Getting Back in Shape When Out of Shape for
Decades
This
week the question comes from a gentleman who was once fairly active, former
military, but has not done anything in about five years other than an occasional
weight lifting session at his gym.
The question is – “How do I get back into working out again without
killing myself after a five year hiatus?”
What I
recommend for situations like this is to start off easy. So many times I have seen people start
off Day One with a 3-4 mile run because “that is what they used to do.” This philosophy can also be seen in the
weight room with people lifting heavier weights than they should at first. Depending on your goals and your chosen
method of exercise, I would start off doing the following:
Week
1: Add ONLY stretching to your
fitness routine. Walking and biking
is fine too, but do not run or lift weights during week 1. Stretching should be done twice daily
for about 10-15 minutes each session.
Warm up your body and joints with a fast walk, jumping jacks, jump rope
for about 2-3 minutes. Once warm
and just about to break a sweat, start stretching your arms, legs, lower back
and abdominal region. See the free
workout for kids and adults with pictures of exercises and stretches at: Free
eBook - http://www.stewsmithptclub.com/parentkidsworkouts.pdf
Add
water to your diet – this week of hydrating will help you prepare for a week of
additional caloric burning and keep you cooler during your first exercise day in
Week 2. For every 100 lbs of body
weight drink ˝ gallon of water a day. I weigh 200 lbs roughly and I drink at
least a gallon a day. This helps
the body burn fat more efficiently.
In fact it takes two things to burn fat as your energy source: WATER + OXYGEN = FAT BURNING. The oxygen comes from either the
aerobic exercise of walking or running or anaerobic exercise of calisthenics and
weight lifting.
Week
2: If running is your ultimate goal
try a safe running program as written in a StewSmith.com
article a few weeks ago: More
Running http://www.stewsmith.com/linkpages/runningplan.htm
This is
a safe way to build up from not running in a while. In fact, it may even be wise
to run a few minutes and walk a few minutes until you get accustomed to the
demands on your heart, lungs, and legs.
If
weightlifting is your activity, I would recommend using this week as a
calisthenics base week. Do pushups,
crunches, lower back exercises, try some pullups or assisted pull-ups. You can add lightweight dumbbells of
bicep curls, triceps extensions, and military press with repetitions up to 10-15
times. For your legs, do no
weight squats or ˝ squats if your knees are previously injured. This easy paced week will help alleviate
the pain of working joints and large muscles groups for the first time in
several years. These exercises are
all pictured in the above free ebook and will help you go from zero to sixty in
a easy pace that will more than likely keep you free from injury.
Good
luck and keep the questions coming.
Hope the ideas come in handy.
For
great reference check out the Article Guide of my archived StewSmith.com
articles. http://www.stewsmith.com/sitemap.htm
