A beginner workout plan that respects your knees

Most workout plans assume you are already fit. A good beginner plan starts where you are, takes twenty minutes, needs no equipment and offers an easier version of everything. AI will write one — if you are honest about your starting point and anything that hurts.

1. 1

   Describe your starting point

   How active you are now, any aches, and what you have at home.

2. 2

   Choose a realistic rhythm

   Three sessions a week you will do beat six you will not.

Why beginners stop

The usual story goes like this. A burst of motivation, an ambitious programme found online, three hard sessions in the first week, legs so sore that stairs are a problem, a missed session, then another, and by week three it is over. The programme was written for someone fitter. The person concludes that they are not the exercising type, which is wrong. They started in the wrong place.

A good beginner plan feels almost too easy in the first week. That is deliberate. The aim of the first month is not to get fit. It is to become someone who exercises three times a week without drama, and to give joints and tendons time to adapt. They strengthen more slowly than muscles do, which is where the knees in the title come in.

Before you begin

• If you have a medical condition, are pregnant, have been inactive for a long time or have joint or heart problems, speak to your doctor before starting a new exercise programme.
• Tell AI honestly about your starting point: age range, current activity, any old injuries, what you dislike.
• Pick three days and a time you can keep. Mornings before work, lunchtimes or early evenings all work if they are realistic.
• Clear a space the size of a yoga mat. That is all the equipment needed.
• Decide what you will wear and put it out the night before.