A question for my gym rat friends... - ThinnerTimes

CeeCee · 06-08-2007, 02:14 PM

My trainer is out for a couple weeks, just when I want to kick it up! (She's having shoulder surgery- and never was able to actually SHOW me anything, seeing as she injured it just before I joined!)

Anyhow, I want to kick it up a bit now, got the clearance to do pretty much whatever I want. Right now I'm doing 10 minutes on the treadmill as a warmup, then I do upper body, then lower body on alternate days on the machines. (Is this what you call circuit training? See- my greenhorns are showing!) I do 3 sets of 12 or 15, and just started adding a bit more weight.

So- do I add more reps, more sets, more weight, or should I be doing more cardio? I need to add here that if I do too much walking, the bursitis in my hip acts up. (Yup, little old lady!). Haven't tried the recumbent bike yet, or the other gizmo that looks like a stair climber?

I've already achieved one goal- I can now make it from my car to my desk without puffing like an old warhorse. Now I want to firm up what is supposedly under this flab, and hopefully not look too much like a Shar Pei puppy when I hit goal. Whaddya think?

Dave in NY · 06-08-2007, 02:20 PM

I am no Trainer I am just very excited about your progress.

I loved the elliptical machine the most but my hips are OK not much else but my hips are OK

Keep on keepin on

fitbefore40 · 06-08-2007, 02:46 PM

Ohhh, cardio cardio cardo . . . I vote for adding cardio - whether it be on the treadmill, or elliptical or bike. Before PS I would try to cardio at least 30 minutes - now you may want to do 10/10/10 . . . but this will help your endurance soooo much!! I'm no personal trainer - but I do teach kickbox and Taekwondo. And I LOVE working out!!

JenBear7 · 06-10-2007, 08:00 AM

I would up the cardio too... The time on the recumbant bike seems to fly by... I do treadmill at home (ok not as much as I did PRE-GYM).. and I do the recumbant at the gym. First week 10 minutes.. second week 20 minutes.. this week coming up.. shooting for 30 minutes. and I try to hit a minute on the elliptical a couple times while Im there.. I also do the alternating upper/lower body thing.. Feels good to be able to walk doesnt it? Its so cool to not get winded walking around the plant (work).. makes me mingle with the people on the floor more. Loving it! KEep us posted tho... Nosy as we are.. we want to follow the progress! (By the way... .I do live close to syracuse if you dont want to get a hotel room when you join our pic-a-nic!)

LisaM · 06-10-2007, 09:37 AM

What I tell (told) clients: Think of it as cardio for weight loss now, resistance for weight loss later. So, you need to bump them both up.

You will get 40 different people or trainers tell you 40 different things in terms of how much you do. What it boils down to is that you do what you are willing to keep doing.

For cardio - start adding on cardio at the end until you get that up to ten minutes. I'd add the elliptical - much less impact on knees and hips. If you can only do one minute to begin with, start there. When you get up to ten minutes of cardio on each end of your resistance work, then start bumping it up one minute at a time until you get to a half hour on each end (if you have that kind of time in your life).

In terms of resistance work, I personally work out to 20 reps on four to six machines, and I keep the weight at the point where the 20th rep is nearly impossible. Once it gets easy, I bump the amount of weight up again.