im slim, but not healthy. Eating healthier options is something i can master, but the excersize thing.. im not so sure. My trouble spots are my legs and abs, but every time i do a workout for those spots.. im not feeling the burn, where im supposed to. it will hurt my back.. or something. crunches make me feel lightheaded.
but i cant keep living the way i am or im going to get unhealthy and overweight eventually.
does anybody have any advise on excersizing?
2006-11-12 02:03:53 · 4 answers · asked by Brittani M 1 in Health ➔ Diet & Fitness
Buy a good quality workout tape or DVD. Windsor Pilate's is great. Spend a few days just going over the instructional portion, without getting into the workout itself. Pay careful attention to the instructors explanation of how to keep proper form. For instance: When doing sit ups, you should keep your pelvis tilted toward the ceiling and make the effort of raising your body come from your abdominal and ribcage. Never use the momentum of pulling your head forward to lift your upper body. This quickens fatigue, strains the neck, and slows blood flow to the brain. Curling from the abs, with the pelvis tilted, and neck straight makes your core do the work and gives faster results. Also be sure to practice the breathing techniques. When you feel you've got all of those parts down, move on to doing the actual workout. You should also remember than you may not be able to do all of the exercises exactly like, or for as long, the instructor. Make an effort to do as much as you can, without hurting yourself. You'll get stronger as you keep exercising and eventually you'll be able to do all of it. Then... don't give up! You'll keep getting better at doing each exercise and learning how to maximize your form to get the most 'burn' out of it. It takes time.
2006-11-12 02:29:56 · answer #1 · answered by IAINTELLEN 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My first advice would be to make sure that you're doing all your movements correctly. You should be able to feel the muscles being worked throughout the entire range of movement in any excercise that you do. This also means choosing the right weight; if you can't hold the chosen weight IN PLACE during any stage of the movement for at least a brief pause, then you never lifted it to begin with--you THREW it, allowing momentum to finish things off for you. Keep all movements fairly slow and under control--no bouncing at the bottom or relaxing at the top.
For crunches, try putting your feet on a chair as you lie on the floor, in order to correctly flatten the back and put the rectus abdominus muscles in an efficiant position. Fold your arms across your chest; placing them behind the head can cause strain to the neck, as there's a tendancy to push the back of the head while truely getting into this excercise. The range of motion is only a few inches, so stop when the contraction is full.
For legs... I'm going to make a guess. Do you by chance use a leg press machine? If so, don't allow your legs to come so far back--it'll stress the lower back and glutes (butt) more than the upper thigh. If you do standard squats, try instead doing hack squats, which offer back support. Only come down enough to allow the legs to bend at a 90 degree angle (lower will put more strain on the back) before reversing yourself so that you're back up at the top again, legs flexed. You can also focus individually on leg muscles by using leg extension and leg curl machines, neither of which stress the back.
Good luck!
2006-11-12 11:27:40 · answer #2 · answered by writersblock73 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Exercise is something that is very hard at first, but gets easier the more you do it. You're going to have to push yourself harder than you've already done. If you exercise now and you're not feeling the burn, you're not working hard enough. In your case, you might want to get someone like a personal trainer or a friend that already exercises to push you. If you do it yourself, you're going to put a barrier up where your mind will tell you, "That's enough." You need an outside influence to push you along.
2006-11-12 10:10:27 · answer #3 · answered by DJ 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Go and see your doc for a checkup - maybe your back is bad.
Consult a gym to make sure you are doing the exercise correctly, and also get alternative exercises that do not put so much strain on your back.
2006-11-12 10:10:33 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋