Regaining Conditioning after tons of inactivity

[BostonZak]

Some quick background on me. I'm 23 years old and have been dreadfully inactive for the past 3 years. In highschool and for much of college I was in great shape. I ran and lifted weights 4-5 days a week and ate a healthy diet. Since then I started working from home, and got lazy and fat and out of shape. I havent worked out seriously or consistently for about 3 years, and each time I've tried to dip back into it, I've flaked out.

So I've recently decided to get off my lazy ass and try and do this right and get myself back into shape. Ive been doing some running (as much as I can) and went back to my old kickboxing gym. What i've realized after 2 days at the gym, is that I'm getting gassed incredibly fast, and my muscles have absolutely no stamina. I know that if I want to be able to focus on my training at all I'm going to need to do a lot of work outside of the kickboxing gym to get myself back in shape. Just an hour of work at the kickboxing gym on monday had me incredibly sore for 2 days, and in tonight's session I gassed out after about 20 minutes, struggled through the last 40, and know Im gonna be in brutal shape in the morning. Im hoping I can get some advice here on how I can ease myself back into shape, and what I can do to complement 2 or 3 nights a week of kickboxing to start dropping some pounds and getting myself back into reasonable shape so I can get through an entire session without being destroyed for the next few days. I get really frustrated when I have to take a few days off every time I do any kind of workout. Any advice is much appreciated.

 

[goldenArms]

i was gonna tell you to fuck off cause your from boston but i decided not to

of course your gonna get gassed you havent been in shape for over 3 years even when I dont lift for a week the week after when I lift again im sore. Just keep it up man and take it slow for now. Work on just gettin your body used to the routine before you increase the intensity. If you have to take a few days off your overtraining. LIke I said take it slow, maybe you should chill with the kickboxing for a few weeks, and just work on running and biking n shit until you notice a significant increase in stamina.

Of course you need to watch what you eat. All that work wont really do you any good esp for fat loss if you are eating bullshit all day. Try n get alot of carbs early in the day and more protein focused post lunch.

Good luck man

 

[lockjaw211]

just go to kickboxing class and thats it, when your body can handle the kickboxing class then add some other things in, i wouldnt be overdoing it trying to get in shape when you need to rest from kickboxing. you will get there, there just isnt a shortcut.

 

[Hudsn]

try and do some cardio for a few weeks to build up some conditioning before you start kickboxing

 

[Mark Limbaga]

Slowly work back to it. It will take some time, but you'll get back to your old form. I prefer interval training aside from your martial arts.

if you want something different, Crossfit WODs are also great

 

[Girljock]

I agree...slowly so you don't get injured.....or burned out. Make sure you eat enough. Dropping wieght is great, but you won't be able to do the cardio or other exercises if you don't give your body fuel. Can you post a typical days eats? Running some sprints is a good idea. But again...remember not to over do it. If your focus is kickboxing, I would keep doing that....and not necessarily a lot of other cardio. The weight will come off...it's not a race....Your conditioning will come. Again...make sure you are eating correctly. All the cardio in the world is no good if you don't have fuel in the tank. Good luck.

 

[BostonZak]

Thanks a lot for all of your responses. For now I have just stuck with the kickboxing and have drastically changed my diet. My hips and shoulders have been very sore after each day at the kickboxing gym, and are taking two full days off to recover right now. I'm trying to be as patient as possible, eventhough I wish I could be training 5 days a week and doing all sorts of extra work outside of the gym. Im trying to spend 30-45 minutes stretching every day, even if Im not going to kickbox.. and other than that Im just trying to get lots of sleep and let my body rest and heal as much as possible. I was thinking that I could at least add in some light jogging on the days im recovering from kickboxing, maybe just a mile or two at a nice easy pace. Would this be a good idea? Or am I getting a bit ahead of myself here?


Girljock: My old diet was disgusting and so the biggest adjustment I have made has been cutting out all of the garbage (junkfood, soda, pizza, etc). Right now my typical day will consist of something like either cereal + fruit or eggs + fruit for breakfast, A couple of small sandwiches for lunch (turkey or chicken with cheese and lettuce and tomato) and some kind of chicken with a small bowl of salad for dinner. I drink a lot of water and juice throughout the day as well (usually orange and cranberry juice). Do you see any glaring adjustments I should make to this diet?

Thanks again to everyone for the help. Its amazing how much better I'm already beginning to feel after only a week.

 

[Girljock]

Juice has a lot of sugar and calories in it....might want to ditch that as well. Might want to add some oatmeal for brekkie. Whole grain bread. And again...don't be afraid to eat. You need fuel...as long as it's good food you'll be fine.

I would definately say have light workouts on your recovery days. Maybe jog a mile...and walk a mile.....do your stretches.....maybe some yoga. Sounds good. Do keep us posted.

 

[Clann]

If you haven't been doing cardio in a LONG time, you will have to change your whole life around.

First off, eating right is what you should do. That, alone, will help you to lose weight and feel great. You will feel alot more healthy and you will be too. Check out the nutrition forum.... those guys really helped me out.

Get enough sleep. If you're running on a few hours of sleep. Stop. You need to get the right amount of sleep to have the maximum energy through out your day. If you're conditioning, you will need to have alot of sleep to recover (and not overtrain). You can also develop sleep problems if you constantly go to sleep for only a few hours.

Stop drinking and smoking. I'm sure everyone knows this already. It's easier said than done, though.

Gradually get into working out. If you rush in, do extreme amounts of conditioning; you will be gassed fast and you could get injured. You could even overtrain if you do things too fast. It's okay if you're not where you used to be. You will be stronger than ever IF you keep working at it.


Just work hard, keep strict on yourself, and do your best. Good luck.

 

[jettech]

Slowly work back to it. It will take some time, but you'll get back to your old form.

This is really good advice. In college I was 200 lbs., at age 36 I started working out again weighing 265 lbs.. The first time I got on a treadmill it took me 32 minutes to go a mile. After a year and half of training I run a mile to warm-up before I lift.

The key is going slow and taking your time. Rushing back in will increase your chances for injury. I would spend the first 2-3 weeks just doing something that allows work out at a comfortable pace. Mainly just get active again without focusing to much on hardcore training. As your body get in better shape you will know when it is time to push into some heavy training.