elliptical machine trouble

[TheRealAshland]

Jus monday I was only able to do less then 5mins on the ellpitical a machine slowly in 1 week I went from 5, mins to 15mins to 60mins str8 now after doing about 2 hrs on the machine yesterday my legs are very sore, and I'm unable to stay on for more then 15mins with out hip pain or leg pain I didn't strech yesterday so could that be apart of the problem? I prefer this machince over the treadmill because I feel I can get more of a workout because its slightly more difficult. Sould I try aspirn? Is this normal should I jus tuffin up thourggh the pain ?

Also I lost 2 pounds on this machince so far should I be doing weights too because I don't want to lose weight then have saggy skin, i d rather be fat then have saggy skin.

But back to the pain. Its not like I'm physically exhausted just the aches make me stop sooner, I could probaly go for 2 hrs or more a day if it were for the leg pain btw I'm 228 in weight, is that the probaly all the weight back on my joints?

Thanks

Ashland

 

[RedT]

First, a treadmill is more difficult than an elliptical, but at this time that is a moot point (until you heal), since a treadmill is likely to make your legs hurt more. Running on a treadmill causes you to propel your body since for a moment both feet are off the ground. On an elliptical your feet are not leaving the ground so you don't use as much energy. That said, the MOST effective exercise is the one that you will actually do, so if you will elliptic but won't run, by all means elliptic.

Now, you went from 5 minutes to two hours in one week. Hell yeah, you'll be sore. You need to gradually build us your time. Remember you build muscle between workouts, you tear muscle while you are working out, so you need to give yourself time for your body to repair (build) the muscle. Otherwise you'll be left wondering why you are not seeing any improvement and become lose your enthusiasm.

Take a few days off until the pain subsides, then start at the one hour you can do without discomfort and add 5 minutes at a time. Also, if you are finding you can go from 5 min to an hour in one week you may want to change the incline (different inclines work different muscles) and increase the resistance. When it sucks after 20 minutes, that's when you are really working out.

[an aside] Also, your body will get used to the elliptical or any cardio that you do all the time, you may want to mix it up with some stair stepping, bicycling, treadmill, an areobics class and/or swimming, you'll have better results faster.