To exercise until I'm bright red in the face?

[Gymgoer]

I've been going to the gym for a few years now. When I go, I try and exercise my hardest. So I do sweat and also go really red in the face while I'm, say, running on the treadmill. If I really push myself I do sometimes have to have a rest after the end of my 10k, sitting on the end of the treadmill (once it's stopped of course) or on a chair at side of gym.

This has maybe happened 5-6 times in 2 years but every time it does someone rushes over to me as they 'thought I was going to collapse' and one time even sent over one of the gym staff.

I appreciate some people don't seem to sweat or look out of breath when exercising but I'm not one of those. I've been doing this a while and an getting fitter but of course as I get fitter, I up the stakes (once I could run a certain distance at X speed, I then tried to it 30 secs faster each time etc), so I'm still working just as hard AIBU to push myself like this?

Thats how exercise works......isnt it!? You push yourself to your max. No point in casually wandering about!

I don't know what gym you go to but I used to do CrossFit and we'd all end up lying on the floor. Once in a spin class in a normal gym DH was sick and the instructor was complimentary of how much effort he'd put in 🤣

If you're not sweating, you're not doing it right.

I'm pretty fit and not overweight, and I sweat buckets when I exercise hard, like a hit class or boxing, running, spin etc. I also look very red in the face.
It just the way my body cools itself down, but some people sometimes find a reason to comment or point it out. Which is horrible, and put me off exercising when I was a teenager/in my early 20s as was so self conscious.
I've grown out of that now, I try not to care what people think if I need a towel with me at all times when exercising. It's normal and natural for me.

It all depends on what your goals are. Going 100% everytime is not necessarily productive and a good way to end up injured.

I often look like a beetroot after I've been for a run (and it takes an embarrassingly long time to subside!) even if I don't feel I've pushed myself too hard.

Not a judgement but I'm amazed (and impressed!) at the amount of women who wear full make up when exercising, and it stays intact! Im sure I would look a complete mess if I was a sweaty beetroot with make up in the mix as well!!🤣

When I was at my very fittest (and I was V fit) I’d occasionally push myself so hard (sprinting) when I was prepping for races, I’d vomit (I trained outdoors thankfully ). That was rare, but not totally unheard of.

Red, sweaty, shaky, bit glazed over? Totally normo. My PT wasn’t satisfied unless I was collapsing on the floor at the end

I’m often the only person in my gym classes who even breaks a sweat, let alone ends the class looking like a tomato. I use challenging weights and put my all into every part of the class, otherwise there is no point in my mind. Others just fanny about and don’t do it properly or their ability level doesn’t make them sweat. I don’t worry about it any more and just get on with my own thing.

You shouldn't be exercising to the point of complete collapse, or needing to sit on a chair to recover.

Absolutely max effort is good. But better interspersed with core & strength work.

Exercising intensively isn't synonymous with exhausting yourself in one burst of effort.

The redness is because of vasodilation whereby blood is pushed towards the surface of your body to cool down. Some people turn redder than others but on the whole is completely normal and I would be a bit annoyed if people kept checking up if I am okay.

Can you do a cooldown by walking on the treadmill rather than sitting down? It is better for you anyway as it helps push out any accumulated waste products in your system.

I feel it isn’t exercise if I am not out of breath and sweating

I go really red when I exercise. I sometimes warn the instructor, as it is just my skin, I am NOT going to collapse; please don't worry unless I say I'm about to collapse or actually am on the floor!

I have rosacea, so I am predisposed to flushing.

I always look like a beetroot who just went for a swim. Always have and, I assume, always will.

You are doing it right fellow beetroot. Own it lady.

I created a game at work (I did 5k in my lunch break) called "rate my redness" where colleagues scored me out of 10, 10 being the reddest red they had ever seen. I often got 7s and 8s. This, perhaps oddly, made it less embarrassing.

Fine to go bright red, i turn beetroot myself... but not ideal to just stop suddenly and sit down.
Agree with welshiefluff that it's best to finish by walking.
If totally knackered I have been known to 'stretch' while mostly leaning against a wall, but at least I'm kind of keeping the blood moving

I doubt it's the redness, more the getting off the machine suddenly to sit down... I'd probably think you were about to have a heart attack or something.

I'm not stopping suddenly as such, normally it's at the end of a 10k. I usually do warm down at the end by walking slowly and stretching however there is the odd time when I've pushed myself too far and basically feel sick that I just have to have a sit down for a minute or two. Once I have, I feel fine and get back on to complete my warmdown.

I've always embraced the "if you don't feel like you're about to die, you're not trying hard enough" mentality, which is probably why I'm always injured. I've never been able to do any degree of exercise, regardless of how fit I am, without looking like the Hogwarts Express* though so from my perspective, YANBU.

*bright red and puffing like a steam train

I just started out running again after a long break. C25K week 6 today. I was beetroot and sweating like mad afterwards. I love a good sweating session, I do martial arts and there is nothing like sparring with someone, sweating, fighting the urge to stop, whilst still giving it your all and that satisfaction when you make it through the round.

My heart does beat a mile a minute though, higher than I thought would be healthy

Its the sittingdown and looking like your about to pass out