New to excercise - where to start

RawCarrots

I'm quite new to excercise (my friends will be shocked seeing me posting on a fitness forum!) and need few directions where to start from. Have been loosing weight great last month but need to start toning now

I'm kind of active during the day chasing after a small crawling baby but I do no structured excercise, never did. Where do I start from? I've been doing walks with the kids last couple of weeks and starting to even enjoy them I tried the 30DS but not ready to commit to it yet mentally. Need to start small and build up - preferably nothing too long every day as I don't have the time and prefer to incorporate some workout with weights (off to get dumbells later)

What excercises will you recommend, especially for toning tummy and upper arms? How many repetitions and what to aim for? Any tips and links to websites would be great, I really have no clue!!

lalapurple62

Grab the pram, a pair of joggers and start pounding the pavement, i lost 17 kilo a few years ago with eating right and walking, used to do about 5km a day, its free gets you out in the fresh air and the kids will love it in the pram. I dont think you have to spend a lot of money on gym equipment or special programmes, You can up the walk to include hills once you get a bit fitter and when you feel like graduating to something more strenous try the c25k program there are some great free pod casts that you can download to your mp3 player and its also free.....baby steps first i think. Good luck

RawCarrots

Thanks! I'm planning on keep walking now that the weather is a bit better But I was under the impression that walking won't help me tone - or am I wrong? As I'm loosing weight from my waist I can see I'd need to do some serious work to flatten that stomach and help skin shrink, I barely have any muscles! Plus, at 36, my upper arms are starting to develop a mind of their own and ready to flap away

I was hoping to do it with little or no money hence was only going to get dumbells. I was hoping for something maybe 3 times a week similar to the 30DS but lower intensity and shorter to begin with as that nearly killed me! Baby steps indeed - I know I can commit to 15 minutes 3 time a week but won't really last half an hour every single day IYKWIM

Blinx99

start by eating healthy and getting your body to take more water
cut the carbs and slowly increase water intake to supress your hunger

motivate urself to walk more, then jog and light running

sit ups and some warm down excerises will stregthen your brain to focus and keep ur muscles going longer

subtractionproject

You are correct that walking won't help you 'tone' but cardio is essential. A perfect balance of cardio and strength interval training is the way forward, in order to achieve maximum calorie burn.

I think exercise videos are the way forward - I can't afford a gym membership myself, so half an hour a day in my own home is perfect. I would say stick with the 30DS, especially Level 1, but make sure to modify any moves that make you feel so terrible you want to die, haha. Although, from my experience, if I don't feel like I want to die at least once in my workouts, I count it as a wasted day! Once you have mastered the modifications, you can push yourself to doing the regular versions. Don't take the '30 Days' so literally: this is YOUR workout, and you can take your time.

Dumbells are an excellent idea, and look around for any workout videos especially designed for beginners. Remember though, it's supposed to be tough; you are changing the shape of your body and that's no mean feat!

Good luck, lovely!

LindsayHowlett

If you want something that takes the same time as the 30DS but is less intense why not try the Davina DVD - My Three 30 Minute Workouts - they aren't so hard on your body, but will get you working and ready for 30DS. You don't need anything, but a pair of hand weights might be a good investment for when you get further into it and it becomes easier! The three workouts target different areas of the body, the boxercise one focuses on arms, pump more on legs and then the third one is about core stability and abs!

RawCarrots

Thank you for the suggestions, I know where to start now! I'm sure I'll be back with more questions as time goes by