Advice From My "International Fitness Guru - ex-playing Professional Rugby Player"

So its nearly 10pm, and I've finished working... Hmmm... so, to cut things short so I can watch "Ace Of Cakes" on the FoodNetwork channel, I'll just paste some of advice I received today! I also need to find a decent picture of the Superstar ex-playing Professional Rugby Player from somewhere... with his approval of course! So, here goes the advice - applicable to all!

It all started off with a discussion about wobbly legs:

Guru: Lots more water, cause your legs will always feel wobbly
me: Ok Doc. Sports
Guru: Seriously, if you start training, it's something your body has not done for a while so you need to focus on getting your body ready to run
me: Yes, actually, my diet in CA is very different to when I was in the UK. I have one of those power juicers, so am always juicing. My friends think I'm nuts.
Guru: Juice is good
...
Guru: Ok when you get to the gym you need to do the following: Warm up which will mean a 5 mins brisk walk on the treadmill or 5 min bike ride at a brisk pace
me: Ok [add a few nods for the full imagination]
Guru: you need to do this to raise your pulse rate. So you will actually feel a little warm, as the blood flow around the body increases
me: Ok [more nodding]
Guru: The reason it increases is because internally your muscles are working and therefore heating up. So the body gets rid of excess heat by increasing blood flow to the surface of the skin, then you need to stretch. And thats all major muscle groups
…
Guru: Brianmac - warmup So stretching, you need to focus initially on all the major muscle groups. Legs, arms, chest, back
me: Ok [even more nodding]
Guru: So legs = Calves, hamstrings, quads hip flexors and abductors and adductors. Chest, or top half of the body, abdominals, pectoralis major and minor. Back = Latisimus dorsi (AKA wings. These allow you to move your arms above your head and down again)
me: Okay, I am going to need to Google to see where these muscles are
Guru: Arms = Biceps, Triceps etc . Don't worry I'll send you an appropriate link. Finally the most important one baring in mind you're running is you glutious maximus. Aka you bum
me: Cheers!
...
Guru: So all of those need to be stretched before you even think about doing anything over a long distance. The first step is knowing where they all are and what they do. The next step is getting your body used to them working again. So for the first few days of using them you will be in pain. This is normal
me: Yes, pain, no gain
Guru: After that you then need to work on your stamina. Basically, thats getting your heart and lungs used to working together to pump oxygenated blood around your body economically for you to use whilst excercising. At the moment thats not happening. Hence why your legs were wobbling after a short run
me: Yes - stamina is what I need to be able to do this, and hence all this advice is great!
Guru: Yes stamina is what you need, but you need all the other stuff to be working before your stamina can be of any use
me: Exactly! And that I wasn't all aware of!
...
Guru: Mayoclinic.com - health - stretching good site for basic stretching techniques
me: Excellent!
Guru: Also very simple one of the major muscle groups and their names Wisc-Online
me: oooh
Guru: This is actually better img - quamut - chart
me: Awesome dude!
Guru: and finally wikiHow -Prepare-For-a-Long-Distance-Run great tips for the day before
me: Well, I have running shoes, and legs to get started with
Guru: To be honest, the nutrition side of it you need to do from now. So lots of carbs, fibre and water just to get your body used to eating and taking in this type of energy. You will feel tired initially but that will go.
me: Okay, you can be "My International Fitness Guru - ex-playing Professional Rugby Player"
Guru: Haha! Brilliant

Later this week, I have a Swami teaching me how to use the equipment at my Gym... Watch this space!