I know some of you out there are pretty sporty, and I'm looking for advice on getting myself into shape. I had a physical for work yesterday and came out fine - BMI of 22, 15% body fat, all of which is pretty dead on.

The only problem is that I recently quite smoking cigs and I feel like I could be doing some more exercise. Work keeps me on my feet for a good few hours each day but I feel I could be doing more to stay in top condition. Any advice on regimes would be greatly appreciated - I'll have a free hour, tops, a day to do it.

I'm more than 20 lbs heavier than I was since I quit playing football, and I can't be arsed to shed it all again.

It depends on a lot of different things. Do you like to excercise by yourself or in a more "team-oriented" environment? Also, what is the weather like where you live? Are you looking for more aerobic/cardiovascular excercise or more muscle-building excercise.

I am a runner, myself, and if you want a simple workout that doesn't cost a lot, running is great. Swimming is an even better cardio workout, but it requires access to a pool, driving there and changing clothes and all that. Playing basketball is also really good excercise, but you need somewhere to play and people to play with. People in Europe probably play soccer as much as us Americans play basketball, and that has to be good excercise, but you would need people to play with.

You can also buy some free weights for a small amount of money and get a good workout. Also, simple excercises that just use your own body weight like push-ups, pull-ups and sit-ups are easy, cheap and simple to do. Hope this is what you are looking for.

I had a thread similar to this a while ago, but it was in GD, so I can't dig that out for you at the moment

What is your fitness/stamina like at the moment?

Do you participate in any sports at all?

I'd advise starting off doing some light running to begin with and when you get comfortable doing that step it up a bit, either that or swimming to begin with.

Also your diet is very important, I've lost 2stone in the past year by watching what I eat and excercising. (I do a martial art at least twice a week and try to get out for a run twice a week as well)

Dieting is HUGE part of it, everyone thinks working out is the solution, it goes hand and hand with what you eat, you can't go to the gym, run a mile and then eat a chicken parm hero for dinner. I suggest get some sort diet plan in order, once you have that, if you can do 1 hour of cardio, any cardio, bike riding, running or basketball, you should be fine.

Thanks everyone.

I'm in fairly decent shape right now - I play five a side once a week, but that's only an hour's run around. The weather's pretty much rainy all the time, but I'm used to that so it's not too bad. It's really more a case of what exercise I should be doing because I don't have all that much time to fit it in, and it would most likely be on my own. I'd like to work my upper body muscles and get some good cardio work down - is swimming the best idea here? There's a pool on my way home from work.

I'm veggie, Flips, so I eat pretty well

Swimming is huge, i works almost every muscle in your bidy, one day of good swimming, you'll be crying for a week.

Nice. I eat pretty damn healthily these days, although I do have a weakness for Snickers bars. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Does jerking off count as exercise?

Push Ups, unless you want to be absolutley massive, and I don't think you do, push ups are good enough for you, they'll tone your arms and pecs. I've started doing push ups and sit ups at home as well.

For your triceps do some bench dips.

I'd actually like to work my triceps - my biceps are in decent shape from work, since I do a fair amount of lifting, they look pretty decent and I'm able to support a good amount of weight on them. Only problem is that the other side of my upper arms don't have much on them. I've no idea what a bench dip is, do I need weights for it?

You don't need weights, just a chair:-

One thing i do that is a lot harder then it sounds is running on a track, but this is how i break it down. After warming up I run about 80% of full effort for 100M, the first curve, do 15 pushups, get up run 100M, the back stretch, do a variation of a situp, run 100M, the other curve, do 15 pushups, run 100M, the front stretch, and there is always a football bench there so I do bench dips 20 of them, and I continue that usually for 4 or 5 laps. Take a 5 min breather then do it again. Works good for me a few times a week when i am starting to get back into shape.

If you want good arms, work your triceps. Large muscle than the bicep. The bicep gets all the press, but the tricep is what you should be working on. Doing dips works great as well as the bench dips.

drink diet everything..no exceptions..in a few months..it will make a huge difference..

id tell you what i do when i lift..but if youre just beginning that wouldnt be a good idea..if you really want pm me i can hook you up with some sort of lifting/cardio scheme

for starters..try this..someone said push ups

start off doing 10, then take a short break..do 9..break..8..so on to 1..then do 1 again..break..2..back up to ten..its tougher than it sounds..when it gets easier..start with 12 then go down and back up..then when thats easy..start with 15..

but in my honest opinion..everyones giving you stuff to do at home..id say go out and join a gym..i tried the home workout thing..sucks..home for me is a place of rest and relaxation..its tough to get in a workout type mindstate..when you actually get out and go to the gym..theres more motivation to do more and push yourself harder..plus theres a ton of more excercises you can do and equipment you can use..

Why is my right arm/wrist so much more strong and durable than my left?

Cheers everybody

Actually, I think there was a study that was done that counted how many calories you burn off by jerking off. It was way more than I imagined. So, yes, jerking off is good for you.

read the "abs diet"

awesome book about eating well and working out

are you a righty??