Getting started with exercise

JamieZ0503
JamieZ0503 Posts: 24
in Fitness and Exercise
I am so confused with exercise. There is so much information out there that it is honestly overwhelming. I don't know what to do or how often. I know lifting weights is important in addition to cardio, but how do you figure out lifting plans? How often do you switch up workouts? Are there any (free) resources out there that give you a lifting plan? What kind of cardio am I supposed to do and how often? Please help! I'm beyond overwhelmed.

Replies

  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    Well first establish your goals? It will help narrow down lifting plans.
  • drazani
    drazani Posts: 98 Member
    Im not a lifter myself i just do bodyweight strength training (You Are Your Own Gym) however there are several lifting programs people always recommend on here, they are stronglifts 5x5, NROLFW (new rules of lifting for women) and starting strength i think, also look at bodybuilding.com there are a few routines there you can follow. As for cardio id say do whatever you enjoy i.e cycling, running, swimming there are also countless home DVDs you can use :-)
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited October 2014
    Build slowly. Start with a plan to walk, run, dance xx each week and strength train xx each week. Then build on that. Exercise should challenge you, but you also need to be careful not to injure yourself by going crazy hard from the get-go.

    Cardio is great for building endurance, great for the heart muscle and burns calories. If you can do high impact, great. High impact is time efficient. There is nothing wrong with brisk walking (low impact). It burns as many calories, but walking a mile may takes longer than running one. Also qualifies as cardio....dance, jump rope, hooping, skating, hiking....find something you like.

    Strength can start out as body weight exercise until it becomes too easy (squats, chair dips, push ups, planks). Then you will need some weights, bands, something for resistance. This is great for bone health, and helps you keep lean mass while dieting.

    YouTube is great for free workouts. Great for newbies until you figure out what your preferences are. Other on-line fitness "channels"....BeFit, Hulu.com, Fitnessblender
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    JamieZ0503 wrote: »
    I am so confused with exercise.

    So the first thing to think about is what your objectives are, and what you enjoy doing already. I'd assume that you're interested in weight loss, which is largely about diet, rather than exercise, but the two are complementary. It also depends on your current health and fitness level.

    From a general perspective I'd suggest that you work up to three days or CV work and three days of resistance training, but you don't want to jump straight into that or you'll end up overtraining and/ or injure yourself.

    Start by working out your calorie deficit, by setting up your MFP account according to your current weight, goals and rate.

    Broadly resistance training helps you to improve your strength, and retain lean mass as you lose weight. CV work helps to build your endurance and capacity.

    There are several plans out there, and again it depends on your current circumstances. Do you want to join a gym or not?

    Personally I enjoy running, swimming and cycling, each of which have both a CV effect and a resistance effect. If you want to train in a gym then you're more limited in the complementary effects.

    As far as resistance training is concerned, you can use bodyweight, plans like You Are Your Own Gym or Convict Conditioning are well written and easy to follow. If you want to go to a gym or invest in your own equipment then a whole body routine, like Stronglifts 5X5 would frequently be recommended here. My preference is for bodyweight training, as I can integrate that with my running performance training, so can't really comment on the gym focussed stuff.

    As far as CV work is concerned, I'd suggest again an existing published programme. Running is simple to arrange, and you could use a Couch to 5K plan. Equally if you want to cycle there are plans out there for that.

    First things first, be clear about what you want to achieve, and what your current circumstances are.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    TeaBea wrote: »
    If you can do high impact, great. High impact is time efficient. There is nothing wrong with brisk walking (low impact). It burns as many calories, but walking a mile may takes longer than running one.

    A bit of a health warning on this advice. Conflating high impact and high intensity can be quite damaging. High impact has a lot of benefits for the skeletal structure, by encouraging increased bone density and improving the strength and control around the joints. Equally it is higher risk for injury, so proper form is important.

    Low impact, can be high intensity, and still burn a lot of energy. Equally best results come form training at a range of intensities, to target different effects.

    And fwiw walking a mile burns somewhere between 50% and 70% of the energy expended by running that same mile. More time consuming, and less efficient, but lower injury risk and easier to sustain for longer periods until conditioning starts to have an effect.
  • JamieZ0503
    JamieZ0503 Posts: 24
    My goals are to lose weight (about 30 pounds) and to look a bit more defined muscularly. I just get confused because every fitness program or activity says it's the best and that's all you need to do, etc. I tend to give up easily when I don't see results.
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
    JamieZ0503 wrote: »
    My goals are to lose weight (about 30 pounds) and to look a bit more defined muscularly. I just get confused because every fitness program or activity says it's the best and that's all you need to do, etc. I tend to give up easily when I don't see results.

    I feel you :) There's A LOT of conflicting information out there and it can be very overwhelming. As a beginner most plans will give you excellent results if you stick with them consistently. The main thing at this point is just to pick something and get started and stick with it for 6-12 weeks to give it a chance to work. Stop worrying about the perfect plan as, starting out, you will get good results from any beginner plan done consistely. You can tweak later in time to add or remove exercises once your knowledge grows .

    Where you start with the cardio/conditioning side of things will depend on your current fitness level. Pick something you enjoy (walking, running, biking, dancing, sport, anything that'll get your heart rate up really...) and do it 2-3 times per week gradually building up in intensity as your fitness increases. Feel free to mix it up.

    For strength training, pick a full-body (mostly) free weights plan targeted at the beginner level and do it 2-3 days per week. Pick one that focuses mainly on compound movements (movements that use multiple big muscle groups like squats, dead lifts, bench press, chin-ups, rows, hip thrusts etc.). Start slowly and learn proper form before you add heavy weight, but don't be scared to add heavy (relative) weight once your form is good (not perfect). Done consistely you will see great results (strength gains) with this type of program in the first few months.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    JamieZ0503 wrote: »
    My goals are to lose weight (about 30 pounds) and to look a bit more defined muscularly. I just get confused because every fitness program or activity says it's the best and that's all you need to do, etc. I tend to give up easily when I don't see results.

    It took me about a year to lose 30lbs, initially that was quite rapid, but I was hating it so moderated my rate of loss which allowe me to eat more, which had an effect on my quality of life. It's not a lot to lose, which makes it a slower process.

    I'd agree, lots of plans do claim to be a one size fits all, magic bullet, but in practice that's not needed.

    I'd really just reiterate my point above, work yourself up to three days of CV work and three days of some form of resistance training, per week. I used the Couch to 5K programme to get running, and You Are Your Own Gym to do resistance training. The investment needed at the time was a book, although about six weeks in I had to get new running shoes.

    You'll see both performance results and weight loss fairly rapidly. As you're losing weight you won't see much in the way of muscle gain, with anything, but you'll see functional improvement in your strength.

    The key is consistency. As long as you do something, you'll see improvement.

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