How do you know if you are working out hard enough?!


Question: How do you know if you are working out hard enough?
I can never tell when I am at the gym if I need to push myself harder or not....

From experience what do you use as a guide to know if you are working hard enough or not?

Answers:

A lot of machines at the gym have heart monitors on them, usually in the hand grips. Everybody has a max heart rate depending on age and weight. Most cardio machines have you enter that information in before you start, and then give you a target weight to reach. A good cardio workout has you hitting 80% of your max heart rate and staying there for at least 20 minutes.

That's the numerical way to tell.

There's also the way you feel. A good workout gives me that uniquely flushed feeling, like I've really gotten my heart rate up, my breathing strong, sweating hard. I just know that my body has pushed itself. That's something you have to develop by experience.



Working out enough is fairly general, and all depends on what your goals are for working out. If your of average shape and you just want to stay fit or at a specific weight a light workout is enough. If your a little to a lot over your desired goal weight then they have a "fat burning" workout. In this workout its obviously harder on your body, but usually not so hard that you cant talk to someone while working out. I do mostly this type of workout and as a rule i use the 4 second breathing rule, breathe in for 4, and then out for 4. If i can do that without any effort or shortness of breath then I'm good. The aerobic workouts are mostly for those already in good shape that want to maintain a higher fitness level. You can find more about these different workouts by googleing them and finding out more specifics like max heart rate for each and so on. So to answer your question, only you know if your working hard enough or not based on what your looking for.

Also, the fat burning workouts work great for me with watching what i'm eating. I've lost 36.5 pounds this year so far. If you have any follow up questions you can email me. Hope this helps!



Are you talking about strength training or cardio type stuff?

If your lifting weights to get bigger and add strength, you should be doing sets of 3-4 at a set number of reps like 6-12, But lift to failure. If your set number is say 8, when you hit that 8th rep it should be all you can get. If you can do more than 8 increase the weight, if you can't do at least 7 of the 8 than decrease your weight. Short story, lift till failure. You have to push your muscles and break them down.



the best way is to buy a heart monitor and work out at 80% of your max heart rate.

I dont do that though. I just think of a scale of one through 10 where 1 is sitting on the couch and 10 is passing out from working so hard and i try to keep it between a 6-8.



How fast you get tired. If you're not getting fatigued you need to work harder/go faster/longer.



Are you out of breath? Is your heart about to pound out of your chest? Are you seeing stars? Are you about to pass out?........Thats hard enough.......>

Team Beachbody Coach
darrinashby.com




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