Share your gym strategies!

[gingerbug 3]

My husband is offshore in Nigeria () until the end of march and since I am 'this close' to goal I plan on pounding it out at the gym so I can look fantastic when he comes home. To make it even sweeter, we are going home to MN for a visit when he gets home and only a couple people have seen me as the weight was coming off. It is going to be fun. Anyway, I am thinking about getting a trainer for a few sessions and setting up a 30 minute workout (not including warm up and cool down) that involves free weights and the bosu ball. I am doing a lower heart rate fat burning instead of cardio and yoga and pilates. I would LOVE to hear what everyone else is doing and what seems to be working for you.

[littlefroggy 0]

Wow! You are SOOOO close! I bet you will be at goal when he returns in March. How exciting!

I've started running and do that 3-4 mornings a week and I swim 4-5 evenings a week. My brother is a personal trainer so he is going to train me on the weights I should be doing and I'll do that 3 days a week at the gym.

When I go to the gym as of now, I do the elliptical for 30 minutes and that's it, besides swimming, but I have only done it a few times. It's kind of like my last choice activity.

[luluc 6]

hi gingerbug,

i did cardio only the first few months after being banded - then decided to get a trainer. i have been with him almost a yr; twice a wk weight training. my body changed a lot due to weight training in my opinion - i still will tack on a few days of cardio (i'm not much a runner - but i do it sometimes) and i've gotten addicted to wii yoga ... because my gym has yoga classes during my training times. i like the combo of the three - but i rely on weight training for the body changes, and definition of muscle.

all the best on your reunion w/hubby!

[gingerbug 3]

hi gingerbug,

i did cardio only the first few months after being banded - then decided to get a trainer. i have been with him almost a yr; twice a wk weight training. my body changed a lot due to weight training in my opinion - i still will tack on a few days of cardio (i'm not much a runner - but i do it sometimes) and i've gotten addicted to wii yoga ... because my gym has yoga classes during my training times. i like the combo of the three - but i rely on weight training for the body changes, and definition of muscle.

all the best on your reunion w/hubby!

How long are your weight training sessions? Free weights or the machines? thanks!

[Jachut 487]

I find HARD cardio - interval training - sessions combined with HARD circuit sessions - where I use weights combined with running on the treadmill absolutely BLITZ my body. Seriously, inches just disappear. Doing your weights as a fast hard circuit, makes it cardio also so you get the benefits of both forms of exercise.

Fat burning zone cardio is a myth, its pretty much been debunked by now. You need some of it as a runner to develop a good aerobic base (training your body to use fat as fuel) but if you really want to burn mega calories, raise your metabolism for hours afterwards and build muscle, you need to be working a lot harder than 65% of max heart rate.

Trust me, if you want fast results, this is the way to get them.

[gingerbug 3]

I find HARD cardio - interval training - sessions combined with HARD circuit sessions - where I use weights combined with running on the treadmill absolutely BLITZ my body. Seriously, inches just disappear. Doing your weights as a fast hard circuit, makes it cardio also so you get the benefits of both forms of exercise.

Fat burning zone cardio is a myth, its pretty much been debunked by now. You need some of it as a runner to develop a good aerobic base (training your body to use fat as fuel) but if you really want to burn mega calories, raise your metabolism for hours afterwards and build muscle, you need to be working a lot harder than 65% of max heart rate.

Trust me, if you want fast results, this is the way to get them.

It is a myth? Seems like I was the last to know :cool: LOL. My gym has a circuit training room where you alternate lifting for 60 seconds to jumping right into a cardio for 60 seconds, so on and so forth. Is this what you are talking about combining the two?

[luluc 6]

How long are your weight training sessions? Free weights or the machines? thanks!

.

weights / free weights & resistance twice a wk for 50min.

i don't do any other weight training outside of those to days - cardio & yoga only.

[MacMadame 81]

It is a myth?

Yep. I saw a study that shows that even though you do burn fat more efficiently in a certain zone, that the extra calories you burn if you go higher makes up for it.

[Jachut 487]

Yes, swapping like that is what I do.

mac is right, you burn more of a proportion of fat at a lower heart rate but you burn less fat and calories overall and your body pretty much goes back to its normal resting metabolic rate the minute you stop. There's lots of evidence that working harder - at about 75% or 80% of your max heart rate not only burns more calories and fat overall but also cause an afterburn where your body is burning at a much higher rate for hours afterwards - and strength training also has this effect. Of course there's credible evidence disputing this too and you have to be able to cope with the workload.

All I know for sure is it really WORKS. For me anyway, the extra effort pays off, but I've done more than my share of long, slow cardio with all the running I do - I can run at about 8km an hour and keep my heart rate under 130 for two hours at a time, or I can do faster, harder, shorter runs. I try to do both for balance, but when I first started running, all my runs were "anaerobic" in that my heart rate was HIGH, and I was SWEATING. Walking on the treadmill didnt cut it for me, that was already too easy to qualify when I was banded. But for the next person, it may be all it takes. The key is YOUR worklevel.

Add in the weights and WOW, over the last six weeks, I've peeled off a dress size without actually losing more than a pound or two.

I dont know why I quit the circuits and fell into just running - probably because my goals are all running related and to be a good runner, you have to RUN, lol, but the higher intensity work (sprints) and the weights have worked miracles on me over a very short period of time and at the moment I seem to be able to eat and eat and eat and not gain an ounce. In fact the more I am able to sneak in past my band, the more weight I seem to lose.

[chocolate_snaps 3]

Yes, swapping like that is what I do.

mac is right, you burn more of a proportion of fat at a lower heart rate but you burn less fat and calories overall and your body pretty much goes back to its normal resting metabolic rate the minute you stop. There's lots of evidence that working harder - at about 75% or 80% of your max heart rate not only burns more calories and fat overall but also cause an afterburn where your body is burning at a much higher rate for hours afterwards - and strength training also has this effect. Of course there's credible evidence disputing this too and you have to be able to cope with the workload.

Add in the weights and WOW, over the last six weeks, I've peeled off a dress size without actually losing more than a pound or two.

I dont know why I quit the circuits and fell into just running - probably because my goals are all running related and to be a good runner, you have to RUN, lol, but the higher intensity work (sprints) and the weights have worked miracles on me over a very short period of time and at the moment I seem to be able to eat and eat and eat and not gain an ounce. In fact the more I am able to sneak in past my band, the more weight I seem to lose.

OMG I am going to have to try that! Would a Curves circuit work ok? My gym is pretty no-frills but has one of those.

What has worked for me thus far is doing straight cardio workouts. Ive continued to shed weight with just 30-45mins sessions on the elliptical. I do consider myself pretty lucky:tongue:. But the dress sizes aren't moving as fast.

I am glad to find this post because I am getting so close to goal and I don't feel particularly strong. I am definately gonna add in some weight-training. So thanks for the tips luluc and Jachut!

[gingerbug 3]

Awesome, I am starting circuit training tomorrow. At the YMCA I am a memeber of I can either take a class for it or jump into the roomand do it myself whenever Iwant. What is nice is it is only 30 mintues but it is HARD. (not including cool down) I dont mind hard, as long as it is effective. It seems that I can go on the elliptical forever with my heartrate being on the low side and I get off cause I am bored, not becaue I feel 'done'. I have about 10 weeks until my husband comes home so I am pretty excited to take this on and have results.

[MacMadame 81]

Right now, Couch-to-5K *is* this kind of work out for me. :tongue2:

I was doing 30 min. workouts at the gym and my weight loss has slowed down to 1 lb. a week. I was freaking out. Then I started freaking out that I wouldn't be ready for the Triathlon I signed up for. I also went to a presentation on fitness at the local OH event and discovered I need to be at 5 METS or more in workouts. (That's a measure of intensity.)

So I moved to 45 min *and* increased my intensity and the weight started falling off again.

[Jachut 487]

Curves if fantastic if you do it HARD. Really work at it. Dont chat and giggle and push a few weights and it will work great for you.

I use free weights and body weight stuff at home, but I've had a free trial at Curves.

I use a lot more running in my circuits, I might do five minutes of squats, lunges, stepping up and down off a high box all with a barbell, then I might run on the treadmill for five minutes. My circuits are a pretty highly aerobic, but I'm very fit and when I had a free trial at Curves, I was able to get my heart rate right up there by working hard.

Of course, I got told off becuase I wasnt in the 'right zone' but I ignored the instructor. They dont teach them very much (got a job there once, but couldnt do the hours they wanted). They'll make you take your pulse and keep in the fat burning zone. I just lied, lol. Basically the harder you work, within reason, the better, there's no need to slow it down and get your heart rate down as long as you FEEL Ok and are coping. Dont push yourself to the point where you feel ill though.

[chocolate_snaps 3]

Curves if fantastic if you do it HARD. Really work at it. Dont chat and giggle and push a few weights and it will work great for you.

I use free weights and body weight stuff at home, but I've had a free trial at Curves.

I use a lot more running in my circuits, I might do five minutes of squats, lunges, stepping up and down off a high box all with a barbell, then I might run on the treadmill for five minutes. My circuits are a pretty highly aerobic, but I'm very fit and when I had a free trial at Curves, I was able to get my heart rate right up there by working hard.

Of course, I got told off becuase I wasnt in the 'right zone' but I ignored the instructor. They dont teach them very much (got a job there once, but couldnt do the hours they wanted). They'll make you take your pulse and keep in the fat burning zone. I just lied, lol. Basically the harder you work, within reason, the better, there's no need to slow it down and get your heart rate down as long as you FEEL Ok and are coping. Dont push yourself to the point where you feel ill though.

GREAT! Im so glad. Luckily my gym isnt a curves, it just has Curves-like circuit set up.

Someone making me monitor zones and pulses would tick me off. I wouldve lied too:lol:! I cant tolerate babysitting during my workout.

[MacMadame 81]

I liked Curves. But I did work it. I also really stretched at the end with 30 second stretches just like you were supposed to. Which made my 30 min workout more like 45. :thumbdown: