Starting to change my lifestyle, need some tips!

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veasse
veasse Posts: 25
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey all! Sorry for my general newbie-ness regarding fitness, but I would love a little guidance. I am looking to lose about 18-20 lb and at least 6% body fat. I just joined a gym for the first time in years and am going to start getting tone and in shape. The manager at the gym read my bmi and % body fat with a machine and said that those numbers should be my goal. I am a 23 year old woman really hoping to lose the weight and tone up before my september wedding.

Should i be focusing on more cardio? Is that what burns the fat off? Or should I work on strength training to build up some muscle (im in horrid shape right now) or both? What should my goals be? 5 days a week is my plan, how much cardio should i do and how much strength should i do? Sorry for being so clueless and thanks in advance!

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  • SergeantSunshine_reused
    SergeantSunshine_reused Posts: 5,382 Member
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    Strength training is very important. Lifting 3 days a week will help you retain muscle and even gain some so that you look fit and not the dreaded "skinnyfat" Lifting makes us look better naked :D

    All you need to lose fat is to have a moderate calorie deficit. If you do more cardio you can eat more :D I personally do little cardio and make sure i lift.

    I would suggest Starting Strength for a great routine!
  • veasse
    veasse Posts: 25
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    Awesome thanks! That makes sense for sure, and who would say know to looking better naked? Ill get on the strength training asap! Thanks!
  • lsapphire
    lsapphire Posts: 297 Member
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    A combo would be best, just remember that muscle weighs more than fat and how you feel and how your clothes fit needs to be considered to.
  • veasse
    veasse Posts: 25
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    very good point :) ill keep that in mind.
  • FlynnMacCallister
    FlynnMacCallister Posts: 172 Member
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    BOTH. Definitely both. Warm up with 10-20 min of cardio, head over and do your strength, and then cool off with some more cardio. Muscle is the machine that burns the fat, so you want to make it work!
  • veasse
    veasse Posts: 25
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    how long should i plan on spending at the gym? an hour 5x a week? with a good diet will i see the results im hoping for by september? or should i up the time
  • wearywithchildren
    wearywithchildren Posts: 17
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    I agree that strength training is important but I also love cardio because it burns so many more calories. What I do is I workout in four one-hour increments per week. I run on a treadmill for 30 minutes and then I hop off and do strength moves. In between strength moves, I sprint on the treadmill. It's a way to keep your heart rate up while doing strength so you get the best of both. So here's an example of a workout:

    jog at a steady pace for 30 minutes.

    jump off and do 1 set of bicep curls, 1 set of hammer curls, and 1 set of tricep dips

    get back on the treadmill and run at a very quick pace for 1 minute

    jump off and repeat first sets (bicep curls, hammer curls, tricep dips)

    get back on the treadmill and run at a very quick pace for 1 minute

    repeat first circuit again so that now you will have completed 3 sets of each exercise

    get back on the treadmill for one minute (or if this seems too easy, go for 90 seconds)

    jump off and do 1 set of pushups and hold a plank for 30-60 seconds.

    Repeat with the "circuit", alternating between the treadmill and strength moves until you can't move anymore. :)

    This is similar to interval training so you need to move pretty quickly so I try to look at the time on the treadmill and give myself a certain amount of time to do my strength moves and get back ... 90 seconds usually covers it.

    Just a suggestion. My husband can lift weights with just a cardio warm-up but I find, as a woman with a beefy rear, that I have to do much more than that. Generally speaking, women have much more body fat that men so that makes sense. HTH
  • wearywithchildren
    wearywithchildren Posts: 17
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    If you go 5x a week, you'll definitely see results faster but you want to be careful not to get burned out and, if you're working hard while you're there, you shouldn't need to go 5 times a week. I work out four days a week for an hour each day and I try to make that hour count. Sometimes it's difficult not to work out on my "off" days but I purposely take those days off so that I don't get burned out, so that I'm rested to really push myself on my workout days, and so that I don't get injured. On my off days, I try to take a casual walk or something else that's not balls-to-the-wall exercise just to keep my butt off of the couch. I have four kids so it's not difficult to get out and moving!
  • veasse
    veasse Posts: 25
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    Wow what a great idea! Ill definately try that tomorrow when i go in to the gym

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