Beginner Fitness

kelziemba
kelziemba Posts: 48 Member
edited November 18 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,

I'm 5'4, female, 38, and started MFP at 17 stones ( 238 lbs) two weeks ago. Week 1 I lost 8 lbs and week 2 I lost 1.75 lbs.

I went to the gym for the 2nd time tonight. I'm totally new and I am sooooooooo unfit. I feel that I need to gradually work up my fitness level.

This is what i did: 25 mins of walking on thr treadmill, faster than my normal pace. I tried not to hold on but literally couldnt balance so i tried to hold on lightly. I then did 15 mins on the cycle thing where you lean back. Finally I did 10 mins on the eliptical.

I have a few questions.

1) I can't seem to get the right balance between what my legs can handle and my lungs. On the first two machines I didn't feel properly out of breath but my legs were really burning and could barely take the pain. I didn't feel like I was strong enough to walk or cycle harder in order to increase my heart rate. I did work up a sweat but I wish my legs were working at the same level as my lungs. ANY advice with this?

2) How would you log the above into MFP? I can't find 'treadmill' on its own.

Thanks

Replies

  • K_saine
    K_saine Posts: 58 Member
    Not sure about your first question, but as for your second question you would log it as walking it gives options for speed so usually I put 3.0 and then change the calories to what the treadmill said.
  • jessicatombari
    jessicatombari Posts: 159 Member
    Dont go faster than you can. Focus on distance instead of time. Ex. Make your goal to WALK 1 mile on the treadmill and record how long it takes you. Over time you'll see you can do it faster and faster. Each week increase the distance by .25 miles and eventually you will begin to do a WALK/RUN. Baby steps. Also I created the treadmill as my own exercise in MFP.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    Don't try to be out of breath. Baby steps are great. I like what @jessicatombari recommended for you. I usually say if you are totally out of shape try walking 15 minutes three times this week. In a week or two add 5 minutes to each session or another 15 minute session. Then gradually add from there.

    I log my treadmill walking based on regular walking and just use whatever mph I was at.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    My suggestion to you would be to follow some kind of structured plan for beginners.

    Something like Couch to 5k for the treadmill/cardio and something like 30 Day Shred by Jillian Michaels for conditioning.

    Both are good beginner programs. Couchto5k does Interval training where you start off walking and then intermittently jog. It's a 12 week program and i think it's amazing because it really helps you slowly and gradually build up your fitness level.

    As for the JM program, i think it's a great program because it uses mostly bodyweight for the exercises and is a "full body" workout. This will help with strength and muscle retention as you continue to lose.

    Once you've done both (which are free and available online) you should be much more fit and able to move onto bigger and better things.

    It's up to you, but if i were in your position this is what i'd do. :)
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    one of the things I used to do is go fast until I was too tired or out of breath...then I would go slower until I caught my breath...repeat.

    And the other thing I did was get my time down per @jessicatombari . Keep lowering that time.

    As for the exercise logging look for walking.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    could do a couch to 5 k on a treadmill.

    i hate treadmills lol

    i started on the elliptical and could barely do 10 minutes on the easiest setting. now i can do an hour without thinking about it- usually on a random setting and a level 6-8. i also to the arc trainer quite a bit, and some strength training.

    the more you do it the longer, and better, you get at it.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    The best way to build stamina is to keep going for longer and longer durations, not to push yourself to go faster. jessicatombari's advice is right on the money as far as I'm concerned.

    As far as the pain... be sure that the treadmill is set at an incline, 1.0 is a good one. The flat surface and the way you walk on a treadmill can cause shin splints if you don't.

    Treadmill won't be an option in the exercises, but walking is. Use the speed you have the treadmill set to when entering how many minutes you walked. You'll see "Walking, 3.5 mph, brisk pace" and "Walking, 3.0 mph, mod. pace, walking dog". Just pick the one that fits and the calorie burn should be fairly accurate. I won't say the same for other exercise options in MFP but the walking and running ones aren't too far off.
  • jeffnash3
    jeffnash3 Posts: 2 Member
    The advice not to push your heart and lungs and think more about time than distance makes a lot of sense. I was overweight by about 70 pounds when I started exercising seriously and I found low-heart rate aerobic conditioning was much easier for me to do than trying to push through pain at the beginning. Dr. Maffetone's theory of taking 180-age as your target training heart rate worked great for me getting started. It was super slow jogging/walking, but it solved my knee/achilles problems and the miserable cycle of good day/bad day/injury days that I had.

    Once you build up your aerobic base with slow cardio, your body will better be able to handle more advanced exercises and faster paces. The other thing about slow cardio is that it is a more relaxing form of exercise and a better foundation for a long term lifestyle change than trying to rush through the weight loss process. You have to learn to enjoy the exercise for its own sake to help yourself stick with it. Once you start to enjoy it, then you will be free to set all sorts of fitness goals for yourself and really enjoy the improvements you see.

    From a calorie standpoint, the difference between a fast mile and a slow mile isn't that much. But the pounding on your body and pain that you feel will be way different if you try to go too fast.
  • kelziemba
    kelziemba Posts: 48 Member
    Thanks everyone. I am just pleased that I am going to the gym at all. I'm sure that with time my stamina will build up so that I can actually jog on the treadmill (not able to do that yet) or do longer or a higher level on the eliptical.

    It's good to know I don't have to feel like a failure for not being out of breath.

  • BlueSkyShoal
    BlueSkyShoal Posts: 325 Member
    Don't be afraid to start slow. Every time I pushed myself like crazy in a fitness program I ended up dropping it. The ones where I eased myself in and gradually increased the difficulty were the ones I stayed with long term.
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