OK, as I have said before, I HATE going to the gym; but I do go. I had been using various weights, but I hated that so much I found myself going less and less. Today I started the stationary bike. Pumped away for 15 minutes, got my heart rate to 135 and burned 70 calories.
It’s not nearly so heinous as the weights, so I think I will keep that up. Would 30 minutes 3x a week do me any real fat-burning good?
Pros—It really did get my little heart a-poundin’ (I am still shaking a bit), and I will go more often than I had been.
Cons—It doesn’t seem to give me much of anything for an upper-body workout (and I already walk about 2 miles a day).
The trainers at my gym suggest at least 30 minutes of cardio 3 times a week. I thinks thats close to the minimum you need to get any real benefits, such as a high metabolism.
Does your gym have a cross trainer? It’s sorta like those ski machines that used to get advertised on TV. If found those can work your upper and lower body fairly well.
Still, don’t give up completely on weight training. Keep with it for a while, and you might start to enjoy it!
First, I’m female and 27 years old. I exercise an hour a day, six days a week. Three days a week I do 45 min. on the stationery bike, 15 min. on the stairclimber. The other three days a week I do a 30 min. weight routine with a stacked weight gym and 15 min. on the stairclimber, 15 min. on the bike.
Here’s the deal. Bikes, stairclimbers, any kind of aerobic exercise are great for your heart and lungs. You’ll be a lot healthier doing that at least 30 min/3 times a week. You’ll notice it best in things like climbing stairs or hills, or suddenly sprinting to the car and not being out of breath.
But, it’s not quite the best weight loss plan you hope for. The best way to burn fat is to lift weights. Your muscles need more calories to function, so the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn even when you’re not doing anything. You won’t notice so much on the scale because muscle also weighs more than fat, but you’ll notice it in the mirror.
If you were using free weights, consider a stacked weight machine (the kind that uses pulleys). Oh, and butterfly presses are an excellent way of increasing your breast size.
The only cross trainer I saw was the one who snapped that he didn’t have time to show me how to use the bike.
30 minutes 3x a week sure sounds doable, thanks! As far as the weight training, I have been doing that since January and I still HAAAAATE it. Think I’ll bring a good book to prop on the handlebars, sing “Daisy Belle” and get on that bike . . .
tsk, a cross trainer is one of those bikes with moving handle bars, Eve dear. If you want good exercise lifting weights, try getting a job down at the docks. Lots of heavy lifting, and it pays well, too.
And how are you lifting weights? Are you going for as much as you can lift three or four times max, or are you trying to tone, with 15 reps? Is it that it’s just so hard, or that it’s mind-numbingly boring?
Oh, Surgo, they won’t LET me hang out at the docks anymore—it’s SO easy for a girl to get a reputation . . .
I was trying for tone—doing 3 sets of 15 reps on several machines. It was both hard AND mind-numbingly boring (and I had to stand around endlessly waiting for the machines to free up). So I just avoided going to the gym, which wasn’t doing me ANY good.
Now, I hope that—with a good book propped up on the handlebars—I will go regularly, 3x a week, for 30-minute shots. Just hope that (with my usual 2-mile-a-day walks) and entirely cutting food out of my diet, will help me get back down to fighting weight.
Does your gym offer any toning/strength training classes? Where I go there is a class five times a week for an hour. You a lot of different exercises with a fifteen pound bar (you can add weights up to 35 pounds). We also use hand weights, do a lot of squats and abs, and tons of stretching before, during and after.
It isn’t as boring because there is no wait. There is someone directing you and challenging you the whole time who will also make sure that your form is correct. Finally, I really enjoyed trying to keep up with everyone else.
I love feeling myself get stronger. I have never had muscles before!
There are various classes—but I just don’t have the time. I can get away from my office for an hour, tops, which only leaves for 30 minutes workout time (when you factor in getting there and back, changing, etc.).
I know myself too well to say “I’ll go before or after work.” I won’t—no sense kidding ourselves about THAT.
Try buying a small weight set and then do some lifting in front of the TV. As long as you’re rigorous about it, the TV’ll help distract you, and there’ll be no waiting. We have a small room downstairs, and I can go get a complete weight workout in 15 minutes to half an hour, because the only people using it are us 20, and not everyone works out. It’s great.
Variety being the spice of life (and to think I always considered paprika the spice of life, oh well), I’d suggest alternating cardio equipment. The elliptical cross trainers found in most gyms do a good job of providing both an upper and lower body workout, but you may tire of those, too. I’d do a few days of the cross trainer, a few days of the bike, a few days on the treadmill, throw in a few sessions on the rowing machine. Your body will adjust to the stress put on it, and by varying the mechanism neither you nor your body should get tired of the excercise.
I second the continued use of the weights. Stay with it long enough to get a little definition, get a gander of your svelt, naked body in the mirror, and you’ll think to yourself “I could learn to like this weight business.” Better yet, let someone else get a gander of your svelte, naked body and have them compliment you on it, then you’re sure to keep lifting (hey, it worked for me).
I’m one of those weird people who actually likes using a stationary bike. I bought one of the fancy Lifecycle types with different workouts that are programmed in and I love it.
My experience has been that if you really hate something, like lifting weights, don’t do it, or at least find some less obnoxious way to do it.
I agree with the idea of buying a few small free weights and using them a few times a week in front of the TV, for 15 minutes or so. You just want to build up a little upper-body muscle, not train for the Miss Muscle Universe pageant, I presume.
