Currently I walk for an hour every day.

I want to start including pushups and squats to my routine.

I am looking for good fitness. I have no desire or interest to become a musclebound bodybuilder.

Questions:

1. What would be a good number of pushups and squats to be able to do?

2. Should I do them daily or every other day?

3. Can you suggest a progression plan?

Thanks!

Jethro, start slow adn build on it. Try work at the intensity where you fatigue the muscle by 8 repititions while being able to keep good form on the 8th. If you can't magage that take the intensity down. This could mean switching to doing pushups from the knees instead of toes, or against a wall, or in the case of squats, not going down as far. Make sure on the squats to think about sitting back as you do it. To prevent injury your knees should not extend farther out than the tip or your toes. 2 sets of 8 repititions of each exercise is a good place to begin. 2 or 3 times a week is sufficient with at least 1 day in between. For the most part, you wouldn't train the same muscle two days in a row because the muscle will need time to repair between training sessions. Have fun!

Jethro, excellent question!

Many people focus. on "aerobic" exercises to burn calories and fat, and forget that anaerobic exercise is also important for muscle building.

Last time I tried working with a trainer, we approached it this way: first, I did a selected exercise for as many reps that I could do in a row, really pushing it until I couldn't do it anymore. Record that number in a log. Then, to establish the exercise program, I started with 10 reps of each exercise, and would cycle through all of the different exercises and then repeat them twice. If I couldn't do 10, then I would do as many as I could, but definitely did 2 sets of each exercise. Each time that I exercised, I would try to build on the number of reps that I could do.

Every other day works out great, as you need a recovery day.

Periodically, I would repeat the test that we did in the beginning to see if I was able to do more reps, and I would keep track of that number. Should see progression overall in the test and in the ability to increase the reps of each exercise that you are doing.