Just getting started with a walking workout

tonyasue98 · May 2015

Hi,
I've just recently joined a gym and have been trying to walk on the treadmill 5x per week. Right now, I am doing 2 miles in around 45 minutes. I am new to this and want to start a habit, but I'm not sure how to know when to increase my speed. Right at this point, I'm feeling a burn in my legs and butt and am uncomfortable letting go of the treadmill for long. Plus, I am still feeling sore muscles in my legs and butt the next day. I don't know if I should stay at my current speed until I'm comfortable not holding the treadmill and no longer feeling the burn and soreness in my muscles. I'm really want to make my goal of 3 miles in 45 minutes, but don't really know when to increase or if I'm even doing as well as I hope I am. Btw, this week will make my 3rd week going to the gym. Any advise would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

SezxyStef · May 2015

I don't have a lot of experience with treadmills...it was a while ago but I like you had to work it up to letting go of the handles....

The burn is not a bad thing tho.

Your goal is a good one too...

Try to go faster and not hold on for 30 secs...hold on and go a little slower for 1 min and keep repeating.

then the next time up the 30 secs to 45 etc...keep going until you get to your goal.

*the above is what I did when I wanted to run and it's the premise behind C25K as well...just work your way up to it.

good luck....oh and try walking outside with an app like mapmywalk sometimes too...might help you out a bit.

RaeBeeBaby · May 2015

tonyasue98 wrote: »

Hi,
I've just recently joined a gym and have been trying to walk on the treadmill 5x per week. Right now, I am doing 2 miles in around 45 minutes. I am new to this and want to start a habit, but I'm not sure how to know when to increase my speed. Right at this point, I'm feeling a burn in my legs and butt and am uncomfortable letting go of the treadmill for long. Plus, I am still feeling sore muscles in my legs and butt the next day. I don't know if I should stay at my current speed until I'm comfortable not holding the treadmill and no longer feeling the burn and soreness in my muscles. I'm really want to make my goal of 3 miles in 45 minutes, but don't really know when to increase or if I'm even doing as well as I hope I am. Btw, this week will make my 3rd week going to the gym. Any advise would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

You're getting a pretty good workout at your present pace for a new exerciser, but if you want to increase just do it in small increments. Say you're currently walking at 2.5 mph, bump it up to 2.7 for a few minutes and then, if that seems too fast, go back down to your comfortable speed for awhile. I always start out at a slow pace and then increase after I get warmed up. Finish up with about 5-10 minutes at the slower speed again just to get heart rate down.

Are you doing any stretching after your walk? Having a little muscle soreness is normal, but stretching your muscles afterwards does help a lot.

kjurassic · May 2015

If you've been doing the same thing for three weeks, you should definitely try to speed it up a bit - nothing drastic, maybe a couple of minutes a workout each week? You'd be surprised at what your body is capable of. Increase in "baby steps" Try it - if it feels uncomfortable you can always back it down but.... I think you're ready...

I'm not a treadmill "fan." First, I feel a little "motion sick" when I get off, second, I think it's boring and I won't keep up with it and third, I walk outside - different routes all the time - never gets boring and it's so pretty outside. I use Runkeeper app to track my walks. Did 5.15 miles tonight in an hour and 15 minutes. I started out with 2-3 mile walks. Walk on...it works! (with MFP). I'm down 93 pounds!

mtwlovesenglish · May 2015

I am just getting started. I am an old lady who walked a lot 30 years ago. With 50 lbs to lose and mostly to get stronger, I am using a fitbit and have made the 10000 steps with about 30 min a day walks but it takes me 20 min a mile. This is just my first week but I already feel encouraged.

tonyasue98 · May 2015

Thanks guys for all the advise! I do occasionally walk outside too, but it seems like I always find an excuse not to like it's too hot, too cold, or it's raining. I figured this was a way to have no excuses. I have been trying to increase my speed once I warm up from 2.5 to 2.8 I just wasn't sure how to know when to increase or if I was increasing enough. I may be crazy, but going 3 mph on the treadmill is a struggle, but when I walk with map my fitness outside my speed averages 3.5 according to the app. Now I'm wondering if I was really walking that fast or if the gps on the app is off. I haven't been stretching afterwards and I know I should, lol! I'm not extremely sore it's just enough that I know I've worked out. You guys have no idea how good it feels to know that I'm at least on the right track!

nekoface · May 2015

There's a c25k for the treadmill: http://www.c25k.com/c25k_treadmill.html

kpk54 · May 2015

Any chance you have the tread mill on an incline and that is making it harder? Even the slightest incline makes it more difficult.

Bshmerlie · May 2015

The treadmill is my main source of cardio. I started out doing 2mp with 0 incline for 30 min and then the following week I went to 2.5. By the fourth week I was able to bump it up to 3.0. This week I added a 3.5 % incline. Now like someone said an incline does make it harder. So instead of 30 min once a day I have switched to 20 min twice a day. I'm thinking I'm going to keep it there for awhile as I have also added weight training to my work out three times a week. I do not do training of any kind on Sundays. I also still hold onto the rails about 75% of the time. I've never had very good balance but I think my 235 pounds shifting back and foerth as I walk probably doesn't make it any easier. I nearly fell off one time as I was watching TV and drinking water....not a pleasant experience.....but it was kind of funny.

CandiceMcD · May 2015

I would definitely invest in a fit bit. I have the cheapest one and have become obsessed with walking since I bought it. I have challenges with coworkers that help get me moving every single day. I used to go to the gym and suffer through 30 minutes on the elliptical, but now I am walking outside for about 45 minutes to an hour depending on the route I take. Its awesome.

Just getting started with a walking workout

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