Sustainable amount of exercise

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Kitpurr
Kitpurr Posts: 26 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
As a forward I'll just explain that around 4 years ago during school holidays I dropped about 8 kilos (16lb) in a month. I was doing about 500 calories worth of exercise a day - a mixture of cardio and bodypump which is like a cross between cardio and lifting. I was also walking to and from the gym which was an extra 40 minutes of exercise. At the time I felt great - although every workout absolutely hammered me by the time I went home - I always had runner's high and the weight was dropping off.

Then I went back to school. I didn't have 2.5 hours a day to dedicate to exercise anymore and any less felt like a waste of effort. So the obvious happened, I put all that weight back on plus over the last 4 years another 8kg.

This time I want a change for life. I need exercise that I can fit in to my life, that is hard and will help me drop weight and get strong but is sustainable over years. Where do I start?

Replies

  • ashandstuff
    ashandstuff Posts: 442 Member
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    Start with 30 minutes three times a week.

    That’s what I had to do. Get my body used to moving around again, and creating a habit takes a minimum of 14 days!!!!

    So just start slow, and work your way up to a workout length that suits you best. Don’t be afraid of adjusting the time later on due to it taking too much time/not enough challenge!

    Nothing is set in stone when it comes to your workout. It’s yours, and yours alone.
  • britt8808
    britt8808 Posts: 18 Member
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    Any exercise will take time, its the nature of the beast. However, some exercise burn more then others. For example weight lifting usually won't have you burn in the workout more then 300 calories per hour (for all the lifters I know it depends on reps/weight/rest time etc) where as running at a 10 min mile pace for an hour will burn almost 1000 calories (if you weight 175), somewhatly less if you weigh less. So if you can't fit in 2.5 hours of exercise try a 30 minute jog in the AM or PM (which ever works for you).

    Things like map my run will give you distance on local streets ( Please use a reflective belt or some other such thing if you run in the dark). Even if you jog at a slower pace you will still burn a lot and its relatively quick.

    Bonus as you get better at it you can run faster and urn more (although you may weigh less so it balances out lol)
  • photojunkie28
    photojunkie28 Posts: 292
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    Figure out your TDEE and subtract 300 calories from your diet daily and plan to do 5 days of 250 calorie burn exercises (If you work hard you can accomplish this in 20-30 minutes!) and don't eat those calories back.

    If your math is correct you will lose around 1 lb per week..a nice healthy, steady rate. Don't try to go all "bals out" for lack of a better term. I wont go into it, but I have just spent many many months repairing and restarting after going too hardcore too fast and slow and steady really does win the race! Best of luck!
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    There in no possible way for us to know what a sustainable amount of exercise is for you or anyone else. Do what everyone else has to do: pick a reasonable duration and frequency and add or subtract from there.
  • Kitpurr
    Kitpurr Posts: 26 Member
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    Don't try to go all "bals out" for lack of a better term. I wont go into it, but I have just spent many many months repairing and restarting after going too hardcore too fast and slow and steady really does win the race!

    Yep, that is pretty much why I lost a lot and then stopped working out altogether. I want to feel challenged but I can't go crazy like last time.

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