Exercise Q. Getting back into it after 3-4 years.

[CleanAzzE30z]

So, to make a long story short, I went jogging yesterday after not working out or doing any exercise of any kind in a long time and my legs are fucking killing me (muscle soreness). SHould I go jogging today (after stretching, of course)? Im the kind of person that when I commit to something (good or bad), I do it balls to the wall, no excuses, never fail, to the tilt. I lost 75 lbs this way back in 2005-2006. I stopped exercising due to a brain injury susatined in 2006 and then that lead to a personal battle with addiction that ended last year January where I spent all of 2010 either in jail or in rehab (which kept me at a decent weight until I came back home Novemeber of last year). Ive already gained 10-15 (Im at 205-210 now) pounds since then and I dont want to go back up to 245 so Im nipping it in the bud and starting up exercising again. Im not 24 anymore and I have had knee surgery in the past and dont want to injure myself. I also dont want to stop and fuck up the momentum Ive developed. If it were up to me, Id go. Opinions. Thank you....


Mariano

[blocke]

If your knee is F*d up, why not try something low impact, like an elliptical? If you end up re-injuring yourself, you wont be doing any more cardio.

[CleanAzzE30z]

Thats an option. But I am currently not driving due to my lack of license so its tough for me to get to the gym.

Mariano

[Nairb]

Try riding a bike? I agree with the lower impact stuff. Riding a bike is probably the best thing you can do for bad knees.

I also have bad knees and ankles (and I'm only 23, what the FUCK!) and the best thing I can find to do for cardio is either walk uphill at a quick pace (usually in the gym on a treadmill), ride a bike, or use an elliptical

If you don't take it easy then you'll just end up getting hurt/too sore and it'll dramatically reduce your motivation.

[SpoolnDaapex]

Yeah take it easy man, give your body a day to recover between work outs. Your only going to burn your self out if you push to hard. You gotta go at your own pace and eventually you'll be back at the pace you were once at.

[samiam3356]

If you are trying to just get in or stay in shape then maybe take it easy and do a long walk. Just to keep the momentum up. Would suck to get sidelined for a week or two due to injury.

Funny how if you had to choose, most people would choose a sprinter's body over a long distance runners body. I use to help train D1 athletes and most of our drills were short burst and maybe once a week we worked on cardio.

You should try running mailboxes to break it up sometime. Sprint from one mailbox to the other and walk the next one then sprint again. Do that for a couple miles and its pretty good exercise.

[CHIF8008]

also- get proper shoes

[Mike325]

The best thing to do is go into this slowly. Try going for a nice walk, increasing the distance a little each time. This will allow you to exercise and not hurt so much the next day.

Do you have access to a pool or anything? This is the best no impact cardio that you can do.

[antil33t]

Swim, srsly. best exersise ever. I severely bleed easy, swiming doesn't cause that to happen.

apart from the male-female private exersise time.

[payney8]

Yeah swimming or bike riding is the best option to start out with, Low-impact and lots of cardio.

[Massimo]

Yeh if your knees are fucked I would not be running or jogging. Personally I would look into muscle build on your legs this would relieve some of the stress you have on your knees, which will make them last longer.

You don't need a Gym to work out. Anything you can do at the Gym you can do at home with a good bench and some dumbbells. The only good thing about the gym is socializing, which is good for some people as they need the motivation to work out, which you don't.

So your best bet would be to do muscle training once or twice a week and cardio in between like stated above walking up hill or riding are very good.

Also if you are trying to loose weight then diet is very important. A common rule for weight is 80% diet 20% training. From personnel experience I ignored all the mumbo jumbo about eating healthy and you will loose weight. "BULLSHIT"!

I have come to the conclusion it is all about how much. Reduce the amount of food you put in your mouth and you will loose weight, even with out exercise. When I wanted to loose weight I was having a low calorie protein shake with water not milk for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and tea what ever the hell I wanted. I did not have snacks in between and only drank water. It was very hard for the first 3 to 4 days as I was always starving but then I got use to it, I was loosing 1-2kg a week.

I am sure there will be a few people on here that will disagree with my method, as it is probably not the best if you need to eat healthy for what ever reason. But this worked the best for me and I ended up loosing 12kg in about 8 weeks FUCK YEH!

Unfortunately there is a lot of BS on the net and everywhere else on weight loose. But it dose not need to be technical.

It is simple calories are fuel if you do not burn the calories it becomes fat. So to loose weight you need to consume fewer calories. You can do this by calorie counting which frankly is a pain in the ass and requires more thinking then I am willing to commit, or you can just eat smaller portions and not have snacks in between.

[CleanAzzE30z]

Try riding a bike? I agree with the lower impact stuff. Riding a bike is probably the best thing you can do for bad knees.

I also have bad knees and ankles (and I'm only 23, what the FUCK!) and the best thing I can find to do for cardio is either walk uphill at a quick pace (usually in the gym on a treadmill), ride a bike, or use an elliptical

If you don't take it easy then you'll just end up getting hurt/too sore and it'll dramatically reduce your motivation.

Cool. Thank you

Yeah take it easy man, give your body a day to recover between work outs. Your only going to burn your self out if you push to hard. You gotta go at your own pace and eventually you'll be back at the pace you were once at.

Cool man, thanks for the tip.

If you are trying to just get in or stay in shape then maybe take it easy and do a long walk. Just to keep the momentum up. Would suck to get sidelined for a week or two due to injury.

Funny how if you had to choose, most people would choose a sprinter's body over a long distance runners body. I use to help train D1 athletes and most of our drills were short burst and maybe once a week we worked on cardio.

You should try running mailboxes to break it up sometime. Sprint from one mailbox to the other and walk the next one then sprint again. Do that for a couple miles and its pretty good exercise.

Thats sounds awesome because I heard somewhere that the constant chang in heart beat helps burn more calories.

also- get proper shoes

Yeah I have some Nike crosstrainers from a while back. I have to get some proper shoes.

The best thing to do is go into this slowly. Try going for a nice walk, increasing the distance a little each time. This will allow you to exercise and not hurt so much the next day.

Do you have access to a pool or anything? This is the best no impact cardio that you can do.

Yeah our apartment has a pool but its freezing at the moment.

Swim, srsly. best exersise ever. I severely bleed easy, swiming doesn't cause that to happen.

apart from the male-female private exersise time.

Yeah swimming gives you such an awesome sleepy feeling afterwards too, like you are well-exhausted with a hint of euphoria. I remember that from when I was a kid.

Thanks for all your help, guys. I ended going for a light jog, about a mile. But I will definitely use all this advice from here on out.

Mariano

[frankenbeemer]

If you have a bike, ride it to the gym. If not, walk. I just started exercising again after 3 years (although I'm more active than sedentary) by hiking about a mile and three quarters. Lots of uphill and downhill and I was a little sore after but it seems like a good start. That was Sunday, I took a couple days rest and I'm looking forward to tomorrows hike. Start slow, eat right, rest a day between workouts, same advice as everyone else, I suppose. Swimming is the best, but too inconvenient for me, at least in winter. A whirlpool or jacuzzi (or pro massage if you can afford it) is great for sore muscles, speeds recovery so you can train faster. Stick with it!


Edit: Duh, what they said while I was typing. Derrrrp. Stick with it!

[Evan12]

best thing you can do:

1. Eat 3 healthy meals a day. Not to big in portions, not too small. be sure to include vegtables and fruits, try for no carb are minimal carbs after 2 or 3 I.e bread, potatoes, etc. Breakfast is real important, not eating will do nothing for you. Eggwhites are good in the morning, if you dont like the taste maybe do eggwhites and 1 egg mixed in, along with a glass of water and juice, bannana, grapefruit, or whatever.
2. For low impact try pushups, if your having trouble doing those at first put you knees down and do them. Also try 8 minute abs, 15 minute abs, or 30 minute abs. whatever floats your boat. Also, lunges might be good to strengthen your knee as well as leg lifts/extensions (without wieght). plank holds are good as well for stomach as well as laying on your back and holding your feet 6 inches off the ground. you can try squats as well (withought weight, high reps).

These workout can all be done from your home and if done right (sounds like you will because your a balls to the wall type of guy) will kick your ass. Im 17 and in good shape (play lacrosse, etc) and can barely make it thru 30 min abs, so work your way up. working out every day is not the key either, my mom lost 20lbs and she goes to the gym 3 days a week. Be sure to drink lots of water throughout the day, really, LOTS. Try staying away from beer and alcohol as much as you can. a beer every now and then is still cool.

seriously, this practiced religiously will really help, you can also take walks too. like after your dinner settles or what not. but when you go on walks make sure it is at a brisk pace. work your way up my man, you got this. :)

[CleanAzzE30z]

Yeah swimming or bike riding is the best option to start out with, Low-impact and lots of cardio.

Good idea. I can bring my old BMW bike from my moms house and stat out with that.... fuck why didnt I think of that!?

Yeh if your knees are fucked I would not be running or jogging. Personally I would look into muscle build on your legs this would relieve some of the stress you have on your knees, which will make them last longer.

You don't need a Gym to work out. Anything you can do at the Gym you can do at home with a good bench and some dumbbells. The only good thing about the gym is socializing, which is good for some people as they need the motivation to work out, which you don't.

So your best bet would be to do muscle training once or twice a week and cardio in between like stated above walking up hill or riding are very good.

Also if you are trying to loose weight then diet is very important. A common rule for weight is 80% diet 20% training. From personnel experience I ignored all the mumbo jumbo about eating healthy and you will loose weight. "BULLSHIT"!

I have come to the conclusion it is all about how much. Reduce the amount of food you put in your mouth and you will loose weight, even with out exercise. When I wanted to loose weight I was having a low calorie protein shake with water not milk for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and tea what ever the hell I wanted. I did not have snacks in between and only drank water. It was very hard for the first 3 to 4 days as I was always starving but then I got use to it, I was loosing 1-2kg a week.

I am sure there will be a few people on here that will disagree with my method, as it is probably not the best if you need to eat healthy for what ever reason. But this worked the best for me and I ended up loosing 12kg in about 8 weeks FUCK YEH!

Unfortunately there is a lot of BS on the net and everywhere else on weight loose. But it dose not need to be technical.

It is simple calories are fuel if you do not burn the calories it becomes fat. So to loose weight you need to consume fewer calories. You can do this by calorie counting which frankly is a pain in the ass and requires more thinking then I am willing to commit, or you can just eat smaller portions and not have snacks in between.

Oh the diet thing I have down. I naturally dont eat unhealthily, but I just kicked it up a notch and am doing pretty much exactly what you mentioned. Nutri-grain bars, snacks, almonds, salads (which is all stuff I like to eat) and eating every few hours and never like an animal. I also drink 3 green teas a day and I was doing the shake thing with the water when I was lifting. The whole caloric intake vs expenditure I am well versed on since, like I said, I lost 75 lbs back in 2005, so my knowledge is still there and I know I can do it since Ive done it once. ANd Ive been there with the first weeks being hungry but toughing it out thing. It helps when youve done it bfore and you know what to expect and you know youre capable. Also I have some adjustable Bowflex dumbells I was using back then and will look for them at my moms house when I get a chance as those were REALLY helpful. I want to tone and have some muscle-building going on since that also helps burn more calories when youre at rest.


Thanks again for the suggestions, fellas.