Am I exercising enough?
Kiyomoo
Posts: 354 Member
Hello, everyone! I'm 21 years old. I never exercised in the past. But on August 25th, I made the decision to eat better and start exercising.
At the moment, I currently go on walks for about 10-15 minutes 4-6 times a week. I can tell that my fitness level has already gone up a lot, I don't get worn out as soon.
What I'm wondering, is if this is good enough for now? I am losing weight and building stamina, and I feel it's a lot of exercise in comparison to what I was doing before: absolutely nothing. But I'm also aware that this is less than the recommended amount of exercise that most adults need.
Am I not doing enough? How can I tell how hard I should be pushing myself, and how quickly I need to up the difficulty?
At the moment, I currently go on walks for about 10-15 minutes 4-6 times a week. I can tell that my fitness level has already gone up a lot, I don't get worn out as soon.
What I'm wondering, is if this is good enough for now? I am losing weight and building stamina, and I feel it's a lot of exercise in comparison to what I was doing before: absolutely nothing. But I'm also aware that this is less than the recommended amount of exercise that most adults need.
Am I not doing enough? How can I tell how hard I should be pushing myself, and how quickly I need to up the difficulty?
2
Replies
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You said the most important thing already: something is better than nothing. It's better for you to find something you will stick with than to do too much too soon and end up quitting.
Ideally you would be doing something active for a half hour to an hour every day, and something strength related a couple of times a week. But no rush! Walk a little faster and a little longer as it gets easier for you. When you get bored, look around and see what other activities you might enjoy - I like learning Bollywood Zumba routines. Maybe you would enjoy a sport, or climbing, or running. There are a lot of different options for building strength. One is to start by doing some bodyweight strength routines at home - there are a lot of good ones on YouTube.
Plan for a rest day or two in your weekly routine. If you feel tired all the time, ease off. If you start feeling bored, challenge yourself. And don't stress about it, you're moving in the right direction.6 -
The nhs recommends 150 minutes of exercise per week, so working up to that would be a good idea.4
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If you get worn out after just 10 to 15 mins walking I'm going to guess your either fairly overweight or very unfit. ( YOU don't say in your post) so it is important you take it slowly to avoid injuries . Build up slowly by setting small goals. Maybe that you will try to make all your walks nearer to 15 mins rather than 10 or maybe you cover your normal route but try to do it a bit quicker. You could also vary where you walk to include hills or a beach ECT. Another good one is try and do 2 x 10 mins walks a day
Which totals a little more but gives you a break. All of these small changes will push you but you need to keep it enjoyable or you won't stick with it. Good luck x1 -
Hello, everyone! I'm 21 years old. I never exercised in the past. But on August 25th, I made the decision to eat better and start exercising.
At the moment, I currently go on walks for about 10-15 minutes 4-6 times a week. I can tell that my fitness level has already gone up a lot, I don't get worn out as soon.
What I'm wondering, is if this is good enough for now? I am losing weight and building stamina, and I feel it's a lot of exercise in comparison to what I was doing before: absolutely nothing. But I'm also aware that this is less than the recommended amount of exercise that most adults need.
Am I not doing enough? How can I tell how hard I should be pushing myself, and how quickly I need to up the difficulty?
When I started (weighing 290lb) I couldn't even manage 5 mins on treadmill at 2mph, but I slowly increased the time I was walking, adding 1min a time until I could walk for over 30min, then started running (and now can run a marathon). It's all about little steps and pushing yourself a tiny bit further every day. Going from nothing to an hour in one go is not a good idea, but gradually building it up is. I would recommend adding in some strength work too if you can, again start small and build up. I genuinely believe the strengthwork is what has made me look as good as I do (yes there is still work to do).5 -
Good for you for getting started! Walking is fantastic! Try adding 5 minutes each week til you walk a brisk 45-60 minutes. I also encourage you to start strength training. It will help you in so many ways. Again start small and build up gradually as you are able.4
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If what you are doing now pushes you, then you are doing good. The key is to keep pushing yourself. So if you feel like you can add 5 minutes, add 5 minutes to you walk. You want to gradually build up to more intense workouts.5
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Enough for what, exactly?
As others have said, you are making big strides in your fitness just by getting started, and you can continue to build on that.
If you are asking, "enough for weight loss", a 15 min. walk would result in a pretty minimal calorie burn for most people, but over time, small increases in activity can add up to a greater TDEE for you (total calories burned daily). The primary focus for weight loss should be on the number of calories you take in.
Great that you are looking at improving your health now, while you are young
4 -
Hello, everyone! I'm 21 years old. I never exercised in the past. But on August 25th, I made the decision to eat better and start exercising.
At the moment, I currently go on walks for about 10-15 minutes 4-6 times a week. I can tell that my fitness level has already gone up a lot, I don't get worn out as soon.
What I'm wondering, is if this is good enough for now? I am losing weight and building stamina, and I feel it's a lot of exercise in comparison to what I was doing before: absolutely nothing. But I'm also aware that this is less than the recommended amount of exercise that most adults need.
Am I not doing enough? How can I tell how hard I should be pushing myself, and how quickly I need to up the difficulty?
For weight loss, it does not matter. In general, if this is all the activity you get, your goal should be to increase it, a lot. If there is a health issue that is preventing you for at least walking more, definitely discuss a plan with your dr and do not make drastic changes on your own. If you are a healthy 21 year old, I cannot imagine what sort of exercise you can possibly get from 10 minutes of walking. And before people start yelling at me, circumstances define both "normal" and "hard". A morbidly obese 60 year old, a younger person with disabilities and a young healthy person are very different people. Most healthy people walk a lotmore than 10 minutes per day, without even paying attention to it, which is why I am asking why a 21 year old would classify this as exercise.0 -
I would like to thank everyone who has responded so far. I think I will take lizcarpenter146's suggestion and start out by adding an additional 5 minutes onto my walks, and then continue to add 5 minutes when I feel I can handle it. It seems like a good start.
For weight loss, it does not matter. In general, if this is all the activity you get, your goal should be to increase it, a lot. If there is a health issue that is preventing you for at least walking more, definitely discuss a plan with your dr and do not make drastic changes on your own. If you are a healthy 21 year old, I cannot imagine what sort of exercise you can possibly get from 10 minutes of walking. And before people start yelling at me, circumstances define both "normal" and "hard". A morbidly obese 60 year old, a younger person with disabilities and a young healthy person are very different people. Most healthy people walk a lotmore than 10 minutes per day, without even paying attention to it, which is why I am asking why a 21 year old would classify this as exercise.
Exercise is exercise no matter how little it is or what sort of exercise it is. As I mentioned in my post, I previously had no exercise. I would walk to my car, sure. Walk around the house to get food, sure. Walk inside grocery stores, sure. Even then, though, I wasn't leaving my house on a daily basis, maybe only a few times a month. I didn't go out and walk around the building for 10-15 minutes a day like I do now.
So, yes, I am aware that right now, my exercise seems small. That is the exact reason why I made this thread, after all. However, it is a lot when you take into consideration that I was doing nothing like this before. I have mentioned, too, that I have noticed a difference in my fitness level. Perhaps that surprises you, but it's true. At the beginning, I got very worn out from walking for 3 minutes, and now I barely feel it when I walk 15 minutes - and I'm walking a lot faster during that time.
I hope that you do not, in the future, make similar posts minimizing someone's efforts. It might not seem like a lot to you, but it is a lot for me, and from now on, my time spent exercising will keep on increasing. I am lucky enough that my confidence and self-esteem are higher right now. If I had read your posts a few years ago, it would have completely destroyed my motivation to keep going. I would have thought, "Why even bother? I thought I had been doing well, but apparently this is so insignificant, that I shouldn't even bother calling it exercise."
As you said, everyone has different circumstances, and this is mine. Thank you for taking the time to reply to my thread - I hope my response can clear up any confusion you might have about why I would call walking exercise, and why it is significant for me personally.18 -
I would try to work your way up to 25-30 minutes per walk. That doesn't mean it has to be tomorrow. But if you feel like you can push yourself more than 10-15 minutes at a time, you should do so Try to work your self up, a few minutes at a time.2
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The CDC recommends 150 minutes per week of exercise to maintain fitness. If you want to improve fitness it is recommended to double that number.
Each minute of moderate exercise counts as 1 exercise minute. Moderate would be exercise that keeps your heart rate in the fat burn zone
Each minute of vigorous exercise counts as 2 exercise minutes. Vigorous would be exercise that keeps your heart rate in the cardio zone.
You can do any combination of the 2 you choose to get the 150 or 300 minutes.
The CDC website has a lot of useful information you can look at.
https://cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/adults/index.htm
Hope this helps.0 -
When I first started, walking for 3-5 minutes was enough because it challenged me (and no, I wasn't old or sick). After a while, it wasn't enough because it stopped challenging me so I added more minutes. After a long while and lots of weight lost, walking stopped being challenging so I added inclines to my walks, after which I got into running.
If it challenges you even a little, it's enough to improve your fitness. In addition to that, being active outside of exercise helps a lot. Every single minute counts even if it isn't challenging (for example I stroll around the house when on the phone). At the end of the day these minutes add up to a decent calorie burn.
ETA:
My personal suggestion for you is to think about yourself years from now. How much time do you see yourself dedicating to aerobic exercise consistently? Forget about speed for now and focus on gradually increasing your walking time until you reach your desired time. Don't let trying for speed affect your time progress. After you're up to your desired time, start walking faster or adding challenges to your walk (like walking on hillier areas), just enough challenge that you can still perform your desired minutes.
When deciding on your time, keep in mind you may also want to add some form of resistance training to your weekly routine, so don't overshoot your expectations to something that may not be sustainable.4 -
Good for you, the first step is the hardest. Keep feeling challenged. Set your self little goals. Walk for 20 minutes. Walk the same distance in less time. Add some body weight exercises and do a 15 seconds plank. 5 jumping jacks or burpees. I set a goal to do a push up. Took me over a year to succeed, but I did. Now push ups are part of my warm up (5 years later). Have fun! Congratulations on your achievements !1
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If it is working for you..and you are reaching your goals.. why do more.6
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I would like to thank everyone who has responded so far. I think I will take lizcarpenter146's suggestion and start out by adding an additional 5 minutes onto my walks, and then continue to add 5 minutes when I feel I can handle it. It seems like a good start.
For weight loss, it does not matter. In general, if this is all the activity you get, your goal should be to increase it, a lot. If there is a health issue that is preventing you for at least walking more, definitely discuss a plan with your dr and do not make drastic changes on your own. If you are a healthy 21 year old, I cannot imagine what sort of exercise you can possibly get from 10 minutes of walking. And before people start yelling at me, circumstances define both "normal" and "hard". A morbidly obese 60 year old, a younger person with disabilities and a young healthy person are very different people. Most healthy people walk a lotmore than 10 minutes per day, without even paying attention to it, which is why I am asking why a 21 year old would classify this as exercise.
Exercise is exercise no matter how little it is or what sort of exercise it is. As I mentioned in my post, I previously had no exercise. I would walk to my car, sure. Walk around the house to get food, sure. Walk inside grocery stores, sure. Even then, though, I wasn't leaving my house on a daily basis, maybe only a few times a month. I didn't go out and walk around the building for 10-15 minutes a day like I do now.
It makes me sad & concerned that a 21 year old woman would only be leaving the house a few times a month.
I think it's great you're making more of an effort to be physically active, but speaking from experience, being young and rarely leaving the house is an issue you should address as well, as isolation is terrible for your mental and physical health.
Edited to add: My comment was made with the assumption that you don't have any particular conditions limiting you. You haven't mentioned anything to that effect.6 -
I think you are doing a great job.
When I first started exercising years ago, I could barely walk due to hip problems and major pain. Today I can run for more than a mile and can hike mountains for more than 8+ miles in a day.
You just keep doing what you're doing and keep trying to add more distance/time/speed when you are able.1 -
It makes me sad & concerned that a 21 year old woman would only be leaving the house a few times a month. I think it's great you're making more of an effort to be physically active, but speaking from experience, being young and rarely leaving the house is an issue you should address as well, as isolation is terrible for your mental and physical health.
Edited to add: My comment was made with the assumption that you don't have any particular conditions limiting you. You haven't mentioned anything to that effect.
Thank you for being concerned. I am doing a lot better today than when I was a teen. When I was 15, I dropped out of school. I had severe anxiety. From ages 15-17, I only left my house once every two months to see my med management doctor. Sometimes, it would be so bad, that I would cry when I had to leave the house.
When I turned 18, I started driving myself places, and that helped my anxiety a bit, and I started going to the store occasionally, and to the library, and even volunteered at a pre-school for a while (until the anxiety become too much and I stopped).
Today, my anxiety is a lot better. Just being able to actually go outside and walk is amazing. For so many years, I would think of the question "What would be the first thing you would do if you were invisible?" and my answer would to that would always be to go outside for a walk. Simple as that. I always thought it would be amazing to be able to walk in public without anxiety.
I got my GED this year, and should be going to college next year. I am going to begin volunteer work at a hospital soon as well. So those two things alone will be getting me out of the house much more often, and give me chances at socializing with others. My depression has gotten better as well, I do not have as many negative thoughts, and I hate myself less and am learning to forgive myself for the mistakes I make.
I do not have any physical conditions (aside from being overweight and out of shape). But the mental issues were a real setback in the past. Nowadays, my walks are very rarely interrupted by anxiety. (Sometimes, this couple will be walking outside too, so I have to go back inside until they are done, for example - but even that is just a minor setback in comparison to the past.)10 -
You’re probably ready to up your exercise a bit...either by adding more walking, or some other exercise you like. Good for you! You’re doing great!1
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It makes me sad & concerned that a 21 year old woman would only be leaving the house a few times a month. I think it's great you're making more of an effort to be physically active, but speaking from experience, being young and rarely leaving the house is an issue you should address as well, as isolation is terrible for your mental and physical health.
Edited to add: My comment was made with the assumption that you don't have any particular conditions limiting you. You haven't mentioned anything to that effect.
Thank you for being concerned. I am doing a lot better today than when I was a teen. When I was 15, I dropped out of school. I had severe anxiety. From ages 15-17. I only left my house once every two months to see my med management doctor. Sometimes, it would be so bad, that I would cry when I had to leave the house.
When I turned 18, I started driving myself places, and that helped my anxiety a bit, and I started going to the store occasionally, and to the library, and even volunteered at a pre-school for a while (until the anxiety become too much and I stopped).
Today, my anxiety is a lot better. Just being able to actually go outside and walk is amazing. For so many years, I would think of the question "What would be the first thing you would do if you were invisible?" and my answer would to that would always be to go outside for a walk. Simple as that. I always thought it would be amazing to be able to walk in public without anxiety.
I got my GED this year, and should be going to college next year. I am going to begin volunteer work at a hospital soon as well. So those two things alone will be getting me out of the house much more often, and give me chances at socializing with others.
I do not have any physical conditions (aside from being overweight and out of shape). But the mental issues were a real setback in the past. Nowadays, my walks are very rarely interrupted by anxiety. (Sometimes, this couple will be walking outside too, so I have to go back inside until they are done, for example - but even that is just a minor setback in comparison to the past.)
I hope I didn't pressure you into sharing more than you would have liked, but thank you for this- I found it really encouraging! I'm so sorry you've had to deal with this, but I'm really impressed with your attitude and think it bodes well for you for the future! You definitely sound like a woman who knows how to set & meet goals 6 -
It makes me sad & concerned that a 21 year old woman would only be leaving the house a few times a month. I think it's great you're making more of an effort to be physically active, but speaking from experience, being young and rarely leaving the house is an issue you should address as well, as isolation is terrible for your mental and physical health.
Edited to add: My comment was made with the assumption that you don't have any particular conditions limiting you. You haven't mentioned anything to that effect.
Thank you for being concerned. I am doing a lot better today than when I was a teen. When I was 15, I dropped out of school. I had severe anxiety. From ages 15-17. I only left my house once every two months to see my med management doctor. Sometimes, it would be so bad, that I would cry when I had to leave the house.
When I turned 18, I started driving myself places, and that helped my anxiety a bit, and I started going to the store occasionally, and to the library, and even volunteered at a pre-school for a while (until the anxiety become too much and I stopped).
Today, my anxiety is a lot better. Just being able to actually go outside and walk is amazing. For so many years, I would think of the question "What would be the first thing you would do if you were invisible?" and my answer would to that would always be to go outside for a walk. Simple as that. I always thought it would be amazing to be able to walk in public without anxiety.
I got my GED this year, and should be going to college next year. I am going to begin volunteer work at a hospital soon as well. So those two things alone will be getting me out of the house much more often, and give me chances at socializing with others.
I do not have any physical conditions (aside from being overweight and out of shape). But the mental issues were a real setback in the past. Nowadays, my walks are very rarely interrupted by anxiety. (Sometimes, this couple will be walking outside too, so I have to go back inside until they are done, for example - but even that is just a minor setback in comparison to the past.)
I hope I didn't pressure you into sharing more than you would have liked, but thank you for this- I found it really encouraging! I'm so sorry you've had to deal with this, but I'm really impressed with your attitude and think it bodes well for you for the future! You definitely sound like a woman who knows how to set & meet goals
Not at all. There are a lot more details, of course, but I don't mind sharing what I did. I am happy to hear it was encouraging. Thank you for such kind words. You're awesome!2 -
It makes me sad & concerned that a 21 year old woman would only be leaving the house a few times a month. I think it's great you're making more of an effort to be physically active, but speaking from experience, being young and rarely leaving the house is an issue you should address as well, as isolation is terrible for your mental and physical health.
Edited to add: My comment was made with the assumption that you don't have any particular conditions limiting you. You haven't mentioned anything to that effect.
Thank you for being concerned. I am doing a lot better today than when I was a teen. When I was 15, I dropped out of school. I had severe anxiety. From ages 15-17, I only left my house once every two months to see my med management doctor. Sometimes, it would be so bad, that I would cry when I had to leave the house.
When I turned 18, I started driving myself places, and that helped my anxiety a bit, and I started going to the store occasionally, and to the library, and even volunteered at a pre-school for a while (until the anxiety become too much and I stopped).
Today, my anxiety is a lot better. Just being able to actually go outside and walk is amazing. For so many years, I would think of the question "What would be the first thing you would do if you were invisible?" and my answer would to that would always be to go outside for a walk. Simple as that. I always thought it would be amazing to be able to walk in public without anxiety.
I got my GED this year, and should be going to college next year. I am going to begin volunteer work at a hospital soon as well. So those two things alone will be getting me out of the house much more often, and give me chances at socializing with others. My depression has gotten better as well, I do not have as many negative thoughts, and I hate myself less and am learning to forgive myself for the mistakes I make.
I do not have any physical conditions (aside from being overweight and out of shape). But the mental issues were a real setback in the past. Nowadays, my walks are very rarely interrupted by anxiety. (Sometimes, this couple will be walking outside too, so I have to go back inside until they are done, for example - but even that is just a minor setback in comparison to the past.)
Congratulations for dealing so well with your issues, mental health issues as no less "real" than physical health issues!
Maybe you should start by separating exercise from being outdoors. You need physical activity so that your physical health does not suffer, especially long run. But this does not mean you have to also push yourself to do more outdoors when you are not ready. You can try simple exercises with bodyweight, cardio videos or even just walking in place.3 -
Another option would be to add a short walk at another time during the day. I find the idea of setting aside 60 minutes to walk a bit - um, painful - but breaking that up into a few smaller walks throughout the day has helped me increase my daily step count by a LOT without it feeling overly intrusive on my life.
I go to the gym as well, but found that outside of that, I was a SUPER lazy and had a very low step count each day. I'm finding smaller ways to add steps to my day to get me out of the completely "sedentary + gym" category.
May be a way for you to add some activity without having to tack it on to what you're already doing.1 -
Congratulations for dealing so well with your issues, mental health issues as no less "real" than physical health issues!
Maybe you should start by separating exercise from being outdoors. You need physical activity so that your physical health does not suffer, especially long run. But this does not mean you have to also push yourself to do more outdoors when you are not ready. You can try simple exercises with bodyweight, cardio videos or even just walking in place.
Thank you. I have some small weights, so I'll look up some YouTube videos and hope that I follow along correctly, lol.HoneyBadger155 wrote: »Another option would be to add a short walk at another time during the day. I find the idea of setting aside 60 minutes to walk a bit - um, painful - but breaking that up into a few smaller walks throughout the day has helped me increase my daily step count by a LOT without it feeling overly intrusive on my life.
I go to the gym as well, but found that outside of that, I was a SUPER lazy and had a very low step count each day. I'm finding smaller ways to add steps to my day to get me out of the completely "sedentary + gym" category.
May be a way for you to add some activity without having to tack it on to what you're already doing.
Yeah, I've broken it up sometimes. Thank you for your advice!0
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