I know this is a response to an old thread, but in case anyone else just happens to come across this thread: I don't want to spend money on a gym, where I have to exercise with a bunch of other people around. Not happening. So, I do the following (and has worked for me): * Take 10 minute walks whenever possible -- break time, lunch time, after work -- if the weather is inclement, go to the Mall, CostCo (just don't grab a cart) or Sam's Club. * Do you have stairs in your house? Run up and down the stairs a lot. It helps if you can make an errand, like taking things up and bringing things back down. * Find workouts online, on TV, or buy some DVD's. My favorite on TV is Classical Stretch (PBS) because it's elegant, and you do strengthening and conditioning as well as low-impact aerobics. I'm a school teacher, so one of my other favorite workouts online are with Fresh Start Fitness and Zumba Kids, both done with my students (we all get exercise and have fun doing it). * Every area of the country has trails somewhere. On weekends, find your local trails and hike them, now that the weather is turning nice almost everywhere. * My husband and I took out a membership to our local zoological society. It helps that we live near enough to the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Safari Park (formerly Wild Animal Park). Both parks are huge. We walk. And walk. Uphill. Downhill. Then Uphill some more. Last Saturday, we walked 4 miles at the Safari Park. Oh, and we got to see some amazing animals, too. Depending on where you live, you may have a huge zoo or animal park nearby where you will get some walking in. Donna

You asked if we thought someone who had not exercised in a long time could get back in shape. well, think about this, if you DON"T exercise some, even a little, what kind of shape will you be in this time next year? You'll be worse. You want to start doing something, and walking is a good beginning, to just stay where you are. You may never get back to what you could do when you were a teenager, but you can certainly improve on what you are today. Give it a good try. It will be well worth it!!

Get yourself a book on how these things work. then maybe you will understand better. Yes, it is possible to use up more muscle tissue than you can rebuild if you do too much. then you are going to be in BIG trouble. All of your body tissues, both fat, neural and muscle are constantly being broken down and rebuilt. I suspect with the amount of exercise that you do that you have little fat to use for energy. Therefore, you are breaking down muscle tissue to use. That's the way the body works. Keep in mind that your most important muscle is your heart. It would be wise to listen to your trainer and give your muscles a proper lenght of time to recover. Watching TV will do this, more running won't.

Good question. I'd like to know too. "Flashdance" and "Gloria" are two that come to mind that I like. Also "Let's get physical" is good. I also like Neil Diamond's "America". I have a SanDisk MP3 player. Not one with a large capacity, it only holds about 60 songs (4 hours worth) but it does quite nicely. The quality of the music is good and the earphones are comfortable. It is very easy to load and delete songs.....copy and paste technique. My twins' ipod is a little more complicated to use. She has a better one with a large memory card and wanted to put her songs in directories. It took awhile for she and her DH to figure it out.