Cardio & jogging question.

[aretel]

First of all, I've been doing my cardio almost everyday since I started over two weeks ago. Stairstepper (still at 10-12 minutes) floor exercises(crunches, etc.) 10 min, very brisk walks during lunch breaks 15 min and recently added 10 minutes of jump-rope. Saturday and Sunday-brisk walk 30 minutes up and down Angels Hill Drive (should be called Devil's Hill!) My fiancee and I got into a discussion about my workouts yesterday. He and I were both wondering with the workouts that I've been doing, have I been building a little muscle? The stairstepper causes my thigh muscles to start burning and walking that killer road in my neighborhood burns my calves. This is when I'm working the hardest/fastest. My weight hasn't changed still (I know...patience ) but I did my measurements on Friday and the tape says I'm down some . Is some muscle possibly replacing fat?

Question number 2: Saturday morning, I was going to turn my walk into a light jog. I warmed up a bit but when I finally started my jog, my shins started hurting! I said to hell with that and started "speed" walking again! Why did it hurt? How can I improve so I can start jogging? I used to job quite a bit when I was younger and I enjoyed it...I would get the "jogger's high."
Sorry if this is a bit long winded

[ajarvis]

Since your tape measure said you've lost inches, but the scale hasn't moved you're putting on muscle at the same time as losing some fat.

With regards to the shin pains the first thing I'd suggest is to look at your footwear. How old are your shoes? How many miles/kilometres do you have on them? Are they a "Running" shoe, or an aerobic shoe etc? If you go to a store that can size your feet properly and look at your feet and shoes to determine the best ones for your feet it would be the best idea.

[angelus]

Also to add to that, your workout is 7 days a week!

Remember, you cannot build muscle without having sufficient recovery time. Without having time off, all your doing is destroying your muscles before they have time to rebuild. This is how your muscles grow.

So if it hurts when you run, its because you may have damaged your muscles with over doing it!

Try a different routine where you work on different muscle groups everyday. This will give your other muscles time to heal and grow!

For example:

Monday: Work on your upper body and arms
Tuesday: Work on your lower body (abs and maybe thighs)
Wednesday: Have a day off
Thursday: Do some aerobic exercises
Friday: Work on upper body
Satarday: Rest time
Sunday: Rest time

Doing somthing similar to that would give your muscles time to heal and grow. Try searching this board for some different routines.

Also, if your muscles do hurt while exercising, i would wait a few days to let them heal and maybe try some less demanding exercises until you are ready to move upto more demanding exercises.

[ajarvis]

Yea I didn't notice that at first! 7 days a week is too many!

[aretel]

Thanks for your input. Sorry for the misunderstanding but I am taking breaks. I take 1-2 full days off of no exercise. I've gone from being a regular receptionist not doing a whole hell of a lot to working out full time. Don't get me wrong...I'm enjoying this so much! I rolled out of bed at the butt-crack of dawn this weekend to go on my walks as soon as the alarm went off! It was great being up before everyone else and the neighborhood was still asleep.I can already tell the difference in my CV health! I'm not gasping for breath going up those hills! I just don't want the existing muscles in my legs to get any bigger. They are already big due to the muscles...they just aren't defined.

I'll look into the shoe thing. I never really thought about it before.

[aretel]

I did say "almost everyday"

Speaking of working on upper body strength...what can I do without buying more equipment? I've read on past posts that in order for everything to work at it's best that you have to do a full body workout. I just haven't started on the upper, yet. Never really been a huge concern for me. Just my lower half...ha, ha. Baby got back...junk in her trunk etc., etc!

[yorkie85]

The shin pain you described might be shin splints. To avoid this, you ought to work on strengthening the tibialis anterior muscle (shin muscle). You could either add in some inverted calf raises (press down with your heels instead of the ball of your foot) or just walk around the house on your heels. It's hard to do the latter and look cool though. lol