She's not a very active person at heart, but I'm a bit of a fitness nut personally so I've been easing her into a steady routine.
I started her out with a very simple lifting routine as well as some walking. I'm in the process of buying an exercise bike (I don't want to spend much, but I wnat something that won't fall apart) so she can do some exercise that raises her heartrate more. Currently one day she does 3 sets of squats on a squat station (powetec squat/hacksquat, plateloaded). Another day during the week she does 3 sets of flat bench on the smith machine, in addition to 3 sets of lat pulldowns.
In addition, I'll soon also start her on a set of bodyweight plyometric exercises to be done as a circuit to get her heart really pumping. The effect will be similar to sprint intervals; increase heartrate to around 80-85% for short period, then rest for double the time to get it back down, rinse repeat. I find that kind of cardio is much more interesting to do than simple running or cycling. For beginners, especially those not enthusiastic about fitness, finding an interesting exercise routine is extremely important. Once I get an exercise bike, she'll most likely do a mixture of longer steady-paced cardio with interval training either on the bike or with plyometric circuits.
Because she's a beginner and she's never been very into exercise in the past, she is still afraid of the weights still and she's not very enthusiastic about workouts yet in general. However I know that once she gets into it and starts to really get into shape, the extra strength and energy she'll have she'll want to keep.
In any case, I won't be starting her on the stack until I have everything necessary for both the stack itself and the PCT onhand. I also want to wait until I feel she is comfortable with her exercise routine and has attained a familiarity with her physical limits in strength and endurance. Most importantly, I want her to gain confidence in herself and her abilities. The biggest motivator for her I've found is encouragement on my part. I make sure to remind her after each exercise what a great job she's doing and that the steps she's taking to get in shape are a difficult task and she's accomplishing it well. As a beginner it can be very discouraging to be tired out so quickly and to be able to lift so little weight, receiving constant encouragement is absolutely necessary in order to promote ongoing achievement and establish dedication. At her current rate of achievement I'm aiming for the cycle to be either mid July or early August.
I'll definitely be sure to post results. I'm also going to ask her to see her doctor beforehand to have her thyroid levels checked (post cycle as well obviously).
