Need to get back to exercise gently but improve strength

[Slowprogress]

So I havnt been working out for so long now, I have put on weight and my body is weak and sore.

I always have a sore back and my shoulder is bad again at the moment! I recently had keyhole surgery but I should be ok to build up gently!

My aim is to get back to body pump and pole dancing but where to start?

I have two free days per week from September so I am thinking, walk dd to school half an hour each way so that would be two hours per day walking! I don't mind walking if I have somewhere to get to but I hate walking for no reason!

I am also thinking swimming will be good for strengthening but I am not very fast I do breast stoke and swim on my back is this good enough for strengthening?

I may also do Pilates and yoga.

Any other tips? At one point I loved body pump and as a result I was very toned which I liked

I would heartily recommend yoga for gently strengthening the body and helping sore joints achieve pain-free mobility.

Come over to the Yoga topic for help & tips.

Pilates is brilliant for general all over strengthening. Yoga too. You won't necessarily feel it at the time but the next day you'll ache in all sorts of places you never knew you had muscles.

I swim a fair bit and taught myself front crawl to try and work a bit harder. Any stroke is good as long as you really go for it. I'm not sure how much muscle or strength it'll build but if you enjoy it and it gets you out of breath it'll be good for you. The couch to 5k running program is excellent too. You can start really slowly and build up.

Thank you both for your replies, I will try both yoga and Pilates and see how I get on.

Normally I like higher impact as you can feel if working at the time and with both I find if the instructor isn't great I loose interest very quickly.