How much is enough?

I

ivorygorgon

Cathlete
The thread below about "superwoman" made me think of this again.


Lately I have really been struggling with the question of "how much is enough?" How fit do I have to be? I want to come up with some fitness goals for the coming year. Previously, they had always been to be able to walk faster on the treadmill, use a higher incline, increase resistance on the elliptical, use a certain amt. of weight, complete a certain Cathe workout without dying etc. But I realize these can't be my goals forever.

How do you identify fitness related goals? How fit is enough? Is it good to always be trying to get more fit, or will it just eventually drive me crazy?

How do you all handle these issues?
 
Good question. I thought about a using personal trainer at the Y for a 12 weeks program, but then realized I really don't have a lot of fitness goals: I'm at a weight I'm happy with (most of the time:) ), my cardio is good, I'm lifting what I'm happy with, so maybe I'll be here forever! Today after my swim I saw a lot of eldery (60s, 70s) women and just thought "I hope I do that when I'm that age". My main fitness goal is heart health and overall fitness.
 
For me personally, there is no such thing as being "too fit", or even "fit enough". The physiological phenomenon of the training effect is such that each new "challenge" will eventually become unchallenging if done frequently and safely enough, and I (body-mind-soul) want a new mountain to climb.

What that means for me personally is to increase - safely - the intensity level of my workout bouts, rather than increase their frequency or duration. I think I have a pretty good volume of exercise scheduled in on a weekly basis, and I don't want to live for my workouts. But, I believe I will always be oriented toward lifting heavier and heavier as I safely can, AND add in more and more intense cardio drills both in my land and aqua classes, AND be able to power walk a little faster during my noontime walks during the workweek.

A-Jock
 
Maybe this is my problem - I never set fitness goals. I just keep pushing for more, more, more, harder, harder, harder. I'm the one who posted the Superwoman thread. Maybe some goals would be a good thing....

Like you, I'm happy with what I'm lifting. I think cardio is my weakness. I always want to go further with that one. But really, how much is overkill?
 
Ivory, I'm just thinking that if you are asking these questions, you are probably in a great place. I think the toughest aspect of exercise is maintenance, because mainteance can be boring. I'm no longer trying to go faster or higher or longer on the treadmill. 45 mins. is plenty for me. So I have to try to keep it interesting by constantly trying new songs for my MP3 player. I've also decided that I'm going to start trying the elliptical machine to keep things interesting. Many people say that cross-training is the key to fighting boredom, and it makes sense.

-Nancy
 
How much IS enough??? I am currently having PT done for my knee, which my therapist says is most likely an over-use injury, however, he also says that he would rather see over-use injuries than those patients coming in with hip/knee replacements etc., due to something that exercise could have helped avoid. He also said, which I thought was quite enlighting, that you don't really know your limits unless you experience over-use injuries. . .something like that. I assume that he means that now I know how far to go and should back off a bit until my knee is stronger, then push myself again. Does any of this make sense??:eek:
 
IMHO, a good goal to adopt, if you're getting jaded with simply going faster on the treadmill, using a higher incline, increasing the resistance on the elliptical, is to bring in a new mode of exercise - aquatic fitness, band training, yoga / Pilates, cycling, etc.

Another goal could be (don't shoot me, Cathe-ites!) to put the strength-training DVDs away for a month or two, design your own strength training set if you're not already doing that. Go at your own speed, with the heaviest weights you can handle that bring you to uber-fatigue if not true failure by the 12th rep.

Another goal could be to bring in aquatic fitness. (oops - said that already, but people grossly overlook the valueof aquatic training).

A-Jock
 
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