Hi,
Does anyone have any tips into getting back into exercise after spending a few months without?
Hi
Are there any local groups that you can join. I had this problem and joined a local running group, beginners through to expert runners, all ages and for men and women
What about your local leisure center or gym? Lots of equipment to use like the treadmill, rowing machine, stair machine and so on. I am a member of my local gym and visit two or three times a week now. It is worth the price I feel. There are even weights to lift. My local community leisure center runs classes aimed at helping people to stay fit.
Or you can find a sports club near you which you can join as well. What sort of exercise do you enjoy doing? Start from there and build up slowly over time. I live near a excellent sports club and used to walk down on Saturdays to play tennis. Lots of towns have at least one purpose built leisure center or sport club for residents to join too, it is worth investigating membership.
My advice is to find something you love doing.
I’ve had 8 operations. After very major abdominal surgery, I couldn’t do any of the usual exercises, but I could walk. My husband was alive then, he decided to take control of my recovery. In December, we went for a walk every day, whatever the weather! Fortunately, we live in the beautiful New Forest and always enjoyed walking. To start with, we just walked in a circle round the car, so if I needed to stop, it was easy. Then we walked along a disused airfield runway, nice and flat. From there we progressed to walking round the Marshes on the edge of the Solent, always something interesting to see. Within 2 weeks of being discharged, when I was walking like Neandearthal woman, slightly stooped, pulled forward by all the stitching etc., I could comfortably walk 2 miles! Having an escort/bully really helped, my OH insisted we walked even when it was frosty and I hate the cold. Nine months later I walked about 12 miles one day, not fast, but a good gentle pace.
I’d avoid the gym to start with, just concentrate on getting moving, walking a bit further every day.
Exercising without an escort takes a bit more courage, after a car accident I couldn’t walk for 5 years, until I had 2 knee replacements in 2009 and 2011. My legs were always strong (I used to lead mountain walks in Switzerland when I left school) but I’d lost almost all my calf muscles. There isn’t much pavement near me, only about half a mile, and I couldn’t drive. So I would walk with crutches to one end of the tarmac pavement, back to the other end, and home. After a coffee and rest, I’d do it again in the afternoon. Just do a bit at a time, and a bit more every day, don’t give up, rub Voltarol into aching leg muscles. If you walk on your own, you set the pace, don’t stop if you start getting tired, just keep walking very, very slowly.
Once you are happy with the way you are walking, once you have improved your stamina a bit, it’s time to start going to the gym or swim.