Getting in shape : Basic Exercises

P.S. There are something I should’ve mentioned in the last post. If you don’t own a mobile/PMP with a sports application, get a digital/analogue watch with a stopwatch/chronograph. Also, if you’re on a park jogging track, you’ll need to find out how long it is. In my park, there’s a small sign near the entrance which tells me how long it is. The reason you need to know this, is because it will help you later on, while calculating average speeds.

You need to start the stopwatch when you set off, and stop it when you’re done. Also, note how many laps you’ve done.

Alternatively, you can measure pace, which is just the opposite of speed. Speed tells you how much you ran in a given amount of time. Pace tells you how long it took you to run a given distance i.e. units are min/km.

Okay, so this post picks up where the last one left off. Assuming you followed the last post to almost the letter, you should ideally be drenched in sweat and swearing at me, and several generations of my ancestors. This is perfectly normal behaviour for first timers.

However, the fun’s not over yet. Now that you’ve woken up those dormant muscles with a (hopefully) strenuous run, it’s time for a bit more of strain. I suggest you head over to a little semi-secluded corner of the park, where you can perform your calisthenics et al in privacy.

Now, because this might be first time you’re doing such a thing, you might/will be feeling quite tired, and will want to simply drop dead and float away into paradise. This will not happen. All that will happen is that you’ll collapse into an unsightly lump in the middle of the park, and soon will be covered in flies and dog poop (or the other way round). Thing is, you cannot back off at this point. If you go back home right now, you will not be motivated enough to get up the next morning to repeat the entire process. So, you need to get some exercises into the routine.

Because this is the first workout, you should ideally just begin with some simple calisthenics and stretching exercises, like the ones you get taught during P.E. period at school or something. Now, the body can be broadly categorised into 3 parts – the torso and arms, the midriff, and the legs. The aim is to workout each of these sufficiently. For starters, try out the following exercises :

• Stand with your feet close together. Bend down and attempt to touch your feet with your hands. Do this thrice i.e. just raise yourself a bit, and then go for the feet again.
• Next, stretch your arms as high as possible above your head. At this point, you should be straining your biceps and triceps to simply stretch your arms. Also, you should be on your toes, with your calves and thighs stretching as well. Do this thrice i.e. just let yourself down a bit, and then stretch again.
• Next, place your arms at your hips, and bend backwards as far as you can go. Do this thrice. Ideally, you should be able to see the world upside down perfectly.

Now, the above 3 exercises should be repeated as many times as comfortable. Start with a reasonable number, like 5-7, and then work your way up. These exercises don’t really offer that much in terms of muscle toning, but help to stretch them, and prevent muscle pulls and cramps when you start off with the more strenuous stuff. Then,

• Do some splits. Plant your feet as far possible as comfortable, and then bend down, attempting to touch your left foot with your right hand, and vice versa. Do this a number of times – 20 for starters. I’ll post more about how to ramp all of this up later.
• A very interesting exercise I came upon – bend over, hold your ankles with your hands, and walk. If you can’t reach your ankles, start with your calves.

Now, these are just some basic exercises to get you started. The next post will be about how to introduce more strenuous exercises into the routine.