Not pushing hard enough?

[DaygloNirvana]

Hi All!  Just a quick question:

 

How do you know when you're pushing yourself hard enough?  I mean, what does it feel like?  As someone with zero workout experience, how do you know if what you're doing is challenging enough to produce results?  (note:  I've only just started, only worked out twice, but I feel like I'm really weaning myself into it.)

 

Thanks for your replies!

- DJ

[Angie j]

for me I ask what am I trying to accomplish, what's my end goal? How hard you push will depend on that.

For example if you want to jog 5K you are going to jog only as far as you are able, walk a bit, then jog one more and so on until you can reach your end goal.

If I was new and pushing hard I get an experienced pal to show you proper form and any stretching protocols. Easy to get injured if you don't warm up properly.

[Angie j]

for me I ask what am I trying to accomplish, what's my end goal? How hard you push will depend on that.

For example if you want to jog 5K you are going to jog only as far as you are able, walk a bit, then jog one more and so on until you can reach your end goal.

If I was new and pushing hard I get an experienced pal to show you proper form and any stretching protocols. Easy to get injured if you don't warm up properly.

[Kaylya]

I would suggest that the most important thing to start with is to build up the habit of exercising regularly. I would suggest it's better to regularly exercise but be too easy on yourself than to go all in with intense exercise for a month and give it up. That being said, the more intense the exercise, the less time you need to spend on it for the same benefits, and there definitely are people out there who look like they could stand to keep it up a notch.

Beyond that - how hard you should go depends on the exercise, the goal, and the workout. What kind of workouts are you doing?

[Guzzi]

You're starting working with weights aren't you? Have you thought of checking out the likes of stronglifts 5x5 or something like that if it's barbell work you're doing? If you're using the machines for resistance work I think the general advice is to work in the 8-12 reps range. If you can do more than 12 reps it's generally too light and if you can't get 8 it's too heavy.

Of course if you're lifting, then make sure you get your form down before you go adding big weight. Keep it up girl! Remember.... No disappearing this time

[The Beard]

I think Guzzi has the gist of it. Definitely work on form first. And when you start working up in weights, if your form is suffering then you are pushing yourself too hard. That's one way to tell anyway.

[DaygloNirvana]

Awesome - thanks everyone for your replies!

[Rassidan]

     To me that is one of those loaded gun questions if you are a newbie at exerciding or lifting weights. It is very easy to push yourself over the edge if you really are not careful about it. Nothing will slow a person down faster than pushing themselves and causing an injury and I am very experienced in pushing too hard. Just make sure when pushing yourself you at least know proper form and technique before hand. The last thing you want to do is find out you had been doing something wrong and then need to relearn it. Much easier to do when you start out and before pushing it is actually needed.

[Zorch]

Hi All!  Just a quick question:

 

How do you know when you're pushing yourself hard enough?  I mean, what does it feel like?  As someone with zero workout experience, how do you know if what you're doing is challenging enough to produce results?  (note:  I've only just started, only worked out twice, but I feel like I'm really weaning myself into it.)

 

Thanks for your replies!

- DJ

Data can lend objectivity.  Keep a log/journal to track your workouts, and any other important items(weight, etc.) you want to track over time.  If you're making progress towards your goals, you're probably doing okay.  If that's not happening, it may be time to reevaluate your plan.

 

Also, if you're consistently going into your next workout feeling significantly depleted from your previous workout, you probably need to be re-assessing some combination of food intake, recovery time, or volume of your workouts. It should be noted that soreness, etc. is much more common when you're new as well.  A few weeks later it should be less of an issue.

[Mackleharris]

Since I was an athlete for many years, when I do cardio I know I'm pushing myself when I feel as though I'm going to vomit. For lifting its when my muscles are burning and I can barely lift my own arms and legs. But that's just me. 

[Oramac]

     To me that is one of those loaded gun questions if you are a newbie at exerciding or lifting weights. It is very easy to push yourself over the edge if you really are not careful about it. Nothing will slow a person down faster than pushing themselves and causing an injury and I am very experienced in pushing too hard. Just make sure when pushing yourself you at least know proper form and technique before hand. The last thing you want to do is find out you had been doing something wrong and then need to relearn it. Much easier to do when you start out and before pushing it is actually needed.

 

 

I'll second this all day.  I ran into this myself.  Twice, because apparently I was stupid and didn't learn it the first time.  

 

I had to drop weight off my squats to relearn the form properly.  I highly recommend getting it right the first time!  It really sucks to realize you learned it wrong and have to back off your weight to get it right.  

[Machete]

Training Hard vs. Training Smart by Charles Staley

[El Exorcisto]

I was creeping on an EliteFTS twitter chat a couple moths ago and the question was asked: "How do you know when you need to work around an injury or work through it." Vincent Dizenzo answered "A trip to the hospital."

 

For the first months of this trip I trained SL 3 days a week and followed the rules, but still managed to injure myself. I started up on 5/3/1 and trained 4 days a week, with more volume, and my injury rate went down. I'm now training 12 days in a row with only every other weekend off when I work double shifts, and can lay both of my minor low-back injuries to faulty technique and not overtraining. When I was maxing out every day, at the end of one two week block I couldn't power clean a weight that I should have been able to, which told me that my CNS was getting fried. That was my only indication I was overtrained. My squat and deadlift were still moving, but I couldn't move the bar fast enough to clean. The answer wasn't to train less frequently, it was to work on my bar speed and cool it on the max effort work for a while.

 

I am now training twice as often as when I started, moving more than twice the weight. It took just shy of two weeks of completely maxing out daily to see the first sign of overtraining. It takes a lot of work to get there. I doubt a rank novice could do it at all since you body is adapting much faster and the damage you are doing is so much lower.

 

Soreness and sometimes outright pain are part of the package deal, and are no indication of training to hard. My last PR deadlift made my neck flexors feel like my clavicle was going to tear off my ribs. Max effort good mornings leave a bruise across my upper traps and lower neck that hurts for days. Right now I have a very new pain from going up in volume on my Jefferson lifts that I might be mildly concerned about in the morning. I don't wear my pains as a badge like some do, but it is an indicator that I took myself somewhere new and that from it will come something better.

 

I guess my answer to the initial question of "What does pushing too hard feel like?"

A trip to the hospital.