New to exercise and hills

nicolehardcastle7524

I’m new to exercise and I’m starting out just walking. The thing is, my road is all big hills and it is 90+ degrees all day plus humidity. I’m struggling even with a 30 min. Walk. It’s not hurting my muscles, I just am all out of breath and nauseated and hate it. A gym is not an option. Any advice appreciated.

jjpptt2

Slow and steady. Take breaks when you need to. Find shade where you can. Be patient and your fitness will catch up. Try getting out earlier or later in the day when it's not as hot if your schedule allows.

Diatonic12

In this day of extreme sports where people leap from helicopters onto snowboards and everyone and their cousin is doing a marathon...somehow when we go for a walk we feel the need to put the word "just" in front of our accomplishments as in; I 'just' walked down the road and I wasn't even walking fast. But you got dressed and walked for 30 minutes in 90+ heat.

Big hills are the best. Try going earlier before the heat index is way too hot. I hike with leki poles. They really help you going up. Get some if you can because they help you exercise your arms when you're starting out. I wear a backpack now when I hike a ridge and still use my poles. Hills are the best, along with tree trunk thighs from hiking the hills and mountains.

Thehardmakesitworthit

Hill training is the absolute best....build that butt and legs like the poster above notes and you will be so far ahead of the game when you venture into other exercise! You can do it! Slow and steady wins the race! Like others said, there are ways to mitigate the heat....but do it!!!!!! Just do it! your body and mind will thank you weeks from now when you are jogging up the dang thing!!!!!

rsclause

I go out to walk or run at 5 am to beat the heat. When I need to get out after the sun comes up I like to ride a bike. The added wind helps offset the heat and humidity. As your fitness improves you will crave the hills.

jemhh

Can you go early in the morning when it may be cooler? If you are new to it, maybe taking shorter walks or two 15 minute walks instead of one 30 minute walk would work better.

Nadspee

Look up the Leslie Sansone series "Walk at Home". It's just home workout videos, but her walks are really fun and you don't have to leave your house!

TheFlyOnTheWall

I tore the ligaments in my feet doing hills - I was pushing too hard to get up the hills - this was over 5 years ago and I still can't do hills - even the slightest incline causes pain. I don't know how common this is, but just be aware. (side note: I use poles as well)

jemhh

TheFlyOnTheWall wrote: »

I tore the ligaments in my feet doing hills - I was pushing too hard to get up the hills - this was over 5 years ago and I still can't do hills - even the slightest incline causes pain. I don't know how common this is, but just be aware. (side note: I use poles as well)

Ouch!

Honestly, it's not sexy but even with walking I think that people need to simmer down a bit and ease into things. I'd rather ease into things slightly more slowly than necessary than hurt myself and have to sit out activity. I know way too many people who have gone gung ho from the start, injured themselves, and then ended up in that slow downhill slide again.

lporter229

If walking outside is out of the question, you could always go to a local mall or other indoor place (office building?) and walk.

aokoye

Mari22na wrote: »

In this day of extreme sports where people leap from helicopters onto snowboards and everyone and their cousin is doing a marathon...somehow when we go for a walk we feel the need to put the word "just" in front of our accomplishments as in; I 'just' walked down the road and I wasn't even walking fast. But you got dressed and walked for 30 minutes in 90+ heat.

Aside from the fact that you or someone else said more or less exactly the same thing in another post, I don't think self deprication, in the manner you described it, is the issue here. Note where the OP said "just"

It’s not hurting my muscles, I just am all out of breath and nauseated and hate it.

The word "just" is playing a different function semantically in the OP than in your post. Yes there is a bit of self depreciation in the full post, no it doesn't appear to have anything to do with the word "just". Never mind that most people don't jump from helicopters with snowboards attached to them (and I can't imagine anyone jumping onto a snowboard from a helicopter, though that would be quite a feat in terms of accuracy in landing). Also as someone who has done "extreme sports", the one I did/sometimes still do, has a much lower barrier to entry than some of the more popular sports in the US and is arguably safer than a lot of them (football or hockey anyone?).

But back to the real subject of this thread, I agree with everyone who mentioned walking either early in the morning or later in the evening. Walking in a mall is another good idea. I would also add that staying hydrated is really important.