42 and starting a fit and heathy lifestyle

[jod830]

Greetings from Sacramento CA. High cholesterol in my early 40's starting P90x as a spring board to a fit and healthy me. Looking for some advice on how to plan my workouts first thing in the morning. Can someone help me with my morning routine? Thank you Dave and Monica, this is a great website. =)

[Maggie]

I tried a morning workout and was drained the rest of the day (it was Plyo) Tony says just press play. I have high cholesterol and I'm in my 20's I hope we can keep each other motivated. This website is very awsome.

[scourtney7]

The key is to keep pressing play and fighting through the workouts. Give your best as long as you do not feel tightness in your chest or dizziness during the workouts, particularly the cardio based workouts, as that can be a sign of overexertion. These workout programs, particularly P90X and Insanity are very intense and very strenuous programs and so you should always listen to your body. There is a difference between fatigue and overexertion so beware and if you feel dizzy, severe nausea, or faintness that are more than intermittent, you should listen to your body and if these symptoms persist during the workouts as the programs proceed, you should consult a doctor.

Now setting these factors aside, I have found that attempting the cardio programs in p90x and insanity to be too intense for the morning. I always have difficulty getting through the workouts when I do them in the morning, and I find that I cannot give the 110% effort that I can on workouts once I have fueled my body properly throughout the day. So for me, I complete the workouts in the late afternoon, often an hour or so before dinner. This serves two purposes (in addition to having the energy to complete the workout). 1) It revs up my metabolism prior to eating so that when I eat the meal my body more efficiently burns the calories and processes the food. And 2) It curbs my appetite a bit so that I am less likely to overeat during the meal. If you must workout first thing in the morning, as I did prior to buying p90x when I worked out with a personal trainer at 5 AM several times per week, I would suggest getting up approximately 30 to 45 minutes prior to when you are going to workout so that you can hydrate yourself (drink 8 oz of water) and eat some small foods that contain simple & natural sugars that can be easily processed and distributed through out the body and muscles. Foods that I was instructed to eat by my trainer and my nutritionist at that time were small bananas and/or a small bowl of oatmeal (quick cooking oats that do not contain added sugars - raw oats in their natural form that is) with some fresh cinnamon and ginger (both of these increase metabolism among other health benefits). Eating these foods will provide the energy that you need for the workouts without taxing your digestive system and taking blood away from your muscles in order to digest the food (which will cause cramping). So those are my two big recommendations for morning workouts. These things were recommended to me by professionals and heck they worked for me so I will pass them along to you! Hope that helps!

Shannon

[jod830]

Thank you for the quick responses. Maggie, will definitely keep you posted on my journey, please do the same with yours. Shannon, awesome suggestions for an early morning routine. I will give it my best effort and go for it.

[CyberFitnessGuru]

Congradulations! It is never too late to start living right! So many people just use the 'im too old' excuse and that is just an injustice to their life.

You are one of the few, I am proud to share a thread with you.

:)


Jake