Latest Workout Idea

fawn001

Active Member
OK guys, I did something new for my workouts. I decided to have a "Total Cardio" night one night at the gym. I did a step class, ran three miles on the treadmill, and did a Zumba class. I DID NOT do any weights, on purpose.

It was amazing how my body tightened up after this. Today I did very little weights, did a step class, and ran two miles. My legs and hips are so tight today!

It feels great but I am wondering how long I can do this without many weights. I think perhaps my body type is one that needs lots of cardio.
 
It's amazing isn't it and feels great. Since I stopped doing 40 poung squats and deadlifts and started p90x and Kettlebell workouts with 18 & 20 lb and Yoga my body feels and looks better than ever. I love not using Heavy weights.
 
Everyone's body is different and responses best to different ways of training.

I love cardio but it is very easy for me to over-train and begin gaining weight if I do too much so I have to be careful of how much cardio I do.

Others can do or need to do a lot of cardio in order to get the results they are after.

It's all about trial and error and if it works for you then keep doing it. :)
 
Everyone's body is different and responses best to different ways of training.

I love cardio but it is very easy for me to over-train and begin gaining weight if I do too much so I have to be careful of how much cardio I do.

Others can do or need to do a lot of cardio in order to get the results they are after.

It's all about trial and error and if it works for you then keep doing it. :)

Wendy - what is your theory on gaining weight with more cardio? I am noticing that it may be the case with me too.
 
Wow, we sure are different! I am another one that requires a lot of cardio to keep my weight in check. But I really do need that balance of cardio and weights.

Jo
 
Shana:

Perhaps I am not eating enough to support a lot of cardio but I feel satisfied at the end of the day. I will not stuff myself to find out for sure though so that just means a little less cardio for me. Anthing up to about 2.5 hours a week seems to be okay and unless I am training for a long distance race I am absolutely fine with that. :)

ETA: In addition, they claim lifting burns extra calories for a longer period of time after the work out is over while cardio burns more during the work out but the after effect is much less. Perhaps that could be part of it too.
 
Last edited:
I need the cardio too!

People think I'm crazy when I tell them I workout six days a week. But, darn it there is nothing like having three days of really intense intervals and three days of 60 minutes of blistering hot (160 bpm) steady state cardio to start to see results. Of course for me that also coincides with eating clean and eating enough protein. :D I'm still 52 pounds overweight but I have a skinny spot on my left thigh from running hills. I still have to walk for a bit but my goal is to be able to run my 3 mile route without stopping. Something happens to me when that 45 minute mark is passed, my body changes and my breathing changes and gets very even. The air starts to feel like water rather than air. Its cooling like a great big gulp of water. After that kind of a workout I feel like I'm on fire for about 12 hours. I guess that is the epoc that I have read about.
 
Something happens to me when that 45 minute mark is passed, my body changes and my breathing changes and gets very even. The air starts to feel like water rather than air. Its cooling like a great big gulp of water. After that kind of a workout I feel like I'm on fire for about 12 hours. I guess that is the epoc that I have read about.

THAT feeling is called "runners' high." It really is unmatched. I don't get it from doing any other activity, even HIIT. Actually, HIIT just makes me want to hurl.
 
THAT feeling is called "runners' high." It really is unmatched. I don't get it from doing any other activity, even HIIT. Actually, HIIT just makes me want to hurl.

Yeup gotta love that runners high. The first mile always sucks, but when I get into that cadence and rythum I feel just feel fantastic. HIIT has helped me with my endurace running but I have to admit I'm not the biggest fan. I think another thing to remember is that when you change your workouts your body works harder because you take it out of it's normal routine. I always change up my rountine just so I don't burn out and get bored. I think I'm going to get back into spinning.
 
OK Rapid Breath your comment about having "a skinny spot on my thigh" from running made my day! I am cracking up. Keep running girl!

I found after doing a few weeks of heavy lifting I was just beaten up and tired. I am a recovering 6 day a week runner (which I have not done for years) so not doing a lot of cardio was an adjustment over time. But it was lifting a few times a week at moderate to challenging weight, then back to light weight/high reps that got me into awesome shape. So I do 4 days cardio, 3 days weights (one day I try to do a circuit or I do some kind of split routine). And the results have been great. So in short, I mix it up. But I always incorporate strength training.

Will also say when I do cardio, I DO CARDIO. Interval training, hard stuff. So 30 minutes, 40 or 60 minutes - it counts. A trainer told me that - if you can't do your cardio that way or it shoots your heart rate too high, then you're tired and take a day off.

But weird thing: I was a yoga devotee until I caused major injury to a minor hamstring thing by overstretching it. So now have to cut all such stretching for a while until my treatment for this ends.

Now if I could just break this chocolate habit ....


Julie
 

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top