The Quickest Way To Reach Average Fitness

oddjob62 · 5 Apr 2006 at 17:16

Tony Soprano said:
4-5 litres of water a day! I would say that's a bit much and would definitely add a few pounds to your weight.

I can be on 8-10 litres during the summer.

SexyGreyFox · 5 Apr 2006 at 21:47

Chinook said:
I'd agree with most of the stuff posted on here already but one point i'd like to make is that if you're trying to get fitness for football then steady runs/swim sessions/cycles maybe aren't the full answer - i'm not denying they will improve fitness/endurnace and lung capacity but I've found that being able to run a long distance doesn't necessarily mean you'll be able to perform well in something as stop start as football. nothing wrong with the above exercising for gaining fitness but I'd think you'd see most (footy) improvement through regular footy games or fartlek training

Spot on.
I've ran 5 times a week for the last 7 years (on and off) and during my 'peak' I'd think nothing of going out and doing a 13 miler. However, during that time I went on holiday and took part in the 5 a side and came off completely knackered after 30 minutes. Any type of training is going to reap benefits but the best training for 5 a side is 5 a side.

Murf · 6 Apr 2006 at 08:04

Right, quick update.... I went for a run yesterday night, down to the local park, round the lake and then back. Managed to run for about 13 minutes, then I walked for 2 minutes then ran the remaining 7. Was absolutely knackered by the end of it, and questioning the will to live. Was a bit stiff afterwards but felt good. I've woken up this morning though and I think I've pulled every muscle in my legs!

My calfs and right hamstring especially, are causing me some grief so I think I overdid it. I do feel better though, despite the strains and stiffness.

I'm next going to go swimming at some point over the weekend, as I think I need to lay off the running til next week to let my legs recover!

Baker · 6 Apr 2006 at 12:39

Murf said:
I have to admit I'm a massive fan of swimming as I can feel it working all of my muscles, but I know jogging is going to work my cardio a lot harder which is what I think I need at the moment with my knackered lungs.

Swimming is going to make you far fitter than just jogging. Try jogging but only breathing every 4-5 seconds - that's what swimming is like, except it works your whole body (and I really do mean every muscle) and you probably won't wake up the next day with aches and pains. Swimming will get you 'swim fit' and 'running fit' if you want to call it that, however running/playing football/or any other land exercise will only ever get you 'running fit' not 'swim fit'. It's a strange thing but being a swimmer myself it's clear that swimming is a different type of fitness

Wryel · 6 Apr 2006 at 13:02

Murf said:
Right, quick update.... I went for a run yesterday night, down to the local park, round the lake and then back. Managed to run for about 13 minutes, then I walked for 2 minutes then ran the remaining 7. Was absolutely knackered by the end of it, and questioning the will to live. Was a bit stiff afterwards but felt good. I've woken up this morning though and I think I've pulled every muscle in my legs! My calfs and right hamstring especially, are causing me some grief so I think I overdid it. I do feel better though, despite the strains and stiffness.

I'm next going to go swimming at some point over the weekend, as I think I need to lay off the running til next week to let my legs recover!

You're bound to be achey when first starting out but did you warm down afterwards? I pace up and down shaking my legs for 5 minutes after a run.

BrenOS · 6 Apr 2006 at 13:59

Baker said:
Swimming is going to make you far fitter than just jogging. Try jogging but only breathing every 4-5 seconds - that's what swimming is like, except it works your whole body (and I really do mean every muscle) and you probably won't wake up the next day with aches and pains. Swimming will get you 'swim fit' and 'running fit' if you want to call it that, however running/playing football/or any other land exercise will only ever get you 'running fit' not 'swim fit'. It's a strange thing but being a swimmer myself it's clear that swimming is a different type of fitness

A big

from me. It's a different type of training, but fitness is fitness. Besides you burn more calories running that you do swimming, it's a much harder hit on the CV system.

I agree with what Chinook and dmpoole said earlier too, if you want to get fit for football, the best thing to do is play football. However I think this is a good approach all things considered.

Murf, have a good stretch tonight and definitely swim at the weekend. You'll find that maybe even before swimming you'll still be a bit stiff, but once you get the blood pumping to the muscles it'll disappear.

Red and White · 6 Apr 2006 at 14:02

Murf said:
I've woken up this morning though and I think I've pulled every muscle in my legs!

dont think you'll be engaging blistering pace for a while then

red11 · 6 Apr 2006 at 14:03

I thought that you burn more calories swimming because it targets every muscle group. :confused:

I'm not a swimmer myself, but have heard countless people say this.

BrenOS · 6 Apr 2006 at 14:17

There's conflicting information around, but if you were to swim your nuts off for 30 minutes or run your nuts off for 30 minutes, you'd burn more calories running. A lot more.

The only instance where you wouldn't, would be if you were a very competant swimmer and a poor runner - a "plodder" as I like to call them. See plenty of these when I'm out running and it's usually young girls just out for a pose not really achieving anything in the way of fitness.

Red and White · 6 Apr 2006 at 14:22

BrenOS said:
.See plenty of these when I'm out running and it's usually young girls just out for a pose not really achieving anything in the way of fitness.

bet it makes your run a lot more enjoyable tho

SexyGreyFox · 6 Apr 2006 at 17:46

This is very important when you first start running -
Pretend that somebody is with you and you can hold a conversation with them.
If you can't hold a conversation then you are overdoing it.

furman · 6 Apr 2006 at 19:22

What exactly is plodding? Is there a special way to run properly? Good thread btw.

benjo plz. · 6 Apr 2006 at 22:04

Running and swimming are both good, although I prefer cycling. I usually do around 10 miles XC every day (as long as I have the time), good to have music though, and make sure you change your route once in a while otherwise you'll get bored pretty quickly.

Murf · 7 Apr 2006 at 08:33

BrenOS said:
There's conflicting information around, but if you were to swim your nuts off for 30 minutes or run your nuts off for 30 minutes, you'd burn more calories running. A lot more.

The only instance where you wouldn't, would be if you were a very competant swimmer and a poor runner - a "plodder" as I like to call them. See plenty of these when I'm out running and it's usually young girls just out for a pose not really achieving anything in the way of fitness.

Well I'm certainly not a plodder but I definitely over cooked the running. My calves are still killing me today. Gonna go swimming at the weekend then running again next week but I'm going to take it easier. I certainly couldn't have held a conversation with someone while doing it, I was wheezing from about 5 mins onwards.