Fitness Ideas?

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Ninco!

Ninco!

Ninco!

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Apologies its an old cliche - irrespective of the New Year looming, I have been giving this some thought for months! A genuine question and inspiration on ideas to get fitter?

A bit of background, I am 43, fairly slim but unfit! Waist is currently 33". Commuter so time will be limited. The last time I did genuine exercise (Paintball) muscle ache was a wake up call! Diet could be improved but a none carb/alcohol diet will not happen at this point in time.

The thought of joining a Gym fills me with dread, so looking at alternatives?

Really start with something nondescript like jogging/walking?
Swimming
Martial arts (might be a tad ambitious) to build confidence and work all the muscles point, only the thought of joining a club which is made up of 10-14 year old Bruce Lee's... or way out of my depth.
Bite the bullet and invest in a personal trainer (this would force me to get out).
I tried cycling - I do enjoy, however I gave my last bike away (same with weights) - so would rather avoid ending up in the same scenario.
 
Sort your diet out. Walk a lot. Walk everywhere. Take up light jogging. Join a gym. no one there will care that you are unfit. Do pushups at home. Lots of them. Sort your diet out (important so I said it twice).
 
Ninco! said:
Diet could be improved but a none carb/alcohol diet will not happen at this point in time.
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This will be your sticking point I'm afraid.

Roughly speaking, you can out-diet bad exercise, but you can't out-exercise a bad diet.

Why are you reluctant to try this out?

Obviously moving and doing any exercise is better than not, so start with some light weights at home, add in some push ups, pull ups, dips (if you can), and everything Hades said above.
 
I go for a walk round my local park/woodland, has a longish hill which is quite steep which gives a good work out. As im off work at the moment i do 1 lap every day, when i go back to work just on weekends until evenings get lighter.

OP - what is your diet like roughly?
 
I quite enjoy kettlebells. They don't take up much space and workouts are brutally hard and over in a flash. Buy a 16kg and 24kg and try and do this most days to get you started.

Swing x15
Goblet squat x5
Press-up x3
Repeat.

Chuck in some pull-ups and go on an occasional run and you probably don't need to do anything else.
 
Take up bouldering. All the fitness benefits of a gym without the mind-numbing tedium of pushing bits of metal around.

It's a good mental problem-solving exercise, great way to unwind after work.
 
you could do HIIT at home guided by you tube vids (Joe wicks et al). No need for equipment and will improve your fitness. Combine that with progressively longer jogs. Or bite the bullet and join a gym and do strong lifts or something with a bit of structure. Sounds like the former may be more to your liking at the mo.
 
You don't have to cut out carbs to sort your diet out (or alcohol completely), but you do need to be active to form a solid base to work with. As far as exercise goes, try different things to find out if you actually enjoy doing them, but obviously you have to match the activity with what your idea of 'fit' is - i.e. if you want to be stronger and more muscular, jogging isn't going going to result in that physique.
 
Many thanks for the honest answers, very much appreciated.

I painted a worst picture of my diet, which is is not too bad (lots of greens etc) only I do like crusty bread, takeaway and a beer now and again.

I think I can address the diet (always room for improvement) so not too worried. Mainly looking to be fitter overall and toned rather than bulking up; so a lot of these suggestions fit the bill. Will check out some of the recommendations as I have never heard of some; it just goes to show how out of touch! Thanks again all.
 
Try to find something that you enjoy so you end up doing all the time. For me that was running, really enjoyable, improves mental health tremendously and yet burns calories faster than than any other exercise. If you tend to get bored of one thing then the triathlon style with cycling and swimming added to the running is very healthy. As mid_glen says, bouldering or climbing is far more fun than going to the gym.


The best part about running is that there is no expensive equipment and you don;t have to travel anywhere like a pool to do it. just throw on some running shoes and head out the door. It gets you outside, even when the weather sucks it is safe while on a bike you end up inside a lot if it isn't dry or too windy.
 
If OP has specific physique goals in mind or fitness goals, then some things are better than others but nothing will be achieved if OP doesn't have the motivation to stick to it.

D.P. said:
Try to find something that you enjoy so you end up doing all the time.
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Agree with this.

As mid_glen says, bouldering or climbing is far more fun than going to the gym
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Disagree with this.

It's different for different people. There is nothing i find more fun at the moment than going to the gym and trying to push myself a little more. The sense of progression week in and week out as you can do one more rep or a few more Kg. Just trying to nail form on a new exercise is exciting for me.
 
Depending on your personality, if you like setting goals/beating them, i'd recommend a form of fitness tracker along with Strava.

Try and beat your best time each time etc,its a great way to track progress and personally I find it a lot of fun and also rewarding seeing the improvements you make. If you enjoy cycling/running adding that to it would be a great option to keep motivation IMO
 
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