If you have gone from being completely inactive to fit, how did you do it?

[pandarific]

I'm curious. I'm not asking people who've always been sporty / good at and enjoy team games / enjoy fitness, either.

I'm talking to My People - the two left feet, uncoordinated, 'Ugh, sports day, I'm going to sit down here and make a daisy chain ah shit they've seen me' people.

I really need to get fit. I used to walk a lot and got away with it because I was in my 20s, but after a baby and in my 30s I need to sort it out. Anyone like me managed to become fit? How'd you do it?

Also for those talking about steps...10 minutes walking/pacing will give you 1000 steps. A good walk for 30 minutes most days, can be really good for you.

Oh & you don't have to run! If you haven't done exercise for a while, starting off walking will actually be easier on your joints/body!

I have been doing Pilates with this lady, she is so good!
Online has helped me overcome the fear of going into an actual class.

www.kajoma.co.uk/

Me! I never exercised, did everything I could to get out of PE and sports day at school, and could never run.

Then I signed up for a fun run in my 30's and did a program similar to couch to 5k to train for it - since then I've done two half marathons! I had to cut back in the running for a while due to various health issues but now I'm back up to running 5 - 10km 3 times a week with at least two weight training sessions thrown in (I don't like weight training as much as running but love the results!).

The best advice anyone ever gave me was to get a proper training plan. If I'd just gone out there and tried to run the way I thought you were meant to I'd still hate it and would have given up!

C25k. Started in April and I ran every other day rather than 3 times a week so it took me just over 6 weeks to complete. I'm working towards being able to run 10k now. I also make myself walk a minimum of 10,000 steps a day everyday.

I also do body pump form Les Mills on demand but only once or twice a week.

My lifestyle changed after having DS1, naturally became more active, less money for take aways and nights out etc.

I'd say, choose a sport you have a real interest in and join a club.

You're going to be great :)

I'm with you OP. I was thin for years until I had my kids with minimal effort and no exercise. Since then and now into my 40s I'm a size 18 and I hate it. I hate that my body aches. I've looked at Couch to 5k but honestly day 1 looks bloody awful from a unfit start!

Find movement that you enjoy (or at the very least, can tolerate!!). I went from couch potato to doing triathlons and was hardcore into exercise for more than a decade. Then (like many of us) life happened, injury/illness, etc.

The key for me is being distracted. I recently bought a treadmill and watch telly on it as I plod along. There are some great videos to do at home, from walking on the spot to HIIT to silly dancing.

• Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. There's a reason this is so popular!!
• Jillian Michaels Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism. My personal fave.
• Shaun T has some fun, dance-y workouts like Hip-Hop Abs or Cize.
• Old school divas like or Jane Fonda or even are available on Youtube.

You DON'T have to be good at it. Focus on having fun and moving your body. Once you get into it, you'll want more. :)

Went to a PT who kept me right on both exercise and diet. She offered great encouragement from the start and I enjoyed learning from her with workouts getting more and more challenging as time passed. Was always weights and no boring machines.

After a while I noticed how much my body was changing and how much more I was enjoying my food and that spurred me on.

Two years later I'm still lifting weights - deadlifting 100kg and squatting 85kg. I absolutely love the challenge of progressing and seeing weights go up from week to week. My body also has shapes I'd never have achieved any other way.

I also do cardio a couple of times a week. It used to bore me so much and I struggled when I had zero fitness at all. I do both HIIT and LISS and love it. I started cardio as a way of clearing my head and managing anxiety - disappearing for a run alone for 30 mins works wonders. Again, once I had as basic level of fitness I enjoyed challenging myself to improve and do more which was great motivation. My post-workout feeling is no longer dizzy with risk of sickness, just a really good feeling of being absolutely burst.

I think the key is finding something you enjoy, that makes you feel good and accepting it takes time to build a level of fitness as it doesn't happen overnight. I'd have given up ages ago if I didn't enjoy it but now it's just part of my routine in the same way brushing my teeth, showering and doing the weekly shop are.

I should have mentioned I have a mild (grade 1) prolapse after DS so I suppose I need low impact.

I used to like Jillian Michaels but it's all so high impact. Maybe I should try her weights video and just skip the jumping jacks etc.

I had a wonderful work colleague who was A Runner. You know the kind, all legs and 'let's go!' attitude.

I told him I wanted to learn to run further than the end of the road. He just said 'go a little bit further every time. Run the bits you usually walk. Join it all up.'

I ran my first half marathon in lockdown, and went from being a saggy late-fifties woman to being four stone lighter entering my sixtieth year. If I can do it, anyone can!

Oh, and I also recommend this book. www.amazon.co.uk/Running-Kind-Because-running-doesnt-ebook/dp/B07QS768JJ?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

It's very encouraging!

A year ago I was 4 stone heavier and very unfit. I am still about 2 stone overweight but so much fitter
Think you have to start small, walking steady pace. I also enjoy swimming but that is not possible right now. I can now jog for about a mile on the flat without being out of breath and do the treadmill at jogging speed for 30 mins
My biggest problem is my arthritic knee constant pain

Good luck op,

Completed couch 2 5k in 2016. Totally changed my life. Up until then I had never done any exercise and was overweight and very unfit.

I ran 17 miles this morning for fun. I have met so many great people through running that I now have a second family . I have been places that I would never have been and seen and done things that I couldn't have imagined in my "old life".

Most importantly, I now have a ten year old who thinks this lifestyle is normal and thinks nothing of bashing out a 5km run or walking for hours.

Thanks @Myneighboursnorlax I can't get that one in my country. Grr.

I am feeling quite motivated by this thread though. I walk quite a bit but it just takes so long to get a decent number of steps in.

@pandarific I have a prolapse too so I stick to low impact. I found that I really liked the rowing machine at the gym and don't hate the cross trainer or exercise bike so usually do some combination of those.... can't wait for the gym to reopen! I framed it as time to myself away from the responsibility of the DC and family life and found myself really enjoying going.

I also really rate Sarah Beth Yoga on YouTube...she has loads of videos and you can search by length do if you only have time to do 15 mins there'll be videos for that. I always feel better afterwards.

I accepted that I hate exercise but it's necessary to do it, so I got on with it at home. Squats with weights. Exercise bike. Mini-trampoline (although I don't use that so much). I use dumbbells whilst watching Netflix so at least I'm toning my arms whilst sat on my backside. I don't have specific exercise times, I just do daily whenever. Most exercises are done whilst watching TV or listening to music to stop me getting bored. Based on some suggestions I've seen here I'm going to look up some routines on YouTube too. Great post & thread.

Me.

I hated sport and never did it. I wasn't overweight or sedentary (I couldn't drive so had to walk to get anywhere) but did no extra exercise. After I had dc1, I was depressed and badly out of shape and hated my body after a traumatic birth and somebody suggested exercise as a way of improving my mental health and improving my relationship with my body which I felt had let me down.

I started running and then added in weights and then I discovered climbing and interval training and suddenly, exercise was a part of my everyday life. It's done wonders for my mental health and I'm in better shape than I ever thought possible.

I'm nearly 40 and can do a comfortable half marathon, a 10k in 48 minutes, work out hard and lift weights most days. I can hold my own against triathlete DH in most exercise programmes (nearly finished Insanity Max 30, only 2 days left and I beat him every time). But mostly, I feel good. Exercise has dramatically improved my life.

For me, it's psychological. The biological effects of pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding are inescapable and the menopause is inevitable. These things will impact my body but I am determined to have agency in the ageing process and its impact on my body. I know that a strong body will mitigate the impact of female ageing, it protects my bones and my mood and my metabolism. I've a long life left to live I hope and I want to be fit and healthy. I've seen the effect of diabetes and arthritis on my family members and I know the genetic legacies but I am determined to maintain what I have.

This thread is great! All I do is dog-walk and a bit of (slow) riding, and I need a winch for the latter!

All the posters on here are very inspiring!

I saw picture ofyself and that was enough

Couch to 5k. The speed you improve at is amazing. 9 weeks ago I couldn't run for 60 seconds, today I completed a 5k with my mum and spaniel and ran all of it. Amazing programme.

Another vote for couch to 5k!

Oh my dad is a good example; 3 years ago he joined the gym as a 59 year old, 18 1/2 stone, completely unfit man who has never ran in his life. This morning he ran 17 miles and weighs 12 stone. He did it by cutting intake to 1500 calories a day and gym 4/5 times a week. He started walking on the treadmill, then walking up incline, then slowly starting to run.

It is doable. It bloody hurts but the buzz is worth it!

I desperately need to move more. Very overweight, arthritis in knees and hips. However also hypermobile, so walking even just a very short distance makes my feet ache so much. It’s the thought of this that puts me off, not the aching legs etc. I have decent trainers but it doesn’t make any difference.

Oh to anyone considering c25k, there is a fantastical supportive FB group called couch to 5k UK

@pandarific

I'm curious. I'm not asking people who've always been sporty / good at and enjoy team games / enjoy fitness, either.

I'm talking to My People - the two left feet, uncoordinated, 'Ugh, sports day, I'm going to sit down here and make a daisy chain ah shit they've seen me' people.

I really need to get fit. I used to walk a lot and got away with it because I was in my 20s, but after a baby and in my 30s I need to sort it out. Anyone like me managed to become fit? How'd you do it?

Your description sums me up to a tee!

Starting from about 20 years of extremely sedentary life and work:

I started on an indoor bike (proper spin machine, not a exercise). Gradually moved into spin classes, then onto an outside bicycle.

Life changed a bit and I now do a mix of circuit or HIIT style classes, plus heavy weightlifting, plus bike rides on sunny days.

I am still very overweight but I am very very strong and much much fitter - I can go harder and faster and recover much faster.

(All that said, I can't run 100m without feeling half-dead. C25k was a tortuous slog and if I never see a godawful parkrun again I'll be happy.)

What actual outcome do you want?
Strength?
Ability to cycle 50miles with ease?
Sprint 100m?
Weight loss or body shape changeS?