30 min a day - enough ?

A

AnatW

Active Member
Hi guys,

Unfortunately I am not like you ! I can't seem to exercise without taking at least 2 days off during the week. Working out every day is too harsh on my body. The most I can do is exercise 2 days in a row, but then I have to take one day off. That's my body - what can I do...

So, with this in mind, what I am doing now (trying to lose 25 lbs) is early morning workouts, 30-40 min each, rotating cardio (intermediate level) with weights. I try to max out my 30 min so I get a good workout for my level.

I try to eat about 1500 calories (although I tend to eat more on weekends).

Is my plan going to be sufficient for weight loss ? Any improving suggesstions ?

Thanks for the advice,
Anat from Israel
 
Hello Annat,

I am the same. I cannot exercise every day, but I always aim high. I end up working out 5 times a week mainly, but if it's that time of the month I find I have even less energy and just want to sleep all day long. I average between 34 and 5 days a week.

Time wise, I have to do at least 60 mins or more, but not more than 90 mins. I think that is about right for me because I want to lose some weight and increase my muscles without restricting my diet. However, you might find that 30-40 mins a day and a low fat diet is enough.

Let's see what the others say.

Yen
 
I sure hope I hear encouraging news about 30 minutes per day being enough, because I can barely do 30 minutes 3-4 times daily. I know from reading that exceeding 30 minutes per day of any one thing is not helpful (ex, only doing cardio or only doing weights). The combination of them both or split between days however is supposed to be ideal in replacing fat with muscle mass. Let's see what the others think. Were the articles I read erroneous???
 
I don't think so. I think it depends more on the person and their level of fitness. In my case, when I run the first 20 mins, it is like a warm up, I am just getting my blood circulation going and my rythmn. I don't feel like I am burning and sweating well into 30 mins of exercise.

All Cathe workouts are 60 mins in lenght and for the advanced exerciser that is about right. If notice, Cathe's most intenmse stepping sequence doesn't start until 30 mins into the exercise (e.g. Rhythmic Step, MIC, IMAX, Body Max etc.). The fitter you are the longer you can go and go at higher intensity. I can do Body Max the whole way thru and that is a great workout for weekends when I have more time and energy. I supposed this is why her tapes are targetted at the advanced exerciser.

Yen
 
Youre right with Cathe's tapes all being around one hour in length but she does combine the two types of workouts, cardio and strength training. In that case, exceeding 30 minutes is a must. My point regarding the articles I read was that jumping around for an hour on just cardio 5 days weekly is not recommended as it can be detramental by promoting muscle loss in addition to fat loss. That's where Cathe succeeds (and we all do if we stick w/ her) because she formats it so we get both of best worlds. Does that make sense??

GN
 
I understand you. Take a look at long distance runners, who have very lean muscles. I actually like to lose a bit of fat so I aim to do aerobic exercise for an hour or so. If you want to lose fat then do aerobics for longer than 30 mins.

It really depends on what your goal is. For me, I am aiming for fat loss and if a little muscle goes with it that's OK. As long as I am lean.

Yen
 
I only do cardio 20 minutes a day 3 days a week. But I do high intensity interval training (like IMAX) so I get the most out of my workout. My weight routines are about 30-40 minutes. I do UB, LB and UB one week and then LB, UB and LB the next week. I'm following BFL and I am amazed at the progress. I wasn't so sure that cutting my cardio would be as effective, but I'm finding it is much more effective, especially by increasing the intensity.

Colleen
 
Well certainly ALL of Cathe's tapes are not a mix of weights and cardio. There are some all step videos that go way over the 30 minutes limit in the target heart rate zone for most of us.

I like to do steady state long duration cardio. Like Kim says looks at long distance runners they are the leanest folks on planet earth. That's one thing I love about Cathe's step videos it's like running for me

Edith
 
I also have to agree with the other folks/posters. I think it really depends on what your goals are. Cathe is definitely targeted at the advanced exerciser. However, with modification can be easily used by beginners of all shapes and sizes:)

I was told by a personal trainer a few months ago that I should do aerobics at least 45 minutes a day a minimum of 5 days a week. However, my goal is also fat loss as #1 priority. If fat loss is not your #1 prioirty or you are more of a beginner exerciser than more than 30 minutes may not be appropriate for you from the start. For those of us who are advanced in terms of cardio we love the Cathe tapes as they enable us to get in the needed cardio plus provide the strength and endurance training we need to see even better results.

I have read and have been told by my trainer that your body does not even start to really burn fat until after approx. 20 minutes. Does anyone know if this is really true?

I am sure some of the ladies/men on this board will know much more than I. However, I am sure they will also ask you more of your current situation and goals:)

Good LUck:)
-Pammer
 
Colleen,
I am happy you have seen such good results with BFL. I unfortunately did not. I saw the results initially but ALL of the WT plus some came back on the minute I stopped the diet. I think my body was just so use to the cardio at the duration and intensity that I do it that when I quit it was really the diet that was helping me lose the wt. not the workout. Then, once I changed the diet in any regard I saw the wt come back on. My Dr. told me that it actually messed up my metabolism more than it helped it. I ended up 10 lbs heavier after quiting BFL than I did when I started it:( It has taken me over 6+ months to get my metabolism back up to where it was before I did BFL.

I have also had a couple friends where similar things happened after they stopped the BFL. I think maybe it is just truly a Body for "LIFE" diet and not a short term fix for some people. That is why I find that losing wt. via clean eating and exercise works best for me. However, everyone is different:)

I really wished it would have worked better. I really liked the Free day!!!!!!!!!

Do you have any pointers on how you make the diet long term? How long have you been on it?

-Pammer
 
So youre exercising 6 days a week? Wow, you must be really seeing progress in whatever your goals are. Nice work! I can barely keep up with 4 days a week. But I think I get my cardio more from chasing my 2 kids moreso than with a video......lol

GN
 
I have also heard that your body doesn't start to burn fat until after 20 minutes of cardio. In fact, I've heard it many times, but I have no idea if it's accurate. I do know that since I've cut my cardio from 45-60 minutes down to 20-30 minutes that I am not able to lose weight/fat whatsoever, no matter how clean my diet is and no matter how heavy I lift. So I'm back to 45 minutes cardio and never plan to try the 20 minute thing again. But everyone is different. I imagine that 20 minutes is enough for many people, just not me.
 
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