What are good work outs to start with?

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Im a pretty heavy girl and cant go running 5 miles right this second. I hear that working out so much a day and slowly adding to the workouts each week/month is a healthy way to go about working out. Is this true? If so, are there work outs that you might suggest for me to start off with??

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  • wendrobn
    wendrobn Posts: 13 Member
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    Look into the Ease into 5K app. It starts with a run/walk interval. If you can't run the whole time it wants you to the first session, just keep doing the first session until you can run for as long as they tell you to. Just going out and walking in slow/fast intervals for 30 minutes is a good start!
  • Angela_clulow
    Angela_clulow Posts: 20 Member
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    Firstly start with where you're at don't run before you can walk, pardon the pun. As a personal trainer myself i recommend you got to a gym and get an assessment done so that you know how hard you can push yourself and which exercises are suitable x
  • Muzica1959
    Muzica1959 Posts: 206 Member
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    Start with walking and maybe a low impact beginners aerobic workout. I started at 280 with that and I am now adding jogging intervals into my walking each night. I am still doing the dance aerobics as well. Find something you like and just do it.
  • luckydays27
    luckydays27 Posts: 552 Member
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    I started out walking. A little every day. Soon I was walking farther. Then I was walking uphill. Then I was hiking the trails. I still do not run unless I am being chased and even then, I would weigh the seriousness of the chase before I would decide to run.

    Once you are up to it and able, throw some weight training in. That was the key for me. Once I started lifting, I was falling in love with my body. I am still a work in progress but I love the way I look and feel. I am wearing a size 6 jeans now but the last time I was this weight I was wearing an 8 or 10. The difference is due to the weight training I am doing. I have more muscle that takes up less space than the fat did before.
  • StephanieKidd83
    StephanieKidd83 Posts: 41 Member
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    Great advice! Thank you ladies!! :)
  • sleepytexan
    sleepytexan Posts: 3,138 Member
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    Dance!

    West Coast Swing and Salsa are super popular, cheap classes are available at bars, dance studios, community centers and even in the continuing ed programs at local schools.

    Many places offer a free hour lesson followed by all night dancing. Super fun!
  • vtotheicky
    vtotheicky Posts: 62 Member
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    When I first started I could barely walk 5 minutes. Start off slowly and understand that it takes time to become one of those '5 mile' walkers/runners. Walking is great and you can do Leslie Sansone's walking workouts from home to start with. Dancing to your favourite songs is also a great calorie burner. The best thing is to find things you enjoy and stick with them.
  • Sailatsorf
    Sailatsorf Posts: 161 Member
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    I would seriously recommend starting with walking. I started with 20 minutes of walking and slowly added more until I was doing an hour every day. Just recently, I felt comfortable enough with my weight (70 lbs down) to try running. I'm doing the C25k app and easing my way into it. Wait until you get relatively close to your goal so that the extra weight along with running doesn't injure you, since running can be pretty hard on the joints to begin with.

    Walking isn't only good for your body, either. It has really helped me manage my chronic anxiety problems, it's great for a few minutes of "me" time, and I think a lot about the stories I'm working on while I'm walking. It's great. Get out there and enjoy it!
  • StephanieKidd83
    StephanieKidd83 Posts: 41 Member
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    Today I started by walking on my treadmill for 15 min. Not too bad! Im gonna shoot for 20 min tomorrow!! :) p.s. How do we know that calories burned when we log our exercise is correct??
  • luckydays27
    luckydays27 Posts: 552 Member
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    I use a heart rate monitor to determine my calories burned during exercise.
    I also have a fitbit that determines my calories all day long and is pretty good at estimating cals burned for step based activities.

    Without either of these devices or something similar, you can enter the cals burned in the exercise tab here on MFP but I found that number to be higher than my actual cals burned.
  • Snailman44
    Snailman44 Posts: 25
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    Go here http://www.livestrong.com/fitness-get-started/ . Lots of great information to get you started. Find something you find enjoyable and you look forward to. If its like a chore it will be hard to keep it up long term.
  • omnisis
    omnisis Posts: 85 Member
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    Easiest to start = walking.

    A little more challenge = stairs / jogging

    Even more challenging = sprints / walk-then-run

    My favorite type of workout when I'm crunched for time = some kind of bodyweight circuit

    Main thing is finding activities that you can do consistently that mesh with your schedule and personal preferences.