10 minutes a day?

hiphop10

I do about 10 minutes a day work out and then in the evening just began doing knee lunges.
Then I read where someone does 45 minute work outs 3 times a week.
Which one is best? My goal is to loose 40 pounds.

TeaBea

I exercise the amount that I plan on doing forever. I need a lifestyle change with exercise, because I've lost weight, quit exercise, and gained weight back. No more.

I try to find exercise I enjoy so I can be consistent. I do some cardio (heart health, burns calories) and some strength training (helps me keep lean muscle, and strong bones) and I do some yoga (pretty flexible now, but I'm older and don't want to lose mobility).

The more you move the better. Break it up into manageable pieces. Start with 10 minutes a day and add on. Push yourself a little farther each time.

20yearsyounger

Which is best is not the right question. The more you do the better for health purposes. What can you sustain is a better question that you can answer.

lynn1982

Depends on what you're doing for those 10 or 45 minutes...

hiphop10

Presently I do 50 touch my toes standing up...repeat sitting on the floor. 15 waist twists standing up and repeat sitting on the floor. With lying on my back on the floor arms over my head 20 repetitions. I can feel my love handles on my torso stretching out, that I need to get rid of! I also do pelvic lifts 20 xs.
And leg raises 20 times. I began this years ago modified from an old Jane Fonda video. I am older and have not worked out for awhile so I'm just starting back into exercising again. In the evening I do 20 knee lunges gently. It seems exercising and weight control go hand in hand. How I missed working out!
Trying to get adjusted to my limit and eventually add more exercises.
Does changing routines help?
If so how does it help?

thank you for all of your replys.

amusedmonkey

My strength routine is roughly 10 minutes, slightly less. It works perfectly for me because I hate strength training so I can force myself to do a short workout and still get the results I want. My cardio is 30-60 minutes because I enjoy it and because I love eating. My HIIT routine is 5 minutes and I do it once a week because doing it longer or more often is too taxing for me. My yoga routine is 20-30 minutes and I do it once a week because I don't feel the need to do it more often or have it be longer.

Basically, if 10 minutes is what you can stick to, then 10 minutes is better than none. If there is a longer routine you may enjoy go for it, if there isn't, don't beat yourself too hard about it and don't compare yourself to others. Losing weight has to do with your diet, everything else is just supplementary.

amusedmonkey

hiphop10 wrote: »

Does changing routines help?
If so how does it help?

1. It may prevent staleness and boredom, if that's an issue.
2. You do need to advance your routines at some point, so if you are doing something try to modify for a harder move to keep your fitness in progression (if fitness is your goal). For example, if you do bent leg raises modify it to become straight leg raises and gradually work towards harder moves or more effort every time you feel you can. What is your main fitness goal? Is your goal endurance? Do something for longer each time. Is it strength? Increase the difficulty of your move or lift bigger weights. Is it cardiovascular fitness? Push yourself to higher heart rate whenever you can. Is it performance? Devise strategies to improve the way you perform something... etc.

hiphop10

Thank you very much! Loosing weight getting to where I use to be is my main goal. My main fitness goal is to become more limber as I loose weight and to have a little more strength. I noticed after gaining this weight I am much less limber and things are harder to do. I need to get back to the regular me hidden in this adipose tissue somewhere there is a lean me.

SueInAz

I started out simply walking when I first decided I needed to lose weight. I get two 15 minute breaks each day and I'd go use the ladies' room and then walk for the rest of the time. I started adding a walk on my lunch break, too. A few months later, I heard about Couch to 5K and thought "I've never been a runner, never liked running, but I'd burn more calories if I ran" so I gave it a shot. 3.5 years later I've run all kinds of races including about a dozen half marathons. My point is, find something you like to do and keep increasing intensity.

The things you are doing are nice but they aren't going to increase your calorie burn by much. That said, losing weight is far more about a calorie deficit than it is about exercise and every little bit of movement definitely helps. What you're doing will help to increase your flexibility more than anything else. Stretching muscles won't eliminate the fat that's on top of them, only losing the fat through a calorie deficit will do that.

So, back to your original questions. Changing routines is definitely something you'll want to do and change them up continuously. Your body gets used to a routine and you get less benefit out of doing the same thing as time goes on. So, make the routines more rigorous and do them longer. What you do and how long you do it is completely up to you. You want it to be something you enjoy and something that you'll keep on doing. For now, you could just add more moves to your routine or go for 15 minutes, then 20, then 30 and so on. You're right to start slowly since it's been awhile for you. That's the same reason I started with walking before I ever progressed to running.

A few other things you can do that are easy and will have an impact: park at the back of the parking lot when you go to work or shopping. Take the stairs instead of the elevator (if it's a lot of stairs, climb as many floors as you can and then take the elevator the rest of the way. Make it a challenge to eventually make it to the top!). Do heel lifts or knee lifts during the two minutes you're brushing your teeth morning and night. Buy a pedometer and aim for 10,000 steps per day.

50sFit

hiphop10 wrote: »

I do about 10 minutes a day work out and then in the evening just began doing knee lunges.
Then I read where someone does 45 minute work outs 3 times a week.
Which one is best? My goal is to loose 40 pounds.

There is no right answer, and people have different needs based on their own goals.

I exercise for at least 3 hours 6 days per week. I need this to maintain my current level of fitness and offset the calories I intake resulting from an active lifestyle. I'll play tennis in the morning, then do an hour of strength training in early afternoon followed by an hour bike ride after supper. Every day is different.
Just get moving, and let your own passions develop. As you become more fit, you'll want to be more active while desiring increased challenges in the gym or whatever.
GOOD LUCK

jmaidan

It varies from person to person but a little regularly is much better than a huge workout once a week IMO.

liznotyet

It is great that you are getting regular exercise, whatever keeps you doing it is great to feel strong and more functionally fit. For me exercise alone has not helped me lose weight. Like many other posters said, exercise is different for everyone, just keep doing what amount and challenge feels good and doesn't stop you from coming back the next time. I aim for 150 minutes per week and some weeks that is a bit daily, other weeks I do a long hike or two on the weekend. Not enough in my case to use all the calories I eat. But I am not gaining!

philwrightfitness

That all depends on how quickly you want to lose that 40 pounds, what your diet is, and what you want to gain from your exercise

dbmata

philwrightfitness wrote: »

That all depends on how quickly you want to lose that 40 pounds, what your diet is, and what you want to gain from your exercise

Yup. Especially because that diet aspect is what loses the weight.

Regarding your question about how long is better? Dunno, I did 90 minutes today, and hour yesterday, an hour tuesday, planning 90 minutes tomorrow.

I'm sure someone else does a better job.

shadow2soul

hiphop10 wrote: »

I do about 10 minutes a day work out and then in the evening just began doing knee lunges.
Then I read where someone does 45 minute work outs 3 times a week.
Which one is best? My goal is to loose 40 pounds.

Losing weight comes down to diet.
Exercise is great for health, looks, and in some cases can create a small deficit (providing you don't eat back all of what you burned off).

How much you exercise depends on what you want to get out of it and if it will be sustainable for you.

I switch things up a lot because I get bored easily. However, when my workouts are shorter I have to adjust my calorie intake to continue to lose weight. Currently I'm doing a DVD program that has me working out for 6hrs 19 mins (roughly) a week. When it's done, I'm going to switch to a different program that has shorter workouts. At that point, I'm either going to have to consume less or run/walk to try and make up the calorie burn difference.

hiphop10

Next week I plan working out five minutes longer as I want to slowly build up more work out time. When I was younger I worked out much longer. Thank you everyone it is helpful.

20yearsyounger

That's a good way to look at it. During my process the whole time I was thinking, what was it that I could do when I was younger? I didn't rush it, but that was always in the back of my mind.