Is exercising 6 days a work really necessary?
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It sounds like you're just messing around in the gym, and you don't have a plan set for whatever your goals are.
Lets start here: what are you goals?
That sounds a bit harsh.0 -
Edit: I just saw your reply to Frnk - I don't necessarily mean you're not working hard, it's more that it doesn't sound like you're doing optimal exercises to reach your goals. It's messing around in that it seems that you're just using random machines and working various body parts.
I'm not I had a set plan but keep getting different opinions. My original plan was to work on cardio. Treadmill, elliptical, bike. Since the app was 3 days out of the week, I would do 3 days of the treadmill and the last 2 elliptical and bike. Everyday I would do the stair stepper and the abdominal. That was my plan because I wanted to be able to run, and build up my cardio. Strength I was going to do after I loss 20 pounds so I wouldn't put on to much muscle too soon and misread the scale. That was my plan but no one agreed with it
Sure, so all that cardio is fine. I recommend you read that book though, I swear on my life you'll get a lot out of it. New Rules of Lifting for Women, even if you don't decide to lift.It sounds like you're just messing around in the gym, and you don't have a plan set for whatever your goals are.
Lets start here: what are you goals?
That sounds a bit harsh.
Wasn't meant to be.0 -
"Sure, it's not a personal thing, it's just that we want you to train smart, not just hard"-
Sorry I do take it a bit personal because I really am working hard at this. I always feel exhausted after the gym and sometimes push myself for 1 more minute, or that extra sit up. When I restarted on the elliptical I wanted to give up after 5 minutes but made it to 15 minutes. This is small for the fitter members but for me it's a huge break through and when someone uses the word "messing around" I take it as I'm not working hard enough where I am pushing myself to much, just to be a beginner. Honestly if this board said 6 days was indeed recommended I would've went 6 days because I tend to push myself.
Sorry I took it wrong, and will check out the app but will check out the book when I get serious about weight training0 -
"Sure, so all that cardio is fine. I recommend you read that book though, I swear on my life you'll get a lot out of it. New Rules of Lifting for Women, even if you don't decide to lift. "
Then I will, checking for it now.0 -
Think of doing ab exercises not for a flat stomach (because what you eat has a larger role in that) but to gain general core strength and balance which will help prevent injuries in your other workouts.0
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"Sure, it's not a personal thing, it's just that we want you to train smart, not just hard"-
Sorry I do take it a bit personal because I really am working hard at this. I always feel exhausted after the gym and sometimes push myself for 1 more minute, or that extra sit up. When I restarted on the elliptical I wanted to give up after 5 minutes but made it to 15 minutes. This is small for the fitter members but for me it's a huge break through and when someone uses the word "messing around" I take it as I'm not working hard enough where I am pushing myself to much, just to be a beginner. Honestly if this board said 6 days was indeed recommended I would've went 6 days because I tend to push myself.
Sorry I took it wrong, and will check out the app but will check out the book when I get serious about weight training
No sweat, I just want you to understand that we're here to help you out. We've all been there, and want to share what we've learned to keep you from wasting your time. If you're going to bust your *kitten*, we want to help you make sure you're doing it in a way that will get you your results.0 -
You are your best judge. I do exercise 6 days week.0
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"Sure, it's not a personal thing, it's just that we want you to train smart, not just hard"-
Sorry I do take it a bit personal because I really am working hard at this. I always feel exhausted after the gym and sometimes push myself for 1 more minute, or that extra sit up. When I restarted on the elliptical I wanted to give up after 5 minutes but made it to 15 minutes. This is small for the fitter members but for me it's a huge break through and when someone uses the word "messing around" I take it as I'm not working hard enough where I am pushing myself to much, just to be a beginner. Honestly if this board said 6 days was indeed recommended I would've went 6 days because I tend to push myself.
Sorry I took it wrong, and will check out the app but will check out the book when I get serious about weight training
No sweat, I just want you to understand that we're here to help you out. We've all been there, and want to share what we've learned to keep you from wasting your time. If you're going to bust your *kitten*, we want to help you make sure you're doing it in a way that will get you your results.
I appreciate that0 -
You've been given some good advice here, the thing many of us have seen is a person being too aggressive from the start and not being able to maintain it for very long - like going on an overly restrictive diet, most people are going to crack and give up at some point.
It is ok to train 6 days a week (I do) as a mix of weights and cardio, but I have also built up a decent level of fitness from easing into it over a few years.
I like that you have some good (acheivable) goals. It sounds like working on your fitness is a great place to start, and a beginners running program like a C25k or similar is a good option for you. I would back off the ab work and look at doing some proper resistance work - my advice on this would be to get a trainer or someone to show you how to lift correctly, and start very light!
edit: Just to avoid any confusion, I'm not advocating 'pink dumbbells' for women! Just that easing into a program is the most sensible approach for adaptation. :bigsmile:
Lots of reps with very light weight is a good place to start to help get your body used to the extra strain, get the movement patterns correct and minimise the chance of injury. New Rules of Lifting for Women or one of the beginner resistance training programs will be a great help here. A lot of people struggle with the concept of lifting weights to lose weight and tighten up their bodies at first, but trust me, it'll be the best thing you can do!
Just take it easy for the first little while and try not to go nuts wanting to do everything you can. You need to give your body time to heal between workouts. Alternating cardio and a weight training days, and I would say have at least two days off each week for now.0 -
Edit: I just saw your reply to Frnk - I don't necessarily mean you're not working hard, it's more that it doesn't sound like you're doing optimal exercises to reach your goals. It's messing around in that it seems that you're just using random machines and working various body parts.
I'm not I had a set plan but keep getting different opinions. My original plan was to work on cardio. Treadmill, elliptical, bike. Since the app was 3 days out of the week, I would do 3 days of the treadmill and the last 2 elliptical and bike. Everyday I would do the stair stepper and the abdominal. That was my plan because I wanted to be able to run, and build up my cardio. Strength I was going to do after I loss 20 pounds so I wouldn't put on to much muscle too soon and misread the scale. That was my plan but no one agreed with it
I definitely get the desire to focus on cardio for a little while before adding in strength. Just remember that if you are eating at a calorie deficit you won't put on a great deal of muscle through strength training, rather it will help you to retain the muscle you have and build strength (which you can do without adding muscle mass). A really good way to incoprporate weights and still burn a lot of calories is to do some circuit style training using a combination of body weight moves and weighted moves. Minimal rest inbetween exercises will keep your heart rate high and burn calories plus it's a lot of fun and it's always good to have variation in your program.
Maybe three days on the cardio machines and 2 days of circuit training would be a good place to start0 -
The ideal max number of times, in my humble opinion, varies from person to person, how prepared you are and your nutrition. I often workout 6 times a week, but only 30 mins each day, and there might be 1 or 2 days, that I increase the workout to 1 hour or even 2. But I can perfectly reduce that to 5 times a week and get the same results if I re-adjust my nutrition.
@patriciahutch do what you can, not necessarily based on how many times you workout. I'd focus more on making sure every second of your workout counts, which is what you're doing so you're good, and you might notice with shorter workouts 5 days a week might have you at some point consider adding one more day. Whichever way you go, also give much importance to nutrition and always have much support so you can keep going at it.
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The ideal max number of times, in my humble opinion, varies from person to person, how prepared you are and your nutrition. I often workout 6 times a week, but only 30 mins each day, and there might be 1 or 2 days, that I increase the workout to 1 hour or even 2. But I can perfectly reduce that to 5 times a week and get the same results if I re-adjust my nutrition.
@patriciahutch do what you can, not necessarily based on how many times you workout. I'd focus more on making sure every second of your workout counts, which is what you're doing so you're good, and you might notice with shorter workouts 5 days a week might have you at some point consider adding one more day. Whichever way you go, also give much importance to nutrition and always have much support so you can keep going at it.
Feel free to friend request me .. I love motivating
Thank you, I would like to believe I'm doing good. My workouts are 30 minutes because I am starting over again and that's what my fitness pal recommends. Also with the 10 hour days I have very little time in the evening to do anything else until it's bed time again. That is a sure fire way to make me give up. I stay under my calorie goal set by my fitness pal and work it off if I don't. I put what I plan on eating in first to make sure I'm not eating something I can't burn off.0 -
You've been given some good advice here, the thing many of us have seen is a person being too aggressive from the start and not being able to maintain it for very long - like going on an overly restrictive diet, most people are going to crack and give up at some point.
It is ok to train 6 days a week (I do) as a mix of weights and cardio, but I have also built up a decent level of fitness from easing into it over a few years.
I like that you have some good (acheivable) goals. It sounds like working on your fitness is a great place to start, and a beginners running program like a C25k or similar is a good option for you. I would back off the ab work and look at doing some proper resistance work - my advice on this would be to get a trainer or someone to show you how to lift correctly, and start very light!
edit: Just to avoid any confusion, I'm not advocating 'pink dumbbells' for women! Just that easing into a program is the most sensible approach for adaptation. :bigsmile:
Lots of reps with very light weight is a good place to start to help get your body used to the extra strain, get the movement patterns correct and minimise the chance of injury. New Rules of Lifting for Women or one of the beginner resistance training programs will be a great help here. A lot of people struggle with the concept of lifting weights to lose weight and tighten up their bodies at first, but trust me, it'll be the best thing you can do!
Just take it easy for the first little while and try not to go nuts wanting to do everything you can. You need to give your body time to heal between workouts. Alternating cardio and a weight training days, and I would say have at least two days off each week for now.
I am aggressive but not to the point wear I'm hating it. I can't stand almost being done with my workout and I have burn 147 calories that if I just pushed myself a bit more for that 150. I'd hate if if I was doing what I did before, walking on the highest elevation for one hour and hating it every time, after 15 minutes I was ready to get off.0 -
I suspect a good bit of what you want will come from fat loss - with a fair bit to lose, it'll make a big difference.
Getting bigger abs will make your stomach look BIGGER - until you get down to very low body fat.
You're adding muscle underneath a layer of fat.
It is however worth considering at some point.
As above - just training 'hard' doesn't mean you're doing the best you can; it can even be counter productive.
For the most part it will likely just 'buy some calories' - which may be a good thing if you prefer to eat more (I do, so often chuck in some light steady-state cardio to burn a bit more so I can have cake ). 0 -
Sure, it's not a personal thing, it's just that we want you to train smart, not just hard.
Ok, so goals 1&2 are the same. Just start with some walking and work your way up. It's going to be a little while, but use "Couch to 5K", it's a great program.
You don't need the stair stepper really, but it's a good piece of equipment, and you're not going to see results that fast. You just had a good day and a bad day... that's all. And we all do. Especially at the beginning you're going to see some quick weight loss and quick improvement, that will taper off over time, which is why it's important to understand these things so you don't get discouraged.
As for goal 3, that's all about your bodyfat % (read: dieting) and nothing to do with working your abs. You can't spot reduce.
If you'll listen, I would recommend that you pick up a copy of New Rules of Lifting for Women (you can buy it on Amazon, even as an ebook). It's an easy to read book about fitness and exercise that will give you a foundation for all the time and decisions you're spending in the gym. Even if you don't decide to lift weights it doesn't matter, the info in the book is worth it's weight in gold, and it's fundamental.
New Rules is amazing but I wouldn't get the ebook, it's worth it to have the real book. That said I agree with all of what he is saying.0 -
I do cardio six days a week because I like it, for 30 to 45 min. I only do this because I enjoy it and I get antsy if I dont. I also do circuit training every other day for 15 min (that's when I only do cardio for 30 min). I've always been active so its not like I'm "making" myself work out.0
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My 3rd goal is having a tone stomach, which is what the abdominal machine is for, I was soar the first 2 days so it has to be working something out.
My ultimate goal is to lose weight which I have.
You have those backwards - you have to lose (a lot of) weight before you have a chance to get a "tone stomach".
It sucks, but it's the same reality we all have to (or had to) deal with...0 -
Five days a week is good, but I agree with those who are recommending that you alternate cardio with strength training.
I didn't notice in any of your posts, but have you been walking 30 minutes or more several times a week for awhile? If not, I would suggest that you do for several months before you attempt running. If you have no problem with a 30-45 power walk (at least 3.5 mph), then try the C25K program.
For a beginner, it's not necessary to split training muscle groups over several days. A full body circuit 2-3 per week is fine. Planet Fitness's circuit would be a great place to start.
Don't worry about building muscle or getting bulky if you start strength training before you lose weight. It's not gonna happen. No matter how much or how often you lift. What will happen is you will lose weight and tone up faster than you could ever hope to with cardio alone.0 -
What do you mean by toning? Flat tight abs are just reduction of body fat around the area and just keeping the abs conditioned a couple of times a week.No that's not why I'm doing it. I'm doing it so my stomach will be tight when I lose the weight. I seen the pics of people losing the weight but not toning. I don't want abs because (I know I'm going to get flak for this) just don't think it's a cute look for girls but neither is flabby skin after you lost several pounds of weight.
Flabby skin is from either losing to fast or losing a significant amount of weight (80lbs or more seems to be the line).
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