Building up stamina

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Hi! My hubby and I have started a exercise regime this summer. We have been doing pretty good going on a regular basis. Our goals right now is to build up stamina and starting slowly. My hubby can do more than I but for me, what is a good, progressive routine to be able to tolerate the elliptical or kick boxing class. I have not exercised regularly in a while and starting slowly with the stationery bike and some strength training. I want to avoid the baggy arms. :-/ I also have knee issues so cannot "run". My doctor has told me I could use the cycle and elliptical. Any suggestions would be great! Thanks! Blessings! :smile:

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  • mlima14
    mlima14 Posts: 112 Member
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    You don't need to run to burn calories, you could power walk and you'll burn just as many as running. I have bad knees but it's usually the lunges that I have difficulty with so I use knee wraps. You might want to invest in good quality knee wraps if you plan on weight training since you want to loose and tone.
  • MyJourney1960
    MyJourney1960 Posts: 1,133 Member
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    I hope I'm understanding your question- for me the way I built up stamina was to slowly build it up :-) OK, let me ex PP main: first time on the elliptical, I could barely manage three minutes. so I did the three minutes. next day I did five. and so on. continuous pushing of the limits. be smart - it's not a race, you don't want to go from zero to sixty minutes in a day, but just keep adding on the minutes, then throw in some higher resistance/inclines.
  • criscram
    criscram Posts: 11
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    Thanks! I will continue to do that. Yesterday I was able to tolerate 11 minutes on elliptical, which is awesome for me. Thanks for your response, MyJourney.
  • criscram
    criscram Posts: 11
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    Mlima, Thank you, I will look into those. When I get off machines, I have to do it slowly. I am conscious of my knee also.
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
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    You can just keep adding time to your routine or you can break it up into smaller intervals.

    If you can go for 10 mins. Try going hard for 5 minutes then slow way down for 1 or 2 minutes then go another 5 minutes. Do that 3 times and your total exercise time nearly tripled.

    No matter what way you go you need to push yourself each time. Go a little longer, add more resistance, go a little faster or some combination of those.