A Question: Workouts?

[bobquasit]

Okay, I've been working out daily or almost daily for five or six weeks now. And I've come up against a question.

Part of my routine is a good 30 minutes or more of cardiovascular exercise, mainly crossramp - my goal is to burn at least 500 calories each day on the crossramp alone. I've succeded almost every time.

I'm also doing weight machines, doing primary machines on M-W-F and alternate ones on Tuesday and Thursday. That hurts a fair amount, but I know I really need to make the effort. The results have been pretty good, I guess; certainly various muscles have bulked up a lot. Particularly my legs, which were always rather strong. I'm leg-pressing 330 lbs., 12 reps - which seems pretty good to me, although I used to do over 400 when I was in high school.

But I haven't lost much weight.

Teri thinks I should cut back on the muscle-building, and go in for muscle toning. Lower my weights (she says to half) and maybe do more reps. I'd never heard anything about that sort of routine, though, and I don't know if it would be effective.

My primary goal is to lose weight. A distant secondary goal would be to build up my strength a bit, just to make it easier to carry the boy - at 50 lbs, he's getting pretty heavy. But weight loss is #1.

I don't know if anyone on my friends list knows much about workouts, but if you have any suggestions, I'd really appreciate it.

Comments

[lubedpumpkin.livejournal.com]

Don't judge your progress by weight. Grab a tape measure and check your inches. :) To tone, don't increase the weights as you go. Increase the amount of reps you do. Muscle grows by being ripped and growing back stronger (hence the burning) so the best way to avoid that is to stay at the same weight, but do more reps.

Also, are you gauging the calories by the digital readout on the crossramp? Those numbers are highly inaccurate. The best way to do cardio training is to sustain at least 30 minutes of solid, heart-pounding, sweating exercize. I see girls at the gym all the time on the elliptical machine who don't break a sweat and think they're getting a workout. Not true.

You need to continue the weight training to have an effective weight loss program. It keeps your metabolism up and your muscles able to handle your cardio workout.

Hope this helps :)

[bobquasit.livejournal.com]

That helps quite a bit, actually. But since I'm me, it also gives me more questions. :D

Will toning muscles burn as much fat as building them? I mean, I don't MIND building muscle (although it hurts a lot), and if that's a more efficient way to burn fat, I'm all for it. On the other hand, I'd be just as happy to reduce the pain level. :D

The best way to do cardio training is to sustain at least 30 minutes of solid, heart-pounding, sweating exercize.

Thanks to the Atenolol I can't make my heart pound. I checked with my doctor, and she confirmed that my heart rate is going to be at least 20 beats slower while I'm on a beta blocker. It's actually quite startling; one time I forgot to take my pill, and when I worked out my heart rate was in the 150-160 range. Otherwise, it rarely gets above 124.

But believe me, I sweat. Every time, I end up with an almost totally soaked shirt. And I know I'm doing hard cardio exercise.

I've seen those girls too, by the way. :D

Thanks again!

[lubedpumpkin.livejournal.com]

I suppose the building muscle exercises use more resources and therefore speed up your metabolism faster than just toning. Muscles "build" when they're repairing - so, on days you're not lifting that's when your body is working on them. The only downside with that is that you may still be bulky from the muscle as you're working off the fat. It's like how you won't lose inches around your abs from crunches - that works the muscle, so you'll have a six pack under a few inches of flab, heh.

I'd suggest sticking with toning now (and perhaps even adding stretching/yoga/pilates to the mix, because flexibility will help lessen the risk that you pull muscles, etc) and doing as much cardio as often as possible.

That thing with the Atenolol is weird! I suppose as long as it's pumping then you're fine. :)

[nakedfaery.livejournal.com]

I've heard that muscle weighs more than fat. So if you're building muscle as well as doing cardivascular exercise, that could explain why your weight isn't decreasing as much as you'd like. I've realised that part of my weight is to do with that. I agree with what lubedpumpkin said, don't judge by weight, judge by inches. Weight isn't really that reliable when it comes to judging someones appearance.

[bobquasit.livejournal.com]

(and perhaps even adding stretching/yoga/pilates to the mix, because flexibility will help lessen the risk that you pull muscles, etc)

Yeah...I have to admit that I'm a bit concerned about flexibility. Particularly since I started doing the heavy weightlifting; my arms feel stiff and musclebound.

That thing with the Atenolol is weird!

Well, apparently that's the point of a beta blocker. It effectively reduces the amount of adrenaline in the body, slowing my heart rate. To be honest, though, I haven't noticed any real side effects; I haven't felt slowed down or anything like that. It's just that my heart is beating more slowly, and that's fine by me.