Should I be more structured with exercise?

[givemushypeasachance]

I got to 32 as an overweight, exercise-dodging person who never knowingly turned down the offer of an open pack of jaffa cakes. I'm 16 stone (admittedly on a tall frame, but still that's a lot) and other than cycling a few miles to work and back rarely did anything more strenuous than go for a walk.

I finally decided I needed to change this - I know I should lose weight but more importantly I want to be less unfit. So while I'm trying to 'make healthier choices' with food a bit, really it's about the getting moving more. At the end of May I went swimming and came away with membership of the local leisure centre which has a gym. Since then, other than a week where I was away, I've been going every morning before work. I do between 1-1.5 hours, maybe a bit longer at weekends. I usually split it into ten minute chunks on different cardio machines, aiming to hit at least 100 calories on the readouts. I put them on high enough resistance to get hot and sweaty, and breathe hard. I haven't done much proper running on the treadmill but I could barely jog 30-60 seconds to begin with and I can now manage a couple of minutes at a time, feeling fine to keep going interspaced with a bit of walking. So I can see a few baby step results, but should I try something more structured? I'm sort of just experimenting and doing what I fancy, not sure how I could push myself more? I go to a boxing for fitness class on Saturdays now too, that's fun and mainly cardio really - just about working through combos of moves with a partner then switching out. Tried one spin class and it almost killed me, bailed after half an hour of the crazy continuous high rate of pedalling I'm not fit enough for that yet!

I've also dabbled with the weight training machines - I don't really know what I'm doing with free weights, I tried barbells a couple of times but from youtube videos and discussion online about 'starting strength' and everything it all seems a bit technical. They're so anti the machines, and it's all this 'you must have correct form, repeat till failure' that sounds quite intimidating. I'm not sure I can properly squat even holding nothing! I think the weights in the machine room I can manage are pretty low compared to the mostly blokes I see in there - some stuff like the low row and leg press I'm comfortable with and do okay at but my upper body strength is non-existent, I can just about manage 30kg a few times on the lat pulldown thing but I struggle to shoulder press more than 10kg. Not really sure what I could do to improve that? Just keep going with doing 10-15 minutes on a range of weight machines a couple of times a week? Do I really need to get some irl coaching from a personal trainer type person (good grief) about how to use free weights properly?

Sorry this is a bit of a ramble. I've been doing this trying to be less unfit lark for less than two months, it's still early days. Just not quite sure if I'm doing it 'right' or if I should be trying to follow more of a defined programme, structure things, have 'goals'...

not sure how I could push myself more?
There are lots of apps that can provide walking/running training. C25K is very popular. Download one of those and just follow the instructions!

Do you like the different cardio stuff or are you doing different stuff because that "feels like the right thing"? I think with weight training added in, you probably just need to find the one you like best and use that as your "calorie burner" (my feeling is that people vary cardio to train different parts of their body in the absence of other types of training).

you must have correct form, repeat till failure
This is not intimidating
Correct form - necessary to optimise the effort and prevent injury. It is worth spending some time on any weights exercise learning how to do it before you start building weight up.
Repeat till failure - means you're lifting sufficiently heavy weights to make a difference. Your failure threshold may, right now, be sooner than someone else's for the same weight, but it will improve (and then you up the weight again )

I'm not sure I can properly squat even holding nothing
Practice. And don't underestimate the power of body weight exercise!

I struggle to shoulder press more than 10kg. Not really sure what I could do to improve that?
Well start lower, aim for a weight that you can 3 x 6 at. Work on form.

Do I really need to get some irl coaching from a personal trainer type person (good grief) about how to use free weights properly?
I have a PT for free weights. He's amazing.

His mantra - ignore the number of reps, concentrate on form, 6 good reps are better than 10 shoddy ones. etc etc.

You will improve, promise.

if I should be trying to follow more of a defined programme
Cardio, I just bang out a run whenever I can fit one in.

Weights, you need more structure, to avoid injury, overworking the same muscles, and so on. Have a Google for some suitable programmes. With two sessions a week, you need to hit the highest number of muscles as you can so compound exercises are your friend. A lower body and a big upper body exercise per session.

I would consider:
Session 1.
Deadlift with kettle bells.
A superset of chest exercise - good push ups (maybe bench press if you particularly like it but you'll lose some of the benefit to your core) combined with inverted rows.
A core exercise like skater jumps/box jumps (get some leg action in).

Session 2.
Squats, body weight progressing to weighted.
A superset of shoulder/back exercise - shoulder press combined with pull-ups (but you'll struggle to pull up if there isn't an assisted machine, so lat pull downs instead).
A core exercise like ball slams.

A superset of chest exercise - good push ups (maybe bench press if you particularly like it but you'll lose some of the benefit to your core) combined with inverted rows
For clarity, because I wasn't really thinking when typing, this superset would work both chest and back (on horizontal movement).

The shoulder/back superset works shoulders and back on vertical movement.

The 1-1.5 hours you mention, is that all cardio? I would definitely swap some of that time for weight based sessions - like pp said switch up the areas you are working so that you give your muscles a chance to rest and make sure you are stretching and having some rest days.

I also agree with not underestimating body weight exercises as a great way of introducing some toning moves. Even one or two sessions with a PT may be enough just to give you some confidence in the weight section. Plus don't feel you need to give spin another go if you didn't enjoy it - perhaps try a few different classes to see what suits you best.

All the best with your fitness journey