Weights...cardio...now what? Any ideas?

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mncardiojunkie
mncardiojunkie Posts: 307 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
In 2009 I lost a ton of weight and got very fit and kept fit until this Sept by simply ramping up my weights and doing less cardio.

I never ever feel sore muscles when I try to add weights. So I keep adding them and I'm not bulking out or anything of that nature. Weight lifting, I'm fine, I think.

I must have gained 20 pounds between Sept 2011 and Dec 2011. (I know why...believe me, I'm clear on this.) But if feels as if I'm at square one again. (Well, not really at square one, if there's a square 1-10, I'm at squre five).

I got on the bike and started doing 110 rpms for 35 minutes at no resistance with a sad heart rate of 145. Yep..out of shape cardio wise. I took a zumba class on Sunday...clearly do I lack rhythm, but also lack cardio tolerance.

I normally ran for 20 minutes a day five days a week. Too fat now and my legs hurt.


Any ideas about what could boost my weight loss so I can get back on the tread mill again?

Replies

  • AlbertPooHoles
    AlbertPooHoles Posts: 530 Member
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    Cage fighting.
  • amaried621
    amaried621 Posts: 260 Member
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    Try taking some type of class. I absolutely love doing boxing, it's a great cardio workout plus builds the muscle in your arms and legs. You could try a spin class, that will get your heart rate up way higher. A boot camp class is fun too, it's constant and will give you a great burn. That is where I am now, trying some new things and I'm loving them. Good luck!
  • shanahan_09
    shanahan_09 Posts: 238 Member
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    Maybe try incorporting an incline into your treadmill workout. It boosts your heartrate when 'climbing'. Stagger the incline...try 2-3 minutes of a steep hill, then back to level ground. (I will also wear ankle weights doing this adding extra weight to the workout). I know elevating the heartrate every few minutes, then letting it go back to resting stage can burn the calories. Circuit training is another great option for this. Good luck!
  • Dragonwolf
    Dragonwolf Posts: 5,600 Member
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    Cage fighting.

    lol, yep. That would certainly work the heart! :laugh:
  • Kamalka
    Kamalka Posts: 164 Member
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    My best way to get back in shape is to run slower for longer periods...day by day.

    If you are bored about these at this very moment, what about your local swimmingpool? You do cardio with pauses in between and your legs will go fine after 2 days.

    I noticed as you did that bikes (home or outside) where much tolerant to lack of breath as you are sitting during the effort, you spend a bit less of calories than running and keep your breath all the time, which is good start again but makes it my bad weather cardio only.

    To me, running is so great that I always try to get back to it as quickly as possible. This is also because I never lose fat so quickly than by running.

    Otherwise you can try high intensity interval weight lifting but they are usually more difficult than cardio, I mean that they usually require to get in good shape first.
  • BL_Coleman
    BL_Coleman Posts: 324 Member
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    Things I do: elliptical, bike, treadmill, long walks or zumba, Krav ( martial arts) or dancing always fun. I try to mix it up with regular gym 2x a week, krav 2x a week and long walks during the weekend.
  • mncardiojunkie
    mncardiojunkie Posts: 307 Member
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    Thank you!!!

    I appreciate everyone's input. For the first three weeks of the month I was weight training and walking up hill on the tread mill at 15% at 4mph. Nothings budged, so I've adjusted my diet and my work out.

    When I am in better shape, I run 15-25 minutes and walk up hill around 20. Not right now..I'm so fat my legs hurt. I always lift weights.

    What caused this was general unhappiness at the YMCA that I was going to. I won't bore you with the details, but I couldn't make myself go because I hated it so much, not the work outs..but Lack of equipment, cost going up, lack of staff, etc. I changed gyms and now go to Lifetime. I've been going 6/7 days a week since I beg Jan 10.

    I'll try some of those thing mention. I just can't believe that I let myself go this badly. I do have a gym membership and I can take all sorts of classes and swim too.

    I'm not getting off to a fast start and I'm bugged by it. I'll change it up! Thanks so much!
  • BeautyFromPain
    BeautyFromPain Posts: 4,952 Member
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    Hi hun,

    Interval training is best. So run as fast as you can for 30 seconds then walk for 1 minute. This definitely gets your heart rate up and helps cardio resistance. Also, don't forget to stretch at the end of the workout!

    If you have any other questions don't be afraid to ask :)
  • smetivier26
    smetivier26 Posts: 18
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    Swimming and rock climbing have become my favorite along with kickboxing(regular or cardio). They all incorporate muscle building/toning with cardio! Their fun and you meet some really interesting people. Rock climbing and swimming are nicce cause you can move from indoor to outdoor once its nice out too.
  • mncardiojunkie
    mncardiojunkie Posts: 307 Member
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    Wow! Thanks ladies!

    Funny that both of you should mention these things.

    My son's karate school is offering kickboxing classes on Friday. I'm going to look into if my health club has classes.

    I was just reading about HIIT, high intensity intermittent training. Going to start incorporating that into my work out tomorrow.

    Now for the stretching part, well I've been warned and warned. I just don't seem to be able to be bothered to do this. But I started doing prior to a work out, I'll try it afterwards. My club's fitness magazine just had and entire article and diagrams about this. I just go that in the post.

    It's so much that I'm out of breath, that rarely occurs. It's that my legs hurt when I run because I'm so bloody out of shape.

    Who would have thought six weeks, the holidays and sitting in a car for seven days driving to relatives in a 30 day period would render me so out of shape. Just last year at this time, I was boasting that I could out run any 25 year old.

    I truly appreciate the words of wisdom and you allowing me to vent!

    Kind regards
    MA
  • ybenner
    ybenner Posts: 2
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    Interval training is awesome for changing up your routine. I like to do the videos on bodyrock.tv or @zuzkalight on youtube. I'll walk, jog, bike, skip rope first and then do one of those workouts. :)

    Do yoga for the stretching part. Sadie Nardini has some great youtube tutorials.
  • mncardiojunkie
    mncardiojunkie Posts: 307 Member
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    Interval training is awesome for changing up your routine. I like to do the videos on bodyrock.tv or @zuzkalight on youtube. I'll walk, jog, bike, skip rope first and then do one of those workouts. :)

    Do yoga for the stretching part. Sadie Nardini has some great youtube tutorials.

    Thanks!

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