I'm 20 years old, 6ft tall, have asthma, and weigh around 215 to 220. In the past few months I have gained weight quickly due to lack of activities and too many snacks. Because of this it's beginning to take it's toll on me mentally. I don't feel as confident or energized as I usually feel and clothes don't feel comfortable anymore. I find I'm beginning to buy clothes that hide growing . However I'd also like to add I've never officially done a real workout before in life. So this leaves me in a predicament. Having no experience at all "getting in shape" or "losing fat" I have no idea how to go about starting. To add to dilemma life long dream has been to serve in the United States Navy which I ultimately plan to join several months after 22nd birthday. (Birthday in August)
With the start of the new month I'd like to turn the tables and start a new healthier way of living. Just recently I briskly walked roughly 4 miles occasionally attempting to run. first problem I'd like to present is that every time I ran I could only run around 2 minutes before running out of breath and feeling as though heart is about to burst out of chest. Is this because of asthma? or is this because I'm in worse shape than I think I am in? (Remember I have never run a mile in life! It seems impossible in current state)
second dilemma is with push-ups, sit-ups, and crunches. With push-ups I began last month doing around 10 to 15 every night before I went to bed. Now around 5 weeks later I'm doing the same amount when I thought I would be around 30. What is wrong with technique? When I search online I found that people stop when their arms are in a 90 degree angle and push-up. When I do push-ups I stop when chest is around 1 inch off the ground? What is correct?
I have yet to start doing sit-ups because when I attempt to do them form is so incorrect neck aches the following day. The same story applies with crunches, when I do them, I don't feel as if I'm doing them right. I'm of the mentality do it right or don't do it at all. So these two work-outs are currently out until I can find someplace that can teach me to do them correctly.
Other questions I'm curious about:
I know I'm a long away from losing any pounds but how long will this take before I start to see major results? (Mainly in face and stomach) When I gain weight it goes straight to face and stomach and those are the two that have really got me down and losing confidence in myself and body.
I'd like to add that I do not have the money to join a gym and am doing everything (minus the walking/running/jogging) at home.
Is it possible for me to lose 1 pound a week? Maybe more?
What are some good books to buy to help me prepare for the military? Or if there are any soldiers or sailors out there, can you point me in the right direction?
I know I'm in bad shape but if somebody could give me some guidance or direct me to a website or someplace where I can find aid this will be most appreciated!
Need Lots of Help! Lose Fat! Get In Shape! Join The Navy!
Moderators: Boss Man, cassiegose
Congratulations on your new endeavor and thank you for choosing to defend our country. As a wife and granddaughter of a veteran, I am truly grateful for your interest in the military.
Now for your questions. What does your diet look like? You cannot lose weight without proper nutrition. Eating 6 small meals a day with the right combinations of protein, fruit, carbs., and veggies is key.
Yes, you will be able to run more than 2 minutes without feeling winded if you just give it some time. Actually, you are doing your asthma good by increasing your cardio. Physicians do endorse an increase in physical activity because it helps your asthma. Please don't use your condition to prohibit you from exercise.
As far as your form on push-ups, sit-ups and crunches, this is something that will take time and you need to concentrate on the movement you are trying to achieve. Slow and steady not quick and rushed to get through the exercise. Personally, I do not subscribe to sit-ups. i prefer crunches, militaray weighted leg lifts, reverse crunches, hanging leg raises, planks, incline crunches, and stability ball crunches. Your abs are a muscle, work them every other day not daily. They need rest. If your neck hurts, from push-ups, sounds like your form is not great or you need to work on buliding up strength in you neck muscles and strecthing before and after you workout.
You cannot target fat loss. Every body gains it where they gain it.
As far as preparing for the military, once you get through boot camp, you'll be ready, trust me. They put you through hell to get you ready for your branch. At least that's what hubby told me.
Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.
Now for your questions. What does your diet look like? You cannot lose weight without proper nutrition. Eating 6 small meals a day with the right combinations of protein, fruit, carbs., and veggies is key.
Yes, you will be able to run more than 2 minutes without feeling winded if you just give it some time. Actually, you are doing your asthma good by increasing your cardio. Physicians do endorse an increase in physical activity because it helps your asthma. Please don't use your condition to prohibit you from exercise.
As far as your form on push-ups, sit-ups and crunches, this is something that will take time and you need to concentrate on the movement you are trying to achieve. Slow and steady not quick and rushed to get through the exercise. Personally, I do not subscribe to sit-ups. i prefer crunches, militaray weighted leg lifts, reverse crunches, hanging leg raises, planks, incline crunches, and stability ball crunches. Your abs are a muscle, work them every other day not daily. They need rest. If your neck hurts, from push-ups, sounds like your form is not great or you need to work on buliding up strength in you neck muscles and strecthing before and after you workout.
You cannot target fat loss. Every body gains it where they gain it.
As far as preparing for the military, once you get through boot camp, you'll be ready, trust me. They put you through hell to get you ready for your branch. At least that's what hubby told me.
Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.
i agree with amatlack on the asthma thing...i used to get winded and have to stop after about 15 seconds of running...now cardio doesnt bother me... asthma is still stress triggered but not by exercise...try some interval training...run at about 75% power until your starting to get winded then take it down to a quick walk and keep cycling thru that...youll eventually be able to go longer and longer before you get winded
if youve been inactive for awhile youll have low energy for awhile...but once you start exercising youll feel more and more "alive" i was up to 305lbs and got down to about 280 in just a few months...usually people that have a higher % body fat lose weight quicker than someone with a lower body fat just because to move their weight they have to work that much harder...
your first 4-8 weeks you should see strength gains due to neuralmuscular improvments meaning your brain is getting better at communicating with your muscles...i would keep doing your pushups but start adding in bigger exercises for your legs and stuff...simply squating down and jumping as high as you can could help...when i first started out id fall on face after about 5 pushups so you got me beat there lol! try doing more that just 15...even if you have to do 10 then rest 8 then rest 4 then rest...and i would suggest you do them a little earlier in the day instead of right before you go to bed...as for the 90 degree angle question...i would have to say 90 degrees is sufficient...
with the crunches...put your hands behind your ears (dont pull on your neck or head at all!) and pretend , or maybe even try , you have an orange under your chin so you don't tuck your chin...keep looking at the ceiling when your doing them so your not straining your neck...i like putting legs up while im laying down so that knees at pointing at the ceiling and then doing crunches...just remember not to swing your body up because its not necessary to come up that high...i dont like situps because i think it bends the spine a little too much...and just know that you can't reduce fat in one area but working out that area...ie: losing a gut by doing situps...doing your cardio will have the bigger impact on weight loss
do you have weights and stuff at home? what equipment do you have? if nothing there are tons of body weight exercises! so dont let that get you down
your not a long way away from weight loss...dont ever tell yourself that man! just rememebr that diet is a HUGE part of weight loss...for your size i would suggest eating around 2500 calories a day....which is tough at first if your used to eating whatever...but youll be able to eat more once you get more active (read swansos extremely long but helpful sticky thread in the diet and nutrition part of the forum)
sorry for the short story! but let me know what your diet looks like and what equipment you have and ill try to make some more recommendations
if youve been inactive for awhile youll have low energy for awhile...but once you start exercising youll feel more and more "alive" i was up to 305lbs and got down to about 280 in just a few months...usually people that have a higher % body fat lose weight quicker than someone with a lower body fat just because to move their weight they have to work that much harder...
your first 4-8 weeks you should see strength gains due to neuralmuscular improvments meaning your brain is getting better at communicating with your muscles...i would keep doing your pushups but start adding in bigger exercises for your legs and stuff...simply squating down and jumping as high as you can could help...when i first started out id fall on face after about 5 pushups so you got me beat there lol! try doing more that just 15...even if you have to do 10 then rest 8 then rest 4 then rest...and i would suggest you do them a little earlier in the day instead of right before you go to bed...as for the 90 degree angle question...i would have to say 90 degrees is sufficient...
with the crunches...put your hands behind your ears (dont pull on your neck or head at all!) and pretend , or maybe even try , you have an orange under your chin so you don't tuck your chin...keep looking at the ceiling when your doing them so your not straining your neck...i like putting legs up while im laying down so that knees at pointing at the ceiling and then doing crunches...just remember not to swing your body up because its not necessary to come up that high...i dont like situps because i think it bends the spine a little too much...and just know that you can't reduce fat in one area but working out that area...ie: losing a gut by doing situps...doing your cardio will have the bigger impact on weight loss
do you have weights and stuff at home? what equipment do you have? if nothing there are tons of body weight exercises! so dont let that get you down
your not a long way away from weight loss...dont ever tell yourself that man! just rememebr that diet is a HUGE part of weight loss...for your size i would suggest eating around 2500 calories a day....which is tough at first if your used to eating whatever...but youll be able to eat more once you get more active (read swansos extremely long but helpful sticky thread in the diet and nutrition part of the forum)
sorry for the short story! but let me know what your diet looks like and what equipment you have and ill try to make some more recommendations
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rtprincess23
- STARTING OUT
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Sun Dec 07, 2008 6:53 pm
Sinbad007, Just wanted to let you know I was in the navy for 6 1/2 years and you are basically doing what I did to get in shape for bootcamp. Take it slow and just try to keep increasing your reps as you go with the push-ups and sit-ups. The Navy considers a correct push-up when you have your elbows at 90 degrees. Once you break that plane, come back up and that is considered a full push-up. Sit-ups, someone will be holding your feet for you so it is a little easier than you might think. Work on building up your muscle strenghth but also endurance. For instance, once you start situps, if you stop, it is VERY hard to start back up again. advice is to train your abs to do the 100 sit-ups at a reasonable pace and keep going until you are done because once you stop, it is killer to start again. Bootcamp will force you to get in shape but it is much easier to go in shape. You won't have to deal with the whole being out of shape and being sore when you are in bootcamp. Also, talk to your recruiter about 8-count bodybuilders, mountain climbers and flutter-kicks because you'll be doing more of them than ANYTHING else in bootcamp so you need to get ready for them also.
Good luck to you. Keep in mind that the Navy is not as strict on mandatory physical fitness as the Army or Marines so you will need to stay motivated to work out quite a bit on your own.
Also, as far as the asthma goes, you should be able to tell whether or not it is asthma or you just being out of shape. If you can't catch your breath within a reasonable amount of time after running (3-5 minutes) than it could be bronchospasm from your asthma. If you can start to catch your breath, then it wouldn't be asthma because very rarely will asthma reverse itself without a bronchodilator (albuterol). If you still aren't sure, call your local hospitals respiratory therapy department and talk to one of the Respiratory Therapists. They should be happy to answer any questions about your asthma.
Good Luck and Thanks for serving!!!!!!
Good luck to you. Keep in mind that the Navy is not as strict on mandatory physical fitness as the Army or Marines so you will need to stay motivated to work out quite a bit on your own.
Also, as far as the asthma goes, you should be able to tell whether or not it is asthma or you just being out of shape. If you can't catch your breath within a reasonable amount of time after running (3-5 minutes) than it could be bronchospasm from your asthma. If you can start to catch your breath, then it wouldn't be asthma because very rarely will asthma reverse itself without a bronchodilator (albuterol). If you still aren't sure, call your local hospitals respiratory therapy department and talk to one of the Respiratory Therapists. They should be happy to answer any questions about your asthma.
Good Luck and Thanks for serving!!!!!!
Sinbad007, I've been in the Army for 9 years, and the best way I have found for building up push-ups has always been to use a set of push-up bars. They are cheap and easy to use.
Also what the Army does, and you may experience when you go to your Navy Bootcamp, is that the person grading you may keep telling you to go down farther. So that is something you may want to keep in mind as well.
For sit-ups I've only found that sit-ups work. Sorry I don't have any better advice for that one, but rtprincess23 was correct about not stopping. If you feel like you need to stop, and you have no other choice, stop when you are up and not down on your back. I know the Army considers that the only allowed rest position.
Best of luck with your enlistment, and most important of all:
GO ARMY BEAT NAVY!!
Also what the Army does, and you may experience when you go to your Navy Bootcamp, is that the person grading you may keep telling you to go down farther. So that is something you may want to keep in mind as well.
For sit-ups I've only found that sit-ups work. Sorry I don't have any better advice for that one, but rtprincess23 was correct about not stopping. If you feel like you need to stop, and you have no other choice, stop when you are up and not down on your back. I know the Army considers that the only allowed rest position.
Best of luck with your enlistment, and most important of all:
GO ARMY BEAT NAVY!!