Any advice for a very unfit woman where to start?

sarahsgoal2020

Hi everyone, I need to start exercising again to get my health and fitness up. It's hard to admit but I haven't done any for a very long time.
I used to be very active and worked out for 5 days a week until I had a bad car crash.
Any tips or advice for someone starting fresh with very poor fitness, ideally to get my health and fitness up quickly.
Thank you for reading

janejellyroll

Is walking something that's possible for you? I think it's one of the best starting exercises for many people, as it is usually affordable to start and low impact.

hesn92

Is there anything in particular that interests you? I agree with pp with walking to start. You could find some nice trails to keep it interesting.

vegasgirl0825

I am unfit and have found that I like the elliptical. I never thought I would-and at first I hated it (or at least my mind told me I did!), but my friend convinced me to do it with her. I started out just doing 10-15 minutes slowly. I still go slow but have worked up to 30-40 minutes and try to pick up my pace at least for short bursts.
I also like doing circuit machines and like that I can adjust them to a weight that is comfortable for me and only do as many reps as I can.

lorrpb

Walking, light weights, and swimming and cycling as your fitness improves.

Cherimoose

sarahsgoal2020 wrote: »

Any tips or advice for someone starting fresh with very poor fitness, ideally to get my health and fitness up quickly.

You'll enjoy the journey much more if you lose the mindset of getting quick results, and embrace slow, steady progress, as well as the inevitable setbacks.

What has your doctor give you approval to do? And what limitations do you have?

apullum

If you are cleared by your doctor to walk, then here is a beginner walking plan: https://www.heart.org/idc/groups/heart-public/@wcm/@fc/documents/downloadable/ucm_449261.pdf

rileyes

A simple 10-20 minute push/pull body weight program can help be a kickstart.
Perform four sets of the following: 10 squats, 10 push-ups, 10 suspension rows, 10 bridges, 10 sit-ups.
Alternate days with the following: 10 lunges (each side), 20-60sec plank, 10 step-ups (es), 10 rows
You can do a search on variations or substitutes of the above exercises. Once conditioned, these body weight exercises may be possible to perform daily. A timer or more reps can help make them more challenging and help with stamina.

Another way to start is to find an activity or sport you like. Check out your city recreation or community college or local gym for areas of interest. (This is my favorite because I don’t think of it as exercise and yet I want to practice to be better at it.)

And last but definitely not least: A training program can help you stick with a plan and help you progress. I like the Strong Curves program for the variety. The book has illustrations of a variety of exercises you can substitute. (Check out the MFP stickies for other programs)

rheddmobile

rileyes wrote: »

A simple 10-20 minute push/pull body weight program can help be a kickstart.
Perform four sets of the following: 10 squats, 10 push-ups, 10 suspension rows, 10 bridges, 10 sit-ups.
Alternate days with the following: 10 lunges (each side), 20-60sec plank, 10 step-ups (es), 10 rows
You can do a search on variations or substitutes of the above exercises. Once conditioned, these body weight exercises may be possible to perform daily. A timer or more reps can help make them more challenging and help with stamina.

Another way to start is to find an activity or sport you like. Check out your city recreation or community college or local gym for areas of interest. (This is my favorite because I don’t think of it as exercise and yet I want to practice to be better at it.)

And last but definitely not least: A training program can help you stick with a plan and help you progress. I like the Strong Curves program for the variety. The book has illustrations of a variety of exercises you can substitute. (Check out the MFP stickies for other programs)

I like the idea behind this advice, but it would have been far too much for me when I started. I was barely able to do 6 bodyweight squats, zero pushups, zero suspension rows, and maybe a 10 second plank with my arms shaking. This list of stuff would have made me give up before I even started!

The main thing is to do a little each day and then a little more the next day. Which program you pick to start with isn’t nearly as important as gradually progressing. I started out doing wall pushups, a squat challenge, and basic arm exercises with water bottles as weights, plus walking and short easy dance videos. Within a year I could squat my bodyweight, do 20 good form toe pushups, and run 5k. If you are consistent and do a little more every day (allowing for appropriate rest days and recovery) you will be amazed at what you can do!

rainbow198

I started off just walking around the block and up and down my street. That's all I could do at the time. There was no stress or pressure so that helped me to keep going. Plus I could stop whenever I wanted and go at my own pace.

The more I did that the easier it became and I was able to go longer and faster and eventually was able to do other things such as using light weights/bodyweight workouts and joining fitness classes.

Maybe checkout Youtube and see if there are any workouts that interest you. There are light intensity workouts you can do and also workouts you can do in your chair.

Good luck!

AnnPT77

Others have given good suggestions of different exercise modes and plans.

Whatever exercise mode you choose, start slowly and increase gradually. Start with more recovery days, then exercise more frequently as you get fitter. Start with slower paces (or lighter weights), increase as they get easier. Start with short sessions, increase duration as it's manageable (and as long as it fits into your schedule while still allowing good overall life balance, i.e, enough time and energy for your family, job, home chores, and important non-exercise hobbies).

IMO, the sweet spot for either weight loss or fitness development (while minimizing injury risk) is to find a mode, frequency, duration and intensity that's a little bit challenging for your current fitness level, but that leaves you feeling energized, not exhausted, for the rest of your day. (A few minutes of a little "whew!" feeling right after the exercise is fine.)

Then, as you get fitter, gradually increase any of duration, frequency or intensity to keep that little bit of challenge, with good energy after, still happening.

Sometimes people think we need to go from nothing to a full-blown program, or that exercise isn't beneficial unless it's super-taxing (and frankly kind of miserable). None of that is true. A mild/moderate challenge advances fitness, and fun activities (according to your own definition of "fun") are the ones we'll keep doing long term, with enthusiasm.

Best wishes!

sarahsgoal2020

3rd time I've wrote this lol keep pressing done instead of post.
Thank you so much. Today I dragged myself for an hour's walk. Felt really great after.
I've just search beginner YouTube workouts and found a boxing one I like the look of. So that's tomorrow.
Weigh in day was today and I lost 6lb. I know it's the first week bloating and water retention loss but it's a boost I'll expect 1-2lb after.
Thank you again