Start Fitness Here

You have decided you want to get fit, but your first question is 'How do I start?'. Perhaps it has been a long, very long, time since you did any exercise, and your body is substantially bigger and softer than it should be. What we will give you now is a set of exercises to carry out which will make a difference to your body, and start you on the way to fitness. Exercise is only one part of the equation however. You also need to look at your diet, so your diet and exercise work together to improve your body and your lifestyle.
If you have any doubts about your ability to exercise safely, see your doctor!
Keep a record of what you do each session, so you can see your improvement.

Start Exercising

We have given a set of exercises below which you carry out 4 times a week, for example Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Do this for 1 month or until you reach the targets, whichever is sooner. Don't worry if you can only do a few, or hardly any of the exercises, the important thing is that you try. Trying is exercising, not acheiving. Do as much as you can each time, and your ability to exercise will gradually increase - but you must try your best. If you try and don't get very far, try again and you will get there. Our bodies all work the same way, there is no magic. The more you exercise, or attempt to, the more you will be able to do.

Warm Up

Before exercising, it is important to give your body some warning that you are intending to use muscles that might not have been used for a very long time. There are many different ways to warm up, but two important ones in this case are stretching and lunges.

Stretching - Start at a resting position, standing with your arms by your side.
When stretching, stand with your feet together and stretch your arms above your head, reaching as high as you can.
Return to resting position.
Then, without bending your legs, reach down towards your toes as far as you can.
Return to resting position.

Lunges - Start at a resting position, standing with your arms by your side.
Step forward, keeping you back vertical and your rear foot flat on the ground.
Bend you front leg at the knee so that you stretch your calf and hamstring at the back of your rear leg.
Return to resting position.
Repeat the lunge with the other leg forward.
Return to resting position.

Press Ups - 15 Repetitions

Start your exercising by attempting 15 press ups. Lay flat on your tummy and push your body off the ground. Keep your back straight and don't sag in the middle. If you can't even do 1 press up, don't worry. try as many times as you can, so your arms get very tired. This is exercise.

Ab Crunches - 15 Repetitions

For resting position, lay flat on your back with your legs bent at 90° at your knees, and your hands held beside your head.
Lift your legs off the floor towards your chest, maintain the right angle, and at the same time lift your body off the floor towards your legs, so that your knees and your chest come towards each other.
Return to resting position.
Again, if you can't do 15, or even 1, do what you can but keep trying.

Running - 15 Minutes

Many people say they can't run, yet manage to catch the bus they run after. You may not have run for years, but you can start again. You know the score by now - if you can't run for 15 minutes, do what you can. Your first time out might only be 20 metres. Make your second run 25 metres. Important points are:

• Run without stopping. If you feel you are struggling, slow way down until you recover, but don't stop.
• Build steadily on what you have done previously. Don't be a hero once, then give up.
• The most important point is to be consistent. Steady improvement will come.

Repetitions

Once your body realises what you are asking it to do, it will respond and get stronger. Exercise steadily and don't deviate from the plan. This is what you do now and it's who your are. If you do stop, simply start again - pick up where you left off. Build this exercise routing into your lifestyle.

Diet

There is no point in exercising and working to build fitness into your body if you a lot more than you need and eat rubbish. You should also make changes to your diet at this time. We'll describe good dieting in its own section on this site, but we should mention here that a little common sense will make a big improvement. Increase the amount of fruit and vegetables you eat, cut down on meat and carbohydrates like potatoes and pasta, and stop eating cakes and chocolate. If you cut something out, be wary of eating more of something else to compensate.