A question about working out.

[The Hollywood NeoCon]

Now that I'm about a week away from being given the green light to start seriously exercising for the first time in my life, the wife and I are planning on getting a family membership to the YMCA. There's a Y pretty close to our place that has it all (including a pool!), and while I'm actually excited about this, I'm a little confused about what gear I should buy.

For instance, the right athletic shoes. I don't think I have ever in my life bought a pair of sneakers for any other reason than appearance, so now when I'm looking at getting a pair of shoes for the purpose of helping me get healthy again, I'm flabbergasted by the amount of choices I have.

Now of course, I'm going to be starting slowly - walking on the treadmill - and will probably be at that level for a few months until I'm strong enough to do short jogs on it, and when we took a tour on Saturday, I saw that the treadmills they have are "Nike+iPod compatible." I do indeed have an iPod, so I did a little research on what Nike+ is, and I think this is a pretty nifty way to go about keeping track of what I'm doing, especially since I can share the information with my cardiologist.

Jesus H. Christ. I have a cardiologist now. Seems like just yesterday I was a horny 12 year-old, chasing my neighbor's sister around the yard until the sun came down. Might as well just change my name to Saul Rosenfield, move to friggin Miami and get it over with.

But I digress...

My question is if this is a good idea, or just a clever marketing ploy on both Nike and Apple's part? Lisa and I know ****-all about shoes, so are the Nike+ shoes genuinely good for what I'm trying to do?

I'm not trying to be lazy here - I truly am tired of being an overweight, 45 year-old shlub with bigger breasts than my wife. I just don't know enough about the equipment to make the right decision.

Thanks for whatever you guys can contribute in the way of advice. 

[Thor]

You don't need anything fancy, HNC. Get some GOOD quality WALKING shoes. You don't need to break the bank on them, but don't buy Walmart specials, either. Go to a place like Foot Locker. They usually know their stuff.  Keep a daily log of your activities. You don't need no stinkin iPod...... And....
swimming is probably better for you as long as the pool isn't too cold. (If it's much below 85°F, you won't lose that much body fat as your body tends to store fat when it's cold.)

Speaking of, I need to get MY fat ass out and do some walking. I got my bicycle trainer set up, so that's another avenue I have for exercise.

Now, about that Vodka martini.........

[Toastedturningtidelegs]

What Thor said about the shoes is good advice. Sounds like you have the right idea about starting slow. Just remember to stick to that horrible low fat, lean protein diet they give all heart patients and you hopefully won't have to have the procedure again for 10 years{what my dad was told after his open heart surgery! He is now over the ten year mark and refuses to go back in to be evaluated! }Good luck brotha! I need to get my fat ass back to the gym as well so i'm right there with ya!

[IassaFTots]

Werd.  I packed my gym bag today, and my shoes were dusty.  Foot Locker, or any other sports supply place is probably the best.  Make sure you try on BOTH shoes, and walk around a lot.  Spend some money on socks.  I friggin hate sock seams. 

[LC EFA]

When I decided to get rid of the gut , I got a weight bench,barbell and dumbell.

I've dropped near 10kg in about 3 months.

I'm thinking about getting an elliptical machine for doing a cardio type workout in addition to freeweights.
 

[NHSparky]

A pair of cross-trainers is fine.  You shouldn't have to pay more than $60-70 for a GOOD pair.

You're not going to run the LA Marathon just yet, so I'll spare you the Asics-Saucony-NewBalance-Mizuno controversy.

Oh, and go at least a half if not a full size large.  Trust me, you'll thank me later.

[Eupher]

Well, my own history is a bit checkered, but about 70 lbs. ago I ran my 13th and last marathon. Something like 250 20 kilometer runs and God-knows-how-many-other training miles in shorter distances are in my distant past.

My knees are trashed, which makes low impact (translation - elliptical or swimming) the best way for me to get the cardio in.

So I have a ton of experience with shoes. What Thor, et. al. says rings true -- although you have to pay attention to foot width. As I generally buy two pairs of shoes and throw them away, wearing the boxes they came in, my feet are wide. New Balance does real well with wider feet, but I've had great shoes with Nike as well. BUT, there's no need to get real expensive shoes. Just some comfortable walking shoes are fine. If you have wide feet like I do, forget about Foot Locker or any other shoe source in a mall. You really can't get anything wider than a D, and when you wear EEE like I do, I have to go online. Zappo's works real well for that, though they can be pricy sometimes.

If you're going to get some pool time in (this is the real fat-burner for me), you should get yourself a pair of swim goggles and a pair of ear plugs. Chlorine in the eyes after a while makes you look like a druggie.....oh, wait.  And water in the ears transfers directly to water on the brain, which is not good.

By all accounts, slow and easy is the way to go. None of this is a race -- you're simply trying for a measure of fitness and you have the rest of your life to find that measure.

I've talked a little about exercise and dieting in another thread -- "17-Day Diet" which is in the Lounge. I've been on this thing for about 7 weeks now and have lost 29 lbs., 4 inches on my waistline, and feel much better than I have in years. So the low-fat, low carb thing works, and now that I have a dog that's 30 lbs. overweight, both she and I are doing double sessions daily. She gets on the treadmill and I'm right next to her on the elliptical. The pounds are melting off.

I have a weight machine, but I ain't using it right now. All available time is spent doing cardio. I'll eventually cut back a little on the cardio and pick up weight training (using a machine rather than free weights), but not for awhile. I want to lose another 20 lbs. before I get into that.

I didn't know about the pool temps being too cool -- I learned something today. Thanks, Thor.

[debk]

Swimming is the only exercise that will use almost every muscle in your body at the same time. It also is stress-free on the joints. Last thing you need to do is screw up an ankle or a knee, at this point.

Having taught swimming in my younger days, I highly recommend it. Just swim laps, altering your stroke type. Crawl, breast, side, alternate side, back...then repeat. You aren't doing sprint laps, just slow and steady in the lane. (think Dustin Hoffman in RainMan..."slow and steady on the driveway" )

Having had a broken sternum myself, doing breast or crawl stroke might be too painful and you may need to hold off on those for a bit longer. The Y should have little float boards. Hold one out in front of you, and just kick. Or you can be on your side, slide the board under your arm - lengthwise - and do a side scissor kick.

If there is a free space area in the pool....float on your back for as long as you can. Work up to doing it for 15 to 20 minutes after you do the laps. Just floating does require muscle control. Muscle control burns calories. Also, your body will burn calories just trying to keep your core temp up by being in the water. (drinking ice water will also burn calories - though a much smaller quantity - just to maintain the core temp)

Make sure to check with your cardiologist before you start swimming too. If you are chilled, and not warming up by the 3rd lap, you might want to hold off on the swimming. Even going at a fairly slow pace, by the 3rd lap you should be warmed up enough to at least a comfortable level. If you are on blood thinner, you might not warm up enough, which is why I said to check with the doc.

Sneaks...I'm a big fan of New Balance. I have narrow feet, particularly my heel...and they come in narrow, which keeps the heel of the shoe from rubbing and giving my little punkin feet blisters. 

A basic cross trainer should do just fine. Go in to a New Balance store and get fitted....then go buy the shoes at Ross or Off Broadway Shoes or DSW...they all carry New Balance, much cheaper than the NB store. You will know how they should fit your feet, which is a good thing.   

especially for someone who thinks Crocs are "good" shoes.