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| Fitness | Is it better to eat before or after exersicing? | Nov 23 2009 21:43 (UTC) |
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You should actually be taking in food before AND after your workout. You need to make sure you get some protein and complex carbs 60-90 minutes before hand to fuel your workout. Then you want to make sure that you get protein and simple carbs within 60 minutes of finishing your workout. The three most important meals of the day are your pre-workout meal, post workout meal, and the meal following that. There is a four hour window before and after a workout where your body needs the most to fuel and recover from the workout. Here is what I do.. Before a workout I will have some complex carbs like 2 ounces of whole wheat pasta or a bowl of oatmeal and some protein (20-30 grams). Then I wait 60-90 minutes after finishing and do my workout. Then after the workout, I have a shake with 40 grams of whey protein and 60 grams of Dextrose. Dextrose is a simple carb that causes an insulin spike so the protein is absorbed into the muscles faster. Then usually 90-120 minutes after that I will have a regular meal with protein, carbs and healthy fats. |
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| Fitness | exercise every other day | Nov 21 2009 01:14 (UTC) |
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I wouldn't work out more than 5x per week. Your body needs at least two days off a week. Speaking from personal experience, if I try to do more than 5x a week, I feel burned out. My current schedule that has been working well for me is Tues (Pilates in the AM/Upper-Body Weights/SS Cardio PM), Wed (Lower -BodyWeights/HIIT), Thurs (Only Pilates in AM with no weights or cardio.), Fri (Upper Body Weights/SS Cardio PM), Sat(Lower Body Weights/HIIT), and Sun/Mon off.
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| Fitness | Why is it so hard!!!??? | Nov 19 2009 19:01 (UTC) |
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What I would recommend is doing your weight-lifting first. I noticed that in one of your posts you said that you wanted to do an hour of total cardio and then lifting after. You should always lift first because you want all your energy available to you and lifting also puts your body in a fat burning state. Doing cardio then helps to speed up the process. Finally, you don't need to do that much cardio per week. It is important to do some, but not overdo it. Just keep a close eye on what you are eating and your calorie intake, do weight-lifting 3x a week, and do 90-120 minutes of cardio a week. Also, a good way to do cardio is by mixing it up combining HIIT a few times a week with a few regular sessions of cardio after lifting. |
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| Fitness | Anyone else do Pilates? | Nov 14 2009 08:25 (UTC) |
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Original Post by melkor: Yeah that is definitely true about me. Pilates definitely wouldn't be like that for me though. There is no way that I could imagine only doing Pilates. It is a fantastic core workout, but doesn't really do much in regards to building overall strength or cardio. I definitely need my compound lifts and cardio workouts. I just want to really improve my core and work on strengthening my lower back. I think doing Pilates 2x a week will really help with that. Plus, it gives me something to do on Tues/Thurs instead of just working and studying for my NASM exam. Not to mention it burns a few hundred calories which is always a bonus, especially since I am trying to drop body-fat right now. My core is definitely feeling it after the two Pilates classes this last week. I have to say that I thought my core would stand up better considering I do heavy deadlifts, heavy back/front squats, pull-ups in the L, etc.. I guess not..LOL |
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| Fitness | I need 3 personal fitness goals! | Nov 14 2009 08:16 (UTC) |
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Original Post by cc31: Yeah the G.I. Jane challenge is insane. Fitnessgirl seems to get better and better at it. I tried it a few times and couldn't even make it to 60 without feeling like I wanted to puke. I have been taking some time away from it to try and get my regular burpee endurance up. Once I am better with regular burpees, I will attempt to tackle it again. The first goal for me is just to be able to make it to 100 burpees period. My main problem is that I haven't been in great cardiovascular shape since I was 16 years old. Back then I used to play baseball and since I was a pitcher, I had to do double the running. On average I was running 6-10 miles a day 5x a week. The most I ever did in a practice was 13 miles. I did so much running that it felt like I was on the track team, and my weight dropped all the way to 155 pounds back then..LOL After that, I decided to focus more on strength training and my cardio training went to hell in a hand-basket. I am SLOWLY getting better though. It took me months just to make it through a 20 minute HIIT session using a 1:3 ratio (15:45). Now I can almost go 20 minutes doing a 1:2 (20/40). |
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| Fitness | I need to add some strength tranining...what to buy? | Nov 14 2009 00:45 (UTC) |
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One thing I would recommend is trying to encorporate some body-weight exercises. Your own body-weight provides the most cost friendly form of resistance training.. :) Doing exercises like push-ups, pull-ups/chin-ups, dips, squats, etc can build a good strength training base. Once you get stronger, you can look into getting weights. |
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| Fitness | I need 3 personal fitness goals! | Nov 14 2009 00:34 (UTC) |
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Another fitness goal that you could shoot for is dropping your body-fat %. I think a good, reasonable goal is dropping it by 3-5%. |
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| Fitness | Help with Lifting and amount of daily protein required | Nov 13 2009 02:46 (UTC) |
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I always thought that the general rule of thumb was to get 1 gram per pound of bodyweight. However, I will be the first to admit that I read this in a fitness magazine years and years ago which are designed to try and sell as many supplements as possible. The more protein you have to consume, the more protein products you will buy. |
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| Fitness | Anyone else do Pilates? | Nov 11 2009 17:34 (UTC) |
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Original Post by melkor: Melkor, Isn't it possible that some people could always be an exception to what the literature says? I understand being against something based on what you have read. However, as I said in my post, it provided me with a good workout that had me sweating bullets and feeling fatigued by the end of the hour. Today my entire core feels sore. Overall I had a positive experience. My chiropractor also recommended it to me because I have been suffering from lower back problems as of late and the extra core work will supposedly help with that. With how sore my core is, it obviously needs work and a week core can be a cause of low back problems. Would I make Pilates my only source of exercise? No. However, I personally don't see the harm in trying it 2x a week in combination with weight training and HIIT/SS. As I said before, it didn't feel ineffective to me. |
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| Fitness | In need of advice/personal thoughts on weight... | Nov 10 2009 01:48 (UTC) |
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Sorry to hear about your heart problems. That really sucks!! A few pieces of advice : - Make sure your nutrition is in check. Eating properly is by far the most important thing. Make sure you get enough protein, make sure your carbs are complex (whole grains) and low on the GI scale, get plenty of fruits/vegetables, and make sure to get plenty of healthy fats (olive oil, natural peanut butter, almonds, fish oil, etc) along with plenty of water (1 gallon a day). Spread it out over 5-6 small meals eating every 3-4 hours. Have a cheat day one day a week. - Start weight training. This is the best way to transform your body. You don't have to do a lot either. You can get great results lifting on a full-body routine 3x a week for 35-40 minutes a session. - Now usually I would recommend doing HIIT for cardio. HIIT involves pushing your heart rate into the 90-100% range for short bursts combined with slower periods of recovery. However, since you have heart problems, I am not sure it would be wise to do it. What I would do is speak to your cardiologist, to see what type of exercise you can do. Then do whatever cardio you can, after your weight training sessions. If your heart improves and you are allowed to be more stressful on it, then start doing HIIT. However, always refer to your cardiologist/doctor to monitor it closely. - Ignore the scale. The BMI scale is actually outdated. It was designed more for sedentary people who don't exercise. If you exercise, a better way to monitor progress is to get your body-fat % tested. Getting a DEXA scan done is the most accurate method. Do a Google search for centers in your area. Get a new test done every three months. In between tests, keep track of your measurements and watch your diet closely. The cool thing about exercise is that if you do it correctly, you can get great results with less than three hours a week. It is more about the quality of workouts than the quantity of workouts you do. |
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| Fitness | How do you do HIIT on the Elliptical? | Nov 08 2009 08:56 (UTC) |
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bmx beat me to it..LOL HIIT is pushing yourself to the MAX on every intense section of the intervals. Slowly increasing the speed over time, is regular interval training. A beginner HIIT workout would be 5 minutes of warm up, 10 minutes of intervals (15 seconds @ 100% and 45 seconds slower to recover) and 5 minutes of cool down. As you become more fit, you can increase the amount of intervals until you get to 20 of them. Once you are able to do 20 intervals of 15/45, then start doing intervals of 20/40, and then 20/20, etc.. Just make sure you push yourself as hard as you can on every intense section of the interval you are on. That is why they call it HIGH INTENSITY interval training. To the original poster : My advice for you is to keep the resistance somewhat low so you can move faster. The faster you move, the more strides per minute, and the higher your heart rate will be. You want your HR to be in the 90-100% range of your MHR. These are the anaerobic levels of cardio training which is what you need in HIIT. If you make the resistance too high, you won't be able to move as fast. Save your resistance training for weight lifting. |
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| Fitness | Does HIIT help with endurance? Can I do both endurance and HIIT training? | Nov 05 2009 03:56 (UTC) |
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Original Post by laur3nmae: 1) Doing HIIT would make future HIIT easier down the road. I just find it to be a funny coincidence that my HIIT sessions started getting better when I added in a few sessions of less intense cardio per week. I mean there is a big difference. After lifting, I would only be able to go for 11-12 minutes using a 20/40 interval scheme. However, after adding in the other cardio sessions, I can now go for 15-17 minutes. 2) I won't lie. Doing HIIT after lifting is TOUGH. However, I really like to challenge myself and force myself to dig down deep. Since lifting puts your body in a fat burning state, doing cardio afterward helps to speed up the process and HIIT can help accelerate it even more. Finally, by doing both on the same day, I am getting more recovery time in terms of anaerobic work. 3) If my goal was to build my endurance, then it would be more effective to go for an extended period of time at the same speed. However, my main concern is cardiovascular health and body-fat loss. If I go for an extended period of time at the same speed, my body is more likely go into a catabolic state and target muscle instead of body-fat. By switching speeds and varying my HR, my body will have a harder time adapting. I guess what I am doing could be considered interval training, but I don't go hard enough to take my HR into anerobic levels. |
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| Fitness | Does HIIT help with endurance? Can I do both endurance and HIIT training? | Nov 03 2009 10:07 (UTC) |
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I also like including a mix of both regular cardio and HIIT. However, I always wondered the same thing myself if HIIT improved endurance. I only used to do HIIT. However, the funny thing is that ever since I started adding in cardio on Tues/Thurs in between lifting/HIIT days, my HIIT workouts have been improving. So endurance work, may have a positive effect on HIIT. Or it could just be pure coincidence and my body is getting in better shape HIIT wise. What I like to do : M/W/F - Lift and do HIIT afterward. I like doing body-weight exercises for HIIT like burpees, mountain climbers, squats, etc.. Tues/Thurs - I do 30 minute sessions of less intense cardio. The reason why I say "less intense" and not steady state is because I don't go at the same speed for 30 minutes. When you do the same speed for an extended period of time, your body can adapt and begin to target muscle. A good workout for me is switching off repeatedly between running and walking. After a three minute warm up, I will do 6 five minute rounds in which I run for 3 minutes and walk for two. I start out having the runs be @ 7.0 and as I get tired I lower it to 6.5 and eventually 6.0. For the walking portions, I usually go half of the running speed (3.5 for 7's, etc). The running gets my HR up and the walking brings it back down. By constantly varying my HR, my body will have harder time adapting which is what I want. According to the treadmill, 30 minutes of running/walking burns around 400 calories. However, I don't know how accurate that actually is. |
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| Fitness | Funny Things I've Seen At the Gym | Nov 01 2009 02:01 (UTC) |
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Original Post by azdak: I think this happens to a lot of guys. For some reason a lot of guys seem to think that their strength/manhood is measured in how much they can bench. While it is cool to be able to bench press a lot, I would much rather be strong in my whole body. I will be the first to admit that I was obsessed with benching at one time though. For me, I became obsessed with how much I could bench back when I first started getting into lifting when I was 16. I pretty much ignored my lower body, and just did bench, military, and bicep work. However, over the years as I learned more and more about fitness, my goal was to become much more well rounded. So now I try to make up for what I ignored back then. The squat and deadlift have become two of my favorite lifts and the bench press is a lift that I am somewhat bored with now. Also, I haven't done a bicep curl in months. It is funny because when I started focusing more on various types of pull-ups and heavy rows, my biceps grew way more than they ever did with curls..LOL |
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| Foods | Anyone else going to take a break for Halloween? | Nov 01 2009 01:55 (UTC) |
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Yep.. Saturday just happens to be my cheat day which coincidentally falls on Halloween. Six days a week I eat extremely strict. We are talking lean ground turkey breast, whole wheat pasta, oatmeal, broccoli, apples, carrots, olive oil, almonds, etc.. However, one day a week, I allow myself to cheat. You have to give yourself a break every once and awhile. Your body can adapt to food just like exercise. They say that by allowing yourself one day a week where you cheat, you are restarting your metabolism and your body is more prone to work harder to burn off the sugars/fats you don't normally get. I think that some people are worried that if they slack one day a week, it will lead to wanting to eat like that more often. It is just a matter of having discipline.
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| Foods | Pasta? | Nov 01 2009 01:50 (UTC) |
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The whole wheat spaghetti I use is 180 calories for 2 ounces. However, robin9395 is right. All you have to do is cook two ounces and then just measure it for yourself..LOL |
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| Fitness | How much strength training/ How much cardio? | Oct 31 2009 19:10 (UTC) |
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As Fitnessgirl said, full-body strength training really is the best way to go. Use a push exercise, a pull exercise, and a lower body exercise (ex - squat, bench press, and barbel row). Do three sets for each exercise and use a heavy enough weight to have your reps be in the 5-8 range. Full-body routines often rely on compound exercises which is what you want because you use multiple muscle groups at the same time getting you a better overall workout in less time. A great thing to do also, is to add HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) after your weight training sessions. HIIT is a much more effective type of cardio in terms of burning bodyfat and cardiovascular training and it only takes 15-20 minutes to do. What I like to do, is lift and do HIIT three times a week (M/W/F) and then on Tues/Thurs I do less intense cardio for 30 minutes. I personally like alternating walking and jogging. Of course, I am trying to lean out and shed a few pounds, so I am doing a bit more cardio than I used to. |
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| Fitness | Help, I don't think I'm doing my HIIT right? | Oct 31 2009 06:07 (UTC) |
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Original Post by bmx419: I do it outside in the backyard. During the recovery period, I walk around the pool. I am a firm believer in having the recovery interval be just that, a recovery. If you are jogging, doing shadow boxing, etc you aren't getting a full recovery. That is why I make sure to keep moving, but just at a really slow pace. I want to have all the energy that I have left going towards the sprint intervals. Plus, you want the recovery to be slow to bring the HR rate back down a bit. One of the benefits of HIIT is that you work at two different HR's instead of just one. I am slowly starting to get in better shape cardio wise. I have always been very good in the weight-room but somewhat lacking in the cardio department. It was a struggle, but I finally got to 20 minutes using a 1:3 (20/60) a few months ago. Ever since then I have been using 20/40 but it has been kicking my ass every-time. I would always have to stop between 11-13 minutes. However, tonight I really pushed myself and I was able to go for 15 minutes doing 20/40's. I was rather happy with myself that I made it to the 15 minute mark with that. I was dead afterward, but it was worth it.. LOL Another thing I was happy about, was that my HR returned to normal much quicker than it usually does. I was already breathing normally within 20 minutes. Usually I am still breathing somewhat hard/elevated HR for at least an hour after I finish. I started adding a few longer, less-intense cardio sessions into my regime a few weeks back, and I think that has been helping too. I do HIIT (M/W/F) and on Tu/Thurs I do 30 minutes of walking/running (walk for 3 minutes/jog for 3 minutes @70% intensity). I like alternating walking with running because it allows me to get my HR back down and then the jogging takes it back up. By keeping my HR at two different levels, my body will have a harder time adapting which is one of the drawbacks of SS cardio. Plus, alternating makes the time go by faster. |
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| Fitness | Help, I don't think I'm doing my HIIT right? | Oct 30 2009 21:44 (UTC) |
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Original Post by cardioqueen1227: Yeah it is.. Doing it with a jump-rope is great. I like to mix it in every once and awhile when I do my HIIT. Lately, I have been on a body-weight exercise kick for HIIT. A lot more fun. |
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| Fitness | How long should I wait after eating to workout? | Oct 30 2009 20:33 (UTC) |
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Before a weight workout or HIIT - Get a good portion of complex carbs and protein 60-90 minutes before hand. After weights/HIIT - Make sure to get a good porition of protein and SIMPLE carbs within 30-60 minutes of finishing. I know that some people say it has to be the first 30 minutes. However, as long as you get it in the first hour, you are fine. You usually want to avoid simple carbs. However, after a workout is the one time where you want this because it causes an insulin spike which makes the body absorb the protein faster. A good PWO drink would be 40-60 grams of whey protein and 50-60 grams of Dextrose. Chocolate milk is also a good choice as well. |
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| Fitness | Help, I don't think I'm doing my HIIT right? | Oct 30 2009 20:07 (UTC) |
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Original Post by trhawley: The only machine I feel you can do it on is the stationary bike. There is no changing speeds involved. It is only a matter of pedaling as fast as you can during the sprint and slower during the recovery. However, trying to do HIIT on a treadmill sucks IMO. I personally love doing HIIT with body-weight exercises. Much more fun. I like mixing burpees, mountain climbers, squats, sprinting in place, etc.. By constantly switching exercises, the time goes by much faster. |
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| Fitness | Am I at the mercy of my genetics? | Oct 30 2009 04:20 (UTC) |
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I get what you are saying definitely. However, you should actually be happy with getting 13%. Especially since you got it done using the hydrostatic tank method. It is the second most accurate method after the DEXA scan. Anything under 17% for women is considered to be good, and anything in the 10-13% range is great for women. There are a lot of men, that will never have their body-fat that low. It seems like you are doing all the right things (eating right and doing full-body workouts). Unfortunately, it just seems like you carry most of your body-fat around your abdomen. To make matters worse, the abdominal area is usually the last area you lose fat in. Every other part of your body will lose fat and start to look firmer first. It usually starts with the face, and then carries on to various parts of the upper and lower body with the abdominal region being last. Why that is, I have no idea. I think the secret is just being patient. In terms of diet - Are you eating 5-6 small meals a day or 3 regular sized ones? Eating more smaller meals keeps your metabolism steadily elevated over the course of the day. How many calories are you getting per day? If your goal is to lose fat, make sure you are doing 500-700 calories under maintenance. Are you making sure to get fruits and vegetables and a lot of water? I hate vegetables with a passion, but I started making myself eat broccoli at least twice a day and I have two servings of fruit. I started getting better results when I did this. Also, are you getting enough healthy fats? Healthy fats from things like olive oil, almonds, natural peanut butter, etc can actually help to accelerate fat loss. In terms of weight-training - You are definitely on the right path doing full-body workouts. Keep lifting heavy with compound lifts like you have been doing. In terms of cardio - I noticed that you say you run a lot. Are you making sure to do HIIT, or just regular running? HIIT is much more effective at targeting body-fat. Especially around the abdominal area. If you aren't doing it, look into it. |
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| Fitness | Help, I don't think I'm doing my HIIT right? | Oct 29 2009 23:31 (UTC) |
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There are two mistakes that people usually make when it comes to HIIT. 1) Mistaking regular interval training for HIIT. I notice that some people seem to think that HIIT involves gradually increasing the speed of the intervals over time. This is regular interval training, but not HIIT. High Intensity Interval Training is pushing yourself to the max everytime you do a sprint. 2) Making the sprint intervals TOO long. Some people try to do sprint intervals for 40-60 seconds. Hell even 30 seconds is too long. You actually want to have it be 15-20 seconds. When you go over 20 seconds, you begin to lose intensity, even though it feels like you are still going 100%. A beginner HIIT workout would be : a 5 minute warm-up, 10 minutes of 20/60 intervals (20 seconds @100% and 60 seconds recovery) and a 5 minute cool down. Total : 20 minutes. ** As you get more accustomed to the workout, you would make your interval section longer. Instead of doing 10 minutes, you would do 15, and eventually try to get to 20 minutes. Once you can do 20 minutes of 20/60 intervals, use a 1:2 work ratio (20/40). |
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| Fitness | The G.I. Jane Challenge - 100 burpee/pull-ups for time | Oct 28 2009 04:54 (UTC) |
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Original Post by fitnessgirll: Well I have faith in you. If anyone can do it, you can. Just out of curiosity, are you doing the G.I. Jane challenge after you have already lifted? If so that is even more impressive, because a hard lifting session can leave you feeling a bit drained and then to do a workout like the G.I. Jane challenge in addition to that is awesome. I personally prefer doing HIIT after lifting for a few reasons. The first is that I am able to get more recovery time. When people lift three times a week and do HIIT three times a week, their body is never getting any recovery time. By doing HIIT after lifting, it allows me a recovery day in between each workout session. The second is that I like a challenge. It is harder to find the drive needed for HIIT after lifting because you are already a bit drained. So it really forces me to dig down deep and bust my ass. Plus, it feels that much better knowing I really pressed myself. |
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| Fitness | Amino acids - how and when? | Oct 27 2009 18:19 (UTC) |
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On days that you workout - Take one serving 15-30 minutes before your workout. Then take another serving during your workout. Keep taking sips from it between sets. Then take a final serving after your workout is done. On non workout days - Take one serving after you get up. Then take a second serving sometime during the day. Take the third serving before you go to bed. In regards to the best tasting form of Amino Acids, I would recommend Scivation Xtend - http://www26.netrition.com/scivation_xtend_pa ge.html It actually doesn't taste bad at all. It is a bit on the expensive side, but it works great and tastes pretty good. |
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| Fitness | The G.I. Jane Challenge - 100 burpee/pull-ups for time | Oct 26 2009 21:04 (UTC) |
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Original Post by amarnatt: Wow thank you! Fitnessgirl.... That is amazing that you have been able to shave that much off your original time in such a short time period. You are almost there! Yeah, doing the G.I. Jane workout has that effect. I almost puked the first time that I did it. I attempted it one more time after that, and got basically the same result. What I am trying to do now is get my overall endurance up a bit with regular burpees before I try it again. I am hoping that I will be ready to try it again in a month from now. I plan on doing burpees 3x a week as it has been the exercise to kick my ass the most in terms of HIIT. I just love the fact that you get muscle work and cardio all in one with the burpee. I am doing a lot more work with body-weight exercises as of late because I got a bit bored with lifting. |
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| Fitness | Burpee HIIT! | Oct 24 2009 20:56 (UTC) |
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For your next HIIT session. Try this. After your warm up go as hard as you can for 20 seconds, and then only take a 40 second break. Keep up with the 20/40 and try to go the whole time. Usually you want to keep your sprint intervals 15-20 seconds because when you go over 20 seconds, you lose intensity even though it feels like you may still be going 100%. By keeping your sprint intervals 15-20 seconds, you are always guaranteed to push yourself to the max on every sprint. Now in the end it is up to you on how often you want to do HIIT. I personally believe (and many others do as well) that you shouldn't do it more than 3x per week or at the very most every other day which would work 4x a week every other week (M/W/F/Sun/Tu/Th/Sat, etc). There are two different options that I recommend. The first is doing your HIIT after your lifting or body-weight exercises. This way you have all your energy for your resistance training and you will be able to take advantage of the fat burning state your body is in afterward. During resistance training, your glycogen stores are emptied, which is when your body is ready to burn fat. Doing cardio at this time helps speed up the process. The second option would be keeping your lifting/body-weight exercises and HIIT on seperate days. Ex - Lifting (M/W/F) HIIT (Tu/Thurs/Sat) and taking Sunday off. In regards to diet, carbs have gotten a bad rap. What matters is the TYPE of carbs that you are eating. As long as the carbs you are getting are complex (whole grains, etc) that is cool. You actually want to make sure you have carbs with every meal. Great choices are whole wheat spaghetti, oatmeal, brown rice, and whole wheat bread. In regards to weight, ignore the scale. A much better mindset is "I want to lose fat" and not "I want to lose weight". When you exercise regularly, especially with strength training, you will build muscle which will make you gain weight. This doesn't mean you are getting fatter though. That is why it is much better to get your bodyfat % taken every few months and in the mean time, keep track of how your clothes are fitting and take your measurements every once and awhile. The scale is designed more for sedentary people who don't exercise. |
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| Fitness | Rest day | Oct 24 2009 03:55 (UTC) |
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The only snag you might run into is on Thurs/Fri. However, it all depends on how you train. As long as you don't lift with the same muscle groups two days in a row or do HIIT two days in a row you should be fine. What I would recommend is making Tues/Fri your intense workout days lifting on a full body routine and doing HIIT afterward for your cardio. Then use Thurs as just a regular cardio day. You also don't have to exercise at the gym. There are plenty of body-weight exercises you can do at home that will give you a killer workout. Aside from the standard push-ups, pull-ups, etc there is a fantastic full body conditioning exercise called a burpee. Google it "burpee exercise" and you will find plenty of sites with videos showing how to do it and articles on it. You can get a killer workout in less than 20 minutes doing them and your metabolism will be elevated for a long time after you finish. |
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| Fitness | Losing Weight in College | Oct 24 2009 01:00 (UTC) |
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It could be any number of things. First of all, college can be stressful and stress can have an adverse effect on the body. Especially when it comes to weightloss. Another factor is lack of sleep which can add to the amount of stress you have. As others have said, the machines often over-estimate how many calories you actually burn. Keep track of what you eat, and try to get 5-6 small meals over the course of the day. This keeps your metabolism elevated more and your insulin levels more steady. Aside from keeping track of what you eat, try to get at least 1-2 more hours of sleep a night. In all honesty though, the scale is the last thing you should be focusing on. A better mentality to have is "I want to lose fat" instead of 'I want to lose weight". Keep track of how your clothes are fitting and get your body-fat % checked every few months. if you workout regularly, especially with weights, the scale can be misleading. Muscle gain, will actually make you gain weight, but this doesn't mean you are getting fatter. |
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| Fitness | Burpee HIIT! | Oct 23 2009 19:56 (UTC) |
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Original Post by themassivetribulation: Resistance training is just another term used for weight-lifting or body-weight exercises like push-ups, pull-ups, etc.. Any exercise that applies resistance. What I would look into if I were you, is getting in at a gym. There are gym's nowadays that have cheap deals. Gold's was offering a 49 dollars down 15 dollars a month deal. I think they still are. This way you can lift on a full body routine with free weights. Exercises like bench press, squat, deadlift, military press, barbel row, etc that will help to work your whole body. However, if you don't want to join a gym, you can also do body-weight exercises. Various types of push-ups, pull-ups/chin-ups, lunges, squats, etc.. To tell you the truth. I am taking a break from weights for awhile. I have really started to like body-weight exercises. Don't get me wrong. I have gotten really good strength gains from weights (got my bench press up to 350 pounds and my deadlift to almost 500 pounds). However, I want to burn more bodyfat now and go for a leaner look which I feel body-weight exercises helps me do. Now one thing I have noticed in your post is that you said you not only do HIIT 6x a week, but you also do aerobics after your HIIT session. This makes me think that you may not be doing actual HIIT. When you perform an HIIT session correctly, you are dead tired afterward. You wouldn't have the energy needed to perform aerobics. Also, when you perform HIIT correctly, your body will feel tired and a bit worn out. You will want that day of rest in between from doing HIIT.When you try to do intense exercise like HIIT that much, your body begins to burn out and work against you which is what happens when you overtrain. Just out of curiousity, what is your HIIT routine? What are your intervals? When you do your sprint part of the interval, are you going 100% every time? Eating healthier just takes practice. At first it is a pain in the butt. Especially with the shopping and cooking of all the food. Eating unhealthier is easier..LOL However, once you get used to it, and get on a system, it isn't bad at all. It is just a matter of keeping track of what you eat, breaking things down into meals, etc.. For example, at the beginning of everyday I take an empty 1 gallon Arrowhead bottle and fill it up with water. This is my water for the whole day. Then what I will do is try to prepare at least four of my meals for the day in the first few hours I am up before work. This helps to speed things up. Then I choose one day a week where I do a lot of my cooking. I usually choose Sun. That is the day I will make my extremely low sodium marinara sauce, all my Jenny-O turkey burgers on the Foreman for the week, etc.. It is all about just getting into a routine. A sample meal day for me : Meal 1 - A natural smoothie ( 1 cup frozen strawberries, 1 cup non-fat yogurt, and 2 cups 1% milk). 1/2 cup of oatmeal. Meal 2 - 1 Cup of Broccoli, 1/2 Cup Marinara, 4 OZ turkey, 2oz Whole Wheat pasta, 1 TBSP Olive Oil all mixed together. Meal 3 - Tuna Sandwich (whole wheat bread), 1 Apple, 1 Ounce Almonds Meal 4 - See meal 2 Meal 5 - Turkey Sandwich (whole wheat bread, 4 OZ meat), Carrots, 2 dark chocolate squares, and 1TBSP Fish Oil Meal 6 - 1/2 cup oatmeal, 4 OZ Turkey, 1/2 ounce almonds Eating a lot of small meals over the course of the day helps to keep your metabolism elevated and gives you less chance for binging. As you can see I get 2 servings of fruit, 3 servings of vegetables, a lot of protein, complex carbs, and a good portion of healthy fats. I eat like this 6 days a week and take 1 day where I have a few cheat meals of what I want. |
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New forum message lost for questions? by i_can_do_it_175 03:57 |
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