Struggling at the gym

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  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    Congrats on getting started and staying consistent. When you are unfit and overweight (as I was when I started) the goal is to establish a new habit, be consistent, and GRADUALLY pace yourself. You will instinctively increase your effort as you are able. Depending on your starting fitness level, it can take a long time to feel like you're doing great. But the important thing is that you're improving on YOU. If you push too hard too soon you can easily become discouraged, overtired, and possibly injured.
    "Small daily improvements are the key to staggering long term results." Robin Sharma
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
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    Some days I just am not feeling it. Tuesday was one of those days. I really didn’t want to be there and I didn’t have a very good work out. But I was on my period too and Ive got a little cold so maybe that’s why. You are doing great keep up the good work. It takes time to build up.
  • Lean59man
    Lean59man Posts: 714 Member
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    Some days are better and some days are worse than others.

    Just keep showing up.

    What you are experiencing is normal.

    What kind of exercise are you doing?

  • susanp57
    susanp57 Posts: 409 Member
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    Yesterday I was scheduled to lift, but was a bit tired and almost blew it off. I had a cup of coffee and felt much perkier.

    Over the last 2-3 months I have also been making a concerted effort to go to bed earlier. Eight hours of sleep every night helps everything, not just my workout.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    You know those times where you dip below your target HR? You're still doing more than you were when you were sedentary, right? That's the biggest thing.

    It's great to try to keep in your target zone - but don't stress over it.
  • nicolega2001
    nicolega2001 Posts: 48 Member
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    Lean59man wrote: »
    Some days are better and some days are worse than others.

    Just keep showing up.

    What you are experiencing is normal.

    What kind of exercise are you doing?

    They have a circuit at my gym with ten weight machines. In between each machine you do one minute of cardio.
  • vinxvenus
    vinxvenus Posts: 4 Member
    edited October 2017
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    You don't need to do any kind of intense or heavy exercise if you're obese since it's not good for your joints.
    Calculate whatever your TDEE is when you're sedentary or lightly active & subtract 500-1000 from there. Stay away from a lot of carbs and sugar if you want to see a steady weight loss.
  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
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    nicolega2001 wrote: »
    They have a circuit at my gym with ten weight machines. In between each machine you do one minute of cardio.

    to me the main question is whether you enjoy that. i dropped in on a circuit class a few times when i was first looking into lifting - i was in now-now-now mode and it was the only immediate gateway i found. after the novelty wore off, it dawned on me that i loved the weights . . . but i absolutely hated the 'circuit' format.

    so there's that. ymmv, but circuit was way too stressy and pressured and bossy for me. some folks find it motivating. i found it noisy and demoralizing. doesn't mean i'm not a big gym rat now; i just didn't stick with the first format i tried because as it turned out the first format i tried simply wasn't 'for' me.

    congratulations on your consistency. i do agree with all the people who feel it's perfectly fine to go with what your body feels up to, rather than trying to stick to the letter (or number) of some formula just because someone gave you that formula when they barely knew you.
  • mtbusse73
    mtbusse73 Posts: 93 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    nicolega2001 wrote: »
    FatWithFatness wrote: »
    Coffee, caffeine is your friend.

    You're the second person who has said that on this thread. Very interesting to me! I had never considered that before. I think I assumed it would make me feel dehydrated.

    I would take HR zone training with a grain of salt as there are numerous things that can affect it. It's something I watch when I'm riding, but I don't get too wrapped up in it.

    A nice conversational pace endurance ride in the afternoon usually has me somewhere between 130-140...that same ride done in the morning after a cup or two of coffee will have me at 150+. It doesn't really mean anything...my level of effort is the same, it's just that my HR is "artificially" raised with the caffeine...and likely some raised cortisol levels as they tend to be high in the AM.

    I'm glad to hear you say 150 HR....I was on the elliptical and HR was up to 148 (which I'm not in shape but getting there). Someone had told me 150 was the max....lol ....so I'm not gonna die now!

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