What Is Good Exercise For A Beginner?

I think this is the same book that i used when i first started yoga!! Was it published in the 70s? I remember it being very 70s, like it actually gave advice to housewives to make long sweeping motions when they clean the house to stretch their muscles lol.

I wish i could find it again, i lost it along the way. It is a great beginners yoga book.

 

Yep---that's it! I was thinking 'was it Littlemans?' I just couldn't remember.

That is a great way to start-----I bought it back in the 70's and a girlfriend and I would do it together. I have gone through the 28 day program probably 4 times in my life, and once or twice kept doing it afterwards for several months or so.

I still have it in my library. I have been thinking about working out again----that is probably a good way to start, before I go back to the gym.


My favorite way to exercise (outside of sex) is to swim------in fact swim a few laps, hop in the hot tub, swim some more laps, hop in the hot tub, swim some more laps, hop in the hot tub, maybe some more laps, andthen finally I will just------hop in the hot tub...

 

I guess I'm the last one?
But, I'm not a guy, I'm not body building, it's generally easy for me to lose weight, I have a thick upper body, like suggested, but leaner lower body, lol yes... I'm short and soft.

 

Yea, walking and biking is probably what I'm going to do. Definately what I'm going to do, actually.

 

The bus idea is actually a really good idea. I was just going to go to a park near me. Well, it's a bus ride to the park. It's kind of sad I don't live next to a park. This is a school district, so lots of schools around here. There is also a lot if protitutes, and a strip club. So, I'm not really sure what they're trying to say with that.

 

I think I will save off for a personal trainer. If I have problems, then I'll get one.

 

I can't swim.

And I'll check out the book. Thanks.

 

there is a tone youtube clips with exercise for beginners. You should be able to find something for yourself!

 

I see this post is already old. I don't know if I posted here though... so here goes.

First of all don't deadlift anything. This is how I hurt myself. It's a danger. It's real. Nothing can change the fact that if you're doing it wrong you will get hurt. And that's all I have for words of wisdom.

Exercises for cardiovascular health should keep your heart rate up, let's say 120, or better 130 to 140. 150 is hard to maintain but it will get you results faster and you'll feel like you did more. Anyway, specifically I would use a cycle fit class. And some sort of eliptical, but don't go soft on the eliptical! Really work at it.

 

So because you hurt yourself using improper form, that means nobody should deadlift? Doing any kind of lift without using proper body mechanics runs the risk of injury. That doesn't mean people should not lift weights.

 

The problem with this is even doing exactly what you're told you can get hurt like I did. Now I live with sciatica.

To PR - I'm not dumb. I do follow the recommendations of fitness trainers and in this particular circumstance a coach for weight lifting class. I cannot begin to tell you how much grief I could have avoided by just not deadlifting anything. I originally hurt my back lifting concrete from a patio that had been jackhammered into pieces. I hurt it, then I hurt it again trying to do exactly what I was told to do. Back straight etc...

More recently with lighter weight my personal trainer had me trying some back straight lifting exercises with say about 30 lbs. It triggered my sciatica! So what advice would you give if you were me? I tell people "don't deadlift" because I think you're taking a chance with your mobility and pain-free existence.

This goes for you as well, PR! I don't think you should do it, mate! There must be other exercises that interest you, and plenty of them.

 

Well, there you go right there. Deadlifting anything other than a barbell is asking for trouble.

It's very hard to injure yourself lifting weights if you utilize proper form and don't lift too heavy before you're able to handle it. When someone injures themselves from lifting weights, it's almost always because of one of those two things.

The thing is once you injure yourself badly enough, you're pretty much done with lifting from that point forward. So the only advice I would offer is to not get injured in the first place. It's pretty easy to avoid if you follow basic protocol.

Stuff like Crossfit and what you described with lifting chunks of concrete is far more likely to result in injury.

 

Walking

 

If one is not concerned about gaining muscle, just about improving the body's general condition and maybe lose a few pounds there is no need for lifting weights either, right?

 

I would tend to agree, though the pros will tell you to do both strength-training and cardio. There's definitely nothing wrong with a little bit of exercise.

 

Muscle increases one's metabolism and is a marker of overall metabolic health. Gaining muscle isn't just about aesthetics.

But yeah, walking/running can help you lose weight, but it doesn't have the same lasting effects that building muscle does. When you do cardio in conjunction with calorie restriction, and don't do any form of resistance training, you're much more likely to burn muscle tissue as well as fat. So you're actually hindering your metabolism long-term by relying on excessive cardio for fat loss. It can also result in an unattractive skinny-fat appearance when your clothes are off if you go about losing a large amount of weight by doing only cardio. It's going to result in a soft, saggy look.

In short, the more muscle you have, the harder it is to gain weight in the form of fat since muscle tissue is highly metabolically active and requires more calories to maintain. When you have more muscle mass, the calories you consume are more likely to go towards building and maintaining muscle as opposed to one's fat cells.

So, while cardio has its benefits, especially for cardiovascular health, no good exercise program should be without some form of resistance training, even if its only body weight exercises. You don't have to necessarily lift weights, but it's optimal.

Building muscle doesn't have to mean becoming some jacked up musclehead. It's just that if you want optimal health and a good physique, you do need to do some form of resistance training to build and maintain muscle mass. The cardio-only approach to exercise is extremely flawed, in my opinion.

 

Bike rides could be a good start. You can always find beautiful scenery to bike through!

 

He's right, walking, hiking, cycling. (uphill has much more exercise value than on the flat)
Costs almost nothing, not much risk of injury and costs almost nothing.
Plenty of clubs to join where you can make friends and find people to exercise with.

Almost nothing is worth doing unless it makes you sweat while you are doing it.
No need to spend money on a trainer, gym or swimming pool.

 

Sweating is the key to everything.

Alternatively, walking a half marathon everyday still works, even if you only sweat down the middle of your back where your spine is.

You get to live longer, and hey presto! No more restless leg syndrome.

What's that, moving? No ta, we'd like to remain completely still now. Enjoiy your sleep.