[NewDay4MeToo]

Hi girls

This may seem silly, but I am quite a novice.

For the past month or so I have been doing some of the Firm's videos. Some of the strength exercises do things like plank position, various leg lifts, crunches, etc. (Sorry, don't know all the names.)

I have never really been strong, so I am finding a lot of the exercises difficult. When doing some of the exercises, I feel so weak that I really cannot keep myself from shaking like crazy. For example, after doing leg lifts for a while, my legs shake so much as I work to hold them up longer. I just keep going and try to breathe deeply.

Is this normal? I expect it will get better with time. I just want to hear if I'm the only one who has had this happen.

[Depalma]

Yup totally normal. The exercise or level of resistance that causes this may be different for all, but the reaction you experienced is (or should be) experienced by all. It means you are giving a max effort. If someone never experienced this, they have never given a max effort and they have cheated themselves. Look at the huge weight lifters in the Olympics. See the shaking they do. We all have our limits. Just make sure that when you force yourself to do those extra reps and hold those stretches that you are not breaking proper form or experience real pain (as opposed to discomfort) because this will lead to injury. Concentrate on doing you most at proper form first. Giving the max effort with proper form is the ideal. However, when going for max effort be aware that there are some exercises that you should not try this without a good, experienced spotter. I don't want you to go off and try to get that same feeling while doing a barbell chest press. This can be very dangerous. Without a trusted spotter, and sometimes even with one, just aim to go to near failure instead.

It will get better as your strength improves and the great news is that it will be quicker than you are probably thinking. To get the benefit of strength training, however, you need rest and recovery. That is when the true gains in strength come. Make sure you don't do the same DVD or work those same muscles again the next day. You can do a DVD training different body parts the next day or if you worked the full body on one day, just take a cardio only day the next day.

[Sheila53]

Shaking is good! You're really giving your muscles a workout. And breathing deeply is the best way to try to work through that difficulty. Also try tightening your abdominal muscles.

My trainer exhorts us to be sure and quiver when we do crunches because she wants us to work our abs deeply. She said she still quivers when doing crunches.

[nelie]

Quivering is good. When I do a really good leg workout at the gym, my legs will quiver a bit and if I lay down, I can't stop the shaking. So I would try to do ab work after doing a leg workout but I couldn't do it because my legs would be shaking so badly for up to a half hour after my workout. My arms are the same way but they don't shake as bad.