Excercise?

[callog]

I just bought a new elliptical and I'll tell you I weigh 251 pounds so that may have or obviousley does have something to do with it~but I thought I was gonna die after 10 minutes on the thing! lol My heart was beating so hard and I was soooo out of breath. Simply embarrasing! But I've read that you should at least get thirty minutes of excercise in a day so do you think my ten minutes does anything as far as weight loss goes? At this point I can not do thirty minutes at one time so how about 3 ten minute sessions, will that help the weight come of or not??? Please tell me what you think I really want this weight to come off. I haven't had a normal excercise routine before and I just want to do something to be healthy and I've read you need to get your heart rate up to do so, and this weight HAS to come off!!! I'm to the point where I have no choice but to lose it!

[Georgiana]

Re: Excercise?

10 min on the elliptical are better than 10 minutes watching TV. I weigh less and the elliptical still works my butt off. It's a good torture equipment.

You can do 3x10 minutes or you can do less and also do some other form of exercise (weights, biking, swimming, pilates... or the basic ones like squats, push-ups, sit-ups...).

[Regina]

Re: Excercise?

They used to say 30 minutes of sustained exercise but later studies show that 30 minutes of exercise spread out through the day works just as good. So your 10 minutes is fantastic

Better slow and easy than you hurt yourself and stop.

[callog]

Re: Excercise?

You really think that three ten minute sessions is as effective as thirty minutes solid?

[Georgiana]

Re: Excercise?

If you cannot do 30 min in a go, 3x10 would be better than nothing, right?

Here's a quote about spreading your activity throughout the day (you can find more if you google):

Try to make a daily walk an essential part of your day. It isn't necessary to walk an entire 30 minutes at a time; getting more activity throughout the day will be just as good. Accumulating activity throughout the day helps burn calories and maintain your weight.

The full article is here: Heart disease: Walking for a healthy heart - Yahoo! Health

[SunnySmile501]

Re: Excercise?

You should never start to exercise at a pace that a person that has been exercising for a long time and is at a healthy weight would do. You have to work your way up. You probably burned as many calories in your 10 minutes as a fit person would in 30.

You also have to leave room to step up your workout even more when 30 minutes becomes a piece of cake (sorry). Once something becomes easy, that is the new normal for your body and you will start to maintain instead of improve. You need to shake things up every few weeks.

Start out slowly and gently. Take plenty of rest days. You build more muscle on your rest days than on the day of the workout.