Starting fitness advice

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ClockWorKitten
ClockWorKitten Posts: 55 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I been losing weight through diet and now I think I should start doing working out, mainly for strength. Well I got a cross fit (elliptical machine) and trying to do at least 30mins a day and some weight (dumbbells) training, but I can reach 20mins before I tire, would I be able to work up to 30mins? Or should I push myself? I can work with weights fine it's the cross fit that I am struggling with.

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  • logancsmama
    logancsmama Posts: 31 Member
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    If you are now comfortable at 20 minutes, by all means, push your time up. At one time I was doing 60 minutes on the elliptical (I called it the terminator) and I felt great. Due to back injury and knees in bad shape, had to sell mine and go to a recumbent bike (getting older sucks) Good luck!
  • firef1y72
    firef1y72 Posts: 1,579 Member
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    It's totally up to you, if you feel the 20min is still challenging then stick to that. You can up the intensity, add intervals of higher intensity or increase the time.

    Personally I find steady state cardio (elliptical, treadmill, rower, bike) deathly boring and cant do more than a couple of minutes without switching it up. I find the rolling hills program maybe the best of the bunch because the difficulty changes but usually do intervals of (for example) 40sec all out, 20 sec recovery. Cant do this for more than around 10mins though because it is so exhausting giving 100% for that 40 sec
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,071 Member
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    Push yourself a little bit, to the point that you feel challenged, but not so much that you feel exhausted/fatigued for the rest of your day. You should feel energized, not exhausted, by exercise (except for maybe a few minutes of a "whew" feeling right after you work out ;) ).

    Over time, as you go on and get fitter, your current exercise will start to feel easier. As that happens, gradually increase duration, intensity, frequency or resistance (where that last is relevant) to keep the exercise a bit of a challenge (but still manageable), if you want to keep progressing in fitness. If you reach a point where you decide your're happy with your fitness, and can't maintain good life balance** if you devote more time or energy to it, it's fine to stabilize at that point.

    ** Good life balance = enough time and energy for work, family, chores and other things that are important to you for a healthy, happy, well-rounded life.

    Best wishes!
  • ClockWorKitten
    ClockWorKitten Posts: 55 Member
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    Thanks for the advice, I think when o first started I pushed too hard and the day after my mucels was sore and I think that's what put me back. I am feeling better today and as annPT77 said I feel energised and not tired.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,071 Member
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    ClockWorKitten wrote: »
    Thanks for the advice, I think when o first started I pushed too hard and the day after my mucels was sore and I think that's what put me back. I am feeling better today and as annPT77 said I feel energised and not tired.

    Yay!

    When you first start working out, it's also normal to have sore muscles. A common thing is called "DOMS" (delayed onset muscle soreness). That shows up the day or two after new or much harder than usual exercise. It won't keep happening, with that same exercise . . . as long as you keep doing the exercise pretty regularly. If you do the exercise, then take a looooonnnnggg break afterwards because of fearing the soreness, it's more likely to happen again! Instead, keep moving (maybe a bit more gently at first), and it'll pass.

    I'm making a distinction here, though, between a short of generalized soreness/tightness of the muscles, vs. a single place with a sharp hurt to it: The latter could be an injury, and wouldn't be normal.

    Best wishes with your new exercise!

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