Start slowly

When you’re far out of shape and finally ready to start exercising, it’s human nature to want to give it your all.

And that, say experts, is the first mistake most novice exercisers make.

Think walking. Think riding a stationary bicycle. Think 10-minute workouts. Do not think about bench pressing 100 pounds or running a couple miles.

"A little is a lot," says Jenny Beck, Medford YMCA training director.

Or, in the words of Cedric Bryant, chief exercise physiologist for the American Council on Exercise: "Start low and go slow."

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Lucie Maddox of Jacksonville has lived that concept.

Maddox was in "horribly bad" shape during the winter, when she decided she had to start exercising again. Having been around this getting-in-shape track before, though, she knew she wanted to do it without getting hurt or even suffering the soreness of using long-unused muscles.

Maddox headed for the Medford YMCA, where Beck started her on shortcardiovascular workouts on a level treadmill and strength training with machine weights, two sets of 12 repetitions with a fairly light load.

Walking, water aerobics and the stationary bike are the safest entry points to exercise, says Beck, especially for people who also are dealing with complications such as a bad back, injuries or arthritis. Light weights come weeks later, followed by elliptical machines, which can provide a good cardiovascular workout but require balance and muscle tone.

As you build on your walking regimen, add time, distance or incline — and, if you’ve been a real couch potato, add baby steps to daily life, like parking farther from the store, says trainer Tanya Dadaos of Ashland.

"It’s good to gradually challenge your body, adding increments of difficulty as you get used to them," says Dadaos. "Walk the flat part at first, then start adding the hills later."

"Walk 10 minutes for a couple weeks," suggests Carol Lee Rogers, an Ashland personal trainer. "Do it on your lunch hour or after work. Get in the habit — that’s the main thing. Make the commitment.

"Once you commit, your body is automatically going to want more," Rogers says.

When you’re getting back in shape, the mental game of fitness is important and sometimes tricky.

"The negative self-talk keeps you stuck where you are," says Dadaos. "It’s better to set realistic, measurable goals and feel good about yourself when you reach them. If you walk five minutes this week and 10 minutes the next week, that’s fabulous. It’s a huge improvement."

A big bugaboo for fitness reentry is fear of looking fat, awkward or unskilled in classes or the weight room, trainers say. Gyms go out of their way to support exercisers in going slow, doing only part of a workout class or mentoring for a session or two on weight room machines.

"It can be intimidating to walk in and see a few muscle-bound types, but out-of-shape people shouldn’t feel too unusual," says Beck. "Two-thirds of Americans are overweight and a third are clinically obese. Gyms are doing all they can to make you feel comfortable — they’re even taking down the mirrors now."

Many people starting out have a well-founded fear of pain, even injury. But there is good pain — soreness from a good workout — and the bad kind, sharper pain you feel in your joints, especially in the knees and hip. That, says Beck, is your body telling you to go more slowly.

Trainers are often seen as a luxury, but they can prevent a reverse spiral, where you have to sideline yourself with injuries for weeks and blow your momentum, says Rogers.

You don’t need a trainer for each session. They’re good to help you find your limits and identify the right workout for your body and goals, then you can check back with them once a month to adjust the workout, she adds.

The nice thing about starting slowly and getting in that "zone" is that you start feeling better about yourself and improve your self image, says Rogers.

"A lot of people, feeling they don’t fit in at a gym, work out at home. But, as your self-esteem rises, you start to see the beauty of your body come out and start to love yourself more."

It takes six to eight weeks to lock in the fitness habit, says Beck, and get to that place where you look forward to workouts rather than looking for excuses.

In the early weeks, you start to feel more energy, agility and lung capacity, you sleep better and you start to get excited about doing things you haven’t been able to do in a long time, says Maddox. For her, it’s riding her horses, something she hasn’t had the fitness or energy to do in years.

As exercisers find their comfort zone and get back into shape, the long-term rewards start appearing — weight loss, lower heart rate and blood pressure, lower body fat, higher mental alertness and enthusiasm, higher productivity, less illness and longer life.

"I feel 100 percent better about myself," says Maddox. "I just can’t believe how much better I feel, both mentally and physically."

John Darling is a free-lance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at jdarling@jeffnet.org.

Some tips on how to begin