<p>So being the asian geek I've been, I've been kind of neglecting my fitness for the past 8 years, and I figured college would be a good place to reverse this trend before it becomes too late. I think my BMI is okay, just that I'm quite flabby. So ... I am not really that informed on good cardio/aerobic technique.</p>
<p>For the past two weeks I've been alternating swimming (generally around 1000m or so) and using the rowing machine (20 minutes; 40:20r, 20 intervals total). Rinse and repeat. The issue is that it seems I could do this forever and not get tired! And to me I wonder if this is problematic -- that I'm not exercising hard enough? I get the endorphin "high" after every round, and that feels great. But aren't you supposed to feel exhausted/sore after a good workout? After four hours of this today, I stopped because of homework and still found myself energetic.</p>
<p>In general, how much pain do you need? If you keep your heart rate at a constantly elevated level, without it being too painful (as I've been trying to do) is that sufficient? For example on the rowing machine I try to stay around the 2:05-2:10 / 500m, to stay in the "gosh this is hard" range, but I generally don't try to push myself into the "this is painful" range. But I just discovered crew -- I didn't qualify this season, but I plan to train myself to get lower times to see if I can qualify next year. </p>
<p>And in swimming, not counting the fact that I've been out of practice for years and my technique is horrible, I divide up the 1000m into blocks of 50m, sometimes 75m or 100m and avoid anything higher. My times are generally a minute per 50m (horrible competitively I know), then I rest for around half a minute. I plan to transition more to blocks of 100m as I get more into practice, but I don't really want to go any higher. </p>
<p>Will this work in reducing flab (I'm not aiming for a six-pack) if I repeat this regimen a few times a week over the year? Or is it really true that no pain is no gain?</p>
<p>Aerobic isn’t about pain, and I certainly hope that you wouldn’t be experiencing pain just from the aerobic exercise (weight training is a different story, but you’re still not supposed to kill yourself over it). To burn fat, you need to be maintaining your heart rate at 60-85% of its maximum. For a college age person, you should be aiming for a heart rate of 120-170.</p>
<p>How different should aerobic exercise be from say, competitive racing? Competitive racing uses a lot of aerobic techniques, when you’re not sprinting so I’m not sure where they overlap and where they don’t.</p>
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<p>I’m not saying that I find it easy … I’m just saying that I don’t find it painful. (As in, competitive-racing, 400m swimming race painful.) Can you judge the efficacy of a workout by the strength of the endorphin high you get? Or do they not really correlate?</p>
<p>If you are flabby, you also need to be weight lifting. Some experts say that one should lift weights for an equal amount of time as what one spends doing aerobics. Doing aerobics only will burn muscle, and won’t build muscle. You can Google this subject to verify.</p>
<p>I agree with NSM. I’m skinny, but if you do indeed lift heavy weights and eat properly (that is, eliminate fat), you will lose fat. Of course, after a point, one must do aerobic exercise. Plus, it’s good for your heart!</p>
<p>Run. Everyday (or every other day) just run for 20-30 min. It doesn’t matter if your pace is slow at first, you’ll get quicker as your body adapts. </p>
<p>You mentioned crew and I suggest you work on your quads with weights, lots of running and a proper technique (emphasis here. You use completely different muscles if you’re doing it right) on the rowing machine.</p>
<p>All of this in healthy quantities of course (alternate days when you do these and give yourself proper hydration/nutrition).</p>
<p>Actually, I’m in a very similar situation to you, galoisien, and I’ve been swimming every day to try to get rid of flab. I haven’t expected any results yet (obviously, I’ve only been doing a week), but I haven’t been really exhausted yet. I also enjoy swimming much more than running, because just being in the water makes me feel better and I’d prefer not to lose that.</p>
<p>However, I am joining the fencing team, and they do run during practices, so that’ll be good.</p>
<p>To the OP, it’s good that you’re doing more than one type of exercise. Maybe you’d like to incorporate biking and running into your regimen. Cross training is always a good thing.</p>
<p>Yes! Now I know why I hate running! It’s the stitches.</p>
<p>I started doing crunches, but they’re kind of inconvenient to do without a partner, so I’ve tried to replace them with dolphin-kick and wave-breaststroke. I can feel my stomach muscles ache slightly sometimes when I do breaststroke, but it goes away when I stop … and it’s nothing like the stitches I get from running. </p>
<p>I can exercise-bike lol … I need to get a real bike. With training wheels. Yes, I do not know how to bike for real.</p>
<p>From “It’s Not Just Growing Pains” by Dr. Thomas JA Lehman, “The common athletic statement, ‘No pain, no gain,’ is incorrect. While it is true that muscle pain with activity may be associated with building stronger muscles, bone and joint pain is never associated with gain. Continued activity on bones or joints that hurt is causing injury and may be causing permanent damage.” Swimming is great aerobic activity and easier on the joints than running. To get rid of the flab and develop muscle tone, you need to do a light weight bearing exercise, but never to the point of having pain.</p>
<p>I lost 20 lbs in half year by just eating less and exercising. by exercising, i don’t mean spending awful lot time in the gym, just be active. you know? like stand and make little moves when you check your email; get off the bus one stop ahead and walk when time is sufficient. start with the easy things that do not give much pain.</p>
<p>But those things don’t give you endorphin highs :(</p>
<p>I think I am at a more or less healthy weight. My main problem is flab. I would really like to avoid straight-out weight training if possible … could I just substitute in some swimming exercises? </p>
<p>I’m trying to improve my breaststroke technique, I observe that if I remember to catch the water at right-angles (rather than going the natural tendency and making wide circles), not only do I move faster, but I meet a lot more resistance. I can start to feel something in my arms, but after I get out from the pool, my arms feel fine. But I swim so far in blocks of 50m and occasionally 100m … then take 15-30 seconds to catch my breath (depending on whether it’s 50m or 100m) and then begin the next block. Do I need to push myself any harder or try to swim in larger blocks? </p>
<p>Also, if you increase your work level until you hit an endorphin high, is that an appropriate time to stop increasing your work level? Or is it necessary to push yourself all the way?</p>
<p>hey, i’m in the exact same situation. I’ve neglected my body until this point for the most part..but, now I’m working out a lot. And, I’m never tired regardless of how much I do…and it makes me peppy and hyper!</p>
<p>How hard are you swimming the 50/100m? If you are going to swim and take breaks like that, you should probably be going all out, or almost all out. Think about an olympic swimmer… if they are going to swim 1000m, they swim each 50m slower than someone who is just swimming 50m. But if you can swim 1000m at a constant speed, swimming 50m at that speed, and then resting, is not going to get you any better. Your body has to work hard. Running 2 miles in 20 minutes will help someone who is out of shape… but running 2 miles in 20 minutes for someone who ran track or cross country is not going to do anything for them.</p>
<p>Um if it hurts, you need to STOP exercising immediately. There’s a reason why the machines at the gym say “Stop exercising if you feel pain, short of breath or faint.”</p>