New to fitness

Goldenbast

Hi! I am pretty new to fitness and have been doing a lot of reading. I am so out of shape that I could only do 1 minute on the elliptical, though I am now up to 4 minutes. I am wanting to do a mix of cardio and strength training and put together a routine for myself..I am wondering if this is a correct, healthy way to do this...I would dearly love any criticisms, preferably constructive.

Working out 6 days a week, alternating strength training with cardio every other day and walking a leisurely 'walking the dog' pace every day and taking one day a week to rest completely.

Right now my cardio consists of doing the 1st mile of walking at home DVD, sometimes twice and doing the elliptical a couple times a day.

Strength training consists of using my own weight for resistance and doing sets of sit ups, pushups and squats. My sets/reps are small, currently I do 2 sets of 5 reps. This seems to be all I can do, stopping when it starts to hurt and I just can't do another. I will add on more reps as I can and maybe even more sets as I can.

FearAnLoathing

That sounds good to me but I am far from an expert lol

dls06

That sounds good to me but I am far from an expert lol

I agree, anything you do will help. Keep up the good work. :flowerforyou:

ButtercupSprad

Sound like you are starting slow.....(which is EXACTLY how you should do it). I admire how you are respecting your body enough to take it slow. Keep going. Dont stop. They way you work out suits YOU.... and you only know YOU! Congratulations to your new chapter in your life!

Goldenbast

Tank you for the replies. I am not so sure I am starting slow, what I listed is simply all I can manage...I tried to do more once and ended up not being able to move for 3 days...its just that is all I can manage to do.

fiberartist219

Cheers to you for getting it started!

I have been in that spot before, where I feel like utter crap after only a few minutes of working out. The most important thing for me is that I get back up and try it again the next day. Like you, I just started with a few minutes here and there and some walking. If I just dive right in to exercise and don't take any baby steps, I'll get red in the face and kind of dizzy, so I had to ease into it.

Personally, what I have found is that when I started out, I did best with just a simple workout that I could do every day. In the summer, I would either go for a walk around the block or do some jump rope. There was a time in my life that walking around the block made my feet hurt and I'd huff and puff about it. Now, I feel pretty good, and I can do so much more than I could at that time!

As the weather got colder, I'd go into my garage and jump rope there. I like to bring my headphones with me so I can listen to music. One week, I'd jump rope for the length of a song each day. The next week, I'd do two songs each day. I don't think I ever made it past three songs though. It eventually got colder outside, and I brought my workouts all the way inside with some DVDs. I do cardio most days, but some strength training here and there. I know it is best to do both, but when I'm going from a tired bump on the couch to an energetic fit person, it can get overwhelming to design a workout plan and try to stick to it while my body is sore.

So, for me, consistency is key. I have to pick something simple, and just do it as many times in a week as I can until it becomes a habit. Now that I can see how exercise is benefiting me, I can start to incorporate more aspects of it.

fiberartist219

Tank you for the replies. I am not so sure I am starting slow, what I listed is simply all I can manage...I tried to do more once and ended up not being able to move for 3 days...its just that is all I can manage to do.

I had to learn the hard way where my limits were too. If I'm going to be sore for three days afterward, it is really discouraging and I don't want to exercise again. Just do what you can, but don't go overboard so that you can't do it again the next day. Keep it consistent and keep it going, and after a few weeks, you'll be able to do more.

I think you really have the right ideas here.

Goldenbast

Thank you all very much! I am totally second guessing myself here about fitness and you all have reassured me.