On stiffness and wary gazelle

[aesmael]

My shoulders are sore because I have been doing push-ups, today and yesterday, and hadn't been doing anything active for some long time previous. My body has been wanting to be used, but I have long felt a bit nervous about this whole exercise thing.

See, I am quite unfit. Inactive. Strenuous and even non-strenuous activities can easily put me out of breath. I would like to become fit. However... that bothers me as a goal. I worry that, without some concrete definition of 'fit' to strive for, or even with one, whenever I get there I would set the bar a bit higher still and incrementally work my way into decidedly unhealthy territory without realising.

There are two reasons I do not exercise more. One is regular, familiar inertia. That resistance to getting started which feels silly after the fact. The other reason is I don't know how to stop. I don't know how to guarantee to myself not to keep whispering 'just a little more' every time I reach a goal, or to recognise a point sufficient for any reasonable need I will have. Perhaps that would make itself obvious on encountering.

Still, for years I have been wary of incrementing myself to death. There are other areas I keep doing it in.

Comments

[lost-angelwings.livejournal.com]

*hugs and nods* I def understand the not knowing when to stop thing and I think it's rly wise of you to see that possible slippery slope :)

[taraxoxo.livejournal.com]

I need to exercise more too :)

[aesmael.livejournal.com]

I can't help but wonder if you read or understood my post, as I am not seeing why your response would be appropriate.

[laura-seabrook.livejournal.com]

Golly, I have the first situation (inactive) but not the second.
Maybe some sort of incentive might work? Like saying to youself "if I do 50 pushups I'll treat myself to X," (whatever X is) " but if I do over 70 I won't"?

Anpther idea is always exercising with a "buddy" who looks out for you, and you look out for them.

[aesmael.livejournal.com]

I think you might have misunderstood what I was saying a bit. I'm not talking about going to excess in any particular bout of exercise; I am concerned about a tendency to push back long term goals as they are achieved or come near to being achieved, and slipping incrementally into harmful behaviour without realising.

[laura-seabrook.livejournal.com]

Ah - sorry, now I understand. MMM -that is a more serious problem.
Are you afraid of success?

[pazi-ashfeather.livejournal.com]

First thing I would suggest is, take it slow. The goal is to build endurance and strength over time; if you exercise half an hour a day at a mildly-vigorous pace that is better than an hour a day at grueling pace. What you are doing is essentially breaking down your muscles and other relevant parts; given a few days rest you will subsequently grow them back in a somewhat stronger state. The calorie burn also consumes some fat, but when starting out you are not really prepared for concentrated fat burn. The body must be gradually acclimated to it.

At the gym I typically run for only half an hour, lift weights that are comfortable rather than challenging and do three sets of ten repetitions when lifting the weights. I feel I could do more; I *have* in the past, am maybe even at the point where more aerobic such as the running is needed. But I am nowhere near where Tess is, and she took over a year to get to the point where her efforts yielded such obvious results.

Day on, day off, day on, day off. Do not push yourself too hard at first. If you are breathing hard (but comfortably) and sweating, you are doing it right.