Simple enough. I'm sick of being weak and puny. I've never done regular exercise before.

Any ideas beth forum goers?

(I have type two diabetes by the way, would rather not have exercise with other people because of personal reasons and swimming is out of my hands because I have a perfuated eardrum)

Start a weight lifting regimen and start running. As for the type 2 diabetes, I'm not sure what you would have to avoid and whatnot so I can't help you there unless you explain it to me more in depth.

I'm an amateur boxer so I can definitely be of assistance.

It depends on your goal/desires.

Do you want to build mass or do you want to be ripped/toned? You can also be a hybrid aka the "Bruce Lee Way"

The easiest exercise is walking- no equipment or membership needed.

Consistancy helps, so pick a time that you can stick to. Walk 30 minutes every other day. The more fit you get, the faster you will walk, and the farther you will go. If you can keep a good pace for the entire time, up it to an hour. Keep picking up the pace until you can do the entire hour quickly and not be the walking dead. This is the point you could start running.

Drop back to 30 minutes and run at a comfortable pace. If you start to drag, slow to a walk for a few minutes. When rested, move back to a run. When you can run the whole time, go back to an hour.

This will address general fitness and get you ready to move on to heavier workouts. If you've got the money, look for a used treadmill. That way you have no excuses in bad weather. My folks (late-70's, bad knees, diabetic, high BP, 3 heart valve replacements) have a treadmill.

Are you being treated by a doctor for this? If not, you need to be, especially if you're going to start exercising. Regular exercise will only improve your diabetes, as long as you continue to follow your doctor's advice regarding your diet, and take your prescribed medications (if any).

Besides walking id say get a bike or maybe even rollerblades.

You have no excuses for not swimming, wear earplugs to keep water out.

Anyway, my recommendation is to have rocks surgically implanted into your delts, abs and calves. Then when the babes are about you can flex and say 'Check deez owt qtpai, mi musles iz rock hard'

Welcome to the Feline Overlords, but stop changing your damned avatar. I don't know it's you without a double or triple take.

On topic- Never walk farther away than you can walk back. This is where it's handy if you're in town and can just walk around the block until your time is up. The block where I grew up was a mile on a side. Even old, tired, and overweight I can still do that in about an hour, but I don't know if you want to start with that distance.

never walk farther away than you can walk back? this has god to be the best and funniest advise I've ever read! you made my day!

Exercise is not the only important part! what you eat is very important as well. sadly I can't help you with that. my own nutrition svcks balls, so yeah...

It can be a very important piece of advice for someone with asthma who doesn't have regular human tolerance for exercise. I remember being able to do some things young and when my asthma wasn't so bad. I tried them about a year ago and almost killed myself form an attack. It's taken me twice or more amount of time to build up my lungs and stamina that an ordinary person would have to do. It's taken me months to get the point where I can walk at a very fast and sustained pace to get my hear rate up. Now I have to work on stamina. Once I get myself up to 50 minutes to an hour of regular fast walking without it completely draining me I can move up to jogging. I'm not in any real rush to do any of this, just little personal goals to see how far I can push myself to walk. If I wanted to look awesome I would be in a gym.

True, nutrition & proportions are important.

When I see someone running, I say "why would you do that to yourself?" Cycling, on the other hand, if you are unfit and get tired, no-one bats an eyelid when you get back home nice and slowly.

If your knees/ankles are bad, don't run. If you have flat feet, running long distances can be a PITA (me) without some super awesome, arch-supportive and ankle-stiffening shoes. Also, running/walking alone doesn't tend to "buff you out," so if that's what you're more looking for (vs. just cardio fitness), gotta do something else.

Upper body/arm weights and cycling would be my preference ... or rowboating. What fits your mental and daily lifestyle could be different.

So try a variety of things to see what you like/think you're likely to stick with.

I know it's legit advice. Whenever I go running and push myself to far I often think about how lucky I am that the ride back home is downhill (I take my bike to the woods if I go running)... I just found it funny to read it like that. But you're completly right. I didn't mean to mock with it.. sorry!

I had just eaten 4 croissants with chocolate filling (480 g in total) and then I saw this thread and now I'm depressed.

Never underestimate the simple push up, they are a great way to help tone your arm muscles while increasing your arm strength. Aim to do around 19-34 push ups in a minuet, i don't know how fit you are at the moment, but if you can't do 19 don't panic, the last thing you want to do is have an injury, do as many as you can to start with and then gradually add a couple on then next time you do them.

Also, stick with it and don't get distracted! so many people say they are going to work out, but then get stuck behind a computer screen...heh...

Run but do not run on the pavement all that time. Very bad for your joints. I decided this summer to run almost every other day and my doctor says I need to stop as it is damaging my knees. I recommend a treadmill or like riding a bike. Even a stationary bike would be good.

Or if you can find one you can turn an old treadmill into a dynamo an just get something to hold the front wheel an voila cycling on the spot an if you're a tech nerd or good with your hands you can even use the treadmill to count your miles an change resistance so you can have an easier or harder burn.

Don't knock running; puts your stamina on 300+

The quickest (and simplest) way to turn into a fit beastly athlete is to do sprint intervals. Find a little field near your house, and just sprint as fast as you can for about 60 yards, walk slowly back to where you started, and do it again, repeat about 10 times, and then go home and eat a lot, and do it again the next day.

It's actually the ultimate exercise, works every muscle in your body, is much easier on the joints than jogging, and gives you god-like stamina too (you'll understand why after your first day- it is surprisingly tough, but that's good), and dramatically will improve your agility and explosiveness, you'll walk around with a spring in your step and just feel great.

Just look at the physiques of sprinters compared to marathon runners, or anyone, they have perfectly optimal bodies and are absolute machines. Mind you they do a lot of other exercises/weights, but start with sprinting, that will get your juices flowing and then you might be motivated to do other things. Boxing is good too, hitting a bag. Doing pushups is underrated too. When I was at my absolute peak I would jog 5 kms, then do 10 sprints and after each sprint I'd do 20 pushups where I bounced up and clapped my hands, I'd do this every second day, and on the other days I'd do weights or boxing. Was a great feeling, I just walked around like a boss and then inevitably found a girlfriend that turned into a wife and then I let myself go, lol. But this is actually motivating me to start again, because it was so much more than just looking good to attract a female, the coolest thing about it was being a beast, being capable, having endless stamina and being fast and strong and agile.

Bicycling and swimming, that's the usual suspects.

It is suggested to see a doctor and maybe do a complete physical so you know what you should and should not do. If you plan to start strong (like, dive right into it), not gradually, you should also consider starting with a healthier diet and sleep before getting into serious exercise. Although better diet and right sleep is strongly suggested anyways, exercise or not.

Notice he said he's sick of being weak and puny...all the running in the world will not make you bulk up.

It sounds like he basically wants bigger arms which requires lifting of some sort.

Sprinting makes you stronger, sprinting and eating will definitely make a skinny guy bulk up. Supplementing with pushups and boxing would ofcourse assist.

Just lifting weights will make you a weak puny guy with big muscular arms, like "the situation" from jersey shore. He also said "fitter", so I'm providing him with the key to unleashing his optimal beast self, which is so much more rewarding than getting big arms.

Hm, that's why I should have read the OP fully and more attentively before posting... my bad.

Well, then both of my suggestion are out, as bicycling is rather social. I guess Tonedog's suggestion is something to consider. If it's about muscles, then gym is out, as that's social, and the next thing in line is getting a weight set for home. Or at least some weights, not the whole set.

All the suggestion about diet and sleep still stand though.

Oops, meant to add the edit, not make a new post. Moderators, you can delete this post.