Exercise suggestions/help needed

[HappyHippyChick]

I’m a 49 year old menopausal woman, who is about 5 stone overweight. The menopause means that I am really achey all the time and I am extremely unfit 😳. I am starting a new job soon and will be wfh three days a week, which will give me an extra 40 or so minutes in the morning so I am looking to start doing some sort of not too madly strenuous exercise at home before work. If possible I would prefer not to buy equipment to start with as I am notorious for buying stuff (cross trainer, walking poles, weighted hula hoop) and never using them!

Does anyone have any suggestions of you tube videos etc that will encourage me to start and not quit immediately because I’m knackered! Or am I asking for too much!

Definitely try couch to 5k - there are loads of versions online. Free and easy to build up fitness. Just make sure you get a decent sports bra 😊

Look for Rick Bhullar on YouTube and insta. Really easy place to start.

I gained a lot of weight with a back injury and had to build up slow. I got the 7 minute app, now called workouts for women. It meant I could just build up slowly at my level. Move from doing one to two to three etc.

Fitness blender on YouTube is good too for low level starting out.

Try pilates and static exercise, mike Moseley says they're great for lowering high blood pressure :D

Absolutely best of luck!

Plain old walking is a great place to start. Write down a plan, building up a bit every day. And as it gets easier, try to walk a bit faster.

Our Parks Couch to Fitness programs is good, they have a website or the playlist is on youtube https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzyGqy4hi5yAr4wQImo5HgwZIZ58PVyY-&si=2vJUxyvjdbGgwbRQ

I'm also very unfit, very overweight and very achy and have recently started going to aquatic aerobics a5 the local leisure centre. Its really good fun, as intensive as you want it to be it's very easy to adapt or reduce the impact if it's too much, also a great mix of young, old and everyone in between so doesn't feel too pressurised.

I have a Les mills subscription to do workouts at home (started in lockdown) - they often do free trials. Plenty of low impact and beginner level classes and plans/peogrammes, which have 'no equipment' options. You need Les mills plus, not base, to get access to all the plans I think.

I was very unfit when I started exercising, it was tough going, but absolutely worth the effort.

youtube.com/@oliviafitlawson

Olivia Lawson does great walking workouts

If you are overweight and unfit the last thing you want to do is rush straight into hard workouts 3x a week, you will ache and be exhausted and much more likely to give up. If you don’t currently walk much a 30 min brisk walk 3x per week will be a great place to start, as soon as that starts to feel easy/manageable then build up to either couch to 5k if you want to run or one of the recommended apps or you tube videos.

I would suggest weight training, only activity that will transform your body, slowly but forever.
Caroline Girvan has a beginne and no equipment workout on YouTube. All free.
amazing Facebook accountability group with real transformational before and after stories
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhu1QCKrfgPUZ7_HDxP8P_-0ffNoobSDH

Thanks everyone, there are some great suggestions here 😊. I do currently walk from the station to my office 2/3 times a week, which takes about 30 minutes but I must admit I amble rather than walk briskly!

May I recommend Lucy Wyndham Read. She's perfect if you are a bit out of shape and does shorter, but effective work outs. She's gentle and not at all intimidating :)

Lucy Wyndham-Read - YouTube

Get Fit with Rick on youtube is great. Really it's simple, low-impact aerobics, pacing through the moves that are easy to follow. It's motivatingly sunny in his location too! https://youtube.com/@RickBhullarFitness?si=VL2Rlp7rr-f9PRnM

As you walk functionally anyway, using sime headphones and playing upbeat music will help you increase your pace and get more out of it.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLa4p3v2FWEhxFny4dXuWRxTb8W5qjs5Kx&si=GqeldnSisCaX5992 Yoga with Uliana is good for simple, short yoga practices which build body strength. This 10 minute 30 day play list is easy to fit into a routine. She has a 15 minute play list too.

It's useful playing youtube links from the phone and casting them to the TV. It's quick to find what you want and display it.