Can anyone offer some ideas or their thoughts?

cassienoe
cassienoe Posts: 126 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am trying to figure out what exactly to do. I have super limited time for working out right now but want to do the best I can! I work full time (8-5) and take night classes (3 hours/night) 4 nights a week. My days usually start at 5:30 with a work out and end between 11pm-1am after doing homework (yawn :yawn: ) I know I need to move more as I am getting closer to my goal weight (5-10 lbs away) so I have been sacrificing 1 hour in the mornings. Torn between sleep/exercise!

Currently, I am running about 2 or 3 miles per day. I have not been doing strength but I want to. I am not sure how I should incorporate strength training into my jam packed schedule though. Should I alternate cardio/strength? Cardio on M/W/F and strength on T/TH/S with Sunday off? I don't have time to do them both in 1 day. I want to be able to push myself to run farther and I also want to become stronger.

Also any ideas for at home strength training? I don't have equipment. Just a set of 10 lb dumbells and honestly they could be heavier. I have watched the Zuzka light videos and attempted some of them but they're killer....

Replies

  • tfpdunn
    tfpdunn Posts: 68 Member
    30 Day Shred is a really great quick workout - 20 minutes of strength/cardio/abs and people typically can shed 5-10 lbs with it.

    And it's available free on Youtube!
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,228 Member
    Sounds like you have already worked a good plan for fitting it in. You really shouldn't do strength and cardio on the same day anyway because cardio can greatly deplete the energy that you need to perform the strength training.

    As far as exercising without weights, I would focus on body weight exercises. Push-ups, crunches, squat with any heavy thing you can grab (my friend does squats with her dog).

    Best of luck! :flowerforyou:
  • cassienoe
    cassienoe Posts: 126 Member
    30 Day Shred is a really great quick workout - 20 minutes of strength/cardio/abs and people typically can shed 5-10 lbs with it.

    And it's available free on Youtube!

    Free is good! Thank you! I didnt know they were on youtube, I thought they were only DVDs!
  • cassienoe
    cassienoe Posts: 126 Member
    Sounds like you have already worked a good plan for fitting it in. You really shouldn't do strength and cardio on the same day anyway because cardio can greatly deplete the energy that you need to perform the strength training.

    As far as exercising without weights, I would focus on body weight exercises. Push-ups, crunches, squat with any heavy thing you can grab (my friend does squats with her dog).

    Best of luck! :flowerforyou:

    Ok, thank you! Good advice on the not depleting energy. Great point!
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    Don't sacrifice sleep for working out, you'll end up spinning your wheels if you're not getting enough sleep. You can still lose weight without cardio, just lower calories a bit.
  • cassienoe
    cassienoe Posts: 126 Member
    Don't sacrifice sleep for working out, you'll end up spinning your wheels if you're not getting enough sleep. You can still lose weight without cardio, just lower calories a bit.

    It isn't just about losing weight, it is about tightening up and getting stronger. But I get what you're saying.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    30 Day Shred is a really great quick workout - 20 minutes of strength/cardio/abs and people typically can shed 5-10 lbs with it.

    And it's available free on Youtube!

    Free is good! Thank you! I didnt know they were on youtube, I thought they were only DVDs!

    Free is good, but 30DS is NOT a strength workout. Perform a full body strength routine (a real one) 3x per week and do cardio the other two days.
  • dsjohndrow
    dsjohndrow Posts: 1,820 Member
    With a schedule like yours, I would would do some body weight exercises. Push ups, crunches, jumping jacks, high knees, squats and lunges. Burpees if you can. You can fit in a short but useful workout right before you shower, or stop after you have run a mile... 10 minutes 3 times a week is good stuff.
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
    Great dedication! I don't think I could ever get up at 5:30am to workout... I hate mornings, haha. I think you've gotten good suggestions so far - alternating cardio/strength is a good idea. I, too, am a fan of DVDs when you're pressed for time - the best I've found so far is the Jillian Michaels Body Revolution program. It's a little pricey (though can be found for free if you're *ahem* not so concerned about the legality of it...) but it's a truly great program. I'm a big fan of lifting heavy things and didn't think I'd see results with these DVDs... I was so wrong! I saw great changes. It's 6 days a week, 4 strength and 2 cardio. The workouts are only 30 minutes each. The cardio DVDs are kind of boring so I always just did my own cardio on those days (you could just keep running on those days for your cardio). The strength days are challenging but fun. You increase workout difficulty every two weeks... so it starts out at a beginner level, but by the final weeks (weeks 11 and 12), it's extremely difficult!

    Great job on all your hard work so far and good luck!
  • grimendale
    grimendale Posts: 2,153 Member
    Sounds like you have already worked a good plan for fitting it in. You really shouldn't do strength and cardio on the same day anyway because cardio can greatly deplete the energy that you need to perform the strength training.

    There's no issue with doing them on the same day, just make sure that strength training comes first. You don't want to drop something. Nerdfittness.com has some good bodyweight circuits that can be done with equipment, and so will give you a decent resistance workout. If you are looking for weight training, jefit.com is a good resource. It has a large library of exercises and routines broken down by muscle group and experience level, so it's easy to find something you can do that works what you want.
  • cassienoe
    cassienoe Posts: 126 Member
    Thank you everyone! Great suggestions!
  • glin23
    glin23 Posts: 460 Member


    There's no issue with doing them on the same day, just make sure that strength training comes first.

    Do you have a scientific basis for this statement? I tend to get in my cardio first with minimal issues.
  • grimendale
    grimendale Posts: 2,153 Member


    There's no issue with doing them on the same day, just make sure that strength training comes first.

    Do you have a scientific basis for this statement? I tend to get in my cardio first with minimal issues.

    It's not science, it's safety. If you are fatigued when you run, you stop running. If you are fatigued when you lift heavy things, you can drop the heavy things on yourself.

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