You know you're not working out hard enough when...

... you never break a sweat.

Hoping to learn some key indicators... signals that I need to push a little bit harder during my workouts... am I right about the sweat? And, any others?

not necessarily. i used to siffer with dehydration and so sweating never happened for me - you can only sweat with enough water in your body... so - if you drink a lot of water normally then yes thats a sign! hehe

exhaustion is normally another good sign! hehe

When you're working hard enough, your body has difficulty getting enough oxygen to muscles, so they have to undergo a process called lactic acid fermentation, which produces energy with like 10% of the efficiency as cellular respiration (what they do to produce energy when they have enough oxygen) and lactic acid.  This lactic acid is that burning sensation you get and is what makes us sore.  All that being said, you gotta feel the burn to know you're working hard enough.  Now you don't necessarily need to be sore the next day (some freaks, such as myself, never have next day soreness); however, if you're not sore immediately after your workout, you need to increase resistance if you want results.

to #2 - what about freaks like me who are rarely sore immediately after but regularly sore the next day?  Is soreness, whenever it shows up, indicator enough?

It really depends what intensity you are wanting to work at, fat burn or cardio, once you get your heart rate up nice and high - you can keep it elevated quite easily. I do a 35 minute run out and a 1 hour-ish walk back, my heart rate on the walk is about 110-115, getting it this high just walking is rather difficult, but after the run, it's very easy.

To be sure what intensity you are working at to achieve desired results, I would recommend getting a heart rate monitor - they are fab, some models will work out your calorie burn too, based on your stats, which seems way more accurate than the estimate of the gym machines.

Good luck with your training

Hayley

I don't think sweating is a good indicator at all.  I take medications that make me sweat more than I used to while doing the same type of activity and with my age night sweats aren't unheard of LOL--

I think if you don't have a heart rate monitor use the Perceived rate of excertion

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/physical/meas uring/perceived_exertion.htm

Even with a heart rate monitor there are days when I feel I'm working out at level 5 and my HRM has me at about maxed out then there are other days when I can feel like I'm at level 10    and the HRM has me barely over my minimum. 

Also if I drink more water befor eworking out I'll sweat more.  Guess the body knows if it has enough to spare.

 

alle0299,

Sorenss in a muscle group that you worked out is indicative of the production of lactic acid, which is a result of working to overload (a good thing).  It's uncommon for people to have your situation for exercises involving legs, biceps, and abs, but not unheard of; personally, my chest is almost never ever sore, but it has grown substantially since beginning my workout routine.  In summation - any tolerable amount of soreness is good soreness and is a sign that you're doing the right amount of weight/reps; however, if you're sore to the point where you can barely walk or move a certain muscle group (been there, done that), that's not good :).

In Joe Garagiola's book Just Play Ball he said one of his coaches had the philosophy "if you are sore you play if you are in pain you don't" 

I am sore from my Monday night workout.  My upper chest/ shoulders and glutes are still telling me they worked hard but its not so bad that I can't function or even have to take medication for it- its a nice reminder that my body is improving!

If you're not sure whether you worked out hard enough or not then you didn't.

Sweat is a good indicator of how hot the room you're working out in is, but that's pretty much all it's a good indicator of.

Thanks for all the responses... interesting to know I'm dead wrong about the sweat - I sweat a lot during workouts but I live in the tropics, so that's probably what's responsible, not the effort.

I really like trhawley's response! And I'm now actively shopping for a heart rate monitor...

Looking forward to more responses... and I have another question, something I've always wondered about - I see people at the gym reading magazines while on the bike or treadmill: good multi-tasking skills, or reduced output?

About reading on the treadmill/cycle... There are the matters of reduced output and slow reading, BUT!!! you don't notice the soreness nearly as fast AND the time goes by substantially faster.  Without reading on the cycle, I can do a 5k on 70% of max resistance in about 15-20 minutes, and then my legs are dead; however, while reading I can do the same resistance for 10k in 40-50 minutes and even then I'm barely tired.  Mind over matter I suppose.

My opinion is that, as long as you're burning the same number of calories or more (hopefully more), reading whilst doing cardio is 100% okay.

I don't want to have implied that you have to knock yourself out every time you work out.  It all depends on your goals and your strategy to reach those goals.  On some days I could easily read on the trainer and get just exactly what I'm looking for out of the workout but on other days I wouldn't be able to focus on the page.

Reading - Well, you're probably not focusing totally on the task at hand, but, as imtkain notes, you're quite possibly having a more pleasant time doing it, and thus doing it longer. For most purposes, I'd wager that it's a fair trade. This is doubly so since I'm going to guess that if we did the math, the numbers would favor the combo for all but serious work, in which case, you're probably not bored by the workout anyway.

Original Post by jareya:

... you never break a sweat.

Hoping to learn some key indicators... signals that I need to push a little bit harder during my workouts... am I right about the sweat? And, any others?

Well, NOT sweating is certainly a sign that you are not working out, even though sweating is not necessarily the sign of a good work out. So if you DON'T sweat, then yeah, you haven't done much. Maybe in exteme cold, or a really cold room, one could get in a decent workout and still not break a sweat, but I've never seen or experienced those conditions.

BUT, I think it is really important to know what your goals are each day you workout. I plan easy, moderate, and hard days. My easy days, my goal is simply to relax and enjoy my run. My hard days, I'm aiming for improvement. I'm constantly varying my intensity depending on the previous work out and how it felt.

 

 

Original Post by mkculs:

Well, NOT sweating is certainly a sign that you are not working out, even though sweating is not necessarily the sign of a good work out. So if you DON'T sweat, then yeah, you haven't done much.  

 I've never broken a sweat swimming, does that mean I didn't get anything out of it?

I can't read on a treadmill but I can on a bike but I find my workout isn't as good -- kinda lazy 1/2 hearted into it- I used to watch the morning news while on the elliptical and on weekends would put in a dvd movie and watch the whole movie while doing the ellitpical - or a great boredom breaker is get a dvd tv series and watch one episode - so you've worked out for 40 minutes while enjoying one of your favorite shows.

sweating is the body's way of cooling off. It does not mean you are losing weight.

Original Post by jareya:

... you never break a sweat.

Hoping to learn some key indicators... signals that I need to push a little bit harder during my workouts... am I right about the sweat? And, any others?

 

 You're not training  hard enough if:

-You can hold an easy conversation while doing your sets.

-You don't want to cry "uncle" on that very last rep. (this isn't always true)

-You are flipping casually through a magazine while running.

-You are talking on your cell phone while working out

-You are worrying about how you look when you are doing it (unless you're checking form).

 

I disagree about the sweating. Some days I sweat when I lift, some days I don't. If I'm lifting heavy, for short reps, I don't sweat. If I'm lifting for endurance, I might. Some days I can run 6 miles and barely sweat, some days I am soaking wet.  It depends on the person.

Thanks everyone - the comments are really helpful...

mkculs' comment on varying the intensity of my workouts is really instructive, I actually had never thought of planning for hard, moderate and easy days - I tend to just plan workouts and do as much as I think I can each time (which tends to vary wildly depending on how I feel). But actually planning ahead for varying intensities in my workout schedule sounds so much wiser, more interesting and definitely more challenging. I'll definitely give that a try.

Thanks soy-vey, those are very practical pointers. LOL at:

-You are worrying about how you look when you are doing it (unless you're checking form).

Thanks again to everyone.