This girl's starting slow...

[Lateral Planet]

Hi folks, just a super noob here saying hello! I've recently dedicated myself to improving my fitness and health and thought I'd better pop in and broadcast it to cyberspace.

 

The thing is I've never really been fit; I was the asthmatic, unathletic kid who just did enough to pass PE. I'll go for a nice walk under my own steam, but that's less to do with being active and more to do with "I've just marathoned half a season of Hannibal and I really need some fresh air." I've always managed to maintain a healthy weight, but around this time last year I landed myself a regular desk job and it's been creeping up steadily to the point where I've had to put my foot down and get control again.

 

It's not just a matter of losing weight but also (mostly) of attaining a better level of general health and fitness. Yes, I want my nice jeans to fit me again, but mostly I want to be able to go for a brisk walk without getting puffed. I want to be able to fetch all the grocery bags in one go. I want to be able to dash to the airport gate carrying my suitcase. And, of course, I want to enjoy the sexytimes without getting a terrible cramp and needing my inhaler.

 

Because I've never been fit I'm taking things super slow. The current ultimate goal is to be able to complete the Bodyweight Brigade Level 7, but at the moment I feel worn out by just doing the warm ups! So I'm going to start with all the settings pushed to the left and try to complete the routines using the most basic modifications for each move. Once I can manage Level 6 on noob settings I'll move up to the next modification and start again, and repeat the cycle until I have the strength to do the true workouts. There are on average about three variations of each exercise, and it's recommended to spend a couple of weeks on each level, so it'll take me a long time (at least a year!) to reach that standard in this way. That's OK by me. My body has never been challenged in such a way before so it'll need that time to adjust to its new limits.

 

I'll mix things up a bit, of course, and try some new things. I'd like to get a taste of all the questlines, but at the moment following this path seems to lead towards an attainable goal. Like, it would be cool to get a black belt or be able to do the 300 Workout, but I can't even touch my toes so that sort of achievement is in a galaxy far, far away.

 

I didn't mean for this to turn into an essay, so I'll stop talking now but to say: wish me luck! And good luck to everyone else here as well!

[Fiercesomest]

Sounds like you've got a great plan. And I feel you, getting wiped out by the warm-ups! I followed along with Steve's video and by the end I was definitely past 'warm'. XDXD We can do it, though!

[TMedina]

Welcome!  And good luck!

[Lateral Planet]

Thanks guys! I've realised it's vital to have a battle plan. My last attempt at slimming was pretty weak; I'd have pretty precise goals but no good idea of or plan for how to reach them. I got there eventually but of course I didn't stay there! And of course that was all focused on losing weight rather than becoming fit, so even though I had slimmed down to 60kg (130lb) I was really no healthier than I had been at 72kg (160lb).

So by setting myself up like this and sticking to a clear plan I think will be much more successful! Also, by focusing on fitness rather than on weight I will be much better off.

[soragrey]

Ooh you're interested in martial arts? I can't recommend it highly enough I just started a few months ago and wish I had started years ago instead! A black belt is a long process so you don't need to worry about being super athletic right away.

[Lateral Planet]

Yep, I did a bit of Go Kan Ryu karate when I was a kid but lost interest at orange belt. That was not because of the karate itself (I had some other stuff going on...moody teenage stuff) so it'd be nice to have another crack at it.

I'd really like to try pole dancing. It's a bit saucy and looks fun and WOW are those dancers athletic!

 

The problem is I have a very variable work schedule which will make it tricky to commit to regular scheduled classes. So all that will have to wait a bit while I figure out how to make that work. In the meantime I'll just keep going with my main strength training.