cutting back cardio

K

kariev

Cathlete
Hi ladies, in an effort to get control of my binging (today is 6 days binge free) i was taking a closer work at my workout regimen. I'm noticing my cycle of doing more cardio trying to compensate for the binges which inturn makes me binge more because i'm exhausted. So i was thinking of cutting back my cardio to 2 HIIT days (either cathe's or on my treadmill) and 1 day of steady state. I will be doing this with 4 days of lifting (upper/lower split). I'm a little scared of doing this but what i'm doing is not working. I would love to hear some stories of success from you ladies who have cut back on the cardio and upped your weight work. I find also that when i don't do cardio i'm better with my diet as my subconcious isn't telling me to eat more since i did cardio.

On a side note: i did meso 1 week 4 legs today and decided to wear my HR monitor. OMG! During some of the exercises it got up to 170bpm! This showed me that I didn't need to add extra cardio after this workout.
 
I don't have any great words of wisdom for you but I just wanted to say I think its great that you are listening to your body and trying to discover what works best for you. I have also cut down on cardio (due to a calf injury) and noticed that I actually lost 2 pounds last week. Everyone is different and while daily cardio may work well for some, maybe its not what you need. Personally, I like doing less cardio.
 
Oh, Kariev--thanks for posting! I was thinking about your previous post this morning. I had a horrible weekend, food-wise. I usually eat really clean, and now I feel like a truck hit me. I call it my "sugar hangover" that I get from eating processed foods and treats. My digestive system doesn't like me too much, either. And I've gained 6 lbs in 3 days!:(:eek::mad:

I'm doing the STS Cardio/Strength rotation and have been adding extra cardio. I'm on week 4 now. I think the extra cardio is not working for me. BUT that little voice in my head is telling me that I really have to do extra cardio now to make up for the damage caused by my poor food choices. The other little voice in my head is telling me that I'm overtraining.

I'm going to try to stick to the original rotation and see how that goes. Please keep us posted on your progress. Your comments help me a lot.
 
Hi Kariev,
I haven't cut back on the cardio, I just wanted to share my thoughts.;) I'm doing 3 day's cardio what I wanted to try is doing 25-35 min of Hiit, (thanks god that Cathe's new dvd's specially the Hiit one are short) that way I can add 30-40 min of steady cardio right after the Hiit.
what you are doing sounds like a good plan to me, I get what you say about subconscious, that funny little thing can trick us some times. When we do big muscles parts like legs that can fry some fat" in the good way!:p:p
So just keep doing what you doing and let us know how it work for you.
I was reading on a magazine that you should always do what works better for your body, not something that's designed for some one else's physique so is good spend some time thinking about what works best for you.
 
Although I normally am a cardio junkie because it helps with my depression/anxiety level, a few years ago I broke (shattered into little pieces) my right foot's toes. I was off my feet for 4 months. I was required to lie on my back. Obviously, there was no cardio during this time. I also lost 25 pounds. I have no idea why. It just happened. My appetite also was non-existent.

Just a thought,

Alisha
 
Kariev, I'm trying to cut down on my cardio also. I'm tired of dreading my workouts and doing them to the point of being exhausted. I also agree in that I think my subconscious tells me "oh yeah you can eat more" when I do more cardio than I need to. It's counter-productive and I've stayed at the same weight for almost a year now when I still have 15 pounds to lose!

This week I told myself this is totally the wrong way to go about things; instead of listening to my body, I'm working against it and forcing it to do things it clearly isn't geared up to do. My new approach will be taking out cardio on STS days (I'm in Meso 3 week 2 of the 6 1/2 month rotation); I'm adding abs to these days. So it'll be 3 days STS/Abs and 3 days cardio.

Elsie, I have that little voice telling me to do extra cardio too!! I'm trying to ignore it and instead think twice about what I'm putting into my body. I don't want to force myself through a cardio session that's making me miserable to eat an extra indulgent meal that makes me happy for 10 min.

I also stopped counting calories last week which was huge for me. I found that I'm not obsessing about food like I used to though which was my goal, so that's pretty helpful.
 
Hmmmm.....Karie don't take this the wrong way, but maybe you're not sticking with one plan long enough? By your posts you have been changing it up and trying different things often, and when they don't work, you try something else. Seems like you change alot, correct me if I'm wrong? Maybe you're not giving whatever it is you're trying enough time to work. Goodness knows, I don't have the magic answer. If I did, I would sell the heck out of it!!!:p Change is good, but maybe you just aren't giving any one formula enough of a chance. Trust me, I understand what you are going thru, and finally found the willpower to stick with a certain rotation/formula when I got STS.

I now have my workout calendar planned out thru June/July. I'm doing 4DS for Feb on M/T and Th/F with Hiit on Weds, and running on Sat or Sun, and other cardio on Sat/Sun, whichever day I don't run on. I am doing GS on M/W/F for March, but I haven't figured out March's cardio yet, but there will be running involved. My body likes that - I have that bit figured out at least! And in April I start and all STS strength and cardio rotation.

I don't think its necassarily WHAT you do, its that you just do SOMETHING. So do what you like. I think (from reading your posts) that eating is your biggest issue, goodness knows its mine, and all the exercise in the world can't fix that. I know my problem is that I eat when I'm not hungry. Not when I'm stuffed, just when I'm good -not hungry, not full, just feel like eating. Shoot, I like food, and I like to eat. It has no relation to my workouts. Could that be your issue? You just like to eat? Are you eating when you're not hungry?


That's my $.02

Nan
 
spyrosmom said:
Hmmmm.....Karie don't take this the wrong way, but maybe you're not sticking with one plan long enough? By your posts you have been changing it up and trying different things often, and when they don't work, you try something else. Seems like you change alot, correct me if I'm wrong? Maybe you're not giving whatever it is you're trying enough time to work. Goodness knows, I don't have the magic answer. If I did, I would sell the heck out of it!!!:p Change is good, but maybe you just aren't giving any one formula enough of a chance. Trust me, I understand what you are going thru, and finally found the willpower to stick with a certain rotation/formula when I got STS.

I now have my workout calendar planned out thru June/July. I'm doing 4DS for Feb on M/T and Th/F with Hiit on Weds, and running on Sat or Sun, and other cardio on Sat/Sun, whichever day I don't run on. I am doing GS on M/W/F for March, but I haven't figured out March's cardio yet, but there will be running involved. My body likes that - I have that bit figured out at least! And in April I start and all STS strength and cardio rotation.

I don't think its necassarily WHAT you do, its that you just do SOMETHING. So do what you like. I think (from reading your posts) that eating is your biggest issue, goodness knows its mine, and all the exercise in the world can't fix that. I know my problem is that I eat when I'm not hungry. Not when I'm stuffed, just when I'm good -not hungry, not full, just feel like eating. Shoot, I like food, and I like to eat. It has no relation to my workouts. Could that be your issue? You just like to eat? Are you eating when you're not hungry?


That's my $.02

Nan
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no offense taken:) your right, i change around alot but right now my focus is trying to figure out my binging. its not due to an emotional cause and i truely think its from lots of cardio driving up my appetite. i don't do well with rotations as i get bored really easy so right now i'm just doing what i feel like.
 
You have to find what works for you.
For me, cardio and full body circuits help keep my appetite in check. If I get the urge for late night munchies, I hop on my elliptical for 20-30 minutes of SS cardio and that zaps away my hunger.
 
fit44 said:
You have to find what works for you.
For me, cardio and full body circuits help keep my appetite in check. If I get the urge for late night munchies, I hop on my elliptical for 20-30 minutes of SS cardio and that zaps away my hunger.
Click to expand...

Whoa!! It's like you're speaking a different language here!
 
two more cents

Hi,

Just another opinion. Years ago I did cardio everyday, but now I'm down to 3-4 days a week and the remainder of the days I lift weights. I usually do some sort of a split. Here are some things that I've learned over the years that helped my find what works for me.

1. I follow a rotation. I used to wing it, but realized that if you plan ahead, you end up doing what you should do to improve your fitness, not necessarily what you feel like doing.
2. I make fitness goals, not weight goals and the fitness goals drive the workouts.
3. I loosely cycle my carbs so that I can have more carbs after a long cardio session. It's such a fine balance to eat enough carbs to fuel the workout, yet not gain.
4. I workout either for gains or maintenance. When I'm trying to make gains, I make each and every workout really count. When it's maintenance I don't follow a rotation and I do what I want. I found that it's really easy to just go through the motions, especially something that I did regularly and it really wasn't of much benefit.
5. I realized that more is not necessarily better.
6. I changed up my entire thought process and use HITT and metabolic workouts once a week. They are short and get the job done. I love Bodyrocktv.
7. I change up my workouts every few months to keep my body guessing.

Tracy
 
Kari - I hope that works for you! Good luck!

Me - I can't decrease cardio! I don't burn enough cals doing upper body workouts. Leg days, oh, yes! Those are like cardio days! I am maintaining weight on STS with varied cardio on T, Th. Sat & Sun I've been running or, if the weather's bad, an extra Cathe cardio indoors. I find that if I run, that knocks 1-2 lbs. down, especially if I splurged a little bit!

My body has really responded well to running! I can't wait to get Shock Cardio and see how I do with the shorter, more intense cardio workouts!

I find that I only get really hungry during workouts if I didn't have my proper mid-afternoon snack.
 
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