Hubby says I'm overdoing it--- I disagree

niekkosgirl

I worked with a personal trainer for a session back in August and I've been using variations of the routine she gave me since then. My husband recently bought me two sessions with her and I worked with her on Tuesday. She ramped things up big time and although I was beaten to a pulp with all the new lunges and squats, arm work and crunches, I felt strong and invigorated. Now, I hurt pretty badly the next day, so I took a recovery day, but went back the day after that and followed the routine on my own. I have gone back two times since that as well.

The last two sessions, however, I have hurt something each time. The first time I hurt my hip doing lunges and these planked leg extension things (I call them frog kicks because you bring your knee up to the side and then kick back). It felt like it hurt inside my hip and when I tried doing lunges with the bosu ball and bar, it hurt pretty badly on the one hip.

Yesterday, I was doing some crunches with the pulley machine on the floor, where you extend and elevate your legs after contracting with the pulley. I got through 45, and was into my fourth set, when I had this popping feeling in my right mid abdomen. It then hurt to do anything like flipping over in bed, moving from laying to sitting; any exercises engaging those muscles really hurt.

Soooo, my husband thinks that I am just overdoing it and that I should just take it easy. I don't want to take it easy, but I do want to be safe. I hadn't been able to get good workouts in for over a month and I did jump right back in, but I'm not convinced. On these work out days, I was doing ~15-20 minutes of cardio and then doing strength training for 50-60 minutes. I warm up on the elliptical or treadmill for 15-20 minutes before I start strength training.

Do you think this is too much to jump back in at? Do I need a longer stretching session after warming up and prior to strength training (currently I stretch for ~3-5 minutes.) I could just do cardio the whole time, but I get bored and strength training makes me feel strong. I'm up for any suggestions.


BTW: I'm 34, 157 lbs, 5'2 and I'm fairly active as a teacher with two preschool-aged sons.

Thanks!

Gordon_L

I didn't realize that you were feeling pain from some of the exercises you were doing. I'm not a trainer and I really don't know the ins and outs of exercising, but when I feel pain I do ease off. I feel as though my body is trying to tell me something.

I'm 63, weigh 180 (goal is 160), 5'7" and I do 35 minutes of cardio and another 35-40 minutes of weight training 4 days a week.

There is one exercise I do that I just can't seem to get back to where I was a few years ago - every time I try to increase the weight, I feel pain in one of my shoulders - so I figure I must have damaged something there at some point - so I've been at the same weight for quite a long time - just been increasing the reps.

Just don't hurt yourself. Maybe if it's possible you could spend another session with the trainer and see what she thinks.

Good luck!

scottb81

If you are injuring yourself then you are overdoing it.

4_Lisa

My trainer has me set up on a routine that has 2 hard workouts per week, I go in at least 1-2 more times on my own doing mostly cardio and light weights. You need to give yourself time to repair in between hard sets. If your injuring yourself your doing something wrong, your body isn't healed from the last set. You are at high risk of doing some serious damage. Longer warm up is not going to help. If you want to go hard try offsetting days, upper body one then lower body with a rest/cardio day in between.

JMO

contingencyplan

Sounds like you are. Cut your strength training sessions down to about 30-45 minutes max sticking mainly to compounds, maybe 3 exercises per day, such as in the Stronglifts or Starting Strength program. Supplement it with 5 minutes of cardio to warm up prior to strength training and another 15-20 minutes after.

xTJSx

If you are injuring yourself then you are overdoing it.

Or not doing set moves correctly!

LaurenAOK

Are you sure you're doing everything with proper form? Lunges shouldn't hurt your hips. If you can afford it, maybe go for one more session with a trainer to get your form checked out. An hour of strength training generally isn't too much, but if your form is off you could really hurt yourself.

For now though, definitely rest up until your current injuries heal. Then when you go back, maybe start a little smaller - 30 mins of strength training instead of an hour. Two sets of each exercise instead of four. Etc. And work your way up.

BflSaberfan

I dont think you're over doing it, I think your form is incorrect. Go a little bit slower during each of your workouts to get the most out of them. Work smarter, not harder. I would say your routine is pretty standard, nothing extreme about it - just check your form and keep going - after you are healed of course.

liesevanlingen

You may want to see a doctor at a sports injury clinic before you continue. If you are in that kind of pain, something is wrong. You should be a little sore and stiff, but not in that kind of pain. If it "hurt pretty badly", you've probably got an injury and you could do really serious damage if you don't get it checked out. And get two opinions.

When he was 13 years old, my husband took a flying tackle at the hip in a rugby game. It was misdiagnosed as a sprain and he walked around on it for two months while the muscles atrophied and shrank. His mom (a nurse) decided to get him checked out by another doctor. The next thing he knew, he was in traction and they were talking about surgery.
Long story short, surgery didn't work, my husband was in pain for the next 30 years, with one leg an inch and a half longer than the other. Last year, at age 43, he had to have a hip replacement. (They wouldn't do it before because he was too young, but fortunately joint replacement surgery has progressed to the point where you can get multiple repeats if needed).

Do yourself a favor and DON'T wait to get it checked out.

vickijane1122

I would like to suggest that you seek a medical professional. It could be a labrum tear. My daughter is very fit and experienced the same pop and pain in her hip. Throughout the past year, she has tried modifying her workouts, massage, acupuncture, physio, Alexander Technique, vascular flush and sessions with a personal fitness trainer. The end result for a labrum tear can be surgery; hers is booked for this week. You might want to check this out.

MercenaryNoetic26

Are you sure you're doing everything with proper form?

I agree it could be form. It's easier to get your form right when you have someone there telling how to do it and correcting you. Do you do warm up sets? Try doing regular stationary lunges vs on a bosu ball with a barbell. Do the easier versions until the discomfort alleviates. You may need more training sessions.

Eta: def seek medical advice if indeed you have a painful injury.

RobinRayn

Maybe try lower impact exercises? Ever tried Zumba?

FrnkLft

Safety is paramount. The only sort of pain that you should tolerate is from muscle soreness (not to be confused with pain from over extending/pulling a muscle/joint). Joint pain could be an indication that you are over stressing your bone structure or possibly doing the exercise the wrong way. you're tough, but you don't want to be hurt. Take care of yourself.

First, make sure you are keeping good form.

Second, pace yourself... I read that you are doing 15 reps? Doing the same exact movement 15 times under heavy weight can be bad for you... it's like the reason so many runners have bad knees if they run on concrete too much. Most people hwo are looking to build muscle/tone do heavy weight in the 6-8 range. Repetative stress injuries (much less under heavy weight). If I read it wrong and you didn't do 45 reps straight, just keep this concept in mind anyhow.

Finally, if you have bad shoulders, hips, etc... you need to be mindful of this and perhaps find other exercises that offer more support (i.e. use the machine version of the exercise that will provide you with a seat to help with posture). It might not be ideal, but it will keep you healthy and progressing.

For example, here are the tradeoffs that I accept because of how my body feels:

Deadlifts -> Weighted Hyperextensions (lower back)
Squats -> Leg Press, Machine (lower back)
Weighted Dips -> Plate Loaded Seated Dip & Dumbbell Triceps Extension, Flat (Sternum Popping/Soreness)
Cable Pulldown -> Dumbbell Triceps Extension, Flat (Pain in Shoulders)
Dubbell Row -> Cable Row (Pain in Shoulders, Over Extension)

JNick77

When you think about exercise and pain there are two distinct differences in terms of pain. The first being basic DOM's where you're sore from the workout, it's a good pain and you should continue to keep exercising because it can actually help you recover a little by increasing blood circulation through the sore area. Then there's injury pain and that is an issue. Your abdomen sounds like it could be a strain and you should lay off direct ab work for a while. I'm not sure what your trainer has you doing but when we exercise we actually get a lot of stability from our abdomen and it's basically isometric exercise. You might be overdoing your ab work. Your hip issue... I don't know I have hip issues myself. You have determine what type of pain it is and determine the degree of pain you're in. You may need to take a break from exercises that involve the hip flexors, which unfortunately can be quite a bit. Make sure you're stretching very good before / after and getting a warm-up in prior to starting exercise. Don't be afraid to go through a good stretching routine on non-exercise days as well. When in doubt, see a sports-med doctor.

Make sure you communicate with your trainer about your pain, a good trainer should recognize and adjust. If your trainer continues to have you do direct ab work right now I would find a new trainer. Strength training is very good for you, so keep doing it. Some cardio for conditioning is good as well but you can definitely overdo cardio as well and some people don't realize that. Cardio can be very taxing on your body, definitely catabolic to muscle tissue.. Ever notice how lethargic and weak most (not all) marathon runners look?

Jimmygymgym

It's better to do 80% and not get hurt than 100% and get hurt so you have to stop working out.

I've been serious about getting back into shape for about 10 years. I got into a cycle of starting to exercise, start feeling pretty good and push myself a little, start feeling really good and push it some more and then hurt something...back, foot, achilles, foot again, shoulder...and then I would stop working out and lose all my gains. Repeat.

I'm trying to be smarter about it now. Instead of 2+ hour walks or trying to jog (at 300+ pounds, THAT was probably the dumbest thing I've ever done), I'll walk an hour max. I bought an elliptical for the house. I'm doing body weight exercises only.

My point is this...slow, steady gains that don't stress your body too much are the way to go. Also, remember that diet is 75% of the weight-loss equation.

niekkosgirl

Thanks for all the feedback, everyone. I think I'm going to look at form first, and take slow and steady to make sure I can get the form right. I know that I can contact my trainer and have her take a look at how I'm doing some things and make adjustments without having to pay for another session, so I will do that, as well.

Thanks for all of your advice!