Help with weights!

[thea77]

Okay, I need some advice. I am trying to lose about 10#, and have been Weight Watchers again for the past 5 weeks. I'm only down 2.2#, but I'm okay with that, expecting to lose slowly since I don't have much to lose this time. BUT, I would like to make sure I get some good fat loss and muscle toning. I am good with cardio, spinning 45-60 min 3x/week, then incline walking 2-3x/week. For weights, I took a big Cathe hiatus, and lost a lot of strength and endurance I used to have--so...I have been doing the Firm BSS3. This feels easy for me but I still work up a sweat. I do 2 of these workouts a week. I think, however, I need to get back to Cathe--I want to be ready for the Hardcore series (eventually anyway)!

My question is, how do I achieve this? I want to continue to lose weight and fat, however I'm not really concerned about gaining tons of strength or muscle size right now. I want to work on that when I get to my weight goal (but should I?). Am I better of doing something like the PS series one time through a week and going heavier, or should I do more endurance workouts about twice a week? I don't know what to do! Any suggestions??????

Sorry to be so long-winded, but I don't know where to start. Thanks in advance for any help you can give me!

--Thea

 

[kathryn]

If you're just getting back into weights, I would suggest starting with a full-body workout 2-3 times a week, then progressing to splits.

A suggestion: start with PH, doing it twice a week (Tuesday/Friday or Monday/Thursday, for example). Then make your way through to MIS, then PS or another split routine you have.

 

[MadnNatsmom]

I'm also trying to lose the last 10# and it's been a struggle, let me tell you.

From what I've been reading it seems that people like you and me who don't want to build muscle but want lose fat is to concentrate on cardio while maintaining the muscle we have.

The reason is that it is better to concentrate on one thing at a time. At least, this is the way bodybuilders do it. They lift heavy, eat a lot to gain mass, then they will eat less, and do more cardio to lean out.

This makes the most sense to me. And, I've had great success losing fat by alternating low weight/high reps ala BodyMax or any of Cathe's circuit-type workouts and classic FIRMs with running. (Maybe throw in one total-body-heavier-weights in there.)

I'm thinking of using the colder months for the "building phase" by concentrating on heavier weights since I'm a big weenie and don't want to run in the "cold" (cold for me is anything under 60 degrees F) with minimal cardio. But, I am notorious for not sticking to rotations.

 

[thea77]

Thanks for the replies. So, do you think doing something like SS/PP twice per week and then moving on to maybe ME, PH or MIS 2-3 times per week would be a good idea? I will continue with plenty of cardio as well. I did do PP this am and it felt pretty good, but I wasn't using as much weight as I previously did.

It's such a struggle! I guess don't care as much what the number on the scale says as long as I am losing inches, leaning out and feeling good!

Any more advice will certainly be appreciated as well! Thanks again for the replies!