Exercise for the EXTREMELY unfit?

DrunkInAGolfCart

I'm very active in my day to day life. I'm a musician and I'm constantly carrying around heavy gear. My apartment is also up six flights of stairs (no lift) and my least favourite part of the days is carrying my heavy amp, mic stand and guitar/case.

So I feel like I'm quite strong but in terms of cardio I'm hopeless. I can barely get through 10 minutes of the thirty day shred. I'm puffed after just running for the bus. I'm female, 28 years old I started 3 months ago at 260+lbs. I'm not weighing myself yet (until I'm sure I like the number) but I've gone down a couple of sizes in my clothes. I'm also a smoker which doesn't help. Plus, I'm way too poor to join a gym!

I feel like I need to start upping the ante for exercise but it sort of scares me! Any suggestions on where to start?

shadow2soul

Leslie Sansone Walk at Home videos
Fitnessblender.com
Couch 2 5k phone app
Youtube videos

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I started with just walking and slowly increased from there.

flamingblades

Walk at least 15 to 20 minutes every day. a little bit of something is better than a whole lot of nothing. That's how I started. 6 flights of stairs??? Leave your gear in the house /apartment and just cruise the stairs. By the way, I am around the same weight.

fishcat123

Even walking a bit - power walking fast enough that your heart rate goes up for ~30-60 minutes 3-4 times a week, would a good place to start. Other possibilities are walking stairs at a stadium or hiking, if you live somewhere with hiking trails with hills, or taking some sort of dancey community classes (social dancing like swing dancing or line dancing, or more exercise focused classes like zumba), which can be pretty cheap (check groupon).

Something else you could try is the couch to 5k program. I don't have any experience with it, but I've heard a lot of good things, and there should be a lot of other people who know more about it here.

ninerbuff

Start with walking. As you get better walk faster. Trying to do 30 day shred as an unfit beginner would be like a someone getting introduced to an instrument and expected to be able to play Symphony no. 5 in C minor right away.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

NH_1970

You Tube videos - Denise Austin Xtra Lite work out.
David Dorian Ross - Tai chi AM or PM work outs.
Dolphina the Goddess bellydance work outs
Yoga - on you tube
Walking at a pace you can handle for as long as you can handle you'll build more endurance over time.

evildead87

I am a unfit musician myself. I'm finding that walking is helping my metabolism speed up, and I work a full time job on top of it which varies in activity. I would agree with everyone else who says to start walking. Another cool trick is to do reps with your equipment. You know that 75 lbs amp? Put it to good use and start doing some reps with it, if it has a handle . Don't do to much to tear yourself up, but that's what I do with my nice Ampeg amp. Yeah it weighs a ton, but I find myself picking it up and curling it every now and again

tomatoey

Walking, for sure.

diane1223

Invest in a fitbit or similar device. Try to work toward getting 10,000 steps per day. You don't have to start with that, but work toward that goal. It motivated me to be more active.

nikkysw

You can also choose a fitness partner to get yourself motivated to do some exercises daily. I've written an article here about this and its appreciated by some of my readers as well. Do check this Benefits of having a Workout Partner

fstfrd00

Start small such as walking 15 minutes, increase from there when it seems easy

beemerphile1

First, if you can carry musical gear up six flights of steps, you are NOT "extremely unfit"!

Go for a walk, go for a run, can be done most anywhere at anytime for zero cost.

annekka

I agree with those that say start with walking. Walk to the corner and walk back. Next time try to do it faster or add on a second block. YOu can probably do more than a block at a time, but you get the idea.

Try running up those stairs as fast as you can as many times as you can. You'd be surprised.

Your smoking probably is affecting your lung function somewhat. But you can presumably work around it. I'd recommend quitting the habit if you can for better lung function in general but that's your decision to make and not ours.

hush7hush

Walking as always good, as everyone else has stated. But I also say keep doing the 30 day shred, just do it at your own pace. If you have to take breaks, fine. If you have to make the moves easier, that's okay too. Eventually it will get easier and that's how you know you're getting fitter! Also, quit smoking. I'm a smoker too and I've realized I need to quit if I ever want to run a marathon.

beemerphile1

I started running years before I quit smoking. I even won my age group at some local races and was in the top 25% of finishers in every race. I did eventually quit smoking but smoking didn't stop me from being active and fit.

I haven't smoked now for 22 years.

earlnabby

Walking or swimming. The advantage to swimming is that you are doing strengthening at the same time. I was extremely unfit when I started (couldn't get up a flight of stairs without stopping once or twice) and I started out with a water aerobics class.

Melwillbehealthy

just walk

beachhouse758

Jillian Michael's Beginner Shred!!!!! It is so much easier than 30 DS and it will get you ready for that video!

Need2Exerc1se

earlnabby wrote: »

Walking or swimming. The advantage to swimming is that you are doing strengthening at the same time. I was extremely unfit when I started (couldn't get up a flight of stairs without stopping once or twice) and I started out with a water aerobics class.

This was going to be my answer as well. Walking or swimming. Water aerobics if you can find a class you can afford.

jgnatca

You are fit; you just don't have a lot of cardiovascular capacity. If you were doing six flights of stairs with your equipment, you are quite strong. I remember trying to move when I was 260 lbs, and that's a LOT of weight to be carrying around. No wonder you tire easily.

To improve your cardiovascular health, ditch the smoking habit. Then do a C25K eight week program. It starts with short bursts of speed followed by walking, and then slowly extending the speed.

I think you could do some great running exercises on those stairs of yours.

Cardiovascular capacity improves very quickly. You might really surprise yourself.

TeaBea

I second Leslie Sansone "walking" videos.

www.youtube.com/user/walkathomemedia

There is no choreography so you can go at your own pace. JessicaSmithTV has several similar videos on YouTube.

www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jessica+smith+walking+workouts