Trainer working me too hard?

Faint, puke, die or keep going. I'd be pissed if I hired a trainer and didn't leave the gym feeling like I couldn't move one more step.

This!! You're still alive aren't you?

I had a trainer once tell me that if I didn't hate him at some point during our session, then he wasn't doing his job.
I agree. And I hated him for at least half our session time. hahaha He was definitely doing his job.

If people hate it that bad, what keeps them coming back? What kept you coming back?

Not being facetious. Just honestly curious.

Thats way too MUCH! Forget all the whinning comments. Thats just wrong. At that rate your not burning fat your burning sugars that already have been processed. Its not the zon you should be in for weight loss. I am 5'8" who was 265 last year. I am down 75lbs. It wont take you long to get up to that but start is just wrong by the trainer. Just look up info for yourself and you will see for fat burning your HR should be alot less at your size and age. I hate cardio but its a evil needed to a point. Its not how fast or hard you go its where your HR should be.

I'm sorry, but this is all incorrect. Whether you're burning fat or burning sugars, it's still calories. If your body is burning sugar then it has to replace those stores. Where does it get those calories from? Your fat and the food you eat later (or before). Either way the net effect is the same.

Even if you want to make the argument that you burn a higher percentage of fat at a slower pace, it still doesn't matter. You might burn 15% of your calories from fat at a slow pace versus 10% at a fast past. But if you burned twice as many calories overall, you not only burned more calories, you also burned more fat.

For example:
300 calories burned at a slow pace @ 15% fat burn == 45 fat calories burned
600 calories burned at a fast pace @ 10% fat burn == 60 fat calories burned

Not to mention, the extra conditioning and cardio gains when pushing yourself at a harder pace versus just mailing in your workout.

In other words, go hard and go home (barring medical conditions or injuries or other extenuating circumstances).

No the effect is not the same.... once you get your heart rate over your Anerobic thresh hold your working cardio more than fat burn... the old school thought of going as hard as you can for as long as you can is old and inaccurate. When you burn processed sugars you do not get the effect nor results


The lactate threshold (LT) (or lactate inflection point (LIP) or aerobic threshold (AeT)) is the exercise intensity at which lactate (more specifically, lactic acid) starts to accumulate in the blood stream. The reason for the acidification of the blood at high exercise intensities is two-fold: the high rates of ATP hydrolysis in the muscle release hydrogen ions, as they are co-transported out of the muscle into the blood via the MCT— monocarboxylate transporter, and also bicarbonate stores in the blood begin to be used up. This happens when lactate is produced faster than it can be removed (metabolized) in the muscle. When exercising at the LTS intensity any lactate produced by the muscles is removed by the body without it building up.

With a higher exercise intensity the lactate level in the blood reaches the 'anaerobic threshold (AT), or the onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA).

The lactate threshold is a useful measure for deciding exercise intensity for training and racing in endurance sports (e.g. long distance running, cycling, rowing, swimming and cross country skiing), but varies between individuals and can be increased with training. Interval training takes advantage of the body being able to temporarily exceed the lactate threshold, and then recover (reduce blood-lactate) while operating below the threshold and while still doing physical activity. Fartlek and interval training are similar, the main difference being the structure of the exercise. Interval training can take the form of many different types of exercise and should closely replicate the movements found in the sport.

Accurately measuring the lactate threshold involves taking blood samples (normally a pinprick to the finger, earlobe or thumb) during a ramp test where the exercise intensity is progressively increased. Measuring the threshold can also be performed non-invasively using gas-exchange (Respiratory quotient) methods, which requires a metabolic cart to measure air inspired and expired.

Although the lactate threshold is defined as the point when lactic acid starts to accumulate, some testers approximate this by using the point at which lactate reaches a concentration of 4 mM (at rest it is around 1 mM).

[edit] Aerobic Threshold

The aerobic threshold (AeT) is sometimes defined as the exercise intensity at which anaerobic energy pathways start to operate and where blood lactate reaches a concentration of 2 mmol/litre (at rest it is around 1). This tends to be at a heart rate of approximately 20-40 bpm less than the anaerobic threshold and correlates with about 65% of the maximum heart rate. As its name suggests, the anaerobic energy system does not utilize oxygen to create Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and uses glycogen/glucose. Lactic acid is a by-product of using anaerobic metabolism to create ATP for working muscles.

Wait a minute. People are skiing with HRMs now?

I give up

I worked out with a trainer for a year and his words to me were always "If it HURTS stop. If you are just UNCOMFORTABLE quit whining."

I worked out with a trainer for a year and his words to me were always "If it HURTS stop. If you are just UNCOMFORTABLE quit whining."

Love this ^

Morning all!

I signed up with a personal trainer to get a kick-start to my exercise program. I'm seeing him once a week, and doing another session on my own.

I'm frankly feeling like I've been taken through the wringer each session, and am not enjoying them at all. I'm wondering whether he's pushing too hard. For example, in the cardio part of the workout, he's got me at > 160 bpm heart rate, spiking as high as 175 bpm. I'm thinking for a 48 year old man weighing 270 lbs, this is ludicrous.

Am I correct, or just a wuss?

Wow, this thread is still running? :laugh:

I have to say, I never went back to the trainer, and I gradually fell off my exercise program altogether.

In retrospect, the guy was well meaning, but he made two huge mistakes - working me way too hard for my fitness level, and making sure we never did the same thing two days running. That kept me always off balance, and unable to really master any of the techniques he was teaching me.

I'm gearing up to try again, once I get back from vacation. But I'm going to look for a trainer who has grey hair and walks with a limp from his arthritic knee.