Basic Exercise Questions from a Newbie

[atlcharm]

I have a few questions. I am a pretty sedentary person but I'm trying to change that. I am not overweight but muscle tone is non-existent. Pretty flabby to say the least. I don't want to lose weight but I want to tone and I want fast results. I am at present 130 pounds. For lower body I've started climbing the stairs at work. Yesterday I did 32 flights - part of it I jogged and parts I walked. Let's just say today I can barely move but I still managed to do 20 flights today but I walked the whole thing - did not jog. Here are the questions...I hope none are silly but I'm a beginner so...

1. Is it safe for me to jog stairs everyday especially as many as I am doing? I keep hearing that when you workout you should give muscle groups a day of rest in between. I don't want to, but at the same time I don't want to hurt myself. When I think of giving muscle groups a day off I'm thinking of weights. I am only climbing stairs. It's HARD but not weights. Thoughts? I know there are probably some hardcore people that run stairs everyday.

2. Is it safe for me to work through the pain or should I wait until muscles are no longer safe to workout? For instance yesterday I did 32 flights. Today I continued even though I was very sore. Isn't soreness an indication of a good workout. Everytime that occurs I need to take a day off or should I keep going?

3. I assume that once body gets accustomed to the workout I will no longer be sore all of the time (at least I hope not). Therefore how will I know if workout is intense enough. Do I just judge by the level of burn I feel during workout. I'm not a heavy sweater so I can't really judge by that.

4. If the answer to question #1 is a No it is not safe to jog the stairs everyday then can I jog it one day and walk the next day

5. Don't think I'm crazy but today is only second day and thighs and calves look very tight already. Is that real toning or swollen muscles? I did not expect results this fast. butt is still jiggly though

6. Do you eat after or before your workout? Does it really matter? At lunch I typically eat after workout. In the evenings I come home and work upper body but I sometimes eat before workout and then wait an hour for food to digest prior to the workout. Is that okay.

7. I am about a size 2/4 when do you think I should expect to see results from intense stair climbing routine? That is if I can keep it up. I'm 5'5" so for height I don't think there is too much fat to shed for the toning to show through.

I hope I got all questions on here. Oh and to clarify when I state that I am hurting it is only muscles. Nothing dangerous like knees or back. It was hell getting off the toilet just a minute ago.

[Boss Man]

1. Is it safe for me to jog stairs everyday especially as many as I am doing? I keep hearing that when you workout you should give muscle groups a day of rest in between. I don't want to, but at the same time I don't want to hurt myself. When I think of giving muscle groups a day off I'm thinking of weights. I am only climbing stairs. It's HARD but not weights. Thoughts? I know there are probably some hardcore people that run stairs everyday.

(Too much intial volume. I'd limit yourself to 15 flights and try to jog them all if possible, then give yourself 5 days a week, split, so 3 on, 1 off, 2 on, 1 off, so you get 2 rest days, not back to back and don't exceed 3 days of straight exercise.

Each week, add another flight of stairs in.)

2. Is it safe for me to work through the pain or should I wait until muscles are no longer safe to workout? For instance yesterday I did 32 flights. Today I continued even though I was very sore. Isn't soreness an indication of a good workout. Everytime that occurs I need to take a day off or should I keep going?

(If the pain just feels like a bit of soreness it should be fine. If the pain feels like a shooting, stabbing or sharp pain, discontinue the exercise until it disspates, or potentially see a doctor, to make sure you don't have anything like a strain, tear, rupture or inflammation of muscle or tissues.)

3. I assume that once body gets accustomed to the workout I will no longer be sore all of the time (at least I hope not). Therefore how will I know if workout is intense enough. Do I just judge by the level of burn I feel during workout. I'm not a heavy sweater so I can't really judge by that.

(DOMS, (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness), is not a measure of quality workouts. Some get little to none, others more and it could indicate overtraining, though not all the time, only sometimes. All the "burn" is, is Lactic Acid, caused by the breakdown of muscle Glycogen, without the presence of Oxygen. Something called Anaerobic Metabolism. It is not a definite indicator of a quality workout, as more Lactic will increase feelings of stiffness, soreness and muscle burn, but I doubt there would be a clear indicator of when you'd over exerted yourself, so don't use the "burn", as a guide to optimal or over exertion, as it can indicate both, depnding on intensity and duration of training.

In time some or all DOMS, should dissipate. This can be a trigger to increase intensity or duration a bit, but it doesn't automatically mean workouts get poor, as some physiological adjustment to exercise, is probably most often not a reduction of quality, it's a tolerance adaption.)

4. If the answer to question #1 is a No it is not safe to jog the stairs everyday then can I jog it one day and walk the next day

(See original answer.)

5. Don't think I'm crazy but today is only second day and thighs and calves look very tight already. Is that real toning or swollen muscles? I did not expect results this fast. butt is still jiggly though

(Might be a slight reduction in water levels.)

6. Do you eat after or before your workout? Does it really matter? At lunch I typically eat after workout. In the evenings I come home and work upper body but I sometimes eat before workout and then wait an hour for food to digest prior to the workout. Is that okay.

(Eat after moreso than before, to refuel. Eating before is good, but the meal after the workout, should be in mind 2 hours after the previous one, and as much as 3 hours afterwards, so you don't overload with calories and nutrients in a short space of time and waste too many, when the body has an inadequate ability to process them in the given timeframe. Spacing nutrients would allow for better use of daily ingestion.)

7. I am about a size 2/4 when do you think I should expect to see results from intense stair climbing routine? That is if I can keep it up. I'm 5'5" so for height I don't think there is too much fat to shed for the toning to show through.

(Can't say. it would depend on diet, sleep patterns, (circadian rhythms), Hormone activity, water levels and body type.)

[TheFitRebel]

When I lived in Japan I ran up and down the flights of stairs in apartment complex each night for workout (the local gym was very expensive). Just like the post above there are many factors to consider but as long as you're getting enough sleep and not on the all-cotton-candy diet you should be fine. I would say to not be too attached to feeling obligated to do your stairs for a certain amount of time or flights.

Some days you might do stairs for a longer period of time and others you might go for less time to mix things up. You don't want to make the mistake I did and always do it for the same amount of time each workout.

I also recommend you play a game. Time yourself for 5-6 round trips and try to break that. If you keep trying to break your record you will push yourself and be less likely to plateau.