How long did you exercise before it got easier?

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  • Channing
    Channing Posts: 617 Member
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    This is the great thing about exercising! Each time you get out there you will be in better shape than the last time. Take it slow, and enjoy that you can walk for an extra quarter mile or lift another 5 pounds, until soon you're not just feeling the changes but seeing them. :flowerforyou:
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
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    If an exercise ever gets easier I add weight and make it hard again.


    It's too damn hot for a penguin to be walking around here.

    Especially in the desert I live in!
  • Determinednoob
    Determinednoob Posts: 2,001 Member
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    for me it just keeps getting harder. today when i finished deadlifts and took a knee i had three thoughts

    I'll never be able to deadlift more than this

    im not sure i will ever stand up

    im not sure i will ever close my hands again
  • ejwme
    ejwme Posts: 318
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    the first few weeks will likely be the sorest - if you're going from nothing to wailing on weights or pushing yourself to run as far as you can until you want to puke, you're totally going to ache in the mornings. When I started crossfit a few years ago after a medical issue sidelined me for a few years, there were a few days I had to get a coworker's help getting out of my chair at the office. That lasted about two weeks. After that, I still got achy and sore the day after, but never oh-my-god-muscles-i-didn't-know-i-had-are-trying-to-kill-me kind of pain.

    More recently, I did a couch to 5k program, then extended it to half marathon training, and never had that kind of ache despite being woefully out of shape at the start. I think because it was super gradual. I don't usually do gradual (I'm impatient and stubborn), but if you're hurting enough that it's getting in your way of continuing to try to make progress, there's no shame in backing off a bit and working back up to it.
  • msafunk
    msafunk Posts: 163 Member
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    It gets easier every time. Expect to be sore, but don't get discouraged. You won't be running 5ks tomorrow, but if you run today, rest tomorrow and run again on Friday, you'll get faster, or at least get through it a little bit easier.
  • junekmoore
    junekmoore Posts: 25
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    it takes a while for your body to get over the shock of working out. you will feel like you can't do it and one day you will realize your chest does not hurt so much and you are not out of breath as easy. hang in there and when it gets easy go harder and longer.
  • AnnaVee84
    AnnaVee84 Posts: 345 Member
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    It doesn't get easier for me, but with group exercise classes and working out with friends, it gets more fun!
    And finding what exercise I really loved, like hiking and hot yoga, makes it feel less like "work" out :)

    Also someone posted a quote the other day that really rang true to me:
    "You will never regret a workout, but will always regret the workout you skipped."

    ..maybe not always, but I always feel better having sweated it out for the day!
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
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    for me it just keeps getting harder. today when i finished deadlifts and took a knee i had three thoughts

    I'll never be able to deadlift more than this

    im not sure i will ever stand up

    im not sure i will ever close my hands again

    Or my favorite, I'm afraid to stand-up because I might pass out. LOL
  • Robin_Bin
    Robin_Bin Posts: 1,046 Member
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    When you're very out of shape, start easy. I know there are many who disagree with me, but I'd rather start easy, not hurt myself and be able to stay motivated to continue. If you can't run for a minute without feeling awful, don't. Start by walking 5 minutes. If you still feel fine, keep going a bit farther... walk until you're slightly tired. Do it again the next day. Keep doing something everyday. Do a bit more when you can. Every couple of days try something new or additional. I recently went for the same walk I went for months ago. I was walking much faster and at the end I was so energetic I walked farther then came home and did some additional exercises. I regularly exercise twice as much as I did when I started 6 months ago. Is it as much as many other people here? No, but I keep getting better and other activities that would have tired me out a few weeks ago are easy now. Somedays you'll want to challenge yourself, and that's great! But for now, just do something more than you did yesterday. Unless you hurt yourself, you should feel a difference in under a month.
  • fattypattybinger
    fattypattybinger Posts: 337
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    Baby Steps. I have noticed that if I don't go for a walk at least once a day I am sluggish or depressed. It was raining today so I couldn't walk my daughter to and from school, bbut I did manage a walk tonight. Just take it one day at a time. Praise yourself even if you can do 1 sit up. Keep on moving and things will work out. Once you really decide to do this it is a great feeling.
  • Determinednoob
    Determinednoob Posts: 2,001 Member
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    for me it just keeps getting harder. today when i finished deadlifts and took a knee i had three thoughts

    I'll never be able to deadlift more than this

    im not sure i will ever stand up

    im not sure i will ever close my hands again

    Or my favorite, I'm afraid to stand-up because I might pass out. LOL

    Yeah def. fortunately for me i am used to being light headed for all sorts of reasons
  • sweetNsassy2584
    sweetNsassy2584 Posts: 515 Member
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    Never when it got easier I went harder =). Best way to do it. You will get there just keep at it.

    This... Just keep pushing yourself :)
  • fattypattybinger
    fattypattybinger Posts: 337
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    Good luck on your start. I am proud of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • mamagooskie
    mamagooskie Posts: 2,964 Member
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    It doesn't get easier!! The fitter you get the harder you go, the longer you go.....thus making it yet again hard. I've been at it for 3 years, I'm half the size I used to be and I still wanna die after a good gym session!!

    If it doesn't challenge you it doesn't change you!!!
  • 388gigi
    388gigi Posts: 485 Member
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    It took me 12 months of regular (with a few breaks) of exercise before I really started to love and enjoy it to the point where I couldn't live without my workouts now! :-) (I've been at that point since the beginning of this year)

    Mind you, within the first 12 months I still enjoyed it....but not as much as I do now!

    It's never "EASY". My workouts get harder and harder every day, but I still love them :-)
  • ericjustin1977
    ericjustin1977 Posts: 9 Member
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    For me, I noticed after a couple of times. It just felt more fluid and I didn't get tired as quickly. I need to lose like 60 pounds, so maybe if you have more it will take longer. Keep up the good work! You will get there!
  • mgobluetx12
    mgobluetx12 Posts: 1,326 Member
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    You can do more NOW by pushing yourself. It's going to be hard, but you just have to do the best you can to get a great workout. I hadn't worked out regularly in years when I started in August and I started with 30 Day Shred dvd, which is only about 25 mins long. It was SO hard for me, but I did the best I could and did modified versions of some exercises. Now I do 30 Day Shred with adding heavier weights and a walk or elliptical machine to get a better workout.

    Don't let the fact that working out is hard or you get out of breath stop you from pushing through it. That's the only way you'll see results. Just keep going!!!
  • 70davis
    70davis Posts: 348 Member
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    Bump
  • Masterdo
    Masterdo Posts: 331 Member
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    For the specific example you gave, running, try something like Couch to 5k. I started like you basically, the first week of C25K has 1 minute run intervals, and I was checking my watch 25 seconds in... That was back in May I think. Last Sunday I ran 10k in an hour, non stop, and it wasn't a big deal. It doesn't really get easier, but it does get possible though, where it was clearly impossible before.

    So stick with it, follow a plan (search running resources like C25K and then things like maybe Higdon's schedules to go beyond that, or any regimen you can find that makes sense with your schedule. But following some plan really helps making sure you push yourself every time, but don't burn out or push too hard for no reason.

    Good luck!
  • Robin_Bin
    Robin_Bin Posts: 1,046 Member
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    You can do more NOW by pushing yourself. It's going to be hard, [...] That's the only way you'll see results. Just keep going!!!

    You can push yourself hard if you wish. And you probably will see faster results that way. (Assuming you don't hurt yourself badly or quit.)

    But it is not true that it's the only way you'll ever see results. You can actually find exercises you enjoy do them to the point where you are tired, maybe even uncomfortable, but pain is not necessary for exercise or fitness. Some people enjoy the challenge of pushing themselves physically, and that's fine, but it's not a requirement for physical fitness.

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