Started to ache a lot recently after exercise

[Carrot]

So brief profile -

6ft tall, was 112KG 6 weeks ago, now 99.5KG.

Diet changes consisted of cutting a lot of carbs out

Exercise routine is 4 sessions of the EA Sports Active 2, which burns appx 250-350 calories a session (being 30-40mins long) and a mixture of cardio and light resistance exercises.

Mon Tue Thu Fri are exercise days, with Wed Sat Sun being rest days

Last couple of days, arms are really aching. Is this a case of "man up and get on with it", or should I be listening to my body and resting more often until it all goes away?

[thegman]

So you are excercising using your computer?

[Carrot]

thegman said:

So you are excercising using your computer?

Yep. And walking during the day.

[didelydoo]

Man up I rekon. Doesn't look like you've done enough to damage your body in any serious way? Good effort with the weight loss though!

[Carrot]

didelydoo said:

Man up I rekon. Doesn't look like you've done enough to damage your body in any serious way? Good effort with the weight loss though!

Cool thats what I thought The weight loss has been VERY hard work so far, but seeing the results on the scales every week is awesome

[Morba]

thegman said:

So you are excercising using your computer?

Using a console. No different to doing a class in a gym or a fitness dvd, in fact ea active is better in that it tracks your progress better than a fitness dvd or a class instructor would.

[Carrot]

Morba said:

thegman said:

So you are excercising using your computer?

Using a console. No different to doing a class in a gym or a fitness dvd, in fact ea active is better in that it tracks your progress better than a fitness dvd or a class instructor would.

Its very good having actual feedback and seeing the heart rate live on screen as well. Plus I don't have to waste time driving to the gym, and paying membership.

[ShadownINja]

Don't see the problem with using a computer game to exercise with. It could equally be a DVD or a gym class. In all cases, the instructor is very unlikely to correct you unless it's a class of 2, and you're moving just as much. Still, I really don't get these new fangled aeroplane things. If God intended us to fly he would have given us wings.

As for the pain, is it pain from exercise or damaging a ligament? One's a satisfying pain that implies you've worked it, the other's a worrying pain that doesn't go away and makes you wonder if you've done permanent damage. You should be able to tell. I wonder if the cutting out a lot of carbs (how much?) is related as you just don't have the energy you need, maybe.

[Carrot]

ShadownINja said:

As for the pain, is it pain from exercise or damaging a ligament? One's a satisfying pain that implies you've worked it, the other's a worrying pain that doesn't go away and makes you wonder if you've done permanent damage. You should be able to tell. I wonder if the cutting out a lot of carbs (how much?) is related as you just don't have the energy you need, maybe.

This is what I am wondering. It is the kind of after exercise ache you get, but gets quite bad when I move my arms. The last exercise routine was quite heavy on the arms in fairness, so it may be I am just not used to that level of use in one session.

When I am actually warmed up, it mostly goes away.

Limited to about 30-40 carbs a day, mostly gained from vegetables.

[spikeyhead]

Spend about fifteen seconds gently moving the aching limb. If it moves more freely at the end than the beginning then you can push on, if the other way round then it needs rest.

Carrot said:

ShadownINja said:

When I am actually warmed up, it mostly goes away.

That bit sounds promising

[Odie]

How old are you?

[Carrot]

Odie said:

How old are you?

31

[ShadownINja]

Carrot said:

This is what I am wondering. It is the kind of after exercise ache you get, but gets quite bad when I move my arms. The last exercise routine was quite heavy on the arms in fairness, so it may be I am just not used to that level of use in one session.

When I am actually warmed up, it mostly goes away.

Limited to about 30-40 carbs a day, mostly gained from vegetables.

Hm. Well, you should be able to tell the difference between post-exercise pain and injury pain! Might be worthwhile resting for 3-4 days to see if the pain subsides. If it doesn't then you're better off not having exercised as you can turn a minor injury into a two year albatross round your neck.

30-40 carbs? You mean 30-40 calories a day???

[Odie]

Carrot said:

Odie said:

How old are you?

31

Its normal once you hit 30, im having the same thing. No idea why but I was talking to a doc friend of mine about it and he said its normal, he actually brought it up, when I was talking about running and my ankle with him.

Edited by Odie on Thursday 30th December 14:40

[Silver993tt]

Have you tried doing some warm-down stretching excercises immediately after your training/excercise?

[Carrot]

ShadownINja said:

Carrot said:

This is what I am wondering. It is the kind of after exercise ache you get, but gets quite bad when I move my arms. The last exercise routine was quite heavy on the arms in fairness, so it may be I am just not used to that level of use in one session.

When I am actually warmed up, it mostly goes away.

Limited to about 30-40 carbs a day, mostly gained from vegetables.

Hm. Well, you should be able to tell the difference between post-exercise pain and injury pain! Might be worthwhile resting for 3-4 days to see if the pain subsides. If it doesn't then you're better off not having exercised as you can turn a minor injury into a two year albatross round your neck.

30-40 carbs? You mean 30-40 calories a day???

30 to 40 grams of carbs a day

[ShadownINja]

Carrot said:

30 to 40 grams of carbs a day

Oh. So (from a quick google) about 400 calories a day? Dare I say it, a lack of energy could be resulting in you causing injury to yourself and not healing appropriately after doing heavy exercise?

[996 sps]

I m only judging my comment after going on the X Box Kinetic on Boxing day round the good ladys sisters. We played boxing and Athletics, I noticed a lot of the games were throwing a limb (arm/leg) out fast with no contact on an object obviously. If you look at muscle action going on its all eccentric control and over extension of joints. This will give you a lot of delayed onset of muscle soreness, the group I was having the crack with on the X Box all said they were sore the next day (weak!). My advice is crack on and good effort in getting some form of phys done. Watch how hard you extend those elbows if the pain continues.

[spikeyhead]

So many people start exercising, find that fairly quickly what they can achieve increases and so they do more, and more, and more, and then pick up an injury that they keep aggravating until they give up. I am not qualified in any way to give this advice, other than having spent most of my adult life abusing my body in various ways and doing enough to keep it in trim. If anyone has any improvements to this please share them.

Here follows spikeyhead's guide to exercise for the middle aged or unfit.

Exercise three days a week, not four.

One session hard, the next an easy one and the third somewhere in between. This allows sufficient recovery time. It's the recovery that makes you stronger.

Keep at one level of exercise for seven weeks before increasing it, then keep at that for seven weeks, etc.

Always warm up properly, look up "dynamic warm up" for ideas. Once you get to be an unfit 45 year old it's easy to spend more time warming up and cooling down than it is useful exercise. Treat yourself to a proper massage occasionally.

Learn how to warm down and stretch properly after exercise.

Follow that and you're unlikely to end up with an injury. You may make progress faster using other methods, but if you break down some parts of the body can take a long long time to heal properly.

[996 sps]

The OP is on about exercising with a games consule.