Best use of exercise time for fat loss? can't lift :/

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tomatoey
tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
edited December 2014 in Fitness and Exercise
Female, 38, bmi of 22, high body fat % (visual comparison, but it's up there - I've gone up and and down within a 74lb range. I recently regained weight due to inactivity after injury, after maintaining at 124 lbs for several years. I'm sure I've lost a lot of lean mass and have gained a lot of fat.

Goal: lose fat, at least retain muscle, and I'd like to see 128 lbs again (I think 124 might be ambitious).

Diet: 1800 for intake feels best for me. I feel crappy eating less than that, no matter what the macros are like. (I lost my weight keeping intake at 1800-2100, with intense cardio 3-4 days a week - bodyweight workouts and running, so probably a net of 1600-1900, though I didn't count it that way. Later, I did some heavy lifting but didn't get very far into it before all these injuries got to me.)

Exercise: I can only do lower body work that does not involve lifting with my upper body, due to RSI in a wrist and tendonitis in a shoulder. For that matter, I also have limitations in my lower body (tendonitis, runner's knee, arthritis) and back (pulled muscle, temporary).

BUT I can do standing bodyweight things - squats, lunges, step-downs/ups, and I can use the cable machine to add load (although not right now, given the back thing). For cardio, I can walk.

Question: if you were me, and your goal was to lose fat and at least retain what muscle you have, with 1800 intake, how would you structure exercise if you had 40-60 minutes, 5 days a week? Spend most of it on bodyweight resistance, or try to burn a bit more on the treadmill?

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  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    edited December 2014
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    I'd probably start with a lot of stretching and mobility work to try to get over some of the nagging injuries.

    Then I'd add in some body weight stuff, using dumbbells and/or resistance bands as I could.

    I'd also do some swimming.


    So to start, it would be something like:
    Day 1 - stretching/mobility
    Day 2 - swimming
    Day 3 - yoga
    Day 4 - swimming
    Day 5 - stretching/mobility

    I'd do that for a month or so, then add in the body weight training following something like convict conditioning or your are your own gym.
    Day 1 - stretching/mobility
    Day 2 - body weight work
    Day 3 - swimming
    Day 4 - body weight work
    Day 5 - stretching/mobility

    After a while, if I was still feeling good, I'd shift more focus to body weight work.
    Day 1 - body weight work
    Day 2 - swimming, stretching
    Day 3 - body weight work
    Day 4 - swimming, stretching
    Day 5 - body weight work


    Obviously, all that is only the PLAN for what to do. You'll have to pay attention to how you feel and to how you're progressing, and change the plan as needed as you go.
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
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    i would jog every day. some days more some days less. and i would pick up my step throughout the whole day, take stairs, park far away from places, stand instead of sit. its easy.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
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    I would focus on diet (enough protein, 1g/LBM or 0.82g/lb is usually a good start) and maybe do a bit of cardio that involves more muscle work, like swimming suggested above.

    Otherwise, talk to your physical therapist.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
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    Thanks all. So try to maximize resistance in bodyweight stuff, focus on that 3/5 days, get resistance into the cardio, keep protein up, and get cardio in every day. Maybe I can do 2 more days, since it's just walking.

    I can't do impact at all - it's really down to walking at various speeds and inclines. Maybe elliptical. For swimming it'd be lower body only for now, but it's kind of inconvenient other than occasionally, due to location. Yoga's out due to hypermobility, unfortunately.

    Will be seeing my physio soon.

    Thanks for your input.
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
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    I would just eat less, nothing more time efficient than that
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
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    Broken record here. ;-) Try aqua fitness for less stress on body - good for wrist and tendonitis shoulder, lower body (tendonitis, runner's knee, arthritis) and back (pulled muscle, temporary).

  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
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    Chief_Rocka wrote: »
    I would just eat less, nothing more time efficient than that

    Yeah, I wish I could do that and not feel like a hurtbag all day, but that means headaches, irritability, inability to focus on anything, not being able to sleep... I don't know why, since I'm not diabetic or hypoglycemic, but that's what my body does :/

    What my physio *has* said is to do what cardio I can for longer, mixing it up to minimize risk of overuse (since apparently it takes nothing at all to get me injured). But who has two hours (closer to three with getting there and back, changing, showering) every day? Bah.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    edited December 2014
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    47Jacqueline wrote: »
    Broken record here. ;-) Try aqua fitness for less stress on body - good for wrist and tendonitis shoulder, lower body (tendonitis, runner's knee, arthritis) and back (pulled muscle, temporary).

    Thank you :) Yes, it's less stress, and it's some kind of activity, but the pool is inconvenient for daily workouts, I wish it weren't.

    Not trying to be negative or resist advice, it's all good, just trying to make this work in my life, you know?
  • sunnys501
    sunnys501 Posts: 2 Member
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    Hi,
    I had tendonitis in my right elbow and had pulled my right bicep earlier this year.
    For 4 weeks I went for physical therapy for my elbow issues. During that time, I switched to this program during which I lost 4-5 lbs.
    - I watched what I ate
    - Cardio on Stationary bike for 40 minutes 6 days a week (the cardio helped keep my diet in check).
    - Ab crunches, plank, squats and lunges twice a week
    - One day complete rest
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    edited December 2014
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    sunnys501 wrote: »
    Hi,
    I had tendonitis in my right elbow and had pulled my right bicep earlier this year.
    For 4 weeks I went for physical therapy for my elbow issues. During that time, I switched to this program during which I lost 4-5 lbs.
    - I watched what I ate
    - Cardio on Stationary bike for 40 minutes 6 days a week (the cardio helped keep my diet in check).
    - Ab crunches, plank, squats and lunges twice a week
    - One day complete rest

    Thank you so much for sharing!!! :smiley:

    I might just do this :smiley:
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    edited December 2014
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    Just wanted to update. I'm doing
    - every day: 20 minutes of physio exercises (specific ones for wrist, shoulder, knees and ankle, incl.'s glute bridges, 45 degree single leg squats, hip abductions on cable machine with low load) + either lunges & RDLs or step-downs + cable kickbacks

    Then, either

    A) 30 minutes of intervals (inclines, speed, resistance) at perceived exertion of 7-8 on the stationary bike or treadmill (walking), plus
    - an additional easy 20 minutes on the other machine (bike or treadmill, OR elliptical) at perceived exertion of 3.
    - If bike or elliptical minimum rpm of 100; if walking, minimum speed of 6.2 km/hr (3.8 mph)

    or

    B ) 30 minutes on one machine and 20 minutes on another, fast but no resistance

    So far so good! My good arm's elbow is playing up a bit when I lean on the bike (!!) but I'm just letting my arms hang.

    Thanks again!
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
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    Do your cardio HIIT style.

    Add resistance training as you are able.

    That is the latest science anyway. I pretty much hate intervals, myself and just do steady state 90% of the time.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    edited December 2014
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    concordancia wrote: »
    Do your cardio HIIT style.

    Add resistance training as you are able.

    That is the latest science anyway. I pretty much hate intervals, myself and just do steady state 90% of the time.

    Thanks :)

    I am, kind of. E.g., on the bike, I'll set it to level 4 and do that at 100 rpm for one minute. Next minute is 120 rpm minimum (I might go higher). Next two minutes, level 5, same deal. Then level 6, then 7, then start again at 4 and work my way up again, repeat until I'm done.

    It's good, because I get a break from speed and never feel tired. Also really good because I get SO BORED on these machines :/ The intervals give me mini-goals to shoot for and tick off.

    Thanks again for your thoughts :)

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