k so I'm trying to get my father to go jogging with me, hes 45 and is pretty heavy. He isn't fat but is built heavyer than I am, and has a lot of muscle mass (which apparently he hasn't used for 20 yrs but it still sticks around and makes him stronger than me somehow :l )

Anyway he can't seem to go even half a block, at an extremely slow joggy pace which is only a bit faster than a quick walk, without having to rest for almost 10 minutes, breathing hard. I feel it seems unhealthy to run in such short, strenous 30 sec bursts. He also has slightly flat feet, which I think makes it hard for him to run.

My mother is the same age and has the opposite problem. She is light and her breathing seems fine and she can run about half a block continuously, but her muscles seem very weak and they hurt her for almost the whole day afterwords.

Whats the best way for my father to work up to a steady jog when any running tires him out so fast? And is there any way to prevent muscle pain after the jog for my mother?

Get them walking first to build up to the jogging. Get your dad some decent shoes as well.

Have each of them run for 1 minute and then walk for as long as necessary for their heart rates to get below 100. Then repeat 5 times the first day. Add more repetitions, length of run and shorten the rest as they improve and they will improve.

Your dad is 4 years younger than me...

http://iach.amedd.army.mil/sections/...sion(Time).pdf
Use this basic concept ... even if their "run" minutes have to be a fast walk at first
Make sure they have proper shoes.
Try having them warm up for at least 5 min, then stretch quads, hamstrings, calves at least twice, then warm up for 5 more min. Repeat the warmup as a cool down at the end.

Mrs. Hlove

I'm not as knowledgeable as many here, so I'll leave the advice to them, but I was just going to chime in that this sounds like biking with my dad. My wife and I went with him and his wife (they started biking long before us so we thought they'd smoke us) they went about 9 mph the whole time LOL I don't think my HR got over 100. They had us go ahead and we didn't see them again until we stopped for about 30 min to wait for them.

I wish I could convince my Dad to eat right and lose weight he's about 6'2 250 (all in his belly)

Gooch, I know how frustrating it is to get a loved one to lose weight and exercise; I'm dealing with that with my son.

You know what would be cool: have your dad ride the bike leg of a sprint triathlon relay! That would only be 10 - 15 miles and he could probably make that, even if it takes him an hour! You could run and you then only need a swimmer. Mom? Stepmom? Sister? Brother?

I'll bet that would motivate dad to lose weight.

Drex is doing this with his sister and father. All three of them are quite fit and might win the relay.