Good results with less intensity?

eminenz2

eminenz2

Cathlete
After pounding away on myself with Cathe workouts, I'm interested in the stories of those ladies here who lost weight with "lower intensity workouts" - still Cathe, but maybe lowered your step, took it a little easier on yourself, lifted a little lighter, maybe didn't jump as high (heehee) or threw a couple of those "other" easier instructors into your rotation.

I'm just interested in seeing if anything else worked for anybody besides the constant grinding of Cathe workouts/rotations.
 
I think food is more of a factor than what workouts you do. During my weightloss journey I have had periods of fairly intense exercise, and periods of injury where all I could do was the elliptical machine (no impact). I have always been able to lose except for an occasional plateau by adjusting my eating.

Don't get me wrong, exercise is very important to losing and keeping off weight but in my opinion eating is about 80% and exercise is 20%...a very necessary 20%.
 
Venus--

I checked out your progress and you look great!! I haven't seen you post here in a while, but you've done so well. What inspiring work, especially because you did it with lots of lower impact. I am injury prone too (and pregnant) and this just gives me hope.

You rock!!

Maggie:7
 
Venus -

Your journey is inspiring!

Now if I could only get excited about a future of barely eating, I'd have it made! Sigh...
 
I think that lower intensity workouts can often be effective because too much high intensity all the time is a definite stress on the body. And too much stress causes your body to release hormones like cortisol that facilitate the storage of fat (when stressed out, one of the reactions of the body is to store fat and hold on to weight).

Also, if you exercise less intensely, you may very well have less of an appetite and eat less.

I most definitely DON'T do a constant menu of intense Cathe workouts. I use her mostly for strength, one interval workout a week (recently, as I have less time to workout, and want to make each one count) and some kickboxing.

Every few weeks, I do a week or so of less intense exercise, focusing on core work, functional exercises, and stretching. Then when I get back into the intense work, I can approach it refreshed and with more strength, actually.

If I workout more often, I alternate tougher workouts with lighter workouts.

This kind of routine has helped me avoid injuries, make continuous progress, stay motivated to workout, and not overtrain.
 
Kathryn,

Thanks for your thoughtful reply. It sounds like a plan I'm gonna try for a couple of months!

Thanks again!
 
Oh, yes! Mine was due to injury and I had to get over the idea that only high impact could do it for me the the intensity can be there and modification is possible for nearly every jump one might take. It can mean adding risers which is fine for me since I have long legs even if I am clumsy. :) Addin minutes to lower impact also works. I was worried I'd lose my fitness level but didn't even improved it at times. I go through phases with my exercise and I have learned gentle phases can be fabulous too with less ventured and nothing lost!
Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif "Chick's rule!"

Tell me, what it is you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? -Mary Oliver
 
To illustrate that you can do this... I burn more than 500 calories with IMAX 2 (with minimum modifications), 25% from fat. Compare this with Low Max, where I burn more than 600 calories, 35% from fat. I couldn't believe it, but once I saw the numbers on my HR monitor I no longer make myself jump too high or too much. I burn a little over 700 calories doing Kick Max without the blast portion and substituting that with ab/core work. So when I do KM, I do the warm-up, combos, leg drills and two ab workouts or a CM segment. And I don't have to put too much stress on my joints. I do agree that it helps so much if you eat clean. It doesn't have to be perfect clean eating -- I don't think that's realistic, but as clean as you can make it. I eat clean about 80% of the time. The percentage goes higher when I'm feeling really pumped and gung-ho, and it goes lower when I'm PMS'ing or as the holidays approach.

Pinky
 
Wow! Those are pretty good numbers Pinky. I must admit though, there's something about high-impact that I absolutely love. Maybe it's because I'm plopped in front of a computer most of my day & I am finally itching to jump around during my workout.

But I digress. I'm a high-intensity/high-impact junkie. I have nothing useful to share in this topic. Don't mind me.

Marla:eek::7
 
Marla- Just be careful!!! I'm sure you've already learned to listen to your body, but at some point it may need a break and take one without asking. I learned that the hard way!! Even now, almost two years later, I feel my leg aching after a high-impact Cathe or a run. It's a lot of work to come to a place of peace about not being able to do high-impact all the time.

Pinky- I looked at your photos again. Wow. You are a true inspiration!! Thanks for making the captions true- like that you are clawing on the floor while doing the Royal Dancer. That gives me hope! ;)
 
Thanks Amy. I am very careful. The last thing I want is to deal with chronic knee/hip/back pain like a lot of my pre-op surgery patients. Then I wouldn't be able to workout & I would go bananas.

Marla
 
LOVE the pictures, Pinky!

Suprisingly, I like doing the plough too, even with my belly, and I can even do the backbend (bridge) for a few seconds at a time. I just have to be careful getting in and out of it.

Cheers!
 
Thank you all for the kind words. And I don't think you need to worry about starving yourself. Like Pinky I eat clean about 80% of the time and since I'm trying to lose fat I average around 1500 calories eaten a day, some days more if I go on an extended mtb ride. I also allow myself to eat something "naughty" once a week. Not a pigout, just one thing like one serving of fried calamari OR a couple of hush puppies, etc. But only once a week and I save the calories for it. You can live a good life and be happy, you just have to think about what you eat. The rest of the time to make the calories go futher I eat following the principles in Volumetrics (a book). Basically I eat a lot of veggies...so if I make pasta from scratch I use a lot of veggies in the sauce, little olive oil, some fat free mozarella or shrimp, and whole wheat pasta. It's low calorie but high volume and very filling.

Anyway, I just wanted to come back and say you don't have to starve to eat light. If you haven't heard about Volumetrics check it out from your library. There are 2 version, but the most recent one is better and has a ton of recipe ideas. It's not a diet, just a way to eat less calories while feeling full.
 
Thanks, eminenz2 and Amy.:)

Amy - the workouts I do are hard, no need to sugarcoat it. If Cathe says in her videos that she can't talk because she's so winded, or that her legs are shaking badly, or that she's feeling the weight right away, why would I be acting like it's all a piece of cake? If I do that, you'd know I'm lying.:p :+ :) P90X Yoga is a hard yoga workout. It's still the one I reach out for the most. And as you can see from my photo, my bridge pose still needs work.

Pinky
 
Thanks for the reply, Venus -

I'll look for "Volumetrics" at Amazon - I can usually get any book though the Marketplace for much cheaper than at most bookstores.

I've been thinking a lot about eating! And not eating - LOL!
 
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