0-30 in 8 weeks (running)

[Bean]

If you do want to get into running, buy a proper pair of running shoes from a shop who specialises in them.

I got a pair of Asics a couple of years ago from a place called the Sweatshop, they analysed the way I stood, ran and wobbled about before sizing me up for a pair perfect for my needs.

From memory, they were only £60 or so. Avoid the likes of Nike who will sell you fashionable expensive trainers, no use for real running.

It's been a while but I used to enter 10km runs, weren't that hard after a bit of training.

[cidersurfer]

Good advice from Bean.  

Get yourself to a proper running shop and take your old trainers with you. They will look at the wear pattern and assess whether you're a neutral runner or if you pronate. Your weight should be carried from your heel to the ball of your foot in roughly a straight line but you'd be amazed at how many people don't do this due to a variety of reasons including old injuries, etc. They will make an assessment whether you need a control shoe or a cushion shoe. The control shoe attempts to provide support to your heel when landing and control the weight transfer as efficiently as possible. The cushion shoe provides max impact protection (helps avoid the shin splints mentioned previously by A4GOM). There are shoes that provide a combination of the two.  

Neither type of shoe needs to be expensive, I've never paid more than £50 for my runners, like many things  last years model is always cheaper. Avoid the fashion shoes and cross trainers, Nike make a huge range of shoes but the Air Pegasus mentioned by JeffC are a great shoe. You won't go far wrong with anything by Asics, Saucony, New Balance or Brooks, there are others of course. The shop can also assist with looking at your feet to assess whether your feet a slender or fat. Believe it or not some manufacturers are better for slender feet and others provide more width.

Ah, a running shoe bore, you didn't know they existed did you?      And yeah, I need to get back on the roads too...  

[Crazy Eddie]

Inspiring stuf this

I'm currently over 18st and this may be a little heavy for my height  

Can't do running due to accident but will have to drag the cross trainer out of the shed and get swimming.

6 pack by summer anyone?

It would be interesting to see results guys so don't be shy with the weigh in schedules      

[Darkspeed]

Start of September I was 16.11 and getting a bit snug in the narrow body - 1700 calories per day and now 14.00 and expecting to hit target weight in March.

Without a significant reduction in calorie intake exercise alone does not do great things for weight loss - the body is too efficient.

For the technical approach - 1lb body fat is 3500 calories - the average male body burns 2500 calories a day

To lose a pound you need a 3500 calorie deficit on 2500

Effort required to lose 1lb fat -

Running at 8min/mile - approx 30miles

Sex with moderate effort - 70 times

I hate running and I am married so its 1700 calories a day.............

Andrew

[Darrell O'Neill]

Good advice from Bean.  

Get yourself to a proper running shop and take your old trainers with you. They will look at the wear pattern and assess whether you're a neutral runner or if you pronate. Your weight should be carried from your heel to the ball of your foot in roughly a straight line but you'd be amazed at how many people don't do this due to a variety of reasons including old injuries, etc. They will make an assessment whether you need a control shoe or a cushion shoe. The control shoe attempts to provide support to your heel when landing and control the weight transfer as efficiently as possible. The cushion shoe provides max impact protection (helps avoid the shin splints mentioned previously by A4GOM). There are shoes that provide a combination of the two.  

Neither type of shoe needs to be expensive, I've never paid more than £50 for my runners, like many things  last years model is always cheaper. Avoid the fashion shoes and cross trainers, Nike make a huge range of shoes but the Air Pegasus mentioned by JeffC are a great shoe. You won't go far wrong with anything by Asics, Saucony, New Balance or Brooks, there are others of course. The shop can also assist with looking at your feet to assess whether your feet a slender or fat. Believe it or not some manufacturers are better for slender feet and others provide more width.

Ah, a running shoe bore, you didn't know they existed did you?      And yeah, I need to get back on the roads too...  

Jesus.....

you actually sound like you know what your talking about there.... who'd have thought that!    

BTW, having been told by my GP that Im alittle short for my wieght this week, Ive been reading this thread with great interest...   perhaps my newly adopted method of running til I feel faint, getting my breath back and then running alittle more, should perhaps be reviewed....

[Carl]

Good advice with shoes.

The other important advice is to do a "little" regularly, than alot twice per week amd make it part of your daily routine.

I.e. Going out everyday for 15 mins is better than 1 hour every 4 days.

Is surprising how quickly your fitness will increase.

[Bean]

BTW, having been told by my GP that Im a little short for my wieght this week, Ive been reading this thread with great interest...   perhaps my newly adopted method of running til I feel faint, getting my breath back and then running alittle more, should perhaps be reviewed....

That's a damn good point, rather than try and lose weight why don't we grow taller instead?

Running until you're feeling faint is not a good idea, try running slower at first and build up the distance. Once you've got the distance then work on upping your speed.

A lot of people make the mistake of trying to do both at once.

[Paul Hurdsfield - Joint Manchester AO]

I've put on a bit of weght over crimbo....I'm 10st-4lbs now  

But anyway re Sweatshop if your serious get down to the Sweatshop in Harrods, they have a footscan machine, I think it's the only one in the country, they connect you up to a pc with some special software and you walk then run over a sort of digitising pad and it analyses all your pressure points, they also scan your feet in 3D, then in three weeks you get a custom made pair of trainers, and they're not particularly expensive. Nout to do with me, I only know cos we fitted out all the Sweatshops and had to build in the footscan unit during the shopfit  

[adamnreeves]

Im no expert    but From what Ive read the run / walk technique is best for starters, I had a heart monitor last year (battery was flat tonight) and Im sure when my legs start to ache I was around 178bpm , I cant go any more than that as I felt faint    

I remember at first it took a while to get the heart rate down but that changed after a few weeks.. Tonight It didnt seem to drop from the beating out of my chest mode and lungs couldnt keep pace either    

on the shoes I think I gave around £50 , they were recomended on that running site , Im sure Ive read somewhere that runners change them every 500 miles  

Yes you right for starters the interval method is good because it gives you chance to recover between bouts and it is the fasted method to get to a reasonable level of fitness. The HIT method is a good method But personally once I am past my warm up I settle down to a constant pace that I can maintain indefinitely, i.e. Aerobic, which is the best fat burning method. For some strange reason when I am running on treadmills I do tend to enjoy the HIT method more, I think maybe because I find treadmills boring.

178! Chances are that is way to high mate as I guide your maximum should be 210 - age in years and I think aerobic between 65-85% (google this, I'm not sure)  of that. However that does not work for me, mine tends to be higher and its not as if its because my resting BPM is high to start with, it is only 37BPM! Like I say this is a guide, listen to your body, how it feels. A better guide is if running and you can talk comfortably then its not hard enough if you cannot talk then too hard, if you can talk just about but uncomforably and broken up then thats just about right. This is for medium/long distance of course, if you were doing 100meter sprint then you shouldn't be able to talk at all, infact breathing at all !

Your limiting factor at the moment is your cardio vascular capacity not your leg muscles, once you start to improve your fitness then you will start to feel it more in your legs and then that will pass. Rememeber to cool down and stretch well afterwards that will help with recovery.

You right about the trainers, when I was in training I used to ditch them every 10-12 weeks!

Keep at it, I find the phase of getting fit the best phase, as you can see, measure and feel the improvement over a short time. The hard bit it maintaining it once you get there when you cannot see any improvement.

[Bean]

I've put on a bit of weght over crimbo....I'm 10st-4lbs now  

But anyway re Sweatshop if your serious get down to the Sweatshop in Harrods, they have a footscan machine, I think it's the only one in the country, they connect you up to a pc with some special software and you walk then run over a sort of digitising pad and it analyses all your pressure points, they also scan your feet in 3D, then in three weeks you get a custom made pair of trainers, and they're not particularly expensive. Nout to do with me, I only know cos we fitted out all the Sweatshops and had to build in the footscan unit during the shopfit  

The shop in Woking, Surrey has a mat you run over which shows your style and which areas of the foot you put pressure. Connected up to a PC, you get a fancy picture.

Not sure it's quite as fancy as the Harrods one, but similar.

[Guest]

That's a damn good point, rather than try and lose weight why don't we grow taller instead?

Tried that one and ended up 6'6" and over 20st...

Still too b****y short!  

[kingofthetwisties]

Been on the scales this morning and tipped in at a fighting weight of 14.4 and a quarter.

I am about to get off for my first run in about 14 years. I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not. Ill let you know later if my heart is still pumping.

[Pilot Pete]

Been on the bike again, heartrate going at between a 105-115. Is that good or bad?

[adamnreeves]

Been on the bike again, heartrate going at between a 105-115. Is that good or bad?

With that heartrate you are talking about a motorbike aren't you  

[Pilot Pete]

Been on the bike again, heartrate going at between a 105-115. Is that good or bad?

With that heartrate you are talking about a motorbike aren't you  

Excersise bike.

I take it its bad then