Workout Question (Aerobic vs. other?)

ksocia

ksocia

CAT ATTACK! Meerowwer!
Joined
Oct 29, 2003
Messages
643
Reaction score
4
Points
0
I'm in need of some advice regarding working out... I joined my work's gym and now have to develop a workout plan.

My question is: If I do the aerobic part of the workout, jogging(1.5 mi), elipticals (1 mi), biking (2mi), etc, and a few (~100) crunches at the end of my workout, and do this 3x/week, is it going to be enough to lose inches and gain muscle? I ask because one of my friends said that the only "effective" way to workout is to do a combination of weight lifting (80%) and aerobics(20%), but if you merely do aerobics you'll "plateau" the fat loss soon after you begin, and it will only work your legs out.

Anyone have any experience with this?
 
Sorry, ksocia. I don't exercise, but would like to start. :tongue:
 
Weights will get you to gain muscle. Cardio will help you lose weight. It's good to balance them out. If you just do cardio, you won't gain the muscle you probably want (except for leg muscles by running). Do a good 30 minutes cardio, 30 mins free-weights, combined with a good diet and you should see improved results in like 2-3 months if you really work at it.
 
solbadguy said:
Weights will get you to gain muscle. Cardio will help you lose weight. ....
Click to expand...

Thanks solbadguy. I actually don't care that much about gaining muscle (i.e. show-off muscle), just losing the extra pounds, but I know that they go hand in hand. I'll try a 50/50 mixture starting next week. Hopefully I'll see some results by August, when I have my wedding.
 
spazntwitch said:
Sorry, ksocia. I don't exercise, but would like to start. :tongue:
Click to expand...

That's exactly me, but I have a housemate that had to lose some weight before a martial arts tournament. He is pretty muscular from going to the gym, but he ate the following

breakfast : 2 egg whites / yogurt / cup of orange juice
lunch : grill salmon or chicken breast / steamed veggies
dinner : protein bar / fruit cup / yogurt

and no cardiovascular activity. He said he was in constant hunger, but has lost 7 lbs in 1 week and he states that he has become more "cut." He went to the tournament in happiness.
 
I used to have a personal trainer who devised a plan that was 10-15 min of cardio, 30 min of weight training (alternating muscle groups, so you don't work the same ones two days in a row) and then 30 min of cardio to cool down. Light weights won't make you bulky, so don't be afraid of weight lifting. I also highly recommend that you not start trying to stick to some icky diet that you'll hate and eventually go off of. If you work out, the weight will come off and you won't have to give up eating good food. Oh, also, a good rule of thumb for diet- whatever your goal weight is, multiply it by 10 and add 300-- that's the number of calories you should eat in a day if you're moderately active (i.e.- you work out for 20-30 min). For example, if you want to weigh 135, then you'd eat approximately 1650 calories/day. I'm no nutritionist, but that seems to work well for me. On days I work out more, I eat about 200 calories more per 1/2 hour of serious cardio.
LOL I guess I have more advice than I thought, but I remembered something else- you CAN'T trust the numbers on the gym machines, as far as calories burned goes. Everybody is different, and a 140 pound woman running at 5mph for 30 minutes isn't burning as much as a 230 pound man-- like not even close. So, listen to your body, see how your clothes fit, and most of all, have fun. Cuz the only way to stay fit for life, is to do it in a way that you enjoy. Good Luck!! And let us know how it goes ;)
 
my theory has always been, that it really depends on what you want to achieve... if your first priority is to shed a little weight here and there, stickign with cardio is the quickest, most efficient way to go about that... Theres a common misconception out there that if you want to lose fat in your waist, you should do crunches, situps, etc... that isnt actually the best way to lose the actual fat. That will just creat muscle (which is important as well) under the fat. Cardio (such as running, elytpicals, cycling, etc) burns fat ALL over your body, not just your legs.

So i guess it depends on what you want to do. If you want to stay fit cardio wise and not firm or tone, you could probably get away with all cardio. It's my opinion that if you go with that type of program to still work in a day or two a week of light weight training that will also help tone, level your metabolism, and create a strong core that will help in anyones overal calorie burning (and appearance!).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top