Exercise Questions
Hi all,
I don't know if this is the right place to right this but I wanted to ask 2 questions. I recently started Kickboxing (I usually swim 3 times a week but I've only been doing it for 3 months).
1) Whenever I exercise (outside of the pool) my calves "kill" me for about 2 days after! I think I stretch out once I've finished but I don't know if there is anything else I can do or if it's cos I haven't worked out for a while.
2) When I work out I get really flemmy (sp.) I end up coughing bunged up nose and sneezy. Do you think this is because of toxins in my lungs or ashma? I don't think it's ashma as I don't have breathing difficulties at any other times - even when I raise my heart beat during swimming.
Any thoughts?
Answers:
I'm no expert, but it sounds like you're using your calf musclesin a waythey haven't been used much before.As they begin to tone up, the periods of burning (lactic acid buildup) should diminish or be eliminated. It also sounds like you're pushing too hard, beyond your present level of fitness, and that can be counter-productive to what you're tyring to accomplish. Suggest you do some good stretching exercises for a few minutesbefore you begin your regular training.
When I first started jogging up and down hills, and breathed hard, fast and deep, Icoughed afterwardsand spit up phlegm. Increased jogging createdmany new capillaries(tiny blood vessels) in my lungs and these symptomsdisappeared in a relatively short period of time.
Answers:
do you warm up properly before swimming? esp the muscles you are about to use hard.
Answers:
hI, REMEBER TO DO WARM UP AND COOL DOWN EXERCISES. kICKBOXING IS GOING TO REQUIRE MORE MUSCLE STRENGHT THAN SWIMMING. i SUGGEST YOU BUILD UP TO IT AS IT SOUNDS AS IF YOU ARE GOING FOR IT TOO FAST.
gOOD LUCK
sANDRA
Answers:
Iagree with Bob - kick-boxing really stretches out the back lines of your body - and yours is adjusting reluctantly. Massage your legs from the buttocks down to the heels. or better still, get someone else to do it, regularly.
The phlegmy thing - your increasing circulation is working up moisture everywhere during exercise. it doesn't sound as if there is anything wrong. Make sure you drink plenty of water - that will help your aches and painsas well.
Sharon
Answers:
Hi all,
Thank you for your replies :D
I don't get any muscle aches when I swim I start out with a nice easy stroke and work my heart rate up and slow down, but I don't have any problems with it.
Kick boxing on the other hand. It's professionally taught so we are doing the right warm up and stretching we do our routine and then pad work and streching again. Maybe it's because I'm still new to it so my body obviously needs to build up to it.
I think I'll just have to go a little easier on myself, although I don't know when to stop! I do as much as I think I can and when I feel knackered I stop or make the move easier for me. How do I know if I'm pushing myself too much, without taking my heart beat...?
Thanks for all your advice :D
Answers:
It's not enough just to check your pulse. You should rarely exceed your "target range", which is 220 minus your age, times 85%. Example: If you are 30 years old, subtracting that from 220would be 190. Multiply that by .85 equals a target range of 161 beats per minute. You should stick between70% and 85%. I used to jog up and down hills and could routinely run with a pulse of 160. Sometimes my pulse reached 180 when going up a steep hill, and I never felt any ill effects ... but, it's not advisable to do that. Always let your body tell you what to do. Stop training for a minute or two to see how you're feeling. Sometimes you feel good while working out but will feel like you pushed yourself too much, after you stop. You don't want that feeling. Overtraining is not good, it usually works against what you are trying to achieve.
Answers:
The thing about class fitness lessons is that you don't necessarily go at your speed - the teacher has to accommodate all levels of fitness and with a kickboxing class, i suspect you're going at the rate of the fittest pupil there (well, the teacher is pushing the fitness of the fittest pupil there) so you could easily be overdoing it. Sometimes it's best to pause or sit it out for a moment rather than ending up suffering problems later.
Answers:
Hi
it is important that when stretching, that you include a calf stretch that includes the soleus muscle, which plantar flexes the foot when the knee is in flexion(bent), a good way to do this is to put your toes of one foot approx four inches from a wall, then bending the knee, push the front leg directly over the toes, pushiing the front knee towards the wall, normal range of movement usually allows this to be achieved at the four inch distance although if you are restricted your should start with your foot closer to the wall and progress, try to hold the stretch for at least 15 seconds as maintainance but increase to 30 for development,
hope that helps you, also when walking try to leave the toes in contact with the ground as long as possible as if rolling right up onto the tip toes.
gaz
Answers:
Hello, i am new to this website so forgive me if i have posted this wrongly somehow.
CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME HOW TO REDUCE THE SIZE OF MY CALVES OR IF THEY ARE STUCK LIKE THEY ARE FOR LIFE!!!
Basically i would love to reduce the size of my calves. I am 21yrs old and at the age of 9-16 i was a keen swimmer and trained hard 3 nights a week. this did bulk me up but when i stopped my body reduced alot of bulk. i then worked out at a gym a few nights a week, i didnt run much but walked every session for about 15-20 mins on a low incline. i used the cross trainer alot too and did some weights for my calves and legs. im not a regular user of the gym anymore i have put on a little weight but not alot.
My calves for a long time have been bigger than the average woman but they seem to be getting bigger? The thing is, they do not feel flabby and seem to feel quite hard so i assumed they are not big because of fat? am i right? because i havent been doing any excercise to make them bigger?
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks for your time,
Zoe
Answers:
Hi Zoe - why don't you start your own thread on this? Perhaps in "General Exercise"?Click on NewPost and just cut and paste yourpost. It's an interestingquestion.
Sharon.
I don't know if this is the right place to right this but I wanted to ask 2 questions. I recently started Kickboxing (I usually swim 3 times a week but I've only been doing it for 3 months).
1) Whenever I exercise (outside of the pool) my calves "kill" me for about 2 days after! I think I stretch out once I've finished but I don't know if there is anything else I can do or if it's cos I haven't worked out for a while.
2) When I work out I get really flemmy (sp.) I end up coughing bunged up nose and sneezy. Do you think this is because of toxins in my lungs or ashma? I don't think it's ashma as I don't have breathing difficulties at any other times - even when I raise my heart beat during swimming.
Any thoughts?
Answers:
I'm no expert, but it sounds like you're using your calf musclesin a waythey haven't been used much before.As they begin to tone up, the periods of burning (lactic acid buildup) should diminish or be eliminated. It also sounds like you're pushing too hard, beyond your present level of fitness, and that can be counter-productive to what you're tyring to accomplish. Suggest you do some good stretching exercises for a few minutesbefore you begin your regular training.
When I first started jogging up and down hills, and breathed hard, fast and deep, Icoughed afterwardsand spit up phlegm. Increased jogging createdmany new capillaries(tiny blood vessels) in my lungs and these symptomsdisappeared in a relatively short period of time.
Answers:
do you warm up properly before swimming? esp the muscles you are about to use hard.
Answers:
hI, REMEBER TO DO WARM UP AND COOL DOWN EXERCISES. kICKBOXING IS GOING TO REQUIRE MORE MUSCLE STRENGHT THAN SWIMMING. i SUGGEST YOU BUILD UP TO IT AS IT SOUNDS AS IF YOU ARE GOING FOR IT TOO FAST.
gOOD LUCK
sANDRA
Answers:
Iagree with Bob - kick-boxing really stretches out the back lines of your body - and yours is adjusting reluctantly. Massage your legs from the buttocks down to the heels. or better still, get someone else to do it, regularly.
The phlegmy thing - your increasing circulation is working up moisture everywhere during exercise. it doesn't sound as if there is anything wrong. Make sure you drink plenty of water - that will help your aches and painsas well.
Sharon
Answers:
Hi all,
Thank you for your replies :D
I don't get any muscle aches when I swim I start out with a nice easy stroke and work my heart rate up and slow down, but I don't have any problems with it.
Kick boxing on the other hand. It's professionally taught so we are doing the right warm up and stretching we do our routine and then pad work and streching again. Maybe it's because I'm still new to it so my body obviously needs to build up to it.
I think I'll just have to go a little easier on myself, although I don't know when to stop! I do as much as I think I can and when I feel knackered I stop or make the move easier for me. How do I know if I'm pushing myself too much, without taking my heart beat...?
Thanks for all your advice :D
Answers:
It's not enough just to check your pulse. You should rarely exceed your "target range", which is 220 minus your age, times 85%. Example: If you are 30 years old, subtracting that from 220would be 190. Multiply that by .85 equals a target range of 161 beats per minute. You should stick between70% and 85%. I used to jog up and down hills and could routinely run with a pulse of 160. Sometimes my pulse reached 180 when going up a steep hill, and I never felt any ill effects ... but, it's not advisable to do that. Always let your body tell you what to do. Stop training for a minute or two to see how you're feeling. Sometimes you feel good while working out but will feel like you pushed yourself too much, after you stop. You don't want that feeling. Overtraining is not good, it usually works against what you are trying to achieve.
Answers:
The thing about class fitness lessons is that you don't necessarily go at your speed - the teacher has to accommodate all levels of fitness and with a kickboxing class, i suspect you're going at the rate of the fittest pupil there (well, the teacher is pushing the fitness of the fittest pupil there) so you could easily be overdoing it. Sometimes it's best to pause or sit it out for a moment rather than ending up suffering problems later.
Answers:
Hi
it is important that when stretching, that you include a calf stretch that includes the soleus muscle, which plantar flexes the foot when the knee is in flexion(bent), a good way to do this is to put your toes of one foot approx four inches from a wall, then bending the knee, push the front leg directly over the toes, pushiing the front knee towards the wall, normal range of movement usually allows this to be achieved at the four inch distance although if you are restricted your should start with your foot closer to the wall and progress, try to hold the stretch for at least 15 seconds as maintainance but increase to 30 for development,
hope that helps you, also when walking try to leave the toes in contact with the ground as long as possible as if rolling right up onto the tip toes.
gaz
Answers:
Hello, i am new to this website so forgive me if i have posted this wrongly somehow.
CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME HOW TO REDUCE THE SIZE OF MY CALVES OR IF THEY ARE STUCK LIKE THEY ARE FOR LIFE!!!
Basically i would love to reduce the size of my calves. I am 21yrs old and at the age of 9-16 i was a keen swimmer and trained hard 3 nights a week. this did bulk me up but when i stopped my body reduced alot of bulk. i then worked out at a gym a few nights a week, i didnt run much but walked every session for about 15-20 mins on a low incline. i used the cross trainer alot too and did some weights for my calves and legs. im not a regular user of the gym anymore i have put on a little weight but not alot.
My calves for a long time have been bigger than the average woman but they seem to be getting bigger? The thing is, they do not feel flabby and seem to feel quite hard so i assumed they are not big because of fat? am i right? because i havent been doing any excercise to make them bigger?
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks for your time,
Zoe
Answers:
Hi Zoe - why don't you start your own thread on this? Perhaps in "General Exercise"?Click on NewPost and just cut and paste yourpost. It's an interestingquestion.
Sharon.