Help with what exercises I should do plus some history.

[CrimsonTide2006]

(you can read my welcome thread which has some info that might be important for your answer) http://www.nerdfitness.com/community/showthread.php?21805-Hello

I have never actually had a work out before..so I made one up that I THINK is good. Other than walking, I have never done any other exercise.

Is this good?

squats OR lunges,while holding onto something= 10(3 sets)

standing up crunches=10(3 sets)

Wall/desk push ups= 10 (3 sets)

I do not have the strength to do real push-ups or real crunches. If there are better exercises I can do, let me know.

[Georges]

I'm not sure what a standing up crunch is, but for abs/core strengthening, planks seem to be where it's at. Since they're held for a number of seconds, they're pretty easy to scale up or down to whatever strength you're starting at. (And there are ways other than holding them longer to scale them up if needed.) If you haven't tried them, I'd recommend giving it a go - they're harder than they look to anyone who hasn't tried them.

Also, I'm a big fan of the Beginner Body Weight Workout . I had to scale down almost everything to start, and I've had to stop doing lunges until my knee can handle them (or until the muscles that keep my knee safe can handle them), but even just during the 6-week challenge I've seen big gains.

Comparing it to your workout, it looks like it would basically add some pulling (dumbbell/milkjug rows) to balance the workout and some high intensity cardio (jumping jacks).

[CrimsonTide2006]

Ok thanks. I will do the beginner work out, looks great. standing crunches are when you reach for your toes while standing..maybe that isn't the same? lol

can you or anyone explain what all these "challenges" are??

[Georges]

There's an FAQ on challenges. Short answer: Challenges are an optional way to tackle some 6-week goals with community support. The roleplaying game aspect of it is optional, you choose your own goals, and 6-weeks is a nice not-too-short, not-too-long timeframe for lots of people.

The next challenge is starting Jan.7th, although Spezzy's announcement points out that you can start at New Year's.

There's really quite a bit of flexibility in how you do a challenge. If you check out some by different people, you'll see what I mean. Mine, for example is sparse and boring, partly because my internet access was spotty during the challenge, partly because I just didn't have a lot to say about my very low key goals (just getting back into the swing of things). Other threads may have a theme, more detail, a workout log, etc. I recommend looking around at what other people have tried and using what works well for you.

[Laureleye]

I agree with Georges; the Beginner's body weight is a great workout and you can start easy and scale up as you go. You should have a rest day between your strength workouts; 1 day strength, 1 day walking is a good mix. Start out with 5-6 days of this a week.

But remember, 80% of your fitness is what you eat. Look at the dramatic results you got dropping the soda. A next phase might be to drop some/all of the junk food in your life and start eating real food; fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy if you like.

[CrimsonTide2006]

thank you both...I do eat real food(have a vegetable garden every year), the problem is I eat too much of it lol.

How do I know what class I should be in a challenge? I have the 4 goals, are these good?

1. Use cpap machine every night, i have severe sleep apnea and have never worn it for more than 10 days

2.walk 20-30 minutes everyday

3.Do exercises

4. Keep food log

[jehan60188]

aren't goals 2 and 3 the same? I mean, a walk can be considered a workout, right?

if you've never had a workout, perhaps it would be best to do a workout that others have put together? (e.g. the Beginner Body Weight workout that's been linked here)

as far as tips for a beginner go

1) (like I said earlier) keep a journal.

2) find a funtivity that you don't consider a workout- for me it's frisbee golf (while running for extra 'fun'). That way, when you do the boring stuff (walking every day, eating healthy, etc.) all week, you can reward yourself with something that's fun, but still good for you.

3) Don't overexert yourself! Your mind may be ready to go all out on your first workout, but you will tear your body apart quickly. Then you'll putter out, and stop working out all together after a few days!

It's much easier on your body to start small.

That being said, don't waste a workout- you should be tired (you'll learn the difference between fatigue (your body getting tired), and pain (an emergency signal saying something's wrong!) soon enough) !

4) Give yourself specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, timely goals

5) have fun!

[CrimsonTide2006]

thank you all!!

[Kishi]

As for classes and stuff, that's really just to make it something of a game. It's not terribly important. It's more about setting up and establishing a community in which we can find people of similar fitness persuasions and draw strength from each other. In all frankness, you'd probably be considered an 'Adventurer,' but you can go wherever you like and follow your goals however you see fit.

[CrimsonTide2006]

ok thanks, thought there were some sort of rules based on the goals. lol