newbie to proper exercise!

[piiiinksocks]

Hi all,

I need some advice. Over the past 12mths I've gone from 14st and doing zero exercise, to 12st and just upping my walking (always low to moderate level exercise, but for longer distances).

Tonight I was inspired to pull my treadmill out of the garage and attempt real exercise! It's a manual one, and requires me to be touching the side (with barely any pressure) to be able to make it move as I run... So mildly more effort than road running (but I'm too self conscious to do that!).

I downloaded a c5k app, and had a go. 5mins brisk walk, remainder 15mins today should have been 60 secs run, 90 secs walk. I got to 14 mins and I had to stop. My chest is so tight that I couldn't breathe properly!

Is this normal? Will it improve? Do I just have to push through it? How long till I can do that kind of thing without struggling to breathe?! And am I doing the right thing, to help improve my fitness and lose weight??

 

[thatgurlwho]

It is normal when doing exercise that you're not used to. The first time I did exercise I had super bad chest pain, I was really worried.

You will improve, carry on doing what you are doing and gradually you will notice that you can carry on for longer and longer and eventually you'll also be able to up the intensity, doing more running and less walking.

I think you're doing the right thing, don't try to push through it though, if you feel that you're struggling to breathe, stop, recover and then try again if you wish or rest if you need.

Hope this helps and would love to know how you improve

 

[piiiinksocks]

It is normal when doing exercise that you're not used to. The first time I did exercise I had super bad chest pain, I was really worried.

You will improve, carry on doing what you are doing and gradually you will notice that you can carry on for longer and longer and eventually you'll also be able to up the intensity, doing more running and less walking.

I think you're doing the right thing, don't try to push through it though, if you feel that you're struggling to breathe, stop, recover and then try again if you wish or rest if you need.

Hope this helps and would love to know how you improve

Thank you everyone I seem to talk to doesn't get anywhere near as bad as me... I think because I'm no longer in the "obese" category, people think I should have a relatively good level of fitness automatically! My aim, at present, is to attempt to improve on that every other day...! Today I just went for a 20 min walk with the dog

 

[thatgurlwho]

Yep, weight and fitness are totally unrelated. I mean my BMI is over 35 but I now have an average fitness level for my age.

Improving every other day is a good goal. You'll very soon start to notice that you can do more and also your recovery time will be greatly improved too.

Also if your treadmill has an incline on it, putting your treadmill on an incline can also improve your fitness and burn more calories.