Here is my situation…I am looking to drops a few (a few 20s that is) pounds. I have started a eating plan.
I joined a gym that opened near my house and I have started going there on a daily basis.
What I don’t know is for someone who is out of shape and needs to drop a total of say 60-70 total pounds…
What should I focus on at the gym? Should I just start with cardio until I build up the ability to move on to the weight machines?
Should I alternate cardio and weight machines?
What is the best plan to shed pounds while toning? I’m sure I have a ton of pounds to shed before the toning is EVEN noticeable.
I’m really looking for personal opinions and experiences.
I am going on vacation in 2 months and would like to get the best results that I can in this limited time. I know I will not drop a lot of weight in that time, but I am hoping to be at least 10-20 pounds lighter in that time.
I’m nothing remotely like an expert on fitness, but I lost about 50lbs a couple of years ago, and here’s what worked for me:
I did start with strictly cardio, but started weight training soon afterward. I think it made a huge difference for me. First of all, I DID start to see a difference in my muscle tone very quickly, which was highly motivating.
I always did my cardio first, and then used the weight training, followed by 10 - 20 minutes of yoga as my “cool down”. Again, I’m no expert, but for me personally, this not only worked at taking the weight off, but I felt GREAT when I was done working out.
Building muscle mass will also go a long way toward helping you to maintain your weight when you reach your goal. I don’t work out every day anymore, hell, there are entire weeks when I don’t fit in a good hour of cardio. But I’ve found it pretty easy to maintain my current weight, because I simply burn more calories than I used to.
If you ask a fitness question on this board, you’ll get as many opinions as replies.
IMHO, the best routine is a reasonable mix of both cardio and weight training, but you’ll need to experiment to find out what you’re comfortable with, how long it takes to recover from various exercises, and so on.
Cardio burns lots of calories right away, and improves the strength of your heart.
Weight lifting does not burn very many calories, but the resulting increase in muscle improves your metabolism (you burn more calories just by existing with bigger muscles.)
So mix it up a bunch. 10-20 pounds in two months is definitely a reasonable goal. Remember that if you’re doing weight training, you may not lose weight as fast as you want because you are building muscle at the same time. So you have to focus on how much fat you’re losing rather than the total amount of weight. This can be frustrating since body fat content is not exactly easy to measure.
I agree with friedo. There’s no real reason to put off weight training if you want to do it eventually anyway.
Also, don’t focus just on pounds lost. Take measurements of yourself now, and use those to guage your progress as well.
Also, don’t go nuts at first, especially since you haven’t been exercising regularly before this. I’ve known people to go from nothing to hours at the gym, then burn out completely because they weren’t used to it and were overdoing it. It’s normal to be sore sometimes, especially when you first start or increase your weights, but you shouldn’t feel exhausted all the time, either.
So far I have gone everyday to the gym, but have only stayed about 45 minutes each time. I feel semi-sore (but in a good way) and am not tired from it. I have actually felt a sense of more energy already, so that is a great thing!
I am trying to do the treadmill for the majority of the time I am there. I have also tried to do a little bit of ‘jogging’ while on the treadmill inbetween walking.
I would also be happy with not dropping as much weight as 10-20 pounds, but just by looking less of a blob…you know? I have summer wear that I need to fit into and I’d rather not look like a sausage trying to do it.
If I can devote 1 hour in the gym everyday does anyone have any suggestions for routines? Should I try to do 45 minutes on the treadmill (alternating walking and light jogging during that time) and then try 15 minutes on the machines each day. OR should I focus on the treadmill one day, then the next day do the weight training things?
Again - all opinions and advice are greatly appreciated!
Typically I go to the gym when I get home from work, but would LOVE to be able to get up earlier and do it in the morning before work. I have a small son at home and like to spend as much awake hours in the evening with him as possible.
If you have a goal of working up to just running eventually, take a look at the Couch to 5K program. It’s a jogging/walking interval program that will get up to running about 3 miles. It starts out with mostly walking, and it’s a fairly short workout, so you could easily fit it into an hour at the gym.
I don’t generally do cardio & weights on the same day, but some people do, so just figure out what works for you. I like to do just do all my weights 2-3 days a week instead of doing a little each day. Just don’t weight train with the same muscle groups two days in a row. I also prefer free weights to machines, but that’s personal preference, too. If you’re not sure what to use, you should be able to hire a trainer for a session or two who can show you the ropes, and give you a specific routine based on your goals.
probably not what you want to hear, but that eating plan is going to be the basis for the majority of your success in losing weight. Depending how overweight or out of shape you are, the details of your cardio activity are not as important so much as the idea that you get your heartrate up for extended periods of time regularly. Doing weight-training will probably not be as beneficial to you as plain cardio (assuming fat loss is your goal), although there’s no reason not to do both if you have the time (and motivation).
What is toning? do you mean building some muscle so your body has a nice shape once the fat is removed? Yes, weight-training will be necessary, but again how much and what depends on your goals. Sorry if you mentioned it, but are you male or female? what sort of body shape are you looking for? like if you’re a guy, the Brad Pitt in Fight Club, or Pitt in Trojan? or bigger?
Losing fat while gaining muscle is possible, I know because it’s what I’ve done but it is a s l o w process, and in hindsight I now see why it would’ve been better (for me) to first get rid of the fat and then start weight-training; cutting and bulking in dedicated phases essentially the way bodybuilders do it but not to that degree of obsessiveness.
First of all, I assume you’ve seen your MD and he or she has told you it’s ok for you to work out.
Next, my advice would be to get a personal trainer and schedule 5-6 sessions with him/her. A trainer will help you design a program that is fun, that you want to do, and is within your abilities. Also, as you progress, your routines will progress. Keep in mind that your body adapts rapidly to any routine, and you should really completely change the exercises that you do every 4-6 weeks. A trainer will give you great routines that build on what you’ve done before but avoid the “muscle memory” and boredom that comes from doing the same thing over and over. It really is money well-spent.
I have always been in very good shape, but felt I was hitting a plateau. I did some sessions with a trainer and can’t say enough about it. I am in much better shape than I was before doing the personal trainer.
Good luck to you,
I had about 100 pounds to lose, and I’ve lost 49 in about 11 months. I started with cardio only, just to get into the exercise routine and burn calories, and then added weights. I work out at home, so I have hand weights and evil DVDs that make me hurt. I like the elliptical cross-trainer, because it’s easier on my knees and it uses my arms too, and I hate running. To mix it up I do cardio dvds (exercise classes at the gym would do the same thing) so I don’t get bored. Eating’s important of course–I eat 5 small meals a day, eating carbs and protein together for each one, to keep my blood sugar level. I’m much stronger now than when I started, but I’ve got 51 pounds still to go. By the way, a recent study showed that people who write down what they eat lose about double the weight of people who don’t.
I got a Timex heart rate monitor which I find helpful in tracking my progress (it’s harder now to get my heart rate up than in used to be) plus it tracks the calories I’ve burned, which is a nice booster (691 calories burned today, using Jillian Michaels 30-Day Shred DVD, followed by about 25 minutes on the elliptical).
And if you’re at the gym, I second PharmBoy’s recommendation of a personal trainer, especially at the beginning. I learned a lot from mine.
Sorry - I am a female. I am not interested in having a SI Cover type of body, but would be happy with something that isn’t considered ‘fat.’
Currently I have to buy my clothes in a plus size store. My utlimate goal would be to be able to walk into The Gap, or some other chain store, and buy an outfit that would fit properly.
For what it is worth - when I was in the best shape of my life I was never considered thin or skinny. I’ve always had curves and meat on my bones. So my goal for this weightloss is not to be unrealistic.
To build muscle you need to consume calories. So for strictly burning fat weight-training isn’t as ideal as cardio. Not that you shouldn’t do it at all, or that it has no benefit, but you’re talking about two different things. I’d say for a while just go cardio all the way, and add in weight training later after you’ve lost a lot of that fat.
EDIT: I see we just posted at the same time, I didn’t realize you’re female. You won’t really have much of a “muscle-building” goal compared to a male in that case, so I would make your regimen almost exclusively cardio, with maybe some light weight-training to help tone. But remember cardio is what burns the most calories.
Also - can you tell me specifically which Timex product you use? I would love to get the type that they have on The Biggest Loser, but those are very expensive, and the monthly fee to use the website with it is also expensive. I’d love to know how many calories I’ve burned in a day, as opposed to what the treadmill says I’ve burned (which can’t be right, can it?)
Short-term, yes, cardio burns more calories. However, you’re only doing cardio 40-60 minutes a day, tops. What about the other 23 hours in the day? You need to get your basal metabolism up and that means building muscle. No, I’m not talking about becoming an American Gladiator, but building muscle means you will burn more calories/hour, since muscle is metabolically active (that’s where the cellular machinery (mitochondria ) are that burn calories).
In fact. you need to do both, so we’re not at cross-purposes here. Any trainer will tell you that you need cardio for acute calories burning AND (most important) cardiac health, while you need to lift weights to tone and build muscles (note that for every decade after age 20, you lose on average 7 lbs of muscle. This loss can be completely reversed with a sensible weight-training program). So, M,W,F you do cardio and T, TH, S you lift. Sunday you rest. Perfect…
I am pretty good at this, having done it a number of times ( I am a tremendous back-slider. Can’t seem to stay motivated, even after the time when for others it is supposed to be habit )
Just mostly repeating things others have already said, but you asked for personal experience.
Try to alternate days of jogging with weight training.
When walking or jogging, hold in your gut as much and as often as you can.
Try not to overdo. If you overdo it, you’ll get little nagging injuries, which will discourage progress later.
Push yourself just a little bit more each day.
Try to go to the gym at times when it isn’t very busy. That is, when any weight training machines etc aren’t all that busy. So you can go almost immediately from one machine to another. That increases cardio benefit of the weight training. That is, you are doing both weight training and cardio if you are able to move swiftly from one machine to the next.
Elliptical machines can give you quite a workout, without the impact on the knees.
If you are jogging/running, look up “fartlek running” (yes, it’s real.) The alternating fast/slow running/jogging really seems to burn the weight off.
Pay attention to your body. If it hurts, stop or at least slow down.
Check with your doctor etc etc etc before beginning any exercise program.
Once you have established a base of fitness from the first week or so, time to push yourself a bit more. Start off at your normal pace for about 5 -10 minutes, then ramp it up to push yourself hard for however long you can (whether that’s 30 seconds or 3 minutes), then “cool down” back to your base speed or even a bit slower. You’ll be doing ‘interval training’. Once you’ve cooled down a bit, try the push and cool down cycle again. As the days and weeks pass, you’ll notice that the time you spend in the pushing yourself zone will keep increasing. You are getting more fit and more lean.
You really don’t need any kind of watch or gadget at this point. Just pay attention to your body and push it a bit more each day or week. If you want to reward yourself with a gadget at a particular pound loss point, that’s fine.
The best routine in the world is the one you’ll do. The point here is just to get moving and start burning more calories than you were before. Find what works for you and go with that.
If an instructor and a heart monitor are what you need to keep up the routine, have at it but neither is a necessity. The key, especially in the beginning, is just to get yourself moving. You can worry about optimizing the workouts later. For now, just concentrate on setting aside the time and making small improvements. For example, park a 1/2 mile from work and walk the rest of the way. Use the farthest bathroom instead of the closest. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Use mustard on a sandwich instead of mayo.
Whatever you do, don’t go overboard. Small changes and ease into it. Just keep doing it.
This is my heart rate monitor. It’s pretty basic, which is all I need. I liked it because it wasn’t too expensive or too complicated and because you can change the batteries yourself, instead of sending it back to the manufacturer like you need to do with Polar monitors. I haven’t worn it all day (although I’m curious as to how many calories I burn in an ordinary day) because I think the chest strap might become a little uncomfortable. It does not track more than one workout session like some of them do. The info stays until you restart it, so I write down the calories burned sometime before my next workout session.
I am looking for the same thing you are: to buy clothes in a normal store. That said, I do strength training 3 days a week for about 30 minutes, followed by 30 minutes of light cardio. As mentioned above, muscle will help boost your metabolism. The rest of the days are just cardio, although I’m thinking of adding some yoga on cardio days for increased flexibility.