Never excercised in my life!!!

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Jztime
Jztime Posts: 138 Member
in Getting Started
I have no idea where to start...seriously!

Currently I am getting in about 45 minutes of walking a day. I weigh 20 stone and 10 pounds (down from 27 stone and 4 pounds).

I like swimming...pretty much hate anything else. I have zero strength. My 75 year old Nan could probably beat me in an arm wrestling contest.

I feel like my body is weak. Sometimes my back aches and I have no idea why but it is muscular and not spinal pain. Usually if stood up for a while.

I am throwing myself at your mercy...help me!

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  • Jztime
    Jztime Posts: 138 Member
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    I also now have to live with the shame of that typo...
  • gypsy_spirit
    gypsy_spirit Posts: 2,107 Member
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    Swimming is good. Walking is good. Anything you enjoy and will do consistently is good.

    If you want to improve your strength, you can start small. There's NerdFitness.com that has excellent beginning strength programs you can do at home and with little to no equipment. I started this way at 54 and now at 56, I lift heavy. I had no upper body strength. Now I do.

    Good luck.
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
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    Swimming is good. Walking is good. Anything you enjoy and will do consistently is good.
    THIS! Whatever you do...find what you like, because that's what you're going to stick with. You WILL get stronger, but do try to push yourself past your comfort zone when you can, because that's what helps you get stronger, leaner and better!

    Everybody has to start someplace...you can do this!
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,932 Member
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    Swimming is good. Walking is good. Anything you enjoy and will do consistently is good.

    If you want to improve your strength, you can start small. There's NerdFitness.com that has excellent beginning strength programs you can do at home and with little to no equipment. I started this way at 54 and now at 56, I lift heavy. I had no upper body strength. Now I do.

    Good luck.

    ^ This. Start slowly and work into it. Just make sure that you keep working to improve.
  • amwood89
    amwood89 Posts: 165 Member
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    Congratulations on your loss so far - that is AMAZING!

    Doing something you enjoy is really important, so if you enjoy swimming - then swim! Anything that gets you moving is a good place to start.

    I agree with Gypsy, home videos are a great way to start. Not only can you do them in the comfort of your own home, but they're free so if you don't enjoy it - move on to the next thing until you find something which you think you can stick with.

    Have a look on youtube, there's tons of stuff on there to get you going!
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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    Congratulations on your loss so far that's a fantastic achievement. Walking is great as that's all I did for months. Swimming is also another way to exercise your whole body. I think the thing with exercise is to find something you will like to do that way you are more likely to keep at it. You're likely to get a lot of people telling you to do this exercise or that one because that's what they love doing. Many exercises can be beneficial but you do need to be consistent. Try and think what you like. is it worth looking at a gym or are you like me and rather anti social so would rather keep to yourself? To me the idea of a Gym is hell on earth.

    Many people do weights and resistance training in their own home. Others do videos. Running is my exercise of choice I started a year ago and now run around 40 miles a week at an OK pace. I though enjoy it and it's not for everyone. There is plenty of advice on the fitness forums but just remember people will push you towards what they love and it may not be right for you. Exercise does not have to begin and end in a gym there is just so many things from Hiking, cycling to weights.
  • motivatedmartha
    motivatedmartha Posts: 1,108 Member
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    I found that the back pain I had been routinely suffering from was really helped by regular exercise - if your core is strong it really helps with back pain.

    Walking is good - (and has done a lot to support your terrific weight loss thus far :smile: ). I'd keep walking for a bit - just try and make each walk a little bit more challenging. Faster, or longer or bigger hills etc.

    Previous suggestion of some basic strength training is also a great idea - I like ones that I can do at home as I personally find it less threatening than going to a gym (I also live a long way from my nearest gym)

    Just try different forms of exercise until you find stuff that i) you enjoy ii) can fir into your life easily. Vary it, there is no need to become obsessed with a particular form of exercise - variety is the spice of life.

    Congratulations so far - you're doing great!
  • heatheremde
    heatheremde Posts: 43 Member
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    I do not have much advice, but it sounds like you are doing amazing already :) walking is good, I like to walk and swim. I do not do anything that I do not want to do, sometimes I feel like running.... sometimes I don't. Just keep on doing what makes you happy and healthy.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    I also now have to live with the shame of that typo...

    :laugh:

    walk, swim, walk some more.. anything that you enjoy that gets you moving is good... also look into some bodyweight stuff that you can make progressively harder , like pressups that you can do against a wall and then counter top etc etc until you can do full ones on the floor.
  • BoxerBrawler
    BoxerBrawler Posts: 2,032 Member
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    I always tell folks that real progress is about baby steps.

    You can't expect to jump head first into an exercise program or routine and be at the same level as those who have been doing it for months or years.

    It doesn't matter how you start... just move! Move as much as you can. Take opportunities like parking far away from stores to get walking. Take stairs instead of escalators or elevators. Stand more than sit. Start small, keep swimming!

    My very first class was a sculpting class. I grabbed one pound hand weights and thought I would die in a matter of minutes. I could barely do two push ups! That was about a year ago. Now I do MMA and HIIT and I box and I run daily and can do (or at least attempt) any physical challenge my trainer can throw at me. Progression. The more you do, the more you'll be able to do.
  • Sharon468
    Sharon468 Posts: 12 Member
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    45 minutes of walking a day *is* exercise, so you have indeed exercised in your life :-)

    If you want to up your cardio fitness you can do occasional intervals of faster walking followed by moderate paced intervals for "recovery." I find that listening to music helps a lot in picking up the pace.

    No need to try to jump into everything at once, but as my doctor told me, there are three things in being truly fit: cardio fitness (walking, running, Zumba, etc.), strength, and balance/flexibility. She wants me working on all of them.

    There are several ways to work on strength - I do hand weights at home because I'm not a gym or exercise class kind of gal. Balance/flexibility is covered by various Pilates, yoga and ballet exercises I've learned over the years. Try a few different things and see if you prefer exercising solo after getting ideas by reading, exercising to videos, exercising with friends, going to a class or going to a gym. I'm guessing that few people like all of these (I certainly don't), so try something for a few weeks and if it doesn't appeal, try something else. As others have advised, the best exercise is one that you're likely to stick with.
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    As everyone has said: good job so far! And definitely take it slow.
    I didn't take my transition into running slow. I ended up getting blisters (one of which popped and bled into my shoe), and pulled my quad muscles. I was out of commission to walk more than the distance to work for a couple days to recover.

    Definitely take your time easing in to the walking, keep up with the swimming, and gradually introduce new exercises into your routine (weights, running, ect). No need to do everything all at once. :)
  • Jztime
    Jztime Posts: 138 Member
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    Fantastic! Thank you
  • lisanug
    lisanug Posts: 14
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    Wow 94lb loss!! Wow!!!!
    Well done you.
    We all have to start somewhere.. Swimming is great and walking if ur not ready for the gym use ur home to ur advantage. There's so many apps for working out at home and all u need is a chair or other stuff that's around the house.
    Try to mix up the walking and swimming so you don't get bored
    Good luck x
  • Jztime
    Jztime Posts: 138 Member
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    Thank you all of you. Lots of great ideas. One day soon I shall post my before and not quite after photos. I think I'm nearing the half-way point in my weight loss mission.
  • wibutterflymagic
    wibutterflymagic Posts: 788 Member
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    You've lost 94lbs with just walking and swimming? Wow. Thats great; however, if you want to get lean and strong you are going to have to begin lifting. I'm thinking that no matter what you will have a lot of excess skin but strenght training will help a little along with a more consistant, slower weight loss. Dropping weight fast is notorious for creating major excess skin.

    I would start with body weight exercises. You can do a lot to begin with without weights......squats, lunges, walking lunges, ab exercises, pushups, even bench presses with items you have at home. Google body weight exercises and you will get lots of ideas.

    When you get to the point where you need heavier weight I would suggest either investing in a GOOD set of free weights(not the colored dumbells) or a gym membership to get to the good weights and machines.

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