I hate to sound like a complete novice.../Beachbody workouts

MoonlessNight92
MoonlessNight92 Posts: 10
edited December 22 in Fitness and Exercise
I have around 70lbs to loose, to get to a healthy weight for my height.. Im trying to pick a workout program that will suit my needs, and i keep hearing conflicting views.
Im looking to loose weight and tone up...(Im a female). Not looking to get ripped, i still want to stay soft but some muscle tone. Im told not to lift weights, and just to stick to cardio, because i have a lot of weight to loose...and others tell me that i should just do a program such as p90x, so that i can build muscle, and burn fat...so i HAVE NO IDEA what to do XD Do i pick a program that is mostly for muscle building, or a mixture? I also own Insanity, chalean extreme, and turbofire/turbo jam. Help please! Hope nobody takes offense to me asking stupid questions/.

Replies

  • Smuterella
    Smuterella Posts: 1,623 Member
    Even the muscle building Beachbody programmes have a definite cardio element. P90X and Chalean Extreme have 2 or 3 cardio days.

    And the cardio only programmes often have some plyo type moves that do help with a little muscle building.


    They all work, they are carefully designed to, so the best programme for you is one you are going to stick to. What do you prefer - weights or just cardio?
  • MoonlessNight92
    MoonlessNight92 Posts: 10
    @lisaSmuts thanks! and i prefer weights...I LOVE WEIGHTS xD
  • Smuterella
    Smuterella Posts: 1,623 Member
    Chalean Extreme then I think, I absolutely loved it!
  • Pipsg1rl
    Pipsg1rl Posts: 1,414 Member
    Since you already own ChaLean and love lifting, I would give a 90day commitment to that. I hate cardio and love weights. You won't see the huge calorie burns with ChaLean but it's true muscle burns fat.
    It won't happen overnight, but changes will happen.

    I will say if you want to tone not to go as heavy with your weights in that program since it's muscle building. I did the program and I'm not ripped but my body looks much better.

    Also consider looking for a "hybrid" schedule that syncs both programs you like together. (ie Janelle Summers ChaLean/TF hybrid).

    Hugs,
    T
  • mmtiernan
    mmtiernan Posts: 702 Member
    I think you may have some slight mis-information on what will make you ripped. It's not the weight lifting, but the type of dieting you do that will determine how 'ripped' you get. For women that would mean getting your bodyfat down to a very low extreme which women aren't just naturally capable of - you have to really work at it. Even women bodybuilders only look like that at contest time and they have to use a very harsh diet regime to get that way. In their off season they don't look nearly as extreme.

    Also, you really shouldn't worry about 'bulking up' by lifting heavy weights. Women just don't naturally have enough testosterone to do that (thankfully!). Again, to get to those 'bulky' extremes, you have to really work at it. So, lift the heavy weights - it's good for you in many ways: builds muscle which in turn increases metabolism, increases bone density (which may not mean much to you now, but it will absolutely make a difference as you age), muscle takes up much less space than fat so as you increase muscle and lose fat the scale may not shift down quite as much but you will find yourself losing inches and finally, although you don't burn as many calories while you are actually working out as you might with a cardio session, your body will continue to burn calories at an elevated rate long after the workout as it works to repair and strengthen your muscles.

    Finally, remember that your results with any exercise regime are only going to be as good as your diet! You can be absolutely faithful to the exercise, but if your diet is junk - then it will stay in the trunk! :laugh:

    I happen to love ChaLEAN Extreme also! Good luck!
  • Shannota
    Shannota Posts: 308 Member
    I agree that you probably don't have to worry much about bulking up. I did ChaLean Extreme and used the heaviest weights I could manage and, while I did build lean body mass, it wasn't something that made me any bigger than I had been. Of course, I am pretty heavy right now. My diet was not where it should have been, so I did not see much in terms of weight loss, but I have been told that I look much thinner now...and clothes are fitting better, so that must be true.

    To get the calorie burn up, I think I, personally, would prefer a hybrid that includes weights and cardio (though all the BeachBody programs I have seen have both in their rotations..they all are just focused more on one or the other). All the programs you mentioned, I either have tried and was impressed, or have heard very good things about. At this time, I think I am more geared to TurboJam, but if you are up to the more intense (TurboFire/Insanity) I say go for it. The more you push, the better your results will be (at least to a logical amount). Good luck!
  • Pipsg1rl
    Pipsg1rl Posts: 1,414 Member
    ChaLean has 3 days of Weights and 2 of Cardio per week. It also includes "Recharge" and 2 different Ab workouts.

    I loved Recharge day- it's like yoga day and your body will thank you for it.

    The cardio workouts are actually 1 straight cardio and 1 intervals (with light weights).
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