Exercising every day - tell me it gets easier

[SkeletonSkins]

Since Monday I have exercised daily and I want to keep it up. I walk my dogs every day but it’s just not enough. Having PCOS makes it hard to lose weight, even doing 16:8 and cutting carbs it just doesn’t shift easily. So I’ve decided to get into a habit of exercising every day. I swim three times a week for 45 mins (only breast stroke so not cardio) and so the other four days I want to do half an hour of cardio.

Today is my third day of doing the half an hour of cardio (HIIT) and for the first time I’ve had to stop half way through. I felt like I was going to be sick and my legs weren’t doing what I told them to 😂 I’m crap at cardio, I hate being out of breath but I need to get fit so please can people out there tell me that why they started they felt like they were going to throw up but now it’s easier 😂

You've picked something tough to do if you're not used to doing a lot of cardio. It will get easier, but you may be better off easing into it... maybe do it every other day to start off with and do some brisk walking on the in between days.

Also, breaststroke can still be a good cardio workout- you just need to make yourself go faster.

Good luck!

Give the OurParks Couch to fitness videos a go, it works like C25K in that it starts easier and gets harder, They also show you ways to modify the exercises if you can't do it all.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?fbclid=IwAR3yy-UnDb-FABEih_aZaxZyy8-7r4TLMNvacIocybBwVHWlxeZXmHaFEZE&list=PLzyGqy4hi5yAr4wQImo5HgwZIZ58PVyY-&app=desktop

Yes it does get easier, probably in about 2-3 weeks! Cardio doesn't have to be high impact jumping around. Weight training is cardio and actually increases your heart rate more than cardio if done correctly. I started doing hiit with weights on you tube 4 years ago and have kept it up because I enjoy feeling strong. I don't do any high impact as I don't think it's great for women my age (menopausal). The workouts I do are quick hiit workouts working several muscle groups at the same time which is what gets your heart rate up. 20-40 mins a day is all I do and I'm fitter than I was in my 20's.

Thanks all, I don’t have the space or money to do weights at home at the minute but maybe in the future. For now I just want something I can do at home with little prep (meaning I make fewer excuses 🙄🙄🙄) that I find vaguely fun when I’m not feeling I’m about to be sick!! So I’ll stick with it and hopefully things will start to get easier.

Yes, it gets easier. In time it will get too easy and you will need to ramp up the intensity.

Yes it gets easier. I love the Body Project's workouts because you can scale them up and down depending on fitness levels

Even then, I found it horribly hard going to start with - and I suspect I will again having had a break from doing the workouts after a hellishly busy period at work. It does get easier/less sweaty/less painful/less nausea-inducing after a while

Was coming on to say try Body Project as they're easy to scale up or down as you need, and as Daniel says if you're moving, you're winning.

I am stating similar next week but was only hoping to do 5 weekdays instead and then weekends only if I really feel like it, I think every day is a lot at first, you need to build in some rest days with just some stretching I think. You don’t want to go out so hard that you give up.

I lost 4.5st recently, kicked off by using my static bike everyday. I hated it but i knew if i didn't do it daily, id be back to making excuses, id stop, and the weight would stay. So i kept at it. I did stop eventually though, we went away for a week and i just couldn't get back into it so its a clothes hanger again

Well done!

I have an Apple Watch which is a great nudge to keep moving (in fact I've just collapsed on the sofa having gone for a 6.5km walk followed by a 45min Peloton bike ride 😭 in order to complete my December challenge). It really does keep me going, and Apple has just introduced their own fitness app, although I've not got far into it yet (and using the Peloton app instead, which is free from my health insurance at the moment).

It will get better, amazingly quickly. Keep an eye on your heart rate, for me, when it gets too high is when I start feeling sick. And you could try speeding up your swimming - I definitely raise my heart rate with a breaststroke swim and can burn quite a few calories. Also you could do weights at home, all you need are some hand weights or a kettlebell, and your own body weight is hugely effective. Fitness Blender is excellent for a huge variety of workouts which can be easily filtered to exertion level, area of work out, equipment etc. They're quite good at making you check your form too.

Well done, keep it up (but don't beat yourself up if you need to take a break one day!).

Wow thanks for all the encouragement and recommendations! I’m really tempted by some sort of fitness watch to count my steps and heart rate etc so that’s something to look into.

@Ruddyfedup 4.5 stone is incredible! That’s how I feel, if I say every other day then I start making excuses. It needs to be non negotiable for me that I do something every day but perhaps some days it’ll just be a longer walk.

Did my half an hour cardio this morning and an hour walk this afternoon so I’m pleased with today. My other habit I’m trying to maintain is reading 30 mins a day so just that to fit in this evening!

When I first started running I was so unfit I threw up on run one of c25k. Now I run marathons for fun..

HIIT three days in a row is not a good idea. You need to alternate with easier days.

Sorry I’m alternating with swimming, so I did one day HIIT, on day swimming and two days HIIT. If I start to ache or anything I’ll obviously stop and have more rest days!

Oh I see
Honestly, I'd avoid HIIT two days in a row unless you are really fit.

Can you add in a bit more variety? Yoga or pilates, to balance out the HIIT. I think the key is making incremental changes, so small increases over time that you enjoy and will stick with. No point going all out for a few weeks, then giving up because it's unrealistic.
There's loads of stuff on YouTube, and somene NHS beginners exercise videos. As long as you're doing something that's great.

You get to swim? I'm so jealous!
You could try to swim harder/faster, too...

If you think you could like HIIT then what about doing it as 3x10 minute sessions... then 15 minute, etc. increase by 5 minutes/week until you get to the 30 minutes 3x/wk.

I recommend you have one day a week off from the cardio element.

I'm following a Joe Wicks plan and they recommend always having 2 rest days a week to let your muscles rebuild. So I'd do 4-5 days with a HIIT and a longer / brisker walk on the others.

Thanks for the advice guys, will go with that and have one/two rest days from the cardio a week.

Yes our pool is just about hanging on in Tier 3! It’s been a bit stop-start with the lockdowns but I’ll be gutted if it closes again as it’s so good for my mental health.

I find it really hard for the first few months after I’ve had any sort of break, I also find that when I’m doing consistent exercise I am really tired a lot of the rest of the time.

I definitely find doing the actual exercise itself easier as I go along, and I think when I let stuck to it the tiredness the rest of the time got better after a couple of months.

Well done and keep going! (Reminder to myself as much as you )

Sounds good. Little and often is better than a big push and then nothing. Like healthy eating - small changes over time
Also jealous of your swimming though! We've been in old tier 3/tier 4 for forever it seems. Swimming is such good exercise and great for the head too.