I need workout help!

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ckemmis
ckemmis Posts: 51 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I want to lose a significant amount of weight (70lbs or so). My currant routine is 40 minutes of interval cardio on the elliptical 2 days a week, along with 2 days of strength training on the machines for at least 30 minutes with a 20 minute interval warm-up on the elliptical.

The thing is, I really don't care for the days where I do the 40 minutes of cardio, but I love the days when I do strength training. Would I still get the same results if I did my strength training + warm-up all four days? Also, would I get results faster if I switched from machines to free weights?

I really just want to get into better shape and I'm happy that over the past four weeks, I've been able to add ten pounds onto all of the machines that I use, but I really have no idea of what I'm doing, especially when it comes to free weights, which is why I use the machines. If you guys have any websites that you use that could help me understand what free weight exercises I should be doing, I would be very grateful.

Replies

  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    The fact that you prefer the strength training is awesome, and you should go with that. Yes, the cardio is good for health and it will help pad your deficit and allow you to eat more, but you don't need a lot of it to lose weight. Your calorie deficit is the most important. When you lift heavy on a deficit you will save more muscle mass as you lose, and your results once you lose the fat will be much better than if you had not lifted. (Excuse me, in my opinion).

    If you're doing full body, you may only want to lift three times a week. Free weights are better than the machines. Have you looked into any beginners programs? SL 5x5, ice cream fitness, etc?

    I lifted on a deficit from day one. Once I understood how to lose fat, I dropped a lot of my cardio-because I hated it anyway.
  • vixtris
    vixtris Posts: 688 Member
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    I'm also doing cardio on an elliptical for 4 days (30 mins) and 3 days of weights (about 60 mins). Ever since I added the lifting exercises, I noticed my weight starting to move down better (before I was just doing cardio). It would be best to look into a program if you don't know what your doing. I kinda put together my own workout plan using barbell and body weight exercises that are comfortable for me to do (yet challenging) and works the whole body. I used this site to find exercises and how to do them correctly: http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/
  • ckemmis
    ckemmis Posts: 51 Member
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    I've looked into 5x5 and that doesn't really appeal to me. I've never heard of ice cream fitness, so I'll look into that, but other than that, I don't know of any other programs, so if you have any more that you can recommend, I'd appreciate it.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    ckemmis wrote: »
    I've looked into 5x5 and that doesn't really appeal to me. I've never heard of ice cream fitness, so I'll look into that, but other than that, I don't know of any other programs, so if you have any more that you can recommend, I'd appreciate it.

    What is it you did not like about 5x5?

    You could check out New Rules of Lifting
  • brightresolve
    brightresolve Posts: 1,024 Member
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    Check out The New Rules of Lifting for Women - a book, unfortunately, which must be purchased - but I heard people talking about it on here, bought it and am about 4 weeks in already seeing results, as opposed to the weight machines which honestly never interested me that much. Once you have the book you can download workout sheets off their site.

    There are so many different ways to do good things, that I mean NO disrespect to any one else's preferences, just expressing what helped me out.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    brightresolve wrote: »
    Check out The New Rules of Lifting for Women - a book, unfortunately, which must be purchased - but I heard people talking about it on here, bought it and am about 4 weeks in already seeing results, as opposed to the weight machines which honestly never interested me that much. Once you have the book you can download workout sheets off their site.

    There are so many different ways to do good things, that I mean NO disrespect to any one else's preferences, just expressing what helped me out.

    I liked the book a lot. It's a really nice and kind of fun read. The program is not for me but I think it's very good.

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