Strenght & Stamina vs Speed & Agility

I am remembering a fitness book I had years ago, and I apologize I recall neither the title nor author. But the author recommended that we all should pursue five dimensions of fitness - strength, stamina, flexibility, speed, and balance.

I think that is a solid recommendation, but we have to keep in mind the context of our lives; few of us have the time, energy, or constitution to excel in all of those factors. So, we may want to choose one or two we want to emphasize, while devoting at least a little time to the others.

A good fitness trainer will, before designing a fitness program for you, ask "What are your goals?", and it sounds to me like that's a very important question in this case. The design of your own fitness program should be built around what you want to attain - strength, longevity, endurance, flexibility, and so on. Try to pick at most two such characteristics that are your top priority; you are probably not going to be able to be a power-lifting, marathon-running, yoga instructor.

But whatever your primary emphasis is, don't neglect the other aspects. My early years in the pursuit of fitness got me most deeply involved in running, but I remember reading much advice for runners to include things like push ups, sit-ups, and knee bends to strengthen the muscles running doesn't use, and also to employ various stretches to maintain flexibility and avoid injury.

Good luck!

I don't know where you are at, and more importantly, I am no one and nothing in the realm of physical training - however, in my experience, such as it is, "newbies" can easily over-think themselves into a corner and either do nothing, do too much, or get so overwhelmed that what they are doing is not the "perfect protocol" they flip out altogether.

Find the simplest 30 day program you can....and complete it. Doesn't *really* matter what it is. Something from your nearest "fitness" mag, or https://darebee.com/programs.html should be fine.

Then after 30 days....do another one.

Then do another one.

As long as the movements are safe and there is some kind of progression, you will improve, and if there is a bit of variety you will learn soon enough what you enjoy and want to do more of (and where you are a weak and need to improve just so you can do more of what you enjoy...)

I probably wouldn't spend a cent on equipment until then. If you can make an excuse not to do twenty pushups or squats, or run 2km, you'll just as easily make an excuse not to use a fancy gym membership, or a new bowflex....



(To answer the question - if you are a beginner, you only have "weak points" as you put it - specialising particular fields is more intermediate (or if you're feeling generous to the bros - "elite") athletes.)

The problem is that just "general fitness" is not enough for me to feel physically comfortable. That's why I don't think that all this everyday training most of people do, like morning running and other things like that, would suite me.

I have gone through depression etc over not being able to run fast or play any sport well. An illness kept me from being able to walk at all for a while but I kept persisting with rehabilitation exercises. Now, I choose to focus on my natural talents and as far as physical ability - I do what I can. Have improved 'cause I can walk up the stairs at work now and not be out of breath (steep stairs) whereas before I would be doubled over for a little while. On the right track it would seem. Every little bit helps

deb1977 wrote: I have gone through depression etc over not being able to run fast or play any sport well. An illness kept me from being able to walk at all for a while but I kept persisting with rehabilitation exercises. Now, I choose to focus on my natural talents and as far as physical ability - I do what I can. Have improved 'cause I can walk up the stairs at work now and not be out of breath (steep stairs) whereas before I would be doubled over for a little while. On the right track it would seem. Every little bit helps

My thinking here Deb is that there is no difference in the achievement between going from not being able to walk to walking easily up stairs, and from being able to walk a quarter mile to jogging a half-marathon. Both take commitment, spirit, and the will to not be constrained by our physical limitations.

Keep going, as you can, when you can. I am proud of you.

The problem is that just "general fitness" is not enough for me to feel physically comfortable. That's why I don't think that all this everyday training most of people do, like morning running and other things like that, would suite me.

I have not idea what this means?

Do you have "general fitness" already?
What do you mean by physically comfortable?

Physical training, whilst certainly containing some significant mental and emotional components, it's for the most part grounded in numbers - you can't just believe yourself faster.

If you want to be able to run a six minute mile, you rather necessarily need to be able to run an seven minute mile first.

Maybe running isn't your thing, but the same rather straight forward principle applies to most areas of physical fitness.

Unless you can clarify what you mean, I believe my original position stands.

In any case, you're what - four? five days closer to death now? how's your progress on strength or stamina or speed or agility been in that time?

Im going to repeat some of what James said earlier because i think these are the most important/relevant of the ideas to convey, here. The crucial thing right now is just to pick a program and do it. Worrying about exactly what you should do will only stop you from doing anything. If you think you want to do weights, pick a weight-training program. Starting Strength is probably the most popular. Rippetoe (guy who created Starting Strength) is a bit of a curmudgeon and i dont like listening to him talk anymore but fortunately, the program works quite well for beginning lifters and you can find it - and a large community of others to offer help and feedback online, for free, without having to listen to Rip tell you how brilliant he is, lol. StrongLifts5x5 is another very good program for beginners. The site that James listed has a bunch of different 30 day programs of different types, as well.

The best way to figure out exactly what you should be doing is to just start doing something, lol. I promise, youll learn way more by doing something that isnt perfect than you will by asking about what the perfect thing to do might be.

As far as it goes - Starting Strength and 5x5 are the "go to" recommendations for strength training beginners, so if you pick one of those, you'll be following in the footsteps of many others who have had great success.

(I didn't mention them as they are slightly more "technical" than the darebee programmes or whatever garbage is in Men's Health mags, and sometimes the equipment requirement and keeping track of those pesky numbers can put people off - and there is theoretically a higher chance of injury for inexperienced exercisers doing poor form with excessive weight on the lifts.)

Do not let me dissuade you - if you are keen as a keen thing, you should definitely see improvement (and learn a great deal) if you do a solid barbell programme.

I don't believe you've published your "baseline" performance by any metric currently, so anyone giving advice is just shooting in the dark as to what may assist you.