Luton Outlaws - Independent Message Board for Luton Town FC

Looks like Bt20's your man, here.

I will add my support to the Couch 2 5k, thing. It's not just for beginners, I used it because I know I run at a decent pace and wanted to neither go out for a 2 or 3k straight out of the box and blow myself out after 1, nor compromise my natural cadence in order to artificially complete a particular distance.

Biggest thing I will say is to not expect miracles. Most people of a certain age think that if they waddle out a 60 minute 5k once or twice a week then they can stuff cream cakes all day and the weight will still fall off. It won't. Ten years ago, or so, I was doing 5k every week day. Several calorie counters (horribly inaccurate as they are) helpfully informed me that I was burning the equivalent of a bottle of wine on Friday and on Saturday and a few beers Sunday afternoon. When my knee started hurting and I stopped running, I gave up drinking for a month and lost the thick end of a stone.

This time around I didn't start dropping pounds a week until I got over 6.5k twice a week at 5mins/km. And that was on top of the three, forty minute HIIT sessions I was doing.

In both cases, at the absolute worst I'm talking about going from 12 stone to 11 so there are no photos of me holding the waistband of my old jeans six inches away from my waist. More a case of just being comfortable in them again.

Someone else has said biking as a starting point which is sound logic. I started on the HIIT sessions* which are similarly low-impact, will tone many of the muscles required, improve cardio/aerobic capacity for exercise and increase agility. I used to need M'elle p to walk on my back every couple of weeks to click it out but not since I started. Joe Wicks is brilliant for this, there's an absolute ton of stuff on YouTube so you only have to look a twat in front of people who live in your house.

You will probably hurt something. In my case it was my right knee. The first time I gave up, assuming that it was just 35+ year-old knees that have seen too much work. The second I saw an osteopath who game me some simple exercises to strengthen the muscle that wasn't doing its job properly.

Last thing is, take it steady. The point is to be a bit healthier, maybe live a bit longer, maybe look a bit better, not die early trying. Take the time to do what you can, once you're happy doing that you can step up. Again Couch 2 5k is perfect for this.

Best of luck.

*grown-up version of PE with Joe, same exercises just nobody's dressed as Buzz Lightyear, unless you want to. Not to be confused with the adult version which is what all the Mums were doing behind closed bedroom doors, during lockdown.