Perfect exercise program??

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theresahickman556
theresahickman556 Posts: 12 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Okay, I have a lot to lose for weight and I am always getting confused. What should be the realistic amount of time to be in a gym? My personal trainer said that you can over exercise?! How many of the days should be cardio and how many days should be with weights? I just want to do this right!

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  • Willbenchforcupcakes
    Willbenchforcupcakes Posts: 4,955 Member
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    No such thing as universally perfect.

    For me, almost completely strength based with minimal cardio is right up my alley.
  • Carnhot
    Carnhot Posts: 367 Member
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    Ask your trainer; he knows you, your goals, your limitations. We know none of this.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    edited April 2016
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    The perfect exercise program is whatever you enjoy. I ride a bike because I love it; exercise and calorie burning are just the icing on the cake. I'd ride a bike if it made me fat. Luckily, it doesn't, but the joy means I never ever struggle for motivation.

    You can definitely exercise too much. Any type of workout stresses your muscles. They sort of "decide to" get stronger because of what you put them through, but the actual getting stronger only happens when you rest. That's what rest days are about, you should take one after a hard workout or when you feel very sore or lethargic. Also if you're doing different types of exercise, alternate, so for example cardio one day and weights the next.

    Don't do HIIT, at least until you have a good handle on cardio, and a good reason to want to. ("Confuse my body" and "jump start my metabolism" are not good reasons.)
  • dbkyser
    dbkyser Posts: 612 Member
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    From someone who has lost a lot, start with something you can handle. If you go to hard you will end up giving up. I started with 30 minutes a day and did not take long to doing 60 mins of cardio plus.
  • jkd32
    jkd32 Posts: 11 Member
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    There really are no hard and fast rules. You have to go by how your body is responding. I would say for most people it's hard to over train unless you have a poor diet, stressful job and/or aren't getting sufficient sleep.

    If you are interested in changing the way you look then check out different physiques and choose the one you like. Whatever it is that they did to get there would be a good start. But to be perfectly honest, the people who are concerned with just the aesthetic are the bodybuilders and they are the most adept at changing the look of the body.
  • howekaren
    howekaren Posts: 159 Member
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    The perfect exercise program is one you enjoy and will stick with long term. In terms of weight loss, exercise is negligible. In terms of health, it's exceptionally beneficial. Any time your body moves, it's good: whether it's jumping jacks, deadlifts, or gardening. You can over train, but generally it means serious hours in the gym resulting in injuries.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
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    I want to second the above poster that the perfect exercise is what you will like enough to do consistently.

    Over training depends on your current state. If you go from 1000 steps on average to 10000 in a week, you could become exhausted and even injury prone just from walking.

    Ideally, we would all have a mix of cardio, resistance and flexibility. In the real world, most people who are consistent have a focus on one of those.
  • nordlead2005
    nordlead2005 Posts: 1,303 Member
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    Yes, you can over train, but any good program will have accounted for that with their progressions and built in rest periods. So, pick a good program and you don't have too much to worry about with over training.

    As for how much exercise you need it depends on your goals.

    If your goal is to only lose weight with no other regard to health, then the answer is no exercise required. Only a calorie deficit is needed.

    If your goal is to have improved health, the CDC recommended minimum is 2.5 hours of moderate cardio (walking fast or equivalent) and 2x/week full body resistance training. If you want better health, then increase the quantity and/or intensity (for example, run 3x/week instead of walking).

    You can have all sorts of goals (running a marathon, lifting 2x your weight, doing 20 pull ups, completing a obstacle course, etc...), and based on those goals you can then try to pick the (not perfect) training program for your goals based on priorities (which is more important, for example, getting strong or running fast).

    I personally lift 3x/week and do a decent amount of walking if the weather is nice and play Ultimate Frisbee once/week (when the season starts anyways). So, most of my cardio is not "exercise", but things I enjoy. I actually ran on the treadmill yesterday though as I want to get better at running (its never been a priority of mine).
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    The Perfect Exercise Program is the one you do. As you accurately record your food and do the Perfect Exercise Program, your ability and interest in a variety of exercise will change. Always, though, the Perfect Exercise Program is the one you do.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    The perfect exercise program is one you enjoy and will continue to do.
  • jdhcm2006
    jdhcm2006 Posts: 2,254 Member
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    Agree with all of the posters saying the perfect program is the one you will do and stick with consistently. Awhile ago, I stopped counting calories, but I kept doing pole. I gained weight b/c I was eating more than I was burning, but probably not as much if I hadn't continued to do a workout I love.

    Also, talk with your trainer and ask him to give you a program, that includes cardio, strength, and rest days. He or she will be able to tailor something to you because they know what you are capable of.
  • theresahickman556
    theresahickman556 Posts: 12 Member
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    Thanks! Sometimes I feel like my personal trainer isn't invested into me as I need them to be. Its frustrating !
  • howekaren
    howekaren Posts: 159 Member
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    Not all trainers are created equal! If they aren't giving you the answers/info you need, then you probably could look elsewhere for advice. From a health aspect, you can vary your workout almost infinitely. As long as you're moving the recommended 30 min/day, your health will be positively affected. Again, from a weight loss perspective, it's more important to control your calories. Basically what Nordlead2005 said above. If you're looking for a random example of training, this is what I do: 3x week is strength training (lifting heavy), 3x week runs (5k or so), 2x week volleyball (2hrs each), 3x week interval training. That may sound like a lot, but the runs are short, and one day may be 1 hr interval training then 2 hrs volleyball or 1/2 hr run with 1 hr strength training, etc. I can recommend two exceptionally good books: New Rules of Lifting for Women (which includes a discussion on when and how much to train, as well as a meal planning discussion and recipes), and Lose it Right by James Fell which talks about how to lose it and keep it off and why our body does what it does. Good luck.
  • LazSommer
    LazSommer Posts: 1,851 Member
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    The one that you actually do.
  • jdhcm2006
    jdhcm2006 Posts: 2,254 Member
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    theresahickman556 wrote: »
    Thanks! Sometimes I feel like my personal trainer isn't invested into me as I need them to be. Its frustrating !

    You need a new trainer. You are paying him or her to provide you with a service and they need to deliver the goods. Tell your trainer how you feel and let him or her know that if they cannot give you what you need/what you are paying for, you will find someone else who will.
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
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    The one that you will do, preferably which you enjoy and which aligns with your goals.

    I think if a person wants to maintain a general level of fitness then 2 sessions of resistance training of about 30 minutes and 2 cardio sessions of the same amount of time per week is more than adequate along with keeping generally active.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,669 Member
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    theresahickman556 wrote: »
    Thanks! Sometimes I feel like my personal trainer isn't invested into me as I need them to be. Its frustrating !
    If not, then you have the option to change to another. Do they write down every program you do? Do they assess what exercises you do well or not? Are they asking what exercises you like to do (because invariably, it will keep you doing exercise for the long term)?
    These are just some of the things I do with every client. They should be consistent.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    theresahickman556 wrote: »
    Okay, I have a lot to lose for weight and I am always getting confused. What should be the realistic amount of time to be in a gym? My personal trainer said that you can over exercise?! How many of the days should be cardio and how many days should be with weights? I just want to do this right!

    There's not such thing as a universally perfect exercise...it's going to depend a lot on your training objectives. As a matter of general wellness and cardiovascular health, it is recommended by the AHA to do 150 minutes per week of light cardiovascular work or 75 minutes per week of more intensive cardiovascular work. Note that these are basically minimums and more specific training objectives would probably dictate more than this. That said, if you're new to fitness it is important to allow yourself to build up to things.

    Personally, I only use the gym for weight training...sometimes the cardio equipment if the weather is really bad, but 99% of what I do in the gym is lift weight...I spend about an hour doing that 3x per week.

    As cardio goes, I'm a cycling enthusiast and I usually ride 4-5 days per week...my rides vary from longish endurance rides on a Saturday or Sunday (schedule and honey do list permitting) to climbing days where I ride hills for about an hour to time trial days where I go for about 30 minutes about as hard as I can go to easy flat recovery rides. A longish ride is going to be about 2 hours for me...most of my other rides are anywhere from 30-60 minutes depending on what I'm doing. I don't do more than that really unless I'm training for something in particular...like if I'm training for an endurance event I spend a lot more time in the saddle and do longer rides, etc...but as a matter of general cardiovascular fitness I don't see much point in doing more than about 30-60 minutes per pop.

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