Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

Not really taken any regular exercise in 20 years ( ) but I'm a lean-burn type of person anyway.

Realised that I was spending as much on beer in a month that I could afford to take out a loan & get a scoob ( ) which is what I have just done

So in the last month, I've given up drinking beer of an evening, tried to eat a bit healthier and have started cycling every morning during the week - 2 miles only but at full crack and tough hills - with longer ones at the weekend - 6 miles steady hill route. Managed to lose 1/2 stone, want to lose maybe another 1/2 and firm up the old tum. Been asked to play rugby as well but at the moment, no chance!

So, what I'm after is advise on what else to do. Want to do this every morning before getting ready to drive into London and faffing about going to a gym/health club is out.

Someone has offered me a rowing machine and I was thinking about a cross-trainer as well.

What are people's suggestions?

Brun

Run to the Pub?

Chip

Hi puff
Deliver your parcels by foot, probably be quicker in London as well

And thanks for the other day it was very much appreciated.

Chip

Freak

Im typing this just after finishing a 5.5 mile run!

Bear in mind I couldnt run 20 yds until i started this at the end of april, as Ive not done any excercise whatsoever since very early secondary school (then skived games with an imaginary ingrown toenail for the next 6 yrs ).
Not fat by any stretch of the imagination- just very unfit!

Bought some trainers, and started running every day early morning or late evening, and have gradually built it up from 20 yds to now 5.5 miles (and counting) without even feeling particuarly out of breath or tired.

Breakfast is some fresh fruit+wheatgerm+yoghurt all put through a smoothie maker every morning and have cut out a load of crap from my diet.
Physically i feel and look better than ever, and I havent spent a penny on gyms or anything else- just a decent pair of shoes.

Aiming to do London+ New York marathons next yr- having something to work towards is helping loads.

Probably useless info, but hey you asked.
Thats whats working for me. Stick with it

Chip Sengravy

Is that a cheap car, or are you a screaming alkie ?

how much?

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

ROFL

4 or 5 (usually 5 ) 500ml cans of Carling a night

MY 95 WRX RA

King RA

Get banned from driving and have to walk/ride everywhere. Worked for me.

TopBanana

Helps to write down how far you've gone and how long it's taken you. Amazing how much progress you can make

dij

cross trainer deffinately,this burns calories,builds strength and fitness.
the other one is an upright climber (not sure what its called) the bloke in vertical limit (the film) is using one in his office at the beginning,this is probably the most effective exercise on its own and a propper killer after a run/cycle.

_RIP_

Mark A

iTrader: (1)

PE teacher in our football team reckons doing sit ups, push ups & sqats with some light running/walking, alternate slowly building up your endurance. He reckond is the way and not expensive gyms etc,

Yet to try it but must do soon as the football season is only 2 weeks away.

hades

Very good for toning muscles etc, but as described, not the best for building endurance, aerobic capacity etc, IMHO. Generally speaking, you need to train for long enough periods at suitable heart rate zones for fat burning, building aerobic capacity etc.

This leads to a clue of one other thing you should invest in - a hear rate monitor. You can get a simple one for say £20-30 quid (which is enough, really), or a fancy one with lots of logging features, alarms etc for probably 2-3 times that amount (you might enjoy/benefit downloading traces from runs/cycle rides etc to see how much things have improved, for example). Combine that with a little science on training zones (plenty of info on-line), and aim to build up to 30 minute+ per sessoin at fat burning levels (which builds base fitness) and/or aerobic levels (which is working a bit harder, good for hear and lungs). Most people initially train too hard/fast, heart rate monitor allows you to train at more sensible levels.

Personally I like rowing machines as they're good to point at TV's when combined with cordless headphones, which helps avoid boredom (did 20km on mine yesterday). Mix it up with say some running (perhaps using an MP3 player, avoid the boredom again), cycling, circuits (press-up, sit-ups, squats etc), the variety will keep you less bored and work different muscle groups in different ways.

Personally I do some rowing machine, some running (~3 miles gentle run tonight) - both with the heart rate monitor, occassional press/sit-ups, and play a fair bit of tennis. Not exactly Mr Universe or in the running for the olympics, but a healthy 6ft ish, well under 12 stone, can play several hours competitive tennis or run 5 miles in something like 40 minutes, so not unhappy with that.

sti-04!!

Was in town today buying some new clothes, couldnt get any decent t - shirts to fit me. Ended up with a few, one of them a Diesel T-shirt XXL i didnt try it on in the shop but did when i got home. It was tight around the biceps & chest but as soon as it got to the belly the ****** made me look preggers.
Time to hit Esporta again, the love of food & beer over the last few months has took its toll.
Nightmare

StickyMicky

must admit, since i moved out my parents house last november i have been chucking down a few tins per night for some reason.

it needs to stop!!

SJ_Skyline

<< Another one looking at doing next year's London marathon

An MP3 player really helped me get into going to the gym - especially when you are running or biking for hours at a time. That said, I would only wear headphones at the gym. If you are out on the road on a bike then you need to hear traffic, likewise if you are out running.

In order to save time and reclaim my evenings, I've started running during my lunch hour - 10km runs 2 to 3 times a week round some of the London parks on top of cycling and speed sessions at the weekend.

Cross trainers are great as you can also run backwards on them and exercise different muscles but I find that after 30 minutes I end up with chronic pins and needles in my feet!


Best of luck Puff

Flatcapdriver

The trick here is not to overdo it. I used to be mega-fit but like yourself have severely over indulged over the years but I've basically reached similar conclusions to yourself. Last week I started running again and was pleasantly surprised that I ran one mile without stopping/killing myself. This week I intend to MBT five miles on alternate nights together with the one mile run.

Next week I'll up the cycle by 2.5 miles and the run by 0.5 miles and continue until I'm into decent figures and then maybe combine the two together. My goal is to compete in a few sprint tri-athlons but I'm slowly building up to it rather than run myself ragged and put myself off.

Good luck.

KiwiGTI

Depending where you are this lot will get you fit.

http://www.britmilfit.com/

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

I decided to get fit at the beginning of the year so I changed my diet and joined a gym. I developed a love of running and really got it into it. Ironically shortly after starting all this I started to feel ill and over a period of time got worse and worse, eventually my consultant said it was the gym work and running that was partially to blame for bringing the illness on.

So two months down the line since diagnosis and lots of medication later I'm feeling better and am about to start back at the gym again. I'm looking forward to it but am anxious about what harm it'll do this time

So, be warned, getting fit and healthy can make you ill

davegtt

If your unfit and want to start running the best way to start is set off running for 15 seconds, walk for 45 and keep doing that until you can do say 2 miles without being out of breath, one week later up the running to 30 seconds and walk for 30seconds, keep doing this until you can do it without running out of breath, run for 40 seconds walk for 20. run for 50 seconds and walk for 10. Before you know it you'll be running them 2 miles comfortably and then you can start to up your distance. Setting off running and keep on going til you are knackered is not the way to increase your fitness.

p.s. dont forget to do some stretching before you set off

stilover

Get a Dog. Walk that 2 -3 times a day, stop the beer, and your weight will come down. On a weekend take it out for a few hours. You'll cover quite a few miles. You'll enjoy walking, throwing stick's etc, and the dog will love you for it.

I've not been to the Gym for about 5 months (every week I say this week I'll go back) but I go for a 30min walk every lunch time. Every little helps.

^OPM^

what about swimming-when i started a year ago-i could just do one length front crawl-but u soon build up and now i can swim for an hour non stop and cover approx 1.5 miles