Tired muscles after 3 weeks of fitness plan

LJGmom

i started working out 3 full weeks ago. I go to gym 5 times a week and do zumba or aerobics of some kind. I also walk outside 1-2 times a week. I try to do a ab workout at least 1 time a week too. My problem is, my legs are so tired. I still have pain and a really worn out feeling when I'm not exercising. Going up a flight of stairs is killer. I am about 160, and 5'9. So that's not exceptionally heavy. Is this normal? It almost feels like I'm overdoing it, but it's really not that intense of workouts. I take 1 or 2 days completely off.

SarahxCheesecake

This happened to me and I quite simply ate more veg, but I also started taking multi vits. I was definately lacking the right nutrients.

fasttrack27

If its hard to even walk up stairs I'd say back off to 3 days/week for a while. Maybe fill in with another easy walk on those days off. Your body is trying to tell ya something. Then try going to 4 days/week for a few weeks, then back up to the 5 days. An alternative would be to still go 5 days but alternate the leg/cardio with a couple days of weight training for upper body and maybe more ab work.

adamswife23

do you wear a heart rate monitor when you work out? I wonder if you are overdoing it with your workouts. If you are this tired it may be a sign you need to take another day or two off to rest. But then again our muscles can adapt and if you are just starting out I wouldn't think it would be much longer before your muscles aren't as tired. Keep up the great work.

Jo2926

I can't say if its 'normal' or not - but the same thing happened to me when I first started. Been going about 8 weeks now, and still hurts the day after, but nowhere near as bad.

I agree with the more veg - and would also add more water. If it still hurts so bad when you next come to exercise then maybe just have a light session. I once read about a running programme that was entirely based on how much you ached/were tired and I always thought it was one of the most sensible plans I had read. (And I still have it for when I'm ready to try running again!)

Jodye

LJGmom

I am on t3 for my thyroid, and it does increase my heart rate quite a bit. At my assessment my resting HR was 86. It only took me about 5 minutes on treadmill to get to my zone. I am wondering if tharpt has anything to do with it.


I am on naturthroid and cytomel ( t3)

alyssamiller77

If you're working out 5 days straight each week and doing cardio that is heavy on the lower body (which fits with what you described) then this is somewhat normal. Things you could look at doing would be take two of those five days and focus just on upper body strength training or back off on the intensity of lower body work (light resistance elliptical or bike). Also make sure you're getting plenty of protein. As it is, if you're on a calorie deficit, your body is struggling just to keep those muscles maintained. You can help it out by making sure you're giving it to tools (proteins & carbs) to do so.

JJinWI

I posted a few other places around here about vitamin d deficiency. I was terribly achey and my joints hurt. Just getting out of the car after a short car ride was painful. My hips ached when I would sleep on my side. I thought I was just getting old

Long story short - I had a vitamin d deficiency. My doc had tested it as part of some routine blood work for a physical. She put me on 50,000 IU of vitamin D, once a week for four weeks. After the first dose, I immediately felt better. I thought to myself "What the heck?" (I hadn't told her I was feeling so achey - again, just thought I was getting old.) So, I did some research on it and sure enough - low vitamin D in the body can cause joint and muscle pain, among a lot of other things. Can't hurt to get tested. My level was around 11 and minimum is 30, I believe.

Now I still get sore - but it's the type of soreness that you normally get from working out. I can definitely tell the difference now. And, it's only soreness - no joint pain.

foremant86

I took a look at your diary and i'd say you aren't eating enough.

You are exhausting your body of all energy and not refueling with enough calories, you can't ask your body to work properly if you aren't giving it enough food.

On some days you have almost 1,000 calories left, that's no good.

LJGmom

MFP wanted me to eat 1410, but I followed a plan by a trainer on MFP, and calculated by my weight and metabolism and came up with 1500. I do NOT EAT MY EXERCISE CALORIES. I was sick one night, and couldn't eat anything, but usually I am right at 1400-1500 calories.

sofaking6

You might want to try taking 3 days off in a row..not on the regular but just one time to see if that helps you recover. If not, then my next recommendation would be to go see the doctor.