isnt this exersice crap supposed to make you feel good?

[insertnamehere]

ok, question. for the past several days ive been working out pretty hard. hard is of course a relative term because im not working out hard for say, a professional athlete, but for me, pretty damn hard. anyway, recently ive also started to feel pretty weird. i go to sleep earlier but have trouble staying asleep, and i keep feeling too warm. thats the only way i know how to put it. my body is too warm. it doesnt feel like a fever, and its not that my apartment is to hot or anything. also my stomach feels kind of weird. i feel like this must somehow be related to my dramatic increase in physical activity and dramatic decrease in smoking pot.

does anyone have any explanation for this? maybe they're not related at all but then i dont know whats wrong with me.

yall think on this while i try to go back to sleep.

ps - not to sound like a negative nancy, im really happy with the fact that ive been doing all of this. i like to think that maybe the increased body temperature is my metabolism starting to metabolize stuff.

[insertnamehere]

pps - the reason i mentioned the pot smoking is that might be part of the sleeping problem because previously i was smoking just about every night to put myself into a nice drug induced coma

[Adam]

Your body like habits - a couple of days is not something to break the habit but about 2 weeks is. Give it chance, you'll get a rhythm again and that is when you'll feel bad for not working out - like feeling bad for not smoking or drinking.

Keep it up (y)

[Bob]

are you eating good things/enough things? i couldn't say for sure if that's related to what you're feeling but maybe!

[Dorothy Wood]

yeah, sounds like your body's just getting used to things.

make sure you're drinking enough water.

[abbott]

Dec 26th I quit drinking again and started working out.

I had several nights of bad sleep and I am still waiting for the work out to become fun/easy, but it is still ruff.

I also was buring hot at night for several days, but figure that was withdraws from not drinking???

Seems I sleep better without smoking, but smoking/not smoking I sleep ok.

I can say I feel 1000 times better/stronger and even smarter 20 so days into the program so I am sticking to it.

[insertnamehere]

im sure i could be drinking more water, but ive been trying. i havent dramatically altered my diet, but ive been trying to be slightly healthier. my appetite has kind of decreased, which seems strange because i feel like i would need to be eating more, but then, i was eating way too much to start with. hmm.

how frequently does one need "rest" days, or are they even necessary if youre not doing anything super intense?

[GreenEarthAl]

I am a pretty strong advocate of trying to "feel your way" in terms of: how much water should I drink and when, how much exercise is enough/too much, when should I be resting, etc.

Of course, it's harder to feel your way without a frame of reference (if everything is relatively new to you).

I personally think that taking in new water and sweating are extremely key components to good health and eventually feeling good. But if you are doing any anaerobic exercise (strength training) and ripping lots of new muscle tissue, there's no way around the fact that it's going to hurt/feel bad for a bit while you acclimate to it.

I also think that THE MOST important thing we can be doing in regards to fitness is to go easy on ourselves mentally. Don't set ourselves up for disappointment. Don't set unrealistic goals and then give up entirely when they aren't achieved. If I ever feel like taking a day of rest, I take one. And I never beat myself up about "not sticking to it" just because I felt like resting or my crazy schedule didn't allow me to do what I set out to do for any given day. Also, the more "fun" and "utility" you can incorporate into your fitness the better. If I went out dancing last night and sweated my balls off, I generally don't tend to think "Oh, I got a good workout last night" but I DID. I really just went out and had fun and a workout happened to have happened too. And I actually use my body for locomotion/transportation so if I want to eat/get to work/do anything, I'm going to have to use my body some to make it happen. Feel like a more natural way to exercise for me.

Anyway Ray, best of luck in feeling better and being more fit.

[russhie]

I eat really well and work out 6 days a week, so personally if I eat something really fatty or sugary I feel it the next day - I get headaches and feel unwell. Like detox I guess. Since I started working out regularly (so, maybe a solid 4-5 months after a 3 or so month semi break) I've noticed I get warmer more easily, and sweat more easily too. I'm not sure why though.

I think you need 1 or 2 rest days a week, depending on how intensely you work out - I usually grab Sunday as mine, I've gotten injured a few times over the last year and having a rest day helps with that as the layoff can be a real pain in the arse (depending on how bad you hurt yourself!).

What sort of workout do you do?

[Bob]

if you're doing weight lifting, you should make sure you give your muscles a rest after each workout - if your routine hits all over your body, don't lift more than once every other day. if your routine is more targeted at specific muscles, you can set up a schedule so that you work out daily, but you never hit the same ones twice in a row (but be aware that compound lifts (which are great and you should be doing) like the bench press and squats hit all sorts of muscles, so go easy on those). you should definitely have at least one dedicated rest day per week where you don't do anything.

for aerobic exercise i'm not really positive honestly. i hear about people who run 6-7 days a week but i'm not really sure what their workout's like, i feel like that would inevitably result in injury. i try to keep a 2 days on, one day off schedule (though i don't always stick to it) - haven't been injured yet, so i guess maybe it's working.

[russhie]

^ yeah definitely with running be careful. I was running 5 days a week, 4 km a day, and I ended up injuring my achilles which took a long time to recover from - I was on crutches and wasn't allowed to run for two months. Shin splints are a bitch too, you can't get rid of those once you get them, so I do preventative stuff for those, I also had an issue with my adductor muscle (so upper inner thigh area) which took a good couple months to iron out as well - no running for two weeks, then limited to 2k's once a week, then I was allowed to run twice a week, and now I do 4kms 3 days a week but swim two days a week and do RPM class (interval bike training) on Saturdays. But I'll do that class three times a week during the week as well.

I just can't get into weight stuff - I do situps and pushups and squats and stuff but without my PT I tend to avoid it ha.

[jabumbo]

usually when i start to get more intense with exercise, i sleep like a rock. my appetite tends to change to where i eat less per sitting, but i would tend to eat more often.

the body aches do get easier over time though. unless its shin splints, because those things just don't go away.

[insertnamehere]

ive been trying to make it fun as much as possible. i take horseback riding lessons once a week which is more of a workout that most people realize, and just this past week i discovered a pretty fun free fitness class at the campus gym. its a jump rope class, but because no one can jump rope for 55 mins straight and not die, you jump for awhile and then you do other drills too, like drop down and do mountain climbers, crabwalk across the room, jump 10 times, crabwalk back, etc. its was fucking hard but i liked it and i plan on keeping that up. and i'll hit up the gym for like treadmill or eliptical or bike. i like running outside but until i get better at the whole running thing i feel better doing it indoors where passerbys cant see me. yesterday i kept up a good steady jog for about 30 mins and when i coudlnt do that any more i hopped on a bike for a bit. today i felt like taking the day off entirely but felt bad about not doing anything so i went for an hour walk. monday im lined up to check out some trails at a state park with someone.

[GreenEarthAl]

win

[insertnamehere]

gea when you'd get back up in this piece? how are you?

[insertnamehere]

:D:D:D this made me feel good about myself (from runners world)

The training plan that follows is designed to get you to the point where you can run 30 minutes (about 2 miles) at a slow, relaxed pace.
...

The first 2 miles is the hardest 2 miles you will ever run. Once you have reached this level of fitness, it's relatively easy to do more.


thats exactly the run i did yesterday. i felt like it was really shitty and embarrassing that my 2 miles was that slow, but reading this makes me feel more accomplished. im ready for whatever comes after the beginner training plan. wooooooooo.

im definitely lacking in patience though. am i skinny yet?

edit: if anyone talks shit about my run time i'll punch them in the face

[jabumbo]

the distance is far more important than the time. one of my personal running rules is that timing devices are not allowed on anything longer than a mile.

i find it more important that you can keep yourself going over that distance than being able to keep a certain pace. if you can't keep running, whats it matter how fast you're going?

[insertnamehere]

yeah, endurance is a huge problem for me. i was on a treadmill, so i just set it at a speed i thought i could maintain and kept going until i couldnt. i mean i probably could have, but my legs were ultra sore from stuff i had done in previous days, and basically my feet and legs started to hurt too much so it didnt seem to be work going any farther. i got on a bike immediately afterwards and kept that up for about 25 minutes to keep my heart rate up for longer, but go easier on my legs and feet.

im pretty sure my running shoes arent right for me, so i need to do something about that soonish. but i have a lot of issues with my feet hurting and thats one of the major things that stops me. i got new shoes at a store specializing in running shoes after a consultation with someone there who made me walk/run around the store with no shoes and i thought, finally i will get sneakers that feel nice to my feet! but no.

in all honesty id like to give barefoot running a go, but id need to find a suitable place. college campuses are full of broken beer bottles and whatnot. my feet are flat as can be and supposedly running barefoot can strengthen the muscles and tendons in your feet and help with flat footedness. i was reading about it a couple days ago and this one guy that runs marathons and shit barefoot swears that he went from a size 12 shoe to like a size 9 because his feet got that much less flat.

[Bob]

the distance is far more important than the time. one of my personal running rules is that timing devices are not allowed on anything longer than a mile.

i find it more important that you can keep yourself going over that distance than being able to keep a certain pace. if you can't keep running, whats it matter how fast you're going?

i think that when you're just starting out that makes sense, but as you get better and more comfortable with running for several miles at a time, i think it's a good idea to keep track of your pace and see whether you're improving or not. if you're working out consistently, chances are you will be improving and it's pretty cool to track your progress and see how much you've improved.

it's all about diligence and slow gains though really, don't get discouraged if it takes a while

and i wouldn't think too hard about barefoot running right now. as far as i can tell it's kind of a controversial subject; maybe in the future, people will all be running barefoot and will say "i can't believe shoe companies tricked us into wearing those ridiculous shoes, they did more harm than good", i really couldn't say, but at the beginner level you really can't go wrong with a normal pair of running shoes, i'd stick with that for now. preferably a pair bought from a specialty store where people will watch you run and recommend a shoe to correct your gait (here's a list of stores in the USA: http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-240-319--1048-0,00.html)

[GreenEarthAl]

gea when you'd get back up in this piece? how are you?

I'm good. I been around f'r a coupla weeks monitoring who wants old sureshots gallery pictures posted.

[Adam]

Every time GEA posts I see myself nodding in agreement (y)

I time myself now, didn't at first. Just to see if I am improving; and I am albeit slowly. Good running shoes have made a difference to.

When I am running I don't pre-plan my route too much or how far I am gonna go. See how I am feeling and when I reach a point of where I'm getting a little tired I start to loop back round to home but not the same route I've just taken if I can help it - that way I find myself at about the 40% done mark when I start to turn back so the little extra than halfway makes me feel like I've pushed hard enough on that workout.

[insertnamehere]

i kinda feel like a fatass now for just walking today :(

but i think maybe alternating hard day/easy day is a good plan for now. still though, feel like a fatass. so i'll have to make up for it tomorrow. bah.

[Randetica]

the distance is far more important than the time.


i heard that you only start to lose fat after 45 minutes of working out, at the beginning it could be less but with time it shouldnt be less than 45

i run 60+ just to be sure

slower speed running is better also, you should sweat but not get to a point where your heart is beating like a psycho and you cant breath anymore, youre not losing weight at that stage anymore

[jabumbo]

you lose fat by burning more calories than you intake....


i don't like timing because then you start to think about it too much and it defeats the purpose. the hardest part about running sans treadmill is keeping a pace. if you want to run x minutes per mile, then go do it. if you keep checking your watch to see how close you are and adjusting your speed to meet that finish goal, you'll never know how fast you really have to run to meet a pace goal.



as far as the barefoot thing goes, i've always wanted to try it since i hate shoes in general, but i never have. i guess it's the whole natural thing, but it really seems more open to injury, especially in an urban environment. you'd definitely be better off getting a good fit on those shoes and knowing your tendencies before trying to go barefoot.

[Dorothy Wood]

you could try wearing these creepy things: http://www.geekologie.com/2007/08/29/glove-shoes.jpg


hey man, this thread has inspired me. I'm gonna go do some yoga.

[rirv]

you lose fat by burning more calories than you intake....


What Randy's saying is actually correct (for once). Training at about 50%-60% of your maximum heart rate for long periods utilise more fat as an energy source than anything else. So for this a two-to-three-hour hike would be ideal.

But who can fit in a three-hour-hike more than once a week? And you still need to burn more energy than you eat - so carry on with the running and weights: anything that burns energy and raises your metabolsim for the rest of the day.

[Randetica]

i must be right, i lost 70 pounds before