I've been becoming fatter and I'm not liking it. I'm eating more and doing less. I am 20 years old and 130 pounds on a 5'5 frame. Sounds like a normal weight, but it's mostly from fat.
I look skinny on the outside, but I can feel my arteries clogging on the inside.
I have a large layer of flab on my stomach that's not noticeable until I'm sitting, or if I grab it.
I am completely out of shape. Walking three blocks yesterday left me fairly winded and felt like my heart and head were going to explode. I don't have asthma or a history of heart problems.
I used to be in decent shape when I lifted every other day, but even then, I never did any real cardio.
The last time I used to be in good shape cardio-wise was back when I took martial arts maybe 6 or 7 years ago.
Unfortunately my doc said he doesn't want to see me do much lifting anymore until I get my blood pressure back in check, which he said will decrease as I get into better shape.
My roommate wants me to run with him, but I can't keep up with him. He's in the military. I also don't want to run outside. I rather do all my running inside on a treadmill, but he claims those are bad for your knees and he's too stubborn to listen to reason when I tell him otherwise.
Basically my question is this: How would I slowly start my way into cardio without dropping dead from a heart attack?
Treadmills actually do damage your knees. However, you can increase the incline of the treadmill which helps your knees out but makes it more difficult since you're simulating running uphill.
Best thing to do it start off taking it easy. Get on a treadmill or get outside, whatever you decide to do, and start with a little "granny jog" which is when you take pretty short strides and just scoot along. It's faster than walking but slower than normal jogging. Do that until you get exhausted, then walk for a while.
What I like to do is designate a "circuit," which one a treadmill would be an interval for distances, say like 300m. Set a goal for how many circuits you want to do for that day, let's say you start off with 4. When you finish doing 4 300m circuits (which is basically just going 1200m) walk one more circuit. After walking one, you'll probably feel like you can actually jog a bit more, so jog until you get gassed again and then call it a day.
Cardio is pretty easy to do, it's motivating yourself that is really difficult to do when trying to increase cardio. I hate running so god damn much, it takes a lot to get myself to get up and do it. Once you get going, it gets much easier though.
The elliptical is actually a great alternative to the treadmill and takes off all the stress on your knees so that's always an option. Personally I hate running a lot so I have to be creative with my cardio so I play a lot of random sports. Maybe try getting back into martial arts or do swimming, tennis, basketball, football, ultimate frisbee, etc. anything like that will be a lot more entertaining than running nowhere for extended periods of time unless that's really your thing.
pick up games of basketball are good for cardio
And soccer. You'll run your dick off in both basketball and soccer and not even notice it until your legs are about to fall off.
Just walk somewhere you like until you get tired. Find your limits first then push them every day. Then start running, it shouldnt be too long or too hard.
Biking is pretty fun. I like it better than walking since you go fast enough so your not stuck in the same scenery, but slow enough that you don't miss it. Usually I get really out of shape in winter with the snow and such, and use biking and swimming to get in at least a decent shape again.
snip
[QUOTE=MaverickIB;29456510]Treadmills actually do damage your knees. However, you can increase the incline of the treadmill which helps your knees out but makes it more difficult since you're simulating running uphill.
Best thing to do it start off taking it easy. Get on a treadmill or get outside, whatever you decide to do, and start with a little "granny jog" which is when you take pretty short strides and just scoot along. It's faster than walking but slower than normal jogging. Do that until you get exhausted, then walk for a while.
What I like to do is designate a "circuit," which one a treadmill would be an interval for distances, say like 300m. Set a goal for how many circuits you want to do for that day, let's say you start off with 4. When you finish doing 4 300m circuits (which is basically just going 1200m) walk one more circuit. After walking one, you'll probably feel like you can actually jog a bit more, so jog until you get gassed again and then call it a day.
Cardio is pretty easy to do, it's motivating yourself that is really difficult to do when trying to increase cardio. I hate running so god damn much, it takes a lot to get myself to get up and do it. Once you get going, it gets much easier though.[/QUOTE]
[url]http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14682559[/url]
Start off slow so you don't burn yourself out right away. I'd start off with a half-mile light jog.
And increase from there. If you were winded after walking, you might even want to start running less than what I said above.
Stay active and eat a healthier diet so you can lose some of that excess fat. You don't sound like you are overweight right now, just out of shape. It's good that you caught yourself and want to be more fit. If you have any questions, I'm here for you.
The main part of my start on running just came from personal desire for a better physique and to be healthier and fitter. Find some good music with a steady beat if you find running too dull, dance music works well, and plan a run outside if possible as it's much more interesting and offers more variety than treadmill running.
The hardest part for most people appears to be the motivation, the step where you have to make the decision in your free time to go out and exercise instead of staying in and watching tv or playing games, if you want to overcome this you should put thought into the benefits of running, the more you think about the benefits of something the more it becomes ingrained in your mind that you want to do it.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.