I need your expert workout advice!

zoink66

Hi everyone! :happy:

Here's my situation: I'm at my goal weight (actually a little below, but I'm not complaining) and have been maintaining for a couple of months now. I'm not really looking to lose any more weight. However, I do want to continue to tone up and get stronger.

I'm woefully ignorant when it comes to exercise. Most of the exercise I've done up to this point to lose weight has been through workout DVDs, walking, biking, and just generally being more active.

So, here's my question: What should I be doing in order to get stronger and tone up? Like a lot of women, my problem area is my lower half, buns and thighs especially. I've come to terms with the fact that I'm never going to have my "ideal" body, no matter my weight, so I'm trying to work with what I've got! What is the best type of cardio to slim down? Walking? Zumba? Running? How frequently per week should I be doing cardio and how often should I change up my program (since now I'm thinking long term in regards to maintenance)? Every month? Every six months?

I'm not a gym member and it's just not possible for me. However, I can get basically any DVD and have dumbbells at home, and I really like pretty much anything that Jillian Michaels does. Is that sufficient for strength work? And how often should I be doing weight training per week? I'm not interested in building visible muscles or being hard and cut. That's just not for me. But being healthy, slim, and not so jiggly is good.

Like I said, I've got a lot of questions! I would really appreciate any advice or help you all could give me. I don't know how I've gotten this far knowing so little about exercise, but here I am. I guess in my head I never really imagined I would ever even lose the weight, so toning up more and how I would actually look when I got to my goal weight wasn't really a concern! Ha. :laugh: Luckily I'm a member of this fabulous site which has an abundance of people on it who know a thing or two about working out!

Some stats about me in case it helps: I'm female, 29, 171 cm tall and 59 kilos (that's 5'7.5" and 129 lbs). I have a sedentary job, but I live in a big city with no car so I get a lot of accidental exercise. I walk to work on a daily basis (about 15 mins each way) and typically walk somewhere else every day (like the shop or what not) so I'm probably walking at least 45 minutes combined every day. I also live on the 5th floor of a walk up, and whenever I take the metro (couple times a week), I always take the stairs.

Thanks for any advice you can give!!

Humphrizzle

Build muscle with strength training. Weight training your body will give you the tone you want. Don't worry you will not "bulk" up. Unless you go into huge weights.

rachmaree

Weight training. 3 days a week to start, more if you like and cardio 3 times a week. There are lots of bodyweight exercises you can do at home, you can google it, but weights will help get the 'toned' look you are after. Cardio has so many health benefits it would be wise to keep some cardio in your schedule. Ideally you want to use weights that are challenging... 6-12 reps, but you should find the last 1-2 difficult but still able to keep good form. You won't 'bulk up,' don't worry about that. Check out some of the links in my signature

emmaleigh47

If you really wanna tone up and you like doing videos from home I would recommend P90X ... I lost amazing inches and toned up nicely with that .... Im a BeachBody coach as well, so I could help guide you through your transformation as well and answer questions that you have!

zoink66

Wowza, ya'll are fast. Thanks for the advice on weight training.

Now, I've heard a lot about P90X--does it require a lot of extra equipment?

Also, when it comes to weight training, should I be doing more reps with less weight (like 5lbs), or fewer reps with heavier weights (8lbs)? I'm confused as to what kind of difference it makes.

emmaleigh47

Wowza, ya'll are fast. Thanks for the advice on weight training.

Now, I've heard a lot about P90X--does it require a lot of extra equipment?

Also, when it comes to weight training, should I be doing more reps with less weight (like 5lbs), or fewer reps with heavier weights (8lbs)? I'm confused as to what kind of difference it makes.

Youhave to have either a pull up bar or resistance bands... and if you have a pull up bar you need dumbells. That is the only thing that is required to get started...

rachmaree

You'll get lots of different opinions on number of reps. Around 6-10 is good. Choose a weight and try to complete 10 reps. If you get there and it was easy, go higher. If you get to 8 and can't do more, stick with that weight. My routine varies, but I do anywhere between 6-12 reps, depending on the exercise. My trainer wrote me a program with high reps: 15-20 for some exercises, but I always do less than that.
Oh, about the 'number' of the weight you are using, 'heavy' is relative to you. It depends how many reps you can complete with that weight. It shouldn't be easy- no 1-2kg weights I can't really tell you how heavy to lift.
Good luck

Humphrizzle

I consider anything over 15 reps is cardio and isn't building muscle but just raising heart rate.

zoink66

Awesome. Thanks for the info!