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A friend of mine is 39, works from home, has rarely ever exercised in her life. She has two kids, was always thin, ate whatever she wanted and never gained a pound. She has gained about 35 lbs. in the last couple of years and her health is starting to suffer. She wants to start working out and wants to become really sculpted.
I hear how muscles have memory, but she never really used hers. Is it possible for her to lose the weight and become even more toned and defined than she was before? Any recommendations on the weight loss and workout?
My workout isn't nearly as targeted as she wants hers to be, so I have no clue as to what to suggest.
It's absolutely possible for her to get into great shape 39. Here are some basics on how to get there:
1) Take it slowly. Trying to kick into shape too quickly is likely to cause injuries, which ultimately will slow down the process of conditioning. It takes time to go from being 35 pounds overweight with the body of someone who has never gotten much exercise to being really sculpted. She should probably start out thinking in terms of spending at least two years just to get into very good general physical condition. If she seems to be progressing toward this initial goal at a slower or faster rate than expected, then she can adjust the timetable as she goes along.
2) Think in the long term. This follows from the first piece of advice about getting into shape gradually. Better to make exercise a way of life than to try to whip oneself into shape. Pushing hard to shift overnight from couch potato to fitness fanatic often leads to burnout, and falling back into the old habits and ending up out of shape once again. The steady approach of making exercise a habit is the way to become fit for the long term.
3) She should find physical activities she enjoys for the activities themselves. This helps a lot with the goal of making fitness an integral part of life. It's easier to want to fit exercise into your day if you enjoy the activity you're performing for exercise.
4) Despite the fact that it helps to do activities one enjoys, at first your friend may need to focus mainly on some basic exercises to develop general conditioning. It's best to avoid high-impact exercises when carrying extra weight, so that leaves out some activities that many people enjoy, and which your friend might eventually include among her exercises, particularly competitive sports that require a lot of running, such as tennis. At first, she'd do well to focus on low-impact cardio, such as brisk walking, exercise bike/spinning, stepper, and swimming.
5) A combination of strength workouts and cardio is better for trimming down and gaining all-around conditioning than either alone. In addition to the low-impact cardio (and whatever aerobic activities she wants to do for the enjoyment of the activities themselves once she gets into some good basic shape), she'd do well to include some basic work with weights. There are people who don't like gyms, but the time when it could be especially useful to join a gym is when a person is new to exercise and knows very little about it, so that advice from a personal trainer could be especially useful to get the new exerciser going in the right direction. It's certainly possible to buy a variety of weights and work out at home, but better to have the advice of a knowledgeable person about proper form and a good workout schedule at least at first.
If she does join a gym, she should make sure to get that advice from a trainer. The conflicting advice you tend to get from the various patrons of the gym can get confusing, especially if you're new, and know very little about the subject yourself. Also, you can't be guaranteed that just because some guy is really built it means he gives good advice. I've heard awful suggestions from guys who were really ripped. A guy can be built well and really know his stuff, but he could also have a good physique in large part due to genetics, and be very lucky that he hasn't hurt himself from following his own bad advice. If your friend joins a gym, she should seek the advice of a trainer.
As for general advice on training with weights, she should focus at first on basic exercises involving compound movements, such as bench press, shoulder press, rowing, lat pulls, and squats, plus some basic ab exercises. Focusing on these kinds of exercises is a good way to build up a basic level of conditioning. Once she's basically at a good level of fitness, then she can start focusing more on individual body parts if she wishes, though many people find the large movements alone enough for general fitness. It depends on each person's goals. In your friend's case, it depends on what specifically she means when she says she wants to be "sculpted," whether the large-movement exercises would be enough once she had a good level of basic conditioning.
Notice that the list of basic weight exercises I suggested included both pushing and pulling exercises for the upper body. It's best to perform this mixture of motions, because balanced muscular development is best not only for looks but for avoiding injury and maintaining smooth, coordinated movement.
Lifting fairly heavy is best for adding some muscle mass. "Heavy" is a relative term. What exactly seems heavy will vary from person to person. It basically means working with weights you can lift no more than ten to twelve, maximum of fifteen, times per set. If someone trying to add a bit of mass to get a sleek, nicely muscled look can do any lift for more reps than that, it's time to find a heavier weight for that exercise, one that can be lifted at most six to eight times per set, then to work back up to ten-twelve reps or so with that new weight, then repeating the process.
Okay, these suggestions, along with eating a well balanced diet that includes about fifty to one hundred percent more protein than the minimum recommendation of 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body mass, are some basics to use as a starting point.
At her age and from the sounds of her lifestyle, diet will likely be the most important thing. Sadly, it will likely be the biggest/hardest change for her. If you've never had to work out, it's not that tough to get to the gym for an hour, 3-4 times a week. Changing your diet is an all day, every day effort.
Other than that, I can only echo what ogre has said above. Fitness is a lifelong change, not a temporary effort.
She wants to start working out and wants to become really sculpted.
Rather than doing the whole gym thing right away she should start by walking. Have her get herself a pedometer and track her daily mobility. She should work up to at least 10,000 steps per day and perhaps start running for some of it. From there she can progress to other types of physical activity. What's nice about walking is it doesn't require so much preparation (just put on your walking shoes and head outdoors) and is something a previously non-athletic person can easily do.
I agree with the above poster that she'll likely see quicker results through changing her diet.
Agree with ogre...most importantly she needs to take it slow and realize that results won't come over night. Also, if her kids are old enough, why not involve them and try to go to a field and play some sort of sport together a few times a week? Something like vollyball, soccer, basketball or even racing each other on a track or field. Even just riding bikes together around town is fun and exercise at the same time. Diet is also really important as we get into our late 30s, obviously.
isnt it kind of strange that a 39 year old that rarely ever worked out in her life all the sudden not only wants to get in shape but wants to be some kind of bodybuilder?
isnt it kind of strange that a 39 year old that rarely ever worked out in her life all the sudden not only wants to get in shape but wants to be some kind of bodybuilder?
Its called "Hey Im 39, single, two kids, cant get dates, I better try to make myself look better before I become an old single lonely cat lady".
Rather than doing the whole gym thing right away she should start by walking. Have her get herself a pedometer and track her daily mobility.
WTF is up with people recommending walking? She's not friggin super injured or near disabled. Walking is soooo inferior to running, jogging, elliptical, rowing, treadmill, yoga, pilates, cardio boxing, etc. WTF would anyone ever recommend walking to someone who is much capable of doing more? She's not 79, she's 39 so she should be doing much more than walking. Geez, I mean really, some people really need to just **** and not make stupid recommendations to people on fitness.
OP, your friend SHOULD sign up with a gym. She'll have an initial session or two with a QUALIFIED TRAINER who would more than likely give her an EFFECTIVE WORKOUT ROUTINE for a beginner and she would be well on her way. She could even do hatha yoga, cardio karate, pilates, spinning, rowing or any other types of classes that would be available to her at the gym. Tell her not to "start walking" especially if she's capable of doing much more.
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