Defeated before I begin

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sthrnchick
sthrnchick Posts: 771
in Fitness and Exercise
I just started working out.. I am pushing 40 and have literally never ever exercised before... I just purchased an elliptical hoping to do my cardio at home...

Here's my problem... I keep seeing friends and members doing 60+ minutes everyday on cardio... and I feel beyond proud of myself if I do 15 or 20 minutes ( moments away from falling out). My question... is doing 15-20 doing anything? is it something that I work myself into?
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  • Glucocorticoid
    Glucocorticoid Posts: 867 Member
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    The first step is to define your goal.
  • sthrnchick
    sthrnchick Posts: 771
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    I am so new to this that I dont understand... you mean setting a goal for time to just push?
  • Fitness_4_Jess
    Fitness_4_Jess Posts: 55 Member
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    Set small goals for yourself to meet as you improve. Besides, I doubt everyone was able to keep up cardio for 60+ minutes when they started. You have to build up to it.
  • susanswan
    susanswan Posts: 1,194 Member
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    You are just starting! This is where you set goals that you can accomplish. Such as doing 15 minutes 5 days a week. Developing good habits takes training. Start small and build on it. Maybe everyone doesn't do 60 minutes all at once. One thing for sure, I'd make sure I did it watching tv or something else like that - phone conversation, whatever. I do my mini trampoline in front of the tv sometimes when I can't walk and I'm always looking at the clock.

    Most important in the beginning to commit to doing it every day. From there you can go longer distance or more time.
    DO NOT give up because it is hard. If it was easy, everyone would do it!
  • mici0427
    mici0427 Posts: 54
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    Definitely need to work up to it. No one started at 60 minutes when they first began exercising. IMO every little bit helps and by the end of the week you'll probably notice yourself doing better during your 15-20min workout. Like you won't be breathing as hard or sweating as much. Keep on it tho and you'll be rocking it in a month!! Don't give up!!!!! I started at resistance 1 and 20minutes but now have the resistance maxed out and go for 40minutes. You can do it!!!!;-)
  • bttfly87
    bttfly87 Posts: 8
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    Feel proud of yourself!! Of course your doing something in just 15-20 minutes. Keep steady, and youll find yourself up with the rest soon.
  • amurph25
    amurph25 Posts: 41 Member
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    15-20 minutes is a heck of a lot better than just sitting on your butt all day! I can go for long periods of time now, but when I first started, I was out of breath within just a few minutes. It just takes some time to build up to that long. Don't let it get you down! Just keep at it and soon enough you'll notice that it gets a lot easier to go for longer! :)
  • sthrnchick
    sthrnchick Posts: 771
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    Thanks yall... I guess I just needed the reassurance that that little physical exercise wasnt in vain!
  • Glucocorticoid
    Glucocorticoid Posts: 867 Member
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    I am so new to this that I dont understand... you mean setting a goal for time to just push?

    I am going to assume your goal is to lose fat while preserving muscle mass. So if that is your goal, while cardio can help achieve this goal, it is not the most critical exercise needed.
  • hhorncastle
    hhorncastle Posts: 84 Member
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    That's them. They're whole other people with different weights and fitness levels, different body compositions and different goals but, more importantly, they're not you and you're pretty much the only person you need to compare yourself to.

    You're more active than you used to be - hell, that you're active at ALL is something to be proud of. Every minute counts and you're doing 15 or 20 minutes more than the people who are still sitting on the couch.

    I used to worry that I wasn't burning enough calories compared to other people. Eventually I realized that the calorie burn isn't the goal - the goal is to keep moving forward on my journey. MY journey, not anyone else's.

    You've got this.:happy:
  • JBond3007
    JBond3007 Posts: 5
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    Everything helps. Log 15 -20 in and in a couple weeks you'll be doing 30. In 6 weeks you'll be doing 40. Se yourself a daily goal and attain it. Make sure your goal is achievable. The rest of the week do 15 and next week do 20. You'll be surprised how quick you will improve.
  • StevLL
    StevLL Posts: 921 Member
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    15-20 is great starting out. Small goals of increasing increments will get you where you want to be. We started riding our bike and level 1 for 15-20 then slowly added time usually in 5 min increments and then worked on increasing the level. Good luck and remember this is your journey so don't compare to others, use their results and programs to get ideas and motivation for yours!
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
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    When I first started I couldn't support my own weight.. I got in the pool to displace my weight so that I could stand long enough to walk in the water and the very first session (supervised) I could barely do 10 minutes.. I was so sore the next day but my next appt. I went and my therapist added a minute.. and the next visit the same... Over time those minutes kept adding up until was walking laps in the therapy pool for hours and eventually lost enough weight to get fitted with braces to exercise out of the pool. I was scared to death the first time my therapist put me on the Elliptical and I did 7 minutes and thought I was going to die.. Mind you I had lost over 180 lbs. at the time and was walking lapse in the pool for hours on end.. So we approach it the same way and next session we added a minute and so on and so forth. Now (except the last 5 weeks, I am recovering for another knee scape out surgery) I can hop on the Elliptical for 90 minutes stretches without blinking and eye... Point is, it will take time... None of us just started out doing hour session, we all had to build our way up to what we can do now..... Best of Luck.......
  • AZKristi
    AZKristi Posts: 1,801 Member
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    Every one of us has a starting point, but that starting point does not define where you will end up. With practice, you will build the endurance necessary for longer workouts. So yes, 15-20 minutes IS valuable!

    To increase your endurance, throw in a few intervals. Start out with short 2 minute intervals where you work hard for 30 seconds and recover for 90 seconds. Repeat this pattern 10 times (or more when you can). As your fitness improves, you can increase the work to recovery ratio as well as how hard you are working in each portion of the interval.
  • sthrnchick
    sthrnchick Posts: 771
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    I am so new to this that I dont understand... you mean setting a goal for time to just push?

    I am going to assume your goal is to lose fat while preserving muscle mass. So if that is your goal, while cardio can help achieve this goal, it is not the most critical exercise needed.
  • mom2mozart
    mom2mozart Posts: 307 Member
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    Every minute on the elliptical is helping you. When I started I was thinking 5 minutes was a challenge. Gradually increased to 10, then 15, then 20. I am usually doing around 30 minutes now and feel like I could go much longer, if I only had the time to spare. It's not that difficult physically for me anymore. It is just a challenge to get more than 30 minutes without the kids bugging me or me worrying about them getting into something or getting hurt because I'm not supervising them. It gets easier with time.
  • sthrnchick
    sthrnchick Posts: 771
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    Yes loosing fat mass is my goal... I have a lot to put away...What other techniques are there to use?
  • GurleyGirl524
    GurleyGirl524 Posts: 578 Member
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    Just keep at it. You will notice that 15-20 minutes getting easier, then you'll be doing 20-25, then 30-40. You can do it!!
  • twiztid_princess
    twiztid_princess Posts: 89
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    If you are going from no exercising at all to 15-20 min then yes of course it works. Maybe if you don't feel like you are getting enough out of it then do it twice a day. Then you will be at 30-40 min.
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
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    Don't base what you do on what anyone else is doing. Different people are at different fitness levels and have different fitness goals. Just keep in mind that increasing your speed, time, and resistance as your body gets used to what you're doing is a good idea. If this week you do 15 mins and are worn out, next week try and do 20 and when you get up around 60 mins consistently, then raise your speed or add more resistance.

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