Went back to the gym today after a 6 week break from burnout and well frankly, laziness but my workout did not seem challenging

I had started to do 1 hour and 45 minutes of cardio at the gym and was frankly becoming a little obsessive and well I think I just burned myself out. Well this morn, after initially trying to make another excuse, I decided that it was time and so I went to the gym .

I did 45 minutes on the elliptical at a sustained pace that I would say was vigorous to moderate. I did break sweats and my HR got as high as 161 and my average was 149. I guess my question is I assumed that I would need to ease my way back into exercising and I initially said that I was only going to do 30 minutes, but once I got into the swing of things, I felt OK going to 45 minutes and the personal trainer who works at the gym told me that 45 minutes of cardio is the max I should be doing.

I guess I just want to know should I be out of breath ? I assumed I would be so out of shape from that 6 week hiatus, but I actually felt pretty good. I guess I should add that although I stopped going to the gym for 6 weeks, I still watched what I ate and lost 11 pounds during that time. I am guessing maybe the lost weight is what made it more comfortable for me this morning. I don't know, I just want to challenge myself, but not overdo it so much that I go off the reservation for another 6 weeks.

Thanks

Anyone?

maybe try HIIT (high-intensity interval training) and lift some weights. if its not challenging you are wasting your time. any activity gives diminishing returns over time unless you change things up. changing things up doesnt mean going longer.

variety is key for me - i alternate cardio and lifting 5-6 days a week. i never do the same cardio in a week and i increase my weights as much as possible. i do alot of step and kickboxing and circuit training.

try something different. good luck. :)

Greekhoneymoon,

Doing cardio is important. However, you don't need to do as much as you are doing. You are doing way too much cardio IMO. Start hitting the weights more. Eating right and lifting will get you the best results in terms of bodyfat loss. Then for cardio, don't do it more than 4 times per week. Mixing regular cardio with HIIT is the best way to go.

Twice a week after lifting, do 30 minutes of regular cardio. Lifting weights empties your glycogen stores and puts your body in a fat burning state. So doing cardio afterward helps to attack bodyfat. Then two days a week do HIIT. It is a much more effective than regular cardio. It  will give you a great cardio workout in less time, it attacks bodyfat better, and your metabolism is raised for up to 24 hours afterward. You are probably wondering why you wouldn't do this everyday. You only want to do it a few times a week because it is very intense and your body would burn out if you try to do it too much. It involves mixing short bursts going 100% (15-20 secs) with slower recovery periods (45-60 secs). You switch back and forth from fast to slow repeatedly for 15-20 minutes. It doesn't seem like much, but if you put everything you have into the fast part of every interval, you will be worn out by the time the workout is done. It is funny because you will see someone doing regular cardio for like 60 minutes on the treadmill and get off barely feeling winded with barely any sweat. Then you see someone who does an HIIT workout, and they are panting, drenched in sweat, and spent a third of the time working out.