Fitness: Getting Started

People look at me and see all of the activities I do and assume that because I'm a Personal Fitness Trainer I have always been in shape. That is not the case. In fact, at one point in my life, I was overweight and very out of shape.

So how did I manage to go from couch potato to athlete?

Very, very slowly. I started small.

Running:
I began with running. I'd jog as long as I could, we're talking 2 minutes or so, then walk to rest. Then I'd jog again, walk, etc. Over time, and it took me a very long time, I jogged more and walked less. I can now do a 5K run and am hoping to do a 10K at some point in the future.

In the Gym:
I started lifting weights. At first, I could only do one set of a handful of exercises, but over time I gradually worked my way up to more exercises, more sets, heavier weights and longer workouts.

On the Road Bike:
I could hardly go a mile and a half without dying. Over the course of about 2 years, I worked up my mileage and with the help and encouragement of our bicycling friends, I kept riding and challenging myself and can now do 65 miles in a day.

Mountain Biking:
I had a mountain bike, but had never been mountain biking, so when Justin and I moved to Pennsylvania, we found some short loop mountain bike trails in our area. PA is hilly. There was no choice but to go up.

So, we'd both pedal as long as we could, then stop, catch our breath and then start pedaling again. Over time, we're talking one or two years, we were able to climb huge hills without stopping. That said, when we mountain bike in California or Colorado, we still find ourselves stopping to catch our breath from time to time.

Swimming:
How hard can it be? Yeah...I decided to try a sprint triathlon with a 1/2 mile swim. When I started training, I couldn't even complete a single lap across the pool. I was dying. Gasping for air, floating on my back to catch my breath. It took me a little over a year of once a week swims before I could comfortably swim that 1/2 mile.

Hiking:
A one mile trail used to be it for me. After many, many hikes, each increasing in distance, now I know I can do over 10 miles in a day and I can do it carrying a 45 pound backpack.

Fitness is cumulative, so start small and gradually go bigger. As they say, Practice makes Perfect.