Not sore after workout

[MarchMadness11]

So I have walked and ran here and there but I am not in shape at the moment cause I'll be honest I havent been consistent with any form of working out...Anyways I went to the gym today for about 3 hours. I did just brisk walking instead of full on jogging without incline. I did that for an hour...then i did the elliptical for about 20 minutes. I also lifted a few weights as I am new in the lifting weight section....I did lighter weights with more reps. I didnt do alot of weights in the weight section...Ill be honest, I did sit on a couple machines taking small breaks in between reps...guilty here lol. Anyways I got showered I just lifted my leg to touch my toes to get a little more exercise in without getting sweaty to get my steps in cause I had less than a 100 to reach my goal. Well, my muscles are tired...Im tired lol, and I got told that what I did today was a complete waste because I am not sore. I am wanting to lose weight and pretty bummed to be honest as far as what i did being a waste....is that true that it was a waste and I need to be sore to have a good workout? I keep finding so many different articles, I dont know what to think....

[WendyB]

Was this the first time?

From looking at what you said you did good.

I think most soreness comes from over doing. You didnt and thats good. So no just because you were not sore does not mean you did not get in a good workout.

You did

[Tave]

Ok, so the most important thing: no about of activity is a waste! And congrats from starting somewhere.

Like WendyB mentioned, I find I am sore from overdoing my activities. Most of the time I am just fine.

If it works for you, keep doing it. The last thing you want is to hurt yourself and get sidelined,

[bcalvanese · Accepted solution]

---

@MarchMadness11 wrote:

So I have walked and ran here and there but I am not in shape at the moment cause I'll be honest I havent been consistent with any form of working out...Anyways I went to the gym today for about 3 hours. I did just brisk walking instead of full on jogging without incline. I did that for an hour...then i did the elliptical for about 20 minutes. I also lifted a few weights as I am new in the lifting weight section....I did lighter weights with more reps. I didnt do alot of weights in the weight section...Ill be honest, I did sit on a couple machines taking small breaks in between reps...guilty here lol. Anyways I got showered I just lifted my leg to touch my toes to get a little more exercise in without getting sweaty to get my steps in cause I had less than a 100 to reach my goal. Well, my muscles are tired...Im tired lol, and I got told that what I did today was a complete waste because I am not sore. I am wanting to lose weight and pretty bummed to be honest as far as what i did being a waste....is that true that it was a waste and I need to be sore to have a good workout? I keep finding so many different articles, I dont know what to think....

---

I have a motto...

If you ain't huffing and puffing and sweating, you ain't doing it right.

If you go by this motto, you will increase your fitness level, and yes, you will be sore.

Don't get caught up in articles because there are a lot of idiots out there that write articles...:)

If you want to just maintain your fitness level, then doing what you are doing is fine, but if you want to increase your fitness level, you have to push it. Just be carefull not to over push...:)

[SunsetRunner]

@MarchMadness11You were told wrong-who said this to you?  I might be 'feeling' a workout, but almost always not until the next day.  Working yourself to pain is an idiotic suggestion and will only do you harm.  getting in shape, like losing weight, should be slow and steady.  Your cardio was awesome, and doing weights equally awesome.  Have yu considered hiring the gym trainer for a couple sessions on how to use the weights/and or machines correctly?  I did this and it makes a huge difference when you know what to do 🙂   

[SunsetRunner]

@bcalvanese And if this is the irst orray into fitness training?  what she did is appropriate and good.  Pain no gain has been discredited over and over.

[bcalvanese]

---

@SunsetRunner wrote:

@bcalvanese And if this is the irst orray into fitness training?  what she did is appropriate and good.  Pain no gain has been discredited over and over.

---

I never said no pain no gain.

What she is doing may be good to maintain her current fitness level if done at least 3 times a week.

If a person wants to increase their fitness level, they need to push it. Then when that level becomes easy, they need to step it up to get to the next level, and so on.

There are no short cuts, and if a person thinks there are, they are only fooling them selves.

I was obese when I started power walking. I power walk at local parks where there are many people walking as well. I have seen many other obese people walking very casually (even while reading books, and playing on their phones). It's been almost 2 years now and I see many of those same people walking the same way. They still look just as obese and out of shape as they did almost 2 years ago.

I push myself and now I can jog 5 miles, and my fitness level has gone from "extremely poor" to "good", and I have lost over 50 lbs. so far. All my blood work (that used to be a mess) comes back completely normal now, and my doctor is in AWE of me.

If the OP's goal is to maintain her current fitness level then what she is doing is fine, but if she is trying to improve her fitness level, then my motto still stands.

To each their own.

[JoeyUK]

No exercise is a waste ! 🙂 It's all about calories, it sounds like you will have burnt a lot of calories in a 3 hour workout! which is quite a lot! You might get bored with it though if you keep that up haha

I think with cardio, you don't need to be sore for it to do any good. With weigh lifting you want to tear the muscle so yeah you want to be sore after weight training. 

Track your calorie intake and then you get better judge what you need to do. Burn more than you eat 😉

[MarchMadness11]

@bcalvaneseJust wanted to tell you great job on the weight loss! I pushed myself some...i got carried away with typing and forgot to add that I jogged some too and turned it to brisk walking when I couldnt really catch my breath, if you know what I mean Im going to start adding weights in there as well and more of an incline...just slowly and steadily increase my workout....I was doing good and lost 10lbs but got sucked into a weight plateau that just had me down which then i seemed to gain it back and then some ..and then the what i did was a waste thing...so i was reasearching and it was just so many different opinions. Anyways, again congratulations with the weight loss and the better lab work results. Thats amazing! It's nice to hear encouraging stories, it helps me at least to stay focused. Also thank you everyone for responding to my post and being encouraging, good luck with everyones fitness journey!

[SunsetRunner]

@bcalvanese I respectfully disagree with this:  What she is doing may be good to maintain her current fitness level if done at least 3 times a week.

Anybody who is adding several hours of exercise a week is going to get fitter.  

[bcalvanese]

---

@SunsetRunner wrote:

@bcalvanese I respectfully disagree with this:  What she is doing may be good to maintain her current fitness level if done at least 3 times a week.

Anybody who is adding several hours of exercise a week is going to get fitter.  

---

The basic rule of thumb is...

In order to achieve a cardio training effect you must keep your heart rate in a cardio zone for a minimum of 20 minutes and a minimum of 3 times per week. This will yeild a minimum training effect.

If you want to achive a better training effect, you can keep your heart in a higher cardio zone, extend the time you keep your heart in the cardio zone, and/or increase the number of times per week that you do cardio.

A training effect is what is needed to improve cardio fitness. Keeping your heart rate in the cardio zone will cause your breathing to be harder depending on what zone you want to train at. The higher the zone the more you will huff and puff. You will also sweat doing this.

Once your fitness level increases you will notice that doing the same workout will not get your heart rate up to that level any more, and you will not be huffing and puffing and sweating any more. You will also not be getting a training effect anymore until you adjust the intensity to the next level.

Not everyone has a heart rate monitor to insure they are staying in a cardio zone, so the next best way to measure is breathing and sweating.

There is no easy way to increase fitness level, and there are no short cuts. I'm not one to sugar coat things, and at least for me, If I'm going to spend an hour exercising, I'm going to make sure I'm getting a training effect (unless it's a recovery workout). Anything less than that I would consider a waste of an hour.

[bcalvanese]

---

@MarchMadness11 wrote:

@bcalvaneseJust wanted to tell you great job on the weight loss! I pushed myself some...i got carried away with typing and forgot to add that I jogged some too and turned it to brisk walking when I couldnt really catch my breath, if you know what I mean Im going to start adding weights in there as well and more of an incline...just slowly and steadily increase my workout....I was doing good and lost 10lbs but got sucked into a weight plateau that just had me down which then i seemed to gain it back and then some ..and then the what i did was a waste thing...so i was reasearching and it was just so many different opinions. Anyways, again congratulations with the weight loss and the better lab work results. Thats amazing! It's nice to hear encouraging stories, it helps me at least to stay focused. Also thank you everyone for responding to my post and being encouraging, good luck with everyones fitness journey!

---

Thank you @MarchMadness11

Just push yourself a little to start. The key is to push yourself a little more each time and allow for recovery. Recovery can even be the same workout just at a much lower intensity. It helps you recover from more intense workouts and still burn some calories at the same time.

It will eventually become a habit and a part of your normal day...:)

[SunsetRunner]

 I don't remember the OP saying this was a one time thing and, imo, what was done was totally awesome for starting out (but perhaps too much to begin with).  I think I assumed this would be a regular workout and you assumed only that work out.