What should I focus on?

krystymc

i'm hitting a plateau already, at 239 from 241. i'm watching my calories and slowly learning what things to curtail, what habits to cut out. my eating isn't perfect, but it's getting there.

my challenge is the exercise. i work out while at work. as a guard at a hospital, i have a half hour where i can sneak down into the gym and use it(membership is paid for, no worries there). i have access to...treadmill, eliptical, stationary bike, free weights, punching bag, a total gym type of machine with flies and rowing and other apparatii on it.

what should i focus on? i really want to burn calories. should i leave my weights and strength training alone and focus more on burning the calories via cardio til my weight drops some more? i'm enjoying the treadmill and can stay on there for some time. but is that what i should do?

i'm thinking i should go fifteen mins eliptical and fifteen treadmill. or something.

my favourite exercise is the seated obliques with a six pound medicine ball. i can get three sets of 20 in with that, to help tighten up my very soft tummy and waist.

maybe i should do ten mins eliptical, ten mins treadmill and spend ten mins doing tummy exercises?

i just wonder what my focus should be...these calories concern me and i think maybe burning hard calories is more important than strength training right now. i'm a fairly strong lady, i'm the adult in the house that moves furniture, shall we say.

to repeat, i have a half hour during my work shift, and i work three to five times a week. what should i do in that half hour to make the most of it and push through plateaus?

yaryrosa

I'm no fitness expert, but I agree with you on the cardio being more important right now. I'm mostly doing cardio. I still do some strenght, but I'm not focusing there.

For maximum calorie burn, I think you can try doing interval training on the cardio machines (elliptical or treadmill) in which you go from a high intensity couple of minutes to a lower intensity short period. I've heard it works great to maximize the calorie burn.

Don't get discouraged if you don't see any change, just keep on logging you food here (it helps a lot) and be consistent with the workouts. If you already feel like you're strong, then focus on the cardio, and let your body be your guide.

Best of lucks!

wellbert

Strength training, heavy strength training, will leave you with the best body composition.
I'm talking squats, deadlifts, bench, overhead press - big compound movements with heavy weights.

However, the scale will move slower, if that's the only thing you care about.