Is it supposed to be this hard?

I've been in and out of gym membership for years, including after quite long absences. If it's a workplace gym, I would get a routine of doing 15mins four days a week, say Mon thru Thurs. that way you're getting a into great routine of exercise established in your life, and your gaining confidence that you can complete the task you've set yourself. You want to ease into it, not put yourself off

It does get easier...but it is supposed to be hard. It is going to be hard. Unfortunately, it is going to be hard for quite a while. But it is so worth it. I remember when my trainer would push me to tears regularly. Try to get rid of the word can't. You can. Now, having said that, as many have said, you have to listen to your body. But know that it is going to be hard and your biggest battle is with yourself. If you say you can't, then you won't. If you say you have to stop, then you won't keep going. I'd say, go for 30 minutes. Maybe you have to go at a less strenuous pace, maybe you have to slow down for a bit....but hang in for 30 minutes because if you give yourself permission to say can't, it is not going to happen. Take care of yourself because your trainer is not inside your body. However, your body is going to tell you mind that you can't do it. That is what makes us fat. You have to put your mind in control. And exercising will virtually always energize you.... the hardest part is getting started. But ditch the word can't. You CAN.

It will get easier. I mainly use my elliptical for exercise and when I first started I could barely do 15min without feeling like I was dying. Now I can make it to 45min and a moderate-vigourous pace. I feel as though I am almost ready to make it to 60min. I was very sedentary when I started. You will get there. I don't know what type of cardio you are doing, but ellipticals are great for burning a lot in calories in minimal time.

Definitely talk to your trainer. If you've been sedentary your whole life, you probably shouldn't jump right into half an hour of intense exercise, and 700-800 calories/hour *is* intense. myfitnesspal says that to burn 400 calories in half an hour running you need to run at 7mph (8.5min/mile), and there is NO WAY a sedentary person could do that the first week! Or month! Maybe not even the first year.

Exercise is hard, but a regular cardio session shouldn't leave you wrecked for the rest of your day, so please, talk to your trainer. Starting out slowly and sticking to it is better than working too hard at the beginning, getting discouraged or hurt, and giving up.

Good luck and keep moving!

"If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. It's the hard that makes it great."
Tom Hanks
A League of Their Own

:flowerforyou:

FWIW, I've gone from minutes on the treadmill, zero incline, feeling out of breath to 30 minutes on the hill setting on the treadmill, followed by another 30 on the elliptical, level 10 hill setting, and every other day doing C25K (I'm on week 5). I find it is really amazing how quickly the body will respond to repeated exercise. My heart rate is much lower when walking than when I started, and when I "run" (which is really more of a jiggling-jog) my heart rate comes down much faster when I slow down than it did at first. And BONUS - I'm no longer out of breath from climbing the flight of stairs in our house (that was one of the things that tipped me over the edge into exercising!).

Keep going, keep trying, and keep slowing adding to the challenge when you attain your immediate goals. You WILL see a huge improvement if you keep at it!

Baby steps! Add 2 minutes every day, it does get easier. As u lose weight, u will find it 's easier and u can go for longer. Keep at it! Quitting is not an option!!! :flowerforyou:

IT's super hard....in the beginning.

I used to work out like a crazy person when I was in college (years and years ago)....but when I re-started last July, I knew I would not be able to do it. At the time, I thought it was sooo little, but it made it manage-able. For the first few weeks, I opted to do "just" 15 minutes....

and when those 15 minutes became easier, I bumped it to 30.

Break it down. You can do it. DO WHAT YOU KNOW YOU WILL SUSTAIN. If you get too overwhelmed, you may not stick with it.

So...my opinion is to try 15 minutes for a week...and see how that goes.

And for now, don't worry about the calorie totals.

I've been sendentary all my life. And I began training monday. My trainer says I should do 30 mins of cardio twice a week, for now. That I should burn 300-400 cals in 30mins. But I can't make it! It's too hard for me, at this time. I only made it to 276 cals and I'm at work (gym at workplace) and I don't know if i'll have the energy to walk home and get milk and bread or just sleep here under my desk.

Is it normal that it's soooo hard and that I can't reach the target set by my trainer?

Yep. You're out of shape. If training was easy and comfortable, then no one would have problems doing it. You're now out of your comfort zone and that's what's needed to boost your metabolism and burn the calories you need to to lose the excess fat.
You'll adapt. The body is smart like that.


A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

It WILL get easier. You just have to keep at it. 276 calories is pretty close to your goal, don't give up! You have to want it and go after it. Push yourself a little and you will get there, you are already heading in the right direction. Keep it up. One thing that really helps me when I am feeling down is looking at all the success stories.
You are welcome to add me as a friend it you like.
Good luck on your journey, you can do this.

girl I don't want to diss your trainer, but you know your body best. start out a little slower. try 10min then add time to that the following week, so on and so forth. Just remember not to doubt yourself. There's a difference in feeling the burn and feeling the pain ya dig. Your body will get used to it and soon enough that 30mins will seem like nothing. When you feel like you can't go anymore push just a little more then rest it out. It sure ain't easy

I'm proud of you for getting started. But when you're ready... YOU'RE READY! So let's BRING IT ON! I'm right with ya. Been living a sedentary lifestyle for years now. I'm 7 weeks into eating healthy and exercising regularly and the energy is amazing! I never would have guessed that I woul dhave this much energy! Someone mentioned that your muscles are waking up... so help them to wake up slowly. And try to be gentle on yourself. It took us a long while to get here and took me gallons of chocolate peanut butter Hagen Daaz to get to this weight so I have to remember that it takes time to come off as well. It get's easier. Now go reward yourself with the hot tub after a good workout, introduce yourself and make some new friends and workout buddies

Oh, for years I had only done walking the dog, then hurt my back and was virtually immobolized for months. So, when I decided to go back to the gym I was super out of shape. I told myself I just needed to do 20 minutes and then I can go home. I only lasted 5 minutes on the elliptical. Just 5 minutes!! I was gob-smacked at how out of shape I was. I did make my 20 minutes but I had to take little breaks and do part of it on the exercise bike, part on the rower, part on the treadmill and part on the elliptical as my muscles were too weak to do the full time on one machine. It was horrible.

That was last August. Now I'm doing 20 mile bike rides outside on nice days, doing 1-hour spin classes where I'm old enough to be the mother of most of the folks in the class, also doing kickboxing, running, lifting heavy weights, doing some fairly intensive HIIT training sessions, yada yada. I used to groan at the idea of working out and now I live for it. It's the best part of my day. It's a sad day when I haven't broken out in a good, hard sweat, LOL.

Hang in there. Not only will it get better, you might actually start enjoying it. :laugh:

Oh, and I work with a personal trainer once a week who pushes me to my limit and then makes me go past it. I call her The Sadist and I love her.