exercise question too - not feeling sore

[Nuzzolese]

I recently won a free gym membership by submitting a cookie recipe to a radio contest, and I've been going to the gym trying to get in better shape, but I'm not feeling or looking any different. I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

Before this, I never went to the gym, I just took some ballet classes and did pilates and ballet workout at home. Now I'm trying to do harder things at the gym like ride exercise bikes and elliptical machines and whatever. It's harder, and I can tell because while I'm doing it I get really tired and worn out and I'll be feeling my muscles ache. But of course I never try to over-do it. Then I think to myself - ahh, good workout!

But the next day, or even the next, I'm not sore. Over the last few weeks, I don't look any different. I don't know why. The only difference is that the next day I just lack energy and I feel a bit cranky in the mornings. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or if I just need to stick with it a little longer. Is soreness necessary to know that you've worked your muscles? I just got this pilates book that said soreness isn't necessary. But how do you know you've worked your muscles if they don't hurt?


Example of my "new" workout: I walk quickly to warm up for a few minutes, then stretch, then ride a bike or elliptical for 10-15 minutes as fast as I can with as much resistance as I can (and this causes me to breath hard and I get so tired doing this!) then I get up and walk briskly again for a couple of minutes, stretch some more, then back onto the machines for another 10-15 minutes same as before. Then I walk again and stretch again.

[Adam]

I think that you are doing proper warm ups and cool downs help you not aching.

Do you go to the pub afterwards for reward? That is my problem. I lose weight quicker sitting at home smoking pot than I do being active cus I go via pubs on the way back - especially if I am cycling.

[fucktopgirl]

As i said in the other exercice thread; powerwalk, running upstairs, yoga and maybe a bit of lifting for tonifying the boobs, is one of the way to go.

You have to sweat for, at least, one hour at a time without interruption. Minimun 30 minutes anyway.

To lose weight is also about consistency.

[b i o n i c]

if you want faster results, you need to do more than 15 minutes at a time. something is better than nothing though

[Nuzzolese]

After 15 minutes on the elliptical, my feet start to go numb. After 15 minutes on the bike, my bum starts to get sore from sitting on the seat. Mainly, I only do 15 minutes at a time because I get so tired I can't go any longer without a break to slow down a little. I guess I could just slow down the machine, but isn't that the same as taking a break to walk around for a while? I guess not.

When you say you have to sweat for an hour at a time, do you mean you have to constantly be pumping out sweat or you have to be sweaty?

I haven't changed my diet at all since I started working out. Maybe that's the problem, but I eat healthy already, I think! After my workouts I always feel really dizzy though.

[fucktopgirl]

^ Well, i am not trainer, but for me, i like it when i sweat for a good hour,but during that time there is a variation in the sweating pattern as it progress as you are putting effort in the excercice. When i run upstairs, i sweat after one run up/down(500 steps) and i do 10 like this. My shirt is all wet after 30 minutes , steady.

It depend on the excercice, ya know, but the idea is to be sweaty, the more is the best. Also, the dizinness you feel after a workout may be relate to the lack of hydratation.

[beastieangel01]

are you doing any weight/resistance training in addition to that cardio?

cardio is good but it's not everything. If your goal is to tone more and be more healthy in general it's important to do both cardio and resistance. That will definitely make you sore, I promise.

[b i o n i c]

in heels(y)

[Nuzzolese]

Does the resistance on the machines count as weight/resistance?

There are all these great exercises that would seem to work your legs - like biking and running and stairs - but in the end they become more of a cardio workout than a leg muscle workout. Maybe I should slow down the speed and use more resistance?

I pretty much look the same as ever, but since I started working out I feel huge, like I'm even bigger. And by huge I mean thick and fat, not muscle-bound.



God, I usually hate gyms, but this gym I'm going to is mostly little kids, so I feel okay. They're all better at basketball than I am, though, that's kind of a downer.

[b i o n i c]

yes and yes

[Nuzzolese]

Recently a little girl in the locker room asked me if I was a grown-up.

[fucktopgirl]

There are all these great exercises that would seem to work your legs - like biking and running and stairs - but in the end they become more of a cardio workout than a leg muscle workout. Maybe I should slow down the speed and use more resistance?

It does both, cardio and muscles + weight loss.

[Nuzzolese]

I was fully dressed, by the way...in the locker room.

[b i o n i c]

Main Entry:
gym·na·si·um Listen to the pronunciation of gymnasium Listen to the pronunciation of gymnasium
Pronunciation:
\sense 1 jim-ˈnā-zē-əm, -zhəm; sense 2 usually gim-ˈnä-zē-əm\
Function:
noun
Inflected Form(s):
plural gym·na·si·ums or gym·na·sia Listen to the pronunciation of gymnasia \-ˈnā-zē-ə, -ˈnā-zhə; -ˈnä-zē-ə\
Etymology:
Latin, exercise ground, school, from Greek gymnasion, from gymnazein to exercise naked, from gymnos naked — more at naked
Date:
1598

1 a: a large room used for various indoor sports (as basketball or boxing) and usually equipped with gymnastic apparatus b: a building (as on a college campus) containing space and equipment for various indoor sports activities and usually including spectator accommodations, locker and shower rooms, offices, classrooms, and a swimming pool2 [German, from Latin, school] : a European secondary school that prepares students for the university

[fucktopgirl]

Ok, you surely don't want us to think that you run around naked in the locker room while talking to little kiddo. I think it was a intelligent precision du to the perverse nature of some human being.

[mikizee]

Try another 15 min workout to make it a total of 45 mins.

[Echewta]

The Nuzz is suddenly back? Why do I feel like I've time warped back 3 or 4 years ago when we were giving Bush another chance knowing it wasn't the right thing to do but for some reason, we were still stuffing that last pancake in our mouth?

[Nuzzolese]

Ok, you surely don't want us to think that you run around naked in the locker room while talking to little kiddo. I think it was a intelligent precision du to the perverse nature of some human being.

I just didn't want you to think she saw me semi-undressed and still couldn't tell if I was a grown up or not.

[Nuzzolese]

The Nuzz is suddenly back? Why do I feel like I've time warped back 3 or 4 years ago when we were giving Bush another chance knowing it wasn't the right thing to do but for some reason, we were still stuffing that last pancake in our mouth?

Was it so long ago?

[DIGI]

Drink milk afterwards.

(y)

[darius]

You don't feel sore because your muscles aren't being tested that way. That sore feeling you describe is from minute muscle tears in the muscle themselves being worked beyond their normal capacity. It means they are rebuilding themselves to be stronger and more effecient so they don't get torn again. It's a natural reaction your body has for protecting and improving itself, a survival response. Sometimes you may feel sore after cardio for this same reason but for the most part your legs are so stong that running or whatever your preferred cardio is, doesn't tax them that way. The new muscle growth you get from resistance training is going to help you just as much or more than cardio alone. Your body becomes a calorie burning machine (especially while resting, which is when most of the benefits from exercise will occur) and those muscles require more calories and nutrients so in a sense you are losing more weight AND becoming leaner at the same time. The cardio will increase the effeciency of your heart so it will need less beats to pump that blood throughout your body and will also eliminate a large number of calories while exercising. They two types of exercise work hand in hand, absolutely you must do both if you want the best possible results. My advice is to do weight training for the first 40 min. and then cardio for 20-30 min. Don't worry about sweating profusively (sp) for an hour or more. Eat sensible and monitor your training program, and most importantly stick with it. Make this a part of your life as it will only improve it in every way imaginable. Hope this helps