Excellent info Belfie- thank you. Funnily enough I was at the gym yesterday and remembered that they had scales which send little pulses (can't feel them!) through your body to measure body fat. I had it done when I first joined. Now I had done very little cardio in the past 6 weeks but have done resistance training every 2 to 3 days but my body fat had dropped 8 percent in that time which, as I understand, is a decent amount. On their scales my weight had only dropped about .8 kilo (WW scales said 2 kilo) but a big drop in body fat. So that demonstrates that you Belfie and Hoobley are spot on!
Are you aiming for any kind of areas to be toned with your resistance training or are you just using it to increase your lean muscle mass? The reason I ask is if you want to reduce your body fat % the quickest way is to work the bigger muscles (back, quads, hammys) using compound exercises (exercises where you use more than one muscle over more than one joint) ie squats, lunges. Where as exercises like a bicep curl which is an isolation exercise will result in a relatively small muscle gain.
If you're wanting a bit of both I recommend doubling up on your exercises eg lunging bicep curls. Lunge holding weights, as you go into the downward phase of the lunge, perform a bicep curl. Another example is a squat/press. Squat holding weights then as you come up push dumbbells together over the top of you head. If you need any more let me know
Did your gym give you an initial exercise plan? Most gyms will do that for free every 3 months. What gym are you with?
For weight loss/toning etc you should combine resistance training with cardio training - they are both as important as each other. Have you tried any classes?
My gym is a new local one run by the local council- it's not a big chain one. They did give me a program which will be reviewed down the track. Classes? I haven't been to any because a) they terrify me (especially spin) and mostly b) I am on limited time arrangements with bubs. I wait until DH comes home from work (which varies) and then I head off, so the chance of making a class is slim. I don't want to use the creche as I have never left my DD with anyone, let alone strangers, so that isn't an option.
I mostly want to increase lean muscle so as to lose fat but I also like the toning aspect. I am interested in the compound exercises as what I am mostly doing sounds like isolation exercises. More examples would be great but will also talk to an instructor at the gym. I also really need to get back into cardio work by the sounds of it as I have been slack with this over the past weeks. Thanks for your reply CQ!
I go three times a week and I do a very short stint on the cross trainer or treadmill, then 2 leg machines (leg press and leg curl) and 4 arm machines (row thing, lat pulldown, and 2 others??) and then 4 arm exercises with weights (3 to 4 kg) (side raises, hammer curls and 2 others??) then 2 x 30 lunges and 2 x 30 things where a fit ball is at my back on the wall. I am really sorry but do not know the tech names for what I do but it is written on my prog which stays at the gym. Do you need more info than what I have provided? Thanks! PS I am not allowing myself back to the gym until I have gone for a 30 min jog (this weekend).
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