Okay, this is the most pathetic thing I have ever seen or hear, and it is coming from me.

I just did a whole 5 minutes on the treadmill and I am sweating, I have a stitch in my side and I was gasping for breath by the time I was done.

Now, I know I am not in shape, but I had no idea how out of shape I was. I can mow the lawn and not get this tired, what is up with this? I have never used a treadmill before, is this normal?

Plus, how long should I stay on the silly thing to start with? I was planning 15 minutes for a week then 20 then, well you get the point. Can I do 15 in sets of 5 minutes each, does that even do anything? Should I force the 15, should I slow the thing down? I am a pretty fast walker when it comes to being on the tread mill, in reality I just meander along at a snails pace.

Thanks All

Oh and it will take me 83 minutes at the pace I was going to step 10K

Every little bit helps, Kati!

You will be very surprised how quickly you regain fitness if you keep at it - within a week or so you'll notice you can do more and more. Just keep at your 5 minutes at a time a couple of times a day, and gradually add in a bit more each time - you'll get there.

When I started going to the gym, I lasted 2 minutes on the cross trainer. I'm now up to 20 minutes at a time on it - even if I still think of it as the machine of death!

Keep it up!

Okay. I'm going to give the best amateur answer I can. We have some personal trainers who visit this board that will hopefully see your question and give you some expert advice.

Any activity helps, as Nicole said. So if five minutes is all you can do, doing it several times a day will help both your fitness level, your confidence in your ability to perform the task, and will burn calories. So - great job on putting the effort in, even if it was pretty frustrating.

For cardiovascular health, though, it is pretty important to push your heart rate to the "fat burning" zone and keep it there for a sustained period of time. This will also raise your metabolism for several hours after you're done working out - an incredible side benefit. The good news is that if you are out of shape, your heart rate will go higher with less effort than it takes someone who is in better shape, so don't be discouraged if you start out as one of the slowest at your gym. I have included a link to a calculator below so that you can figure out what your training zone heart rate is:

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/hrm1.htm

My best advice? Try your best to push through it if you can for as long as you can. I listen to music to distract me, and tell myself things like, "I am someone who thrives on challenges. I know I can do this!" As long as you're keeping the heart rate up, you don't have to go at it fast and furious. Work hard enough to keep the heart rate up without pushing yourself into quick exhaustion. In the beginning, you might want to turn down the resistance so that you can keep going longer.

I've got to tell you - most of the time I love the exercise part. But there are times, especially times when I've made mistakes with my eating, that I just don't feel like doing it. It is after those times, though, that I feel the best. I always get a post-work-out high, but they're even better when I know that I needed to show that extra mental toughness to get it in.

Let us know from time to time how you're managing to tame that treadmill into submission!

Kati, when I first started my journey last year, my doctor recommended 30 mins a day on the treadmill. The 1st day I was lucky to do 10 mins at 2.5mph. My legs were very rubbery. When I stepped off, I felt like I was walking in the clouds. I just told myself to do better the next day. Try to get to 16 mins, 17 mins, etc. Played around with inclines and the speeds. One year later I am doing 4.12mph on my home treadmill, 40 mins, 5,000 steps. At the gym I am up to the maximum 15% incline at 3.8 mph. With any form of exercise, weight lifting, etc you will start out slow. Just aim to do better tomorrow.

One of the gals at work signed up at my "former" gym (Look for "I hit the jackpot" in the exercise forum here on 3FC) and was determined to do the elliptical trainer. I told her when I 1st did that machine (which I am told is the hardest) I was only able to do 2 mins, and she shouldn't get discouraged in the beginning.

Everyone has already given you great advice. What it boils down to is this: you do what you can, and then when you improve you can do more. Plus, the great part is that if you do it long enough, you'll get addicted to the feeling exercise gives you, and then there's no stopping you!

I know it's tough at first, but please remember that you WILL be able to do this, and after you struggle through the beginning it will get so much better. A little over a year ago, I had a hard time with my short walks a few times a week. Now I run 20 to 30 miles a week, and I just ran my first half marathon. You can do AMAZING things if you stick with it. Trust me.

Hi,
When I first started using my elliptical I could only do 2-3 minutes , and that was it. I worked myself up little by little, soon I was doing 8 minutes, then 12, ect... I worked myself up to 38-40 minutes a day. Just do the 5 minutes for now, and when it feels easy , try 6-8 minutes and just keep on increasing until you are at the time you want.You can do it!!!
cheryl

Kati, I can't run as fast as you're walking! I am a really, really slow runner, but I keep plugging away, and my speed is slooooowly inching up.

Everyone else is right; the more you keep at it, the easier it will become. Personally, I've always had a much easier time with the elliptical than the treadmill, but I'm still plugging away and someday maybe I'll run a whole mile! You'll be walking half an hour a day in no time, I bet.

It's a start... with each day you'll build more stamina and in no time you'll be running miles! 5 minutes are better than NO minutes! Congratulations on getting started... I can't wait to hear how you'll be doing in 4 more weeks! YOU go!

Everyone is right, so listen to them! I have a love/hate relationship with my elliptical, and I started it the same way you're starting the treadmill, with the same results. After about 5 minutes I stepped off onto rubbery legs and had to sit down for 15 minutes before I could go upstairs. I was barely pushing 25 rpm's and was at level 1 intensity. Now I do 30-40 minutes, pyramid from 1-6 intensity, have my rpm's at 60-65, and when I hop off I RUN up the stairs back into the rest of the house. It takes time, but you can do it. In a coupla days try for 6-7 minutes, etc. YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!

Okay I have been hearing about the elliptical since I joined yesterday. I just checked them out, and I think they are pretty pricey. Are they just low impact or something?

Kati,
Ellipticals are zero impact and work the upper as well as the lower body. A very cool machine, IMO.

Keep plugging away at that treadmill, you'll be up to 20 minutes before you know it. And remember: something is ALWAYS better than nothing. If you can do 5 minutes, then do 5 minutes. That's leaps better than quitting and doing 0.

Stitch in the side: Make sure you're taking deep breaths and make sure your breathing out as much as in. I get them too now and then so I looked it up and it does seem to help some.

Seriously do whatever you can do... maybe you can take the speed down a notch and aim for 10 mins... next week add on another 5 etc.

You will work your way up pretty quickly I probably started at 2.5 MPH walking a mile or two and I was upto about 3.5 and 4 miles a day until I decided to do more DVD work indoors.

Just remember to listen to your body.

Im no expert, but my Dh is always telling me when I am on the exercise bike and get pooped not to stop completely to rest and then start back. He says to keep going even if its at snail pace. I took his advice and really it does work. I mean I just slow down really slow until Ive rested a sec and then go back to my normal speed. Definately dont give up.

Oh this is too cool! I got on the treadmill to do my 5 lousy minutes. I was hoping to push myself to do at least 6 lousy minutes. But...

My mom called and I got to talking to her and there was no way I was going to stop walking while on the phone with her because she would have teased me abotu being fat and a quiter (my mom has a strange sense of humor), so anyway I finally got off the phone and I had walked 13 minutes! So, I hate stopping at odd numbers so I walked on to 15 minutes, then said Ic an do a bit more, turned it down a bit and glided slowly over the finish line with 20 minutes.

Mind you my husband had to help me to the couch and had to actually move me to stretch out my legs, but he was so cute looking at me like a goddess that I am so going to do it again tomorrow!

WTG on the 20 minutes Kati!! You're doing a great job!