Exercise routines, tips and chatter?

[Bloom]

Hey Combat Queen,

Re core, I really thought it was a les mills class but turns out it's a fitness first thing. It's all choreographed and has releases just like the les mills but it's a fitness first class. It's done on a BOSU (half swiss ball thing) and is aimed at improving core stability. Some of the exercises are quite creative (to my mind at least).

Re my cardio goals, it's pretty much fat loss and improving general fitness. I'm very overweight (okay, obese if you buy into the BMI stuff) but I'm not really into losing fat to look good (well that would be nice but I'm kinda used to the size I am). It's more the health aspect that concerns me. So what would you recommend? I much prefer weight training to cardio (hence I'm happy to do 2 x pump and 1 x core plus the odd body balance per week). I did body step and also free style step for the cardio for a while but at 6am on a monday is always a challenge to get out of bed!

Thanks CQ!

[C~Q]

Wow that core class sounds like fun! I did a fitball class when I was in England and it was soooo hard, I was wobbling all over the place lol!

Ok, I don't have much time now because i'm off to the gym :P but I will come back later. About how much do you need to lose? If you could write or pm me your weight and height it would help, if not I understand and I can write you a basic plan (which will, unfortunatly include cardio ).

[C~Q]

The reason resistance training is recommended when you're trying to lose weight is because lean muscle mass has a higher metabolic rate so the more muscle you have the more kj's your body is using just to sustain itself. Having said that to lose weight the recommendations are now cardio training for at least 30 mins EVERY day of the week.

It's easy to say weight loss happens when kj intake is less than kj output, and that is right, but you have to find your own level, if your kj intake is way below your basal metabolic rate (BMR) then your body is going to go into starvation mode and store any food as fat. So it's very important to find your BMR and then work at losing no more than 1kg a week through a defecit of about 2000-4000kj a day at least 1250kj should be through exercise. Initially (depending on how fit or unfit you are) you need to get your cardiovascular system to a level that you can undertake CV training so in the beginning you should stress frequency and duration over intensity. So walking on the treadmil on an incline for 45 mins rather than jogging for 10.

The minimum CV training you should be doing to lose weight is 30 min 6 times a week. There are lots of online calculators to work out your BMR heres just one I found ENERGY NEEDS CALCULATOR | DAILY KILOJOULES NEEDS CALCULATOR | DAILY CALORIE NEEDS CALCULATOR | CALCULATE YOUR DAILY ENERGY NEEDS | BASE METABOLIC RATE CALCULATOR | WEIGHT LOSS ENERGY NEEDS CALCULATOR | CALORIE AND KILOJOULE CALCULATOR

(Getting lazy now, going to copy some from another post!) I would recommend a combination of Cardio training and resistance training. You should be aiming for 3 sessions a week with weights at about 70-85% of the heaviest weight you can lift (there should be instructors on the gym floor that can help you figure this out) and you could do say...3 sets of 12 reps (the last set you shouldn't be able to complete, when you can up the weight). Focus on all your major muscle groups, allow 24 hours between resistance training sessions and 72 hours between training those muscles with weights again eg upper body on Mon - lower body on Wed and both on Sat.

For your cardio, a very rough guide to work out your correct training intensities is by using a formula to predict your maximal heart rate which is Predicted Maximal Heart Rate (PMHR) = 208-(0.7xage).

For fat loss your training zone should be between 55-70% of your PMHR, if you have a heart rate monitor it's easy, if you don't you can use the RPE scale (rate of perceived exertion) which is basically a scale of one to ten and you want to feel like you're working at a 5-7 with 10 being very hard, maximal.

What days can you train? Pump is great for weight loss so you could use that as your resistance training initially. Have you tried any other classes? If you can I really recommend Body Combat, it's my favourite! Is there another Step class you can do aside from the mon morn one?! Also grab a training buddy, it's so much more fun if there are two of you. Also have you thought about getting a personal trainer? It is a bit of money (I pay $50) but it works! And it's fun and you can work soooo much harder than on your own

To be honest for initial weight loss I think doing 2 Pumps and maybe 4 other aerobic classes would really benefit you. Treat the core classes as recreational exercise.

Hope this helps, it''s all a bit confusing and overwhelming as so many people give conflicting advice about what you can and can't eat and do. Don't try and restrict yourself too much with food, just worry more about portion control and the quality of the food you're eating and what it is DOING for your body.

Good luck hun you'll do great

[paradise lost]

Woah - that scared ME CQ - lol!

Ruth i wanted to chime in and say that i was almost obese when i began my journey (BMI 29.9) and though a good amount came of during pregnancy, i'm definitely maintaining my loss with my activity levels. Cardio is soooo much harder when you're heavy - i remember! But as you lose it DOES get easier, i PROMISE. I can remember running for 15mins when i was at my heaviest (214lbs, 97kg or so) and i got sooo tired, my knees ached, i felt sick, it was so hard. But now i run LITERALLY for fun, and on Monday i ran 5k up and down hills that had 38 and 43 degree inclines! So hard and fun!

Bx

[C~Q]

Oh bugger, sorry, I didn't mean to get too techinical if there is anything there that needs clarifying please just ask :P

I am super dooper chuffed today! I had my measurements done as we are at the end of week 4 in the 12 week challenge and I have lost 2kilos and am now at 17.7% body fat woohoo!!! I am so so pleased

Next week everything changes and we up my cardio (I am very scared) I can barely do what he wants now so i'm a bit worried lol!

Wow Hoobs I can't believe how far you've come! You're amazing How long did it take you to lose your extra weight?

How is everyone?

[paradise lost]

It's not the technicality! It's doing hard workouts SIX days a week! LOL.

I lost weight steadily throughout pregnancy (didn't diet or add exercise, just continued walking 4 miles/day and swimming once a week) or rather i didn't gain much. I got PG at about 97kg, but by 11weeks i was 95kg (due to morning sickness) and i just stayed at 95kg until 34weeks. Then i gained a little a week i guess, but i never weighed myself. By the end i'd gained 6kgs, taking me up to 101kg, but by then i was 10days overdue. LOL. I weighed myself on day 4 post birth and was back at 95kg and then the weight steadily came off, first the water (about 4kg) and then the rest through BFing and exercising (that's when i began swimming a lot, and took up running), until by 4 months PP i was about 83kg, which for a 181cm endomorph like me is pretty LIGHT. I'm actually heavier now, about 85 or 86kg, which i'd like to lose, but it seems to be where my body wants to be just now (got here not long after weaning and have stayed whether i'm exercising a lot or not) and at least 1.5kg came on since beginning bodypump - all my clothes still fit so it's hard to believe it's fat and not muscle...

I feel good about it, but i am under no illusions that getting my thyroid problem identified and treated was a BIG part of me getting to and staying at this weight, because in my pre-baby days i DID go through periods of diet and exercise but my weight would never budge unless i did something dangerous (once went through a month of eating 600k/cals a day and swimming a mile every morning - wouldn't call it an eating disorder because once i was as thin as i wanted (lost about 10kg i think) i just stopped and of course put it all back on and more...), though i never went out to run for miles or anything in those days.

Your bodyfat scares me CQ! I seriously would have no AF at that %age! You must be built to be an athlete! Mine is about 26% i think (did a website search once, the average was 26%, but i had 32% (us navy) and 17.6% (some other website) in my 5 or 6 numbers i averaged) though i've not had the caliper test. I think the websites don't work for me because i'm only 6 inches around my wrist (small frame) but 4 inches across my elbow joint (large frame) so i'm a freak! LOL. I remember once at school they did caliper tests of various skin folds and bone diameters and my pelvis wasn't on their chart it was so wide! And i'm NOT even pear-shaped!

I've not had much mojo this week, went out to run hills on monday and then nothing but some sad free weights on thursday (in my living room) since then. COuldn't get to pump as no XP to sit DD, and don't know WHY i didn't run. I'm going to run in a minute actually. My brain is in denial about it but i'm wearing running clothes so i guess it'll come around to the idea once i'm out in the park, running.

Bx

[C~Q]

It's not the technicality! It's doing hard workouts SIX days a week! LOL.
Bx

Oh sorry, I tend to get a bit carried away lol

Don't be scared about my % i'm pretty small anyway. Heres a link to my before pictues and ones I took yesterday https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...ry.php?cat=959 there is a difference but you can see that there wasn't all that much to lose to begin with.


Where are you Ruth - have I scared you away