Exercise Plan

rachiriot

Hi

I'm struggling at the moment to work out how hard I should push myself at the gym. In the past I've pushed as hard as I can and ended up sore and then become unmotivated from not enjoying it because I'm pushing so hard and not wanting to go because I know I'd be sore after. Yesterday I went and took it a lot easier but stayed for longer. I haven't been in a while and I found that although I felt I had the energy to do more, I wasn't breathing as easy as I used to - nothing too major, I know this'll become easier again with time. I'm just not sure what the right balance is because I'm not sure I did enough yesterday. As I'm fairly out of shape I was there for an hour and did 30 mins cardio and 30 mins with small weights which I broke up into 10 minute chunks swapping between cardio and weights. With the cardio I stuck to a fast walk/jog.

Ninkyou

There's no reason to go balls to the wall... especially if you're new to exercise. You leave yourself open to injury as well as burning out since it's not sustainable. When I first began ALL I did was walk 1 mile. Slowly that increased. And from there I started walking nature trails/hiking in the warmer months. I swam in a heated pool during the winter or did Zumba. You can do any activity you want, just make it one you truly enjoy doing.

As for being sore, this is what we call DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). You typically will feel this after using a group of muscles you don't usually use as much or when you make them do more work than usual. Lasts a couple days but they go away as you continue to workout.

CassidyScaglione

As hard as you like. I try to get my breathing and heart rate up for cardio to the point where I start to sweat and feel warm. That's good enough. Re: strength training, I want to do enough that I have to push a little bit to finish a set, but not so hard that I can't finish, or it becomes painful to finish.