I started doing cardio for a couple of months, 3 times a week (25 minutes a piece), it was annoying and i really didnt like but sure whatever i pushed through the boredom.
The REAL shit started when i actually worked out (we have workout machines in a nearby park), for almost 3 months im doing 20 minutes workout a day (5 times a week) and every. single. time. it feels like its getting more difficult to do than before.
I always heard stuff like “it gets better over time” or “your body just needs to get used to it”
but i dont feel anything like this, when im done i feel miserable thinking that i gotta do it again the next day, every single minute of workout i do feels so much longer than its actually is.
Im not silly(hopefully), i know how to workout probably, i made sure to look it up beforehand so as to not break my bones or something and the machines clearly describe with a manual printed ON them how to use them.
Is this it? is workout always gonna feel like shit? Am i just doing it wrong? Was the euphoria or adrenaline you are supposed to feel just a silly or or a thing i just dont get?
apologies is this is the wrong community i just dont feel like there is any else i wouldnt be like, laughed out of
its a pullup machine, so its assisted, im basically pulling my own weight up with it. im not really doing a break during those 20 minutes, not counting getting a drink in (and really short catching my breath stuff)
Sorry for leaving you hanging-- Got distracted. But yeah I’m not sure I really get “you’re working out too often” vibes from your situation… It sounds more to me like something that I didn’t see anybody bring up:
Nervous system fatigue.
If you just go for 20 minutes without stopping, you could just be running your nervous system into the ground and burning yourself out… Even if the exercises aren’t that challenging. So you just feel trashed, sometimes for days, and don’t seem to be much stronger next time (cause you’re not).
Some general rules-of-thumb for a typical 20-minute workout might be:
All of that can be tweaked, but the principle of the third bullet is critical: Finding an appropriate challenge. You should need the rest between sets. You want to challenge the muscles, and challenge your cardiovascular system, while minimizing nervous system fatigue… But a workout that you can do for 20 minutes continuously is kinda the opposite of that 🙃.
Re: your update:
I’m sorry to hear that it’s still not going great :\ There’s some amount of “find a form of exercise that you like,” but also some “stick with a form of exercise until you convince yourself that you like it.” It’d help if you could figure out a way to get some of those “post workout euphoria” benefits that people (including me) talk about, and then maybe the experience could start becoming satisfying again… But it’s tough when you feel perpetually trashed after. Hopefully you find some advice here that can at least get that hurdle out of your way.
thank you for this very detailed response. I wish i knew how to get this euphoria, it feels like a mystery everyone just says they have.
There is no advice that achieved getting over this “hurdle” as mildly as you may call it that helped yet.
I can barely reach 30 minutes, yes i do breaks too now, nothing changed
Yeah, I mean the “euphoria” thing isn’t necessarily like a mind-blowing MDMA experience or anything… It’s kind of more like how I think my dog feels after he gets to play some fetch: Content, relaxed, the opposite of pent-up. The intense euphoria isn’t something that (most) people experience just from a regular workout… But you might get very occasionally during moments of extreme exertion: When you dig deep to finish a marathon, or complete a super heavy deadlift close to your maximum ability.
There seem to be two problems with your effort:
Does that seem right to you? I don’t want to put words in your mouth or anything, but that’s my sense.
For the first one… Yeah, it’s been elusive to figure out what’s going on. I can think of three broad approaches:
Troubleshoot
I’d be happy to help you just go point-by-point to troubleshoot (as I’m sure lots of people here would be), but it’s kind of a process: Reviewing what you’re doing in detail, and modify things one-by-one until the problem is isolated, or some other clues emerge. Like debugging: Methodical, tedious, usually effective eventually.
Triangulate
Another approach is just to mix up what you’re doing and triangulate the problem from there: Find a yoga routine or bodyweight routine for beginners on YouTube (or Piped 🙃), do that for a week or two, and see if you still feel the same this-doesn’t-feel-right burnout. Can you go swimming? Drop in on a pickleball game? Climb some rocks? Go for a slightly-intense-for-you uphill hike? At first, I’d lean toward something where there’s a little more guidance from an instructor-- It’s hard to go wrong with the YouTube yoga routine, for example, because the person is taking you through every moment of the session.
If you notice that activities A, B, and C leave you feeling like a cigarette butt, but activities X, Y, and Z give you that “dog who just finished fetch” feeling, then that’s good data! You can either just stick to X, Y, and Z, or figure out what the pattern is and go from there. Remember that you aren’t necessarily planning to stick to any of these activities, just see if they feel different… So if your local kickboxing gym offers a free trial week, that’d be a great thing to experiment with.
Model
Just pick someone who does something that you do (or would do) and produces content about it, and copy what they do for awhile. Try to figure out how they eat, when they work out, what their other activity levels are like, etc. If this person is already super fit, dial their routine down, but try to form a detailed mental model of what they do and follow it closely. Steal their wisdom-- they won’t mind.
If that goes well, you can start to figure out what to adjust to fit your life better… For example, if they’re a vegan and you don’t want to be a vegan, you might try their diet for a bit, but eventually reintroduce meat. “Right for them” might not be “right for you,” and it can be hard to know in advance… So it’s okay to just bail if it’s not working and try someone else.
As far as not being that fired up…
I guess nobody asked the “why?” question… Which, fair enough-- it can be kind of annoying if you’re like “I need help with X” and someone is like “But why do you even want X?”
But since we’re talking about it: It might be helpful to know why you’re trying to introduce this into your life. Both because it’ll suck less if your activity is aligned with your goals, and also because there might be a shorter/easier path to what you want. Lots of people waste a ton of effort on exercise that doesn’t help them get what they want… Which is fine, if they just like spending their time that way… but you kinda hate it right now, so you’d better make sure it’s at least gonna pay off 🙃
i had written out a lot of stuff but i accidentally hit the refresh key on my keyboard so ill leave it with these points.
1.i did 3 different cardio routines before workout, each felt terrible, like workout 2. i really dont wanna start studying fitness personalities like animals 3. i dont have much opportunity to do other things outside of workout (and frankly thats too much fo a time investment too) 4. why? cause i wanted to feel better about myself, doing workout? feels awful, not doing workout? feels awful as well 5. i started eating better a year ago (no fried stuff and basically no red meat)