it's much more important to stretch AFTER the run then before.

No, I'm not a quitter, nut it's not easy or healthy to start flat out after ~7 years of doing no exercise at all. That's the best way of screwing up somewhere and injuring oneself. Hard walking burns calories very well, and I can do that to first build a little bit of stamina before I start running. I can do it a lot longer than I can run, so the net effect should be the same and I get more benefit out of it at the beginning. There's also the fact that it's easier on the joints, which is a consideration for me as I've got a permanent knee injury, courtesy of the time I spent in the army, and in the past it has acted up.

BoredShirtless wrote:

Edi wrote: as well as working on situps, pushups, dorsal extensions and the like.

Sit ups and push ups are always good. Every day do them. But do inclined pushups, as the other type is only for girls and wimps.

I'll start with the regular ones, thank you. Again, I haven't done anything to keep fit in the past several years, so getting even those in any kind of meaningful numbers is hard enough now, though my past experience with inclined pushups was that some versions of those are actually easier than regular ones. Or were for me anyway.

Lagmonster, yeah, you're older than me. Anyway, advice noted, and I know all about the mirror. It's one of my motivational factors, as I don't want to end up with a sagging gut.

IB, thanks.

Edi

Edi wrote:No, I'm not a quitter, nut it's not easy

What has "ease" got to do with exercising? You're doing it to break a sweat; it shouldn't be easy.

or healthy to start flat out after ~7 years of doing no exercise at all.

You're under 30, and slightly overweight. You have no health problems? Your heart is ok? If so, then it IS healthy to start running straight away. That doesn't mean you should run 4 minute miles on day one; ease yourself into it.

That's the best way of screwing up somewhere and injuring oneself.

Only if you push yourself too hard, too soon. If you're patient, you should have no problems.

Hard walking burns calories very well, and I can do that to first build a little bit of stamina before I start running. I can do it a lot longer than I can run, so the net effect should be the same and I get more benefit out of it at the beginning.

Walking is easier, takes longer, and burns less calories then running the same distance. Not much of a choice from my POV.

There's also the fact that it's easier on the joints, which is a consideration for me as I've got a permanent knee injury, courtesy of the time I spent in the army, and in the past it has acted up.

Then maybe you should do some squats, build up your legs. This will keep your knee more stable when running.

BoredShirtless wrote:

Edi wrote: Sit ups and push ups are always good. Every day do them. But do inclined pushups, as the other type is only for girls and wimps.

I'll start with the regular ones, thank you.

Yeah you're welcome.

Again, I haven't done anything to keep fit in the past several years, so getting even those in any kind of meaningful numbers is hard enough now, though my past experience with inclined pushups was that some versions of those are actually easier than regular ones. Or were for me anyway.

The inclined push up with your feet on a chair is clearly harder then a standard pushup, as the bodies centre of mass moves closer to the hands.

Inclined pushups: Doing it Vympel's way makes them harder, doing it Joe's way makes them so easy that I can do it with one arm for ~10 reps or more.

For aerobic conditioning swimming works really well, try swimming 500-1000M at your local pool and work up from there. Keep up a good pace and don't rest when you get to the ends of the pool. Alternate this with running & cycling for a full body workout since each of them uses different muscle groups. With cycling I've found that I have to resist the urge to coast & soft-pedal or else I don't get a good workout. Running, it helps a lot to run on grass or other softer surfaces instead of concrete or asphalt. I have overuse injuries in my knees from years of swim training and though I can run on pavement it causes discomfort in my knees after about 5-10 minutes, running on grass prevents this and I can do it all day without knee issues.

BoredShirtless wrote: Yeah I know. But if you keep at it, everyday, it'll hurt less and less. There's a point all serious runners pass when running stops being painful and starts becomming enjoyable. Don't stop, you'll find that point one of these days.

2 years and counting.

Other than the old and the obese, I'm still the last man coming in. Actually, scratch the old. I'm still one of the last man coming in.

At one point in time, I was going 7 days a week, no rest for a month(before my knees gave out) and pushing ET runs for up to 4 klicks. That isn't a lot, but considering the fact that I run to the stadium and on occasions, run back to barracks..........................

Errr, isn't inclined push-ups doing push ups with your legs elevated?


It forces you to work only your upper body group, instead of using your legs and abs to help you go up.

Also, since its slower, muscle contraction time is longer, and it hurts like hell.

BoredShirtless wrote:

Edi wrote:No, I'm not a quitter, nut it's not easy

What has "ease" got to do with exercising? You're doing it to break a sweat; it shouldn't be easy.

or healthy to start flat out after ~7 years of doing no exercise at all.

You're under 30, and slightly overweight. You have no health problems? Your heart is ok? If so, then it IS healthy to start running straight away. That doesn't mean you should run 4 minute miles on day one; ease yourself into it.

Why don't you address things in their entirety instead of snipping them to bits? I'm not stupid, so I'll start a little easier and then ramp it up, which was the whole bloody point.

BoredShirtless wrote:

Edi wrote: That's the best way of screwing up somewhere and injuring oneself.

Only if you push yourself too hard, too soon. If you're patient, you should have no problems.

Again, which is the point of starting out a little slower. I have a tendency to try and push too hard right off the bat, so I have to watch that.

BoredShirtless wrote:

Edi wrote: Hard walking burns calories very well, and I can do that to first build a little bit of stamina before I start running. I can do it a lot longer than I can run, so the net effect should be the same and I get more benefit out of it at the beginning.

Walking is easier, takes longer, and burns less calories then running the same distance. Not much of a choice from my POV.

Thing is, I can run roughly 10% of the distance I can walk at a clip that burns quite a bit of energy and works up a good sweat, so it'll be a worse trade for me at the beginning. That will change later when I get more stamina for running.

BoredShirtless wrote:

Edi wrote:There's also the fact that it's easier on the joints, which is a consideration for me as I've got a permanent knee injury, courtesy of the time I spent in the army, and in the past it has acted up.

Then maybe you should do some squats, build up your legs. This will keep your knee more stable when running.

Squats are the very last thing I can do, because they especially aggravate the injury. I basically can't do almost anything that puts stress on the ligaments that anchor the thighbone to the shinbone, like squats, weight lifting, high jumps or running jumps. If I wereto persist, I'd end up in a hip-to-toe cast.

BoredShirtless wrote:

Edi wrote:

BoredShirtless wrote:Sit ups and push ups are always good. Every day do them. But do inclined pushups, as the other type is only for girls and wimps.

I'll start with the regular ones, thank you.

Yeah you're welcome.

Look, if you want to be a pushy asshole about this, you can fuck piss off. I don't need the patronizing tone, and I certainly don't need to take it from you. You're saying that what I did to start building my fitness is only fit for wimps, and when I reply that I'll start easier than what you are used to doing, you go all pissy on me. I asked for advice, but I didn't ask to be patronized and belittled, which is what you're doing. Way to motivate somebody, the way you're doing, only this time it worked because you're so much of an asshole that I'll go through with this just to spite you.

BoredShirtless wrote:

Edi wrote: Again, I haven't done anything to keep fit in the past several years, so getting even those in any kind of meaningful numbers is hard enough now, though my past experience with inclined pushups was that some versions of those are actually easier than regular ones. Or were for me anyway.

The inclined push up with your feet on a chair is clearly harder then a standard pushup, as the bodies centre of mass moves closer to the hands.

I know several types of pushups, some very much harder than the others, and ther inclined ones can sometimes be easier than standard. Mainly when you don't have to strain your feet to keep yourself in place, which can use up quite a bit of energy. I've had that experience a couple of times.

Jmac, thanks for the good tips, I'll definitely look into that.

Edi

PainRack wrote: Other than the old and the obese, I'm still the last man coming in. Actually, scratch the old. I'm still one of the last man coming in.

At one point in time, I was going 7 days a week, no rest for a month(before my knees gave out) and pushing ET runs for up to 4 klicks. That isn't a lot, but considering the fact that I run to the stadium and on occasions, run back to barracks..........................

IPPT?

Further notes on swimming. Wear swim goggles unless you want the worst case of red-eye ever from the chlorine in the water. Some people are quite sensitive to pool water and without goggles their eyes can become very irritated which can cause discomfort, pain, and temporary sight problems. Also, it's Ok to rest a bit when you get to the ends of the pool, but only if you've swallowed or inhaled too much water and feel like you're going to throw up or drown. Change strokes every so often to work different muscle groups, go from freestyle to backstroke to breaststroke after every few lengths, it also helps keep you from being bored.

PainRack wrote:

BoredShirtless wrote: Yeah I know. But if you keep at it, everyday, it'll hurt less and less. There's a point all serious runners pass when running stops being painful and starts becomming enjoyable. Don't stop, you'll find that point one of these days.

2 years and counting.

Other than the old and the obese, I'm still the last man coming in. Actually, scratch the old. I'm still one of the last man coming in.

At one point in time, I was going 7 days a week, no rest for a month(before my knees gave out) and pushing ET runs for up to 4 klicks. That isn't a lot, but considering the fact that I run to the stadium and on occasions, run back to barracks..........................

I truly feel your pain. I'm usually in exactly the same situation. Its really a bitch watching the sixty year old guy pass you barely a third of the way into the run.

Iron will power, that's what it takes Edi. Iron clad will power.

Good luck killer.

Edi wrote:Look, if you want to be a pushy asshole about this, you can fuck piss off. I don't need the patronizing tone, and I certainly don't need to take it from you.

I wasn't patronizing you you dope. I typed "kick pains ass"...does pain have an ass? Then I typed a war cry. Did it cross your mind that I was just fucking around? Moron.

You're saying that what I did to start building my fitness is only fit for wimps,

Really? I said that? Where? I thought I only said something about standard push ups being for girls and wimps....keeping the semi-seriousness of my post. Do you socialise?

and when I reply that I'll start easier than what you are used to doing, you go all pissy on me.

I asked for advice, but I didn't ask to be patronized and belittled, which is what you're doing.

Wow, could you be anymore insecure? Geez.

Way to motivate somebody, the way you're doing, only this time it worked because you're so much of an asshole that I'll go through with this just to spite you.

You've got to be the biggest male drama queen I've ever met. Ok. First, I wasn't trying to motivate you; I really couldn't give two shits if you lose weight or don't. I was just providing information I thought may help, in a clearly half serious post. If I had known you have such a big inferiority complex, I wouldn't have joked around. And secondly...to spite me? You're gonna get fit to spite me? Are you for real?

You and you, cut the crap or things will get very unpleasant.

I've lost fifteen to twenty pounds in about two months simply by exercising daily, eating right and drinking twelve gallons of water a day. And I stopped exercising after the first week.

(Well, of course the weight loss started tapering off after that, but I can note proudly I haven't gained anything).[/url]

Bob McDob wrote:I've lost fifteen to twenty pounds in about two months simply by exercising daily, eating right and drinking twelve gallons of water a day. And I stopped exercising after the first week.

(Well, of course the weight loss started tapering off after that, but I can note proudly I haven't gained anything).[/url]

12 GALLONS of water a day?

I would think 12 quarts/liters would be more than enough.

Congrats on losing weight and keeping it off.