gavd.co.uk

Frail and faltering follower of Jesus

First time fitness (with video)

By Gavin Davies

A friend asked me about getting into fitness, having never done much.

This is the advice I’d give. I’m not a fitness or medical professional, just someone who’s been a gym bro and martial artist for 3 decades.

Every person you ask about fitness will have a different view, this is just my recommendation for a simple, safe program that requires no equipment and can provide improvement over time.

It’s a 4 stage workout:

  1. Elevate heartrate - 3 to 5 minutes of movement get the body ready to do hardish things, get blood to muscles
  2. Articulate joints - go through ranges of motion to prime the body for movement, 20-30 seconds per body part
  3. Strength training - 4 movements: squat, pressup, dip, plank. Each movement has variations that can be done to make them easier or harder. I recommend starting very light indeed, 2 sets of 5 repetitions of each movement, and see how you feel the next day; if nothing’s sore, you can do say 2 sets of 8 reps the next time. Once you’re at 3 sets of 10 reps, you can use a harder variation of each movement.
  4. Stretch and cooldown - injury prevention and a gentle landing after effort

I don’t really have the equipment or time to show the movements in detail, but I recommend reading up on the best way to perform these movements.

Ideally, though, find a personal trainer to get you started, or join an exercise class - it’s more fun and more social! And, if anything hurts sharply, STOP immediately!

I hope this is useful to someone. I’ve turned comments off because I don’t want bunfights with opinionated folks, I’ve clearly stated I’m not an expert and this isn’t official advice, just telling my mate what I reckon! I don’t even have a proper tripod to get my camera level! :D

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