[cefunonge]

This is a very interesting topic to me right now because I just finally hit the gym for the first time in ages and ages.

I'm looking for clarification about what we're saying when we talk about "slowly ramping up" exercise. For my first workout, I restricted myself to 20 minutes running on the treadmill, alternating running and walking to keep my heart rate in a certain range (I was huffing and sweating like a fountain). I decided to just go for 20 the first time to avoid injuries and too much soreness in my tendons and so forth. And that seems to have worked--no significant soreness today.

I've run marathons in the past, and the very definition of marathon training is ramping up slowly, adding a mile a week until you get to higher mileages, then adding them 2 at a time, and so on, until you can run the full marathon. Taking 4-6 months to do this (depending on your goal and speed) can prevent injuries that would stop you running at all. It does seem to take the body a little longer to build ligaments and tendons and muscles than it does to get your heart and lungs into the action. I've notice faster cardio response than the muscle building/toning in my legs, for example.

So can we define what is meant by ramping up, and how slow is too slow and how fast is fast enough (or too fast) for the very out of shape person looking to get back to exercise (and seriously committed to it)?

--Chris