Hello everyone, I am trying to get the hang of working out at the gym and I just can't seem to do it. I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong?

Last Saturday (first time working out this year) I did 30 minutes on the eliptical machine, which was really hard for me to do.

Monday I did the 30 minutes again, plus 15 minutes walking.

Wednesday I started with the 30 minutes eliptical exercise, followed by 30 minutes of walking/jogging (walk 2 minutes, jog 2 minutes and so on).

I felt like that is what I should be doing, I felt good after the Wednesday exercise, refreshed, and as if I had pushed myself as much as I could. I knew my muscles would be sore.. but man do they hurt! I even have to walk slower all day yesterday. Last night I was lurking on the forum and read that it is okay to exercise with sore muscles as long as you wait 24 hours. Today I went back to the gym, to complete my 30 minute elpitical workout with 30 minutes joggiing/running and I could not finish it. I completed the eliptical easy but after about five minutes of jogging I caved.. my legs hurt so bad I couldn't keep going. I was disappointed because everything else was fine, except for my legs.

Is this normal? Should I keep up with this load and my soreness will decrease over time?

My goal is to lose weight in general.. I'm about 65 pounds over so I am trying to do cardio 5 times a week for one hour. The soreness is in the back of my legs, bascially my calf.

Oh I also pause for about 30 seconds every 10 minutes to take small drink out of my water bottle.. I'm not sure if that is worth mentioning or not.

Hi and welcome to 3FC

I'm definitely no expert, but I'm pretty sure this is normal for anyone that starts to exercise after not doing it for awhile. I would probably cut out the running/jogging until you can build up the walking and elliptical time.

Others may have better advice though

Staying hydrated will help for sure. I work out sore sometimes, but if you're so sore that your legs can't take it than exercise easier for a few days. Like maybe just do the elliptical for the 30 minutes, or do it for 15 minutes and walk longer. Don't push yourself too hard.

im no expert, but i think youre trying to do too moch too soon...let your body tell you what to do...dont hurt

One piece of common wisdom is to up your workout by only 10% at a time. So, if you worked out 30 minutes 3 times last week (for 90 minutes total), you would bump it up by 9 minutes this week -- that's only adding 3 minutes to each work out.

Going from 0 workouts, I've seen advice along the lines of 10 minutes every day or 20 minutes 3 times a week.

So, if you really started from nothing, what you missed out on was starting with fewer minutes and increasing them slowly.

Looking more carefully at what you've done, you've pretty much roared past the 20 minutes per workout. So, I think from where you are now I would aim for three 30-minute workouts a week and go for 15 minutes on the elliptical and 15 minutes on the walk for at least a week or two. Then gradually start adding minutes at the rate of about 10% a week.

Alternatively, I see that your ultimate goal is 5 times a week. For me, the tricky part is the 5 times. So, I might go for 5 20-minute workouts -- maybe alternate between the elliptical and the walk if it seems to fussy to switch. That would get me in the 5-day a week habit and I could gradually build the minutes from there.

I'd wait to add the jogging back to the walk until you start feeling a bit more confident about everything. You'll get there!

Good luck! And good for you for taking this step to improve your health as well as assist with your weight loss.

Thanks guys! I guess I am basically going to try to do a little less, and hopefully it will mean I can do more later.

I was worried about doing cardio five times a week if my muscles are this sore after a days rest.. so I think I will lay off a little.

The first time I decided to go jogging, it "wrecked my body". Those words were also used by a young and fit friend of my brother's. If he felt that way - and I know I was walking bowlegged the next day - it's normal at first and you get used to it. Now, even if I haven't jogged in 6 months, it doesn't get that bad anymore The worst is over!

I agree with the others you are probably moving too fast. Just do what your body will handle and gradually increase it until you're at a level you're comfortable with.

Congrats to you for going to the gym. You are starting out again so just going there and whatever you can do safely is a huge accomplishment!
I would stay in the 30-40 minute zone for a few weeks, IMO.

You are definitely starting out too fast, you'll get discouraged (as I can see you are) and/or injured....as you said, do a little less and later it will mean you can do more, you hit that spot on

The recommendation is to build up to 5 days/week. Take a day of rest in between your workouts....

Take your time, build slowly, there really is no rush, let us know of your progress...

just echoing what was said about starting slow. And also, makes sure you stretch well after your workout! Stretching can seem tedious and I often find if I don't pay attention I only hold my stretches for 5-10 seconds. You should hold your stretches for 20-30 seconds!

I've just finished a PT course and they recommend 5-10 holds on the stretches... The information changes every time we turn around .... stretching is tedious but very important, so is warming up and cooling down for 5-10 minutes....