Physical Fitness tips?

I am making myself get back on the physical fitness train, I need change myself bigtime - as I've noticed a rapid decline in my health. Its nothing thats happened overnight - but a long downward spiral for the past two years I'd say. Most of it is my fault, well only partially.

When I actually manage to excerise I do run alot and practice alot of martial arts on my own (I took 8 years Hapkido) - and while I know and do alot of stretching excerizes, often times I still find that when I run my right calf and knee will bother me relentlessly even though I worked it while stretching. I blame that mostly on the retail work I do - because its been murder on my knees - especially my right one, sometimes especially after coming back from work - its just outright painful to even walk up a flight of stairs. I've started to get worried about that. Probably will see a fucking doctor soon. :\

Does anyone know any tips or advice however on how to properly stretch or prepare for activities like running a couple miles and whatnot? Any help would be welcome.

I've been a runner on and off all my life.

Running is very hard on your knees and if you're experiencing any problems with them after stretching I suggest you see a doctor.

Last summer my right knee started hurting pretty bad around the 2 mile mark, then would be sore for a while after.

Doc suggested these non-prescription glutimate<sp> pill which supposedly can work wonders on joints.

So I took a year off, I'm about to pick up some new running shoes, and I'll see how stuff works out this year.

Bottom line: see a doctor.

The runners high is so awesome. 30 minutes of hard running, when you get off the mill, everything is going in slow motion and you feel as though your legs are hugely long.

Good stuff.

For weight training try Rubber resistance bands. They are better than weights because they provide resistance at all angles and you can control the tension of the band by fixing it to something. A lot better than weights, and trust me I used to lift weights. And you don't even need to go to the gym.

For flexibility try doing bridges and splits. Vertical push ups are nice but can be replaced by the rubber band's military press. For leg training you can either walk, run, do aerobics, dance. Especially hip-hop type dance(not breakdance) because there are very fast hop movements which do wonders for calves, quads, and the gluteus maximus. Something like the Darren's Grooves video will teach you the basics. Unlike traditional dance where you just spin around and dip your partner, hip hop is very aggressive, borrowing from traditional african, tap, jazz, and modern dances.

There is a really good book on stretching:

"Stretching" by Bob Anderson Shelter Publications
ISBN 0-936070-22-6
www.shelterpub.com

Stretching routinely keeps your body from falling prey to many muscle and joint problems of old age. I stretch for 20 min. every morning and night. Stretching also takes up 30 min. of each training session.


It helps to maintain and build up leg muscles to keep your knees in good shape. One main cause of knee problems is that the leg muscles are weak and transfer excess stress to the joint itself. Squats, raises, and exercise machine reps can do wonders for developing leg muscles.

My knee pains are all but gone since I started a regimine to strengthen my leg muscles.