Yep, that’s a fair assessment. I apologize for projecting my own feelings upon your words. I’m actually kinda tearing up a little bit, but I used to be one of those people who self-harmed over discussions of like physique and stuff so… Yeah. It’s an emotional topic for me. I never, ever wanna cause the same pain to others.
Consider this a virtual handshake. You’re not a bad guy. Just someone on a different wavelength I think. And that’s not a negative.
I started walking (slowly with my walking helper, not the sport thing) again after a long time of being really sick. Made it not very far, but heh it’s a start.
I haven’t been to the gym in a while - part because of work out of town, part because I was sick for about a week - but I am eager to get back in the saddle.
Thing to mention though, make sure you are getting regular massages if you have a physical lifestyle - work, fitness, whatever. I’m sure it’s even a good idea to just get them anyway. I started with a new massage therapist, and my legs, hips and back were all kinds of screwed up. My legs had been in this state of nagging pain because everything was out of position and some of the smaller muscles were stuck in tension. Ugh.
Take care of your body, and definitely make sure you’re seeing a professional to set your muscles back proper.
Along with massages, make sure you implement an extensive stretching routine that you can do everyday. It only takes 15-30 minutes so it’s not much of a time commitment really. Your body will thank you immensely.
I recommend stretching or yoga for everyone actually, not just for fitness enthusiasts and people with physically demanding jobs. Makes a lot of common body pains go away. I was able to get rid of my constant headaches (tight neck & shoulders), and my low back pain (poor hip mobility) because of it.
@PyramidHeadcrab Also, your big 3 lifts will skyrocket once your mobility improves! My squat plateaud at 225 for the longest time, and then I started incorporating mobility and stretches, and my squat blew up to 315 within a couple months.
Okay let me get this out of the way first; I don’t like exercise. I’ve never found it enjoyable or rewarding or any of that stuff. I also do not like gyms. I feel uncomfortable in them to the nth degree.
However, today I got a call from my cardiologist. During my last checkup I had to do a fitness test. She said that someone my age, weight, etc should be hitting 60 to 70% of the total target.
I hit 52%
So yeah, I’m unfit. It’s not a surprise, but obviously I need to do something about it.
Given the above I’ve been looking into stuff I can do after home. I found THIS which looks good, but I’m open to any suggestions folk here might have.
Hit me up. 
Ring fit adventure for switch, if you have one. No joke its actually pretty enjoyable for a workout program.
What exactly are you trying to accomplish? I’m assuming you’re wanting better cardio? Or did you want an overall increase in fitness?
Honestly, I’ve no idea
I like using AllTrails to explore around town or other areas. Adds a sense of adventure to my exercise.
I used to hate the idea of fitness too, but I kinda love it now. It’s addictive. You feel so much better, mentally and physically. My advice is to get a personal trainer so you can figure out what works for you. I went in with weight loss as my goal, and discovered I actually kinda love lifting, and I’m now building my Olympic lifts. But I was also a kid who, despite being fat and nerdy, really enjoyed sports. It just took me 20 years to get back on that path.
Diet helps a lot too. If you have no energy to be active from a shit diet, it’s almost impossible to just “go to the gym”. This is why a lot of people start and fail. It took me going on a fairly radical (medically supervised!) diet and losing nearly 100 lbs and fundamentally changing how I eat before I could even fathom working out. I tried and just couldn’t. And then I needed a personal trainer to get over that hump of, “I have no fucking idea what I’m doing”. And only after that did it all come together.
Just going for walkies is good too. I’m hoping to start doing that actually. Walking around the neighbourhood is apparently a good way to just meet new people, people start to recognize you and you start talks, yadda yadda. I know people who have even met their lovers this way!
OH! And one thing to add. DO NOT get a personal trainer at a gym. More often than not, they fucking suck and teach really poor habits. Look for local recommendations and find someone running their own side hustle. Plus the gym takes a huge cut of what you pay.
Just do what Roach is doing and just go on more frequent walks. You don’t have to immediately start going on jogs or runs, but even a 30-45 minute walk every other day with a brisk pace should be more cardio than what you’re accustomed to and will significantly improve your heart health. Maybe walk with your wife in the evenings and just enjoy each other’s company.
Jump Rope and doing Burpees are a lot more demanding, but they are great forms of cardio you can do at home.
If you have a VR headset, I have a couple of game recommendations that serve as great forms of exercise. And the best thing is: it won’t even feel like exercise because you’re having fun!
As I mentioned above, stretching 15-30 minutes a day, or every other day, will also be a great benefit to you also.
What I always tell people who don’t like going to the gym is that you can achieve a very healthy lifestyle without ever once stepping inside a weight room. There are a ton of options for you even if you just want to stay home and exercise.
Thanks for the advice. I was doing the walkin thing but…UK weather. I can’t afford a personal trainer.
I’ll try out the stuff I posted earlier and see how that goes. I’ll aim for 3+4 days a week.
I completely understand. I live in Vancouver, the city that’s always raining.
But yeah, just do the routine you found! It has some great movements in there.
And gods forbid the Canucks make the Cup Final, then the streets are just kind of on fire!
Oh, one more thing I forgot to mention. If you do go for walkies, make a point of bracing your core. This is actually something that will help you a lot in the long run if you do it during most of your daily activities. If forces your body to burn more calories, but it also has the effect of strengthening a lot of supportive muscles in your back and core that will improve your posture and make your general mobility not only good now, but especially better once you get into your older years and your body starts falling apart.
What I mean by bracing your core is you want to engage your abdominal muscles and essentially shorten the gap between your groin and your ribs. If you put your pinky on your hip and your thumb on your rib try and compress that as much as you can, and keep that engaged while you walk. Even if you’re just going around the corner or going to the mall or something. It’ll be tough at first, but it becomes second nature once you get used to it.
So, what, like hunched over? Sorry, I can’t visualise what you mean.
Nope, your spine should stay in a natural position.
Ah, got it. Thanks very much.
Small win for me today in the fitness department! I used to run all the time last year, but I completely stopped at the beginning of 2024. I got back into running again last month but I was really discouraged because I was getting gassed so quick. Well today I wanted to push myself and I was able to break my distance record from last year and ran my first 30k!! I’m slow so it took me nearly three hours, but man was it worth it to break my PR!
Bought myself one of those pull-up bars that fit in a door frame. I used to be able to do 3x10, I’m now at 5x2 so, well, a bit of work to do.
