The post-workout calorie burn: Do you burn extra calories after a cardio workout? What about strength training? And more of your questions answered here - Fitness Q&A

Shape, April, 2002

Increasing your wrist flexibility may also help reduce the pain. Stretch your wrists by pulling your fingers back with one hand until you feel mild tension. Hold the stretch for about 10 seconds.

Another solution is to perform pushups while gripping dumbbells; this way, your wrists are straight -- aligned with your forearms -- rather than bent. Make sure the dumbbells are large enough that your knuckles don't hit the floor. At fitness-equipment stores, you also can buy special push-up handles designed for this purpose. Or, you can simply place a mat or towel on the floor and do push-ups with your hands in a fist.

Q I'm 26 and have great stamina. I can walk briskly for long periods of time, and I can kickbox with no problem. Yet when I jog, I run out of breath within five minutes. What gives?

A "You may be trying to do too much running at once," says Robert Wilder, M.D., assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Virginia and medical director of the university's running clinic. The stamina you've developed from walking and kickboxing will certainly help with running, but fitness is very specific. "Walking is not running, and kickboxing is not running," Wilder says. "It's not just the particular muscles being used, it's how they're being used. Any time you start a new activity, there's going to be a training curve."

Start by alternating one minute of walking with one minute of jogging, Wilder suggests. Gradually increase the length of your running/jogging intervals and decrease your walking. One caveat: If you're truly gasping for breath after five minutes of jogging, consult a doctor to see if you have exercise-induced asthma. Your doctor should also check for any cardiac conditions that might be causing your breathing problems.

Q Is it OK to do a moderate step-aerobic workout when my muscles are sore from weight training the previous day? Also, could I be risking injury?

A "You're probably not going to injure yourself with a moderate workout when you're sore, but you're probably not going to help yourself, either," says exercise physiologist Tom Thomas. Sore muscles are 20-30 percent weaker than recovered muscles, Thomas says. "Athletes know they can't push themselves under those conditions." If you feel sore, do a very light aerobic workout so that you don't interfere with your recovery.

However, you might also want to consider why you're sore. Soreness is natural during the first few weeks of a strength-training program. But if you lift regularly, even pushing to fatigue, you shouldn't feel sore the next day - except if you do an extra-hard workout (or you've just introduced new exercises or a more rigorous training technique such as drop-setting). It's possible that you're increasing your load in the weight room too often; or maybe you're not getting enough sleep to aid recovery. It's also possible that you're not allowing yourself enough time between workouts to recover. You might want to try putting a few days between your strength training and step workouts.