Forgive my stupid question

missypoo1974
missypoo1974 Posts: 43
in Fitness and Exercise
I have sworn to myself that I would never ask a question here. I have seen so many people ask a rather simple question and they are torn apart by sarcastic people who don't care. But I'm curious about something, so I'm breaking my promise to myself.

My TOM is nearing and I have NO ENERGY! I got on my elliptical tonight and barely got through 5 minutes before I had to stop. I know it is probably more my brain than my legs, but still. My question is this....is there any benefit to short bursts of exercise? I know that it is ideal to do 20 minute intervals to get your heart rate up. But is doing short ones a waste of time?

Replies

  • Determinednoob
    Determinednoob Posts: 2,001 Member
    Well it would depend on how you define a waste. Any activity burns calories, so if you do enough you may eventually burn enough to be of use. Also if they help you to be able to do longer and longer ones, then they were not a waste.

    Now on the devil's side if you burn even a normalish amount of calories from cardio in a day, just eating a bit less would have had the same effect on weight loss, been cheaper, and saved time.
  • missypoo1974
    missypoo1974 Posts: 43
    Well it would depend on how you define a waste. Any activity burns calories, so if you do enough you may eventually burn enough to be of use. Also if they help you to be able to do longer and longer ones, then they were not a waste.

    Now on the devil's side if you burn even a normalish amount of calories from cardio in a day, just eating a bit less would have had the same effect on weight loss, been cheaper, and saved time.

    I normally do 30 min or so on the elliptical....today was not typical. During this time, I do try to eat less, but if I do zero cardio, I feel blah. I know I burned a few calories (the machine says 40 although MFP says 75) but as far as increasing my metabolism....I'm sure it did nothing.
  • RaluKitty
    RaluKitty Posts: 62 Member
    When I feel I have no energy I take an Emergen-C 15-20 minutes before I start my cardio and most of the times it helps me keep at it for at least 30 minutes. The added bonus is that the B6 in Emergen-C helps immensely with the TOM as it helps metabolize hormones faster. Even 2-3 Emergen-Cs over 4-5 days help a lot.
  • caraiselite
    caraiselite Posts: 2,631 Member
    I have sworn to myself that I would never ask a question here. I have seen so many people ask a rather simple question and they are torn apart by sarcastic people who don't care. But I'm curious about something, so I'm breaking my promise to myself.

    i feel like this sometimes to.

    that's when i go to the googles, or use the search function.

    i do hope you feel better. i do low carb and use birth control so i have no energy issues. good luck!

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