New here

[Surreal]

Hello, I'm new to the forum. I was on a while back but never signed up, and I feel like it's definitely time now.
A year and a half ago I was in amazing shape, really toned. I never worked out, but I spent nearly all my time doing hard physical labor at a barn, swimming, and mountain biking. I am fortunate to have really great genetics (Green baret dad, and my mom is STILL ripped!)
When i moved, things started spiraling down. Now I don't have easy access to any outdoorsy activities, and it makes getting exercise difficult. I have gained about 30 pounds and lost alot of tone. I am a self conscious person, and this is beyond embarassing to me. I know I need to change things NOW. I have a huge mental block and put off going to the gym.... I am really competitive and I hate working out in front of so many people. It's petty, I know, but my self confidence is way down.

Ok so that's the intro... my big motivating factor is a family reunion cruise coming up in June...

My questions are:

1. How do you stay active when you're locked in by a city? I grew up in CO and we never needed a gym for exercise. It seems so dull to me, same room every day. I want skiing! Rockclimbing! Biking! Kayaking! Not locker rooms:sad:

2. How long should I expect my workouts to be, just starting off? How much cardio vs weights time should I spend?

3. I have a really high heart rate. I'm not sure what's normal for exercising women, but mine can go above 200 and stay there. Is this a matter of fitness, or are some heart rates naturally high?

Sorry if I sound clueless, but I'm just trying to force myself to make a start. I have major motivation issues. The avatar isn't me it's my goal btw...

Thank you for any help! Sorry for the lengthy post! Oh, and anyone else live in Arizona?

-Sreal

 

[Rosie Chee]

Hello, I'm new to the forum. I was on a while back but never signed up, and I feel like it's definitely time now.
A year and a half ago I was in amazing shape, really toned. I never worked out, but I spent nearly all my time doing hard physical labor at a barn, swimming, and mountain biking. I am fortunate to have really great genetics (Green baret dad, and my mom is STILL ripped!)
When i moved, things started spiraling down. Now I don't have easy access to any outdoorsy activities, and it makes getting exercise difficult. I have gained about 30 pounds and lost alot of tone. I am a self conscious person, and this is beyond embarassing to me. I know I need to change things NOW. I have a huge mental block and put off going to the gym.... I am really competitive and I hate working out in front of so many people. It's petty, I know, but my self confidence is way down.

Ok so that's the intro... my big motivating factor is a family reunion cruise coming up in June...

:welcome: back. A good place to start re information for achieving your goal is Invalid Link Removed.

Note that you can pretty much always adapt any training programme to be done OUTside a gym.

1. How do you stay active when you're locked in by a city? I grew up in CO and we never needed a gym for exercise. It seems so dull to me, same room every day. I want skiing! Rockclimbing! Biking! Kayaking! Not locker rooms:sad:

Find a gym. Train at home. Train outside - parks, etc. It's easy.

2. How long should I expect my workouts to be, just starting off? How much cardio vs weights time should I spend?

They can be whatever you want them to be. Don't start too much too soon, though - you don't want to overtrain and burn out. Personally, to get the body you want, resistance training is the way to do it, and cardio (if you want to do it), should not be the focus, and is really not even necessary to do to achieve your goal.

3. I have a really high heart rate. I'm not sure what's normal for exercising women, but mine can go above 200 and stay there. Is this a matter of fitness, or are some heart rates naturally high?

Your heart rate is generally an indicator of your fitness level. However, when you exercise, what your heart rate gets to is dependent not just on your fitness, but on the INTENSITY of your training, as well as WHAT you are doing. If I run, my heart rate shoots up to ~200 and stays there almost the entire time, regardless of what speed I run at, but for everything else it can be as low as 50. Depends on the individual.

Sorry if I sound clueless, but I'm just trying to force myself to make a start. I have major motivation issues. The avatar isn't me it's my goal btw...

Thank you for any help! Sorry for the lengthy post! Oh, and anyone else live in Arizona?

-Sreal

Asking questions is a good thing. Make sure that you do some personal research first, or even look around at various threads, since your answers may be in them.

All the best in achieving your goals.

~Team APPNUT