If you had 4 hours a day to work out, what would you do?

24

Replies

  • suziecue66
    suziecue66 Posts: 1,312 Member
    If you have fat to lose I would do easy-moderate steady state cardio. The swimming in the gym pool but also outdoor stuff to enjoy the summer. Long hikes are good. The long cardio would burn a lot of fat.
    I would just do the minimal strength training 3 times per week.
  • kazzari
    kazzari Posts: 473 Member
    A long bike ride...then at least I'd feel like I was training for a century or other long ride. No other reason I would workout out for four hours. When I was training for triathlons, I would sometimes ride my bike to the gym about 12 miles, do 1 hour of strength training, swim for about an hour, and ride my bike home again. A long day. I would not do that 2 days in a row.
  • cuddlegrl
    cuddlegrl Posts: 101 Member
    Ok so- Majority of the time will be swimming, hiking (LOVE and have great metro park trails near me), biking (also can use trails), roller blading (I have a brand new pair never found their way out of the box..... LOL), videos like insanity on days that suck outside, and strength training in the gym a few times a week. It was also suggested by a friend to split the time up, 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening or afternoon. This could work out well too :)

    I do have friends that I will be kayaking and playing tennis with too.

    My goal is to amp up my acitivity level for this month because it's all I'll have until Christmas break.
  • Kayley
    Kayley Posts: 327 Member
    Pass out.
  • k0nfyo0zed
    k0nfyo0zed Posts: 313 Member
    What I would do: Work out for 1 hour, followed by a 3 hour nap.

    i like this suggestion.
  • wbgolden
    wbgolden Posts: 2,066 Member
    I'd definitely take at least a 2 hour nap. Most days a 3 hour one.

    See, my body LOVES recovering. :D

    EDIT: clearly a lotta peoples' bodies do, too (from the responses)
  • Hickyvikki69
    Hickyvikki69 Posts: 371 Member
    so first hour clean...second hour a workout dvd. third and fourth hour of all that work in the pool i go!
  • Nataliaho
    Nataliaho Posts: 878 Member
    Are you asking what we would do or what you should do?

    If I had 4 hours a day to work out I would do some intensive Olympic Lifting technique training with a great coach. I would have that Snatch down-pat!
  • kak2m4
    kak2m4 Posts: 167 Member
    What I would do: Work out for 1 hour, followed by a 3 hour nap.

    HA! Yes!
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    Ok so- Majority of the time will be swimming, hiking (LOVE and have great metro park trails near me), biking (also can use trails), roller blading (I have a brand new pair never found their way out of the box..... LOL), videos like insanity on days that suck outside, and strength training in the gym a few times a week. It was also suggested by a friend to split the time up, 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening or afternoon. This could work out well too :)

    I do have friends that I will be kayaking and playing tennis with too.

    My goal is to amp up my acitivity level for this month because it's all I'll have until Christmas break.

    Seeing as this is one-off "bonus" activity time and you usually don't have much time to exercise, here's another thought.
    What about using this period of time to experiment with different SHORT workouts that you will be able to continue for the rest of the year, ie. things that can fit into your regular busy schedule?

    While getting lots of exercise will be fun for a month, you can't "bank" four hours of evercise every day in May and hope that it still benefits your body in December, it just dosn't work that way.

    Some ideas: read up about Tabata training, practice running intervals, look into those DVD's that only take 20mins, download some apps that give you quick workouts (I have a 10 min cardio app)... I'm sure others would have good ideas on short yet effective workouts.

    This is the ideal time to find out what works for your body - especially as you have some existing injuries, you don't want to burn out in the first week of your holiday and have to rest for the next three weeks.
  • zumbagirlwf
    zumbagirlwf Posts: 18 Member
    My workout of choice is zumba. Not with the wii but in an actual class environment. Classes are so much better! You can burn up to 1000 calories per hour in zumba depending on how much you work it.
  • Becky1971
    Becky1971 Posts: 979 Member
    Sounds like a lot of fun! I always split my time up in the summer too. Mornings before too hot, and evenings after it cools off.
    Just be sure you allow your self a rest day or two during the week.
    Ok so- Majority of the time will be swimming, hiking (LOVE and have great metro park trails near me), biking (also can use trails), roller blading (I have a brand new pair never found their way out of the box..... LOL), videos like insanity on days that suck outside, and strength training in the gym a few times a week. It was also suggested by a friend to split the time up, 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening or afternoon. This could work out well too :)

    I do have friends that I will be kayaking and playing tennis with too.

    My goal is to amp up my acitivity level for this month because it's all I'll have until Christmas break.
  • qtiekiki
    qtiekiki Posts: 1,490 Member
    Ok so- Majority of the time will be swimming, hiking (LOVE and have great metro park trails near me), biking (also can use trails), roller blading (I have a brand new pair never found their way out of the box..... LOL), videos like insanity on days that suck outside, and strength training in the gym a few times a week. It was also suggested by a friend to split the time up, 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening or afternoon. This could work out well too :)

    I do have friends that I will be kayaking and playing tennis with too.

    My goal is to amp up my acitivity level for this month because it's all I'll have until Christmas break.

    Seeing as this is one-off "bonus" activity time and you usually don't have much time to exercise, here's another thought.
    What about using this period of time to experiment with different SHORT workouts that you will be able to continue for the rest of the year, ie. things that can fit into your regular busy schedule?

    While getting lots of exercise will be fun for a month, you can't "bank" four hours of evercise every day in May and hope that it still benefits your body in December, it just dosn't work that way.

    Some ideas: read up about Tabata training, practice running intervals, look into those DVD's that only take 20mins, download some apps that give you quick workouts (I have a 10 min cardio app)... I'm sure others would have good ideas on short yet effective workouts.

    This is the ideal time to find out what works for your body - especially as you have some existing injuries, you don't want to burn out in the first week of your holiday and have to rest for the next three weeks.

    ^agreed. I understand your desire to take advantage of the extra time, but the month-wise of workouts will not change your fitness level forever. You need to maintain it.
  • turbogirl01
    turbogirl01 Posts: 19
    Dance!
  • FlyeredUp
    FlyeredUp Posts: 632 Member
    What I would do: Work out for 1 hour, followed by a 3 hour nap.

    i like this suggestion.
    Thats the answer I was going to use aswell!! I would still limit my workouts to 1 hour per day and take a 3 hour nap.
  • robot_potato
    robot_potato Posts: 1,535 Member
    I would hike or bike, mostly. I can do about 50k in 4 hours biking at a leisurely pace. I would also devote more time to lifting and strength training at the gym.
  • the_unmistaken
    the_unmistaken Posts: 5 Member
    dance (:
  • Debbe2
    Debbe2 Posts: 2,071 Member
    I would do Zumba for sure. :wink:
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    i do have 4 hours a day to workout and i dont.

    my 1 hour workouts are sufficiently intense that i cant do more. i just dont have the attention span to do any sort of low intensity exercise that would take 4 hours.

    on days that i do stay longer than 60 minutes in the gym it's because i've done my main workout, did an extra long stretching and foam rolling session and spent time in the locker room doing things like taking alternating warm and cold showers and sitting in the whirlpool to reduce next day soreness. that's probably 2 hours at most but only half of that was exercise
  • ibshell
    ibshell Posts: 22 Member
    Love this answer! AWESOME SUGGESTIONS!! ;)

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