Seeking Advice

SherrySK

Hello fellow MVPs... I'm looking for advice... I'm 47, obese (need to lose 100+) and live a fairly sedentary lifestyle (thus very out of shape, exercise is difficult).... 21 days ago, I started a self challenge - to use the treadmill for one commercial free episode of the 'big bang theory' (roughly 20 min)

I'm proud to say that I haven't missed a day yet despite the first few days was very slow going

My question is which of the scenarios would be most beneficial (and why)?
A: 2 minutes slow (to warm up) ... followed by 16 minutes at a set pace ... followed by 2 minutes slow (to cool down) ... followed by stretching. Every few days, increase the set pace.

or

B: 2 minutes increments to whatever I feel I can handle (ie no set limit) ... with approx 3 minutes cool down (slowly decrease the speed)

or

C: alternative??

I would greatly appreciate any advice

NoelFigart1

Premature optimization is the root of all evil.

Keep doing what you're doing for a couple of months. You're doing great and don't need to change anything yet.

SherrySK

ty

AllanMisner

Focus on your eating to lose fat. Keep up a walking. You can work on progressions, building speed or distance.

jemhh

You are doing great so far! No *need* to change anything but if you *want* to make changes I would probably just alternate between increasing time walked and speed walked. Some days you might favor one over the other and that is perfectly fine.

You might even decide to start changing the incline somewhere down the line. I've been at this a year and just started doing that. For some reason I've always ignored those buttons on the machine

Ellaskat

That is so awesome!!! Congrats on your commitment! You might want to check out any of the books written by Jeff Galloway - he describes a method called the run walk method- I did it to learn to run marathons, but you can do it just to learn to pick up the pace. He's been around a long time so you could probably find a book at your library if you didn't want to buy it. I had been running for eyes and could never imagine running long distances until I found his method- it's very gentle and works amazingly well. Good luck! Years ago when I first started cardio, I started out just like you - I would do the treadmill or rcumbent bike during a tv show:)

isa474

So happy for you. Keep up the great work. I say do what you can handle starting off and always try to push yourself each time. Best of wishes

Deipneus

My advice is to go with whichever of those alternatives you like and are comfortable with. I have a feeling you're going to do very well.