Who really knows anymore?

Kimenem

Kimenem

Cathlete
HIIT, Circuit, TT, cardio, no cardio, heavy weight, no heavy weight, lots of reps with light weight, fewer reps with heavy weight, don't do cardio for more than 45 min, do LONG amount of cardio, do more weight work than cardio, do cardio 5 days per week to burn belly fat. AGHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

I have NO idea what to do. I just started a 4 week rotation using 4DS with an added plyo leg workout on day 5. Now I'm wondering if I'm wasting my time. I also just ordered 2 of cathe's circuit workouts that I didn't have. I'm really waiting for STS cardio and the rotations Cathe will create using all STS. I don't see how that can NOT work. But until then......what about a rotation of 3 non-consecutive days of circuit workouts and some other activity, walking, yago, pilates, etc. 3 days in between.
 
I'm with you...every time I think ok, I have it figured out, I read something else (or someone else's results) that gets me confused again. And then of course I never really figure out what works for me, because I can't seem to get my eating under control again long enough to see more changes.

But I guess it just means we all have to figure out what works best for us using trial and error...maybe it all works as long as you eat right! :eek:
 
i'm with you guys. i'm more confused then ever on what to do. i guess though the concensus is to eat clean and healthy. i don't think it matters what types of workout you do as long as you enjoy them. There is no one right way and by thinking there is (which is what i keep doing) it gets sooooo confusing and frustrating.
 
gotta do what works for you and that is it. heavy lifting in some cases for me will not get the same results as anybody else and vice versa. i do take in account some of the new things coming out and try them out but if they are not fun or do not like the results i just skip it. you're right nobody knows b/c not everybody is the same.

kassia
 
Yes, it's all too confusing, and the prevailing wisdom seems to change from day to day.:(

I agree that it's really individual and to a good extent a matter of trial and error. Right now, I'm back to the old-school method of simply burning off more calories than I'm taking in -- no matter what combination of exercises gets me there. That's meant resorting to calorie-counting, which I had not done for a while, but it seems to be yielding good results.

Clean eating is key, as others have said. Plus, for me, getting enough sleep and enough water makes a huge difference.

Good luck finding what works!
 
If it makes you feel any better

I'm clueless. I only do the cardio now for my mental well being and so I can eat some carbohydrate and be able to absorb it. I just have no idea what to say anymore. I still get the best results from yoga. I don't know why exactly. I tried upping my protein and it back fired. I tried calorie cycling and it worked for about 30 pounds. For the past 5 weeks I have been reduced to carbohydrates because I just couldn't eat much of anything, no solids, nothing. So, the old adage about not eating below the old bmr was bogus because I lost 5 pounds. None of it really makes any sense at all. I went to a nutrition class and they tried to tell me calories in and calories out but that just doesn't work with my body. My fat cells are clever buggers and won't give up the ghost that easily.:D I was eating about 600 calories/day because I was so sick.

Maybe it doesn't really matter what you do but rather that you do something at all. Maybe just do what you want?
 
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I don't think is one magic solution. Variety is what makes the difference, IMO. Lift heavy, then do circuits, then take a week of yoga, run, spin, splits, kickboxing, pilates, whatever. Mix up the exercise, eat food that came from the ground or had a mother, and don't stress it! My formula for success, anyway. :)
 
I think the first question is ... what's your goal?

I have posted before and thoroughly believed that for me to lose weight (and I was always looking to lose 15 or so pounds) it was ALL about the food. The reason was that I exercise frequently at a Cathe intensity, so if I am always going to be an exerciser, it all came down to food. So I firmly believed that FOR ME, weight loss was 100% food given that I see my exercise as always being there.

I have changed my mind, and am back to the camp that says for me, weight loss - or body reshaping - is 80% food and 20% exercise and the way I exercise. Of course this revelation has come ofter 9 months of working with a gal who is IMO, the best personal trainer on the planet. Yes, I am lucky for sure. But using VERY heavy weights, and a lot of cardio, with very smart eating, I have totally reshaped my body. Even though the weight is a little higher that I actually wanted, I can now fit into smaller sizes than I have ever been able to before. But this kind of training with someone who is adamant on proper form, proper shoes, proper timing of meals, etc has allowed me to no longer be confused. I have tried it all, and I am very lucky to have learned what I have. Good luck in your quests.
 
sparrow13 said:
I don't think is one magic solution. Variety is what makes the difference, IMO. Lift heavy, then do circuits, then take a week of yoga, run, spin, splits, kickboxing, pilates, whatever. Mix up the exercise, eat food that came from the ground or had a mother, and don't stress it! My formula for success, anyway. :)
Click to expand...

Very wise words from sparrow!

I think many people just "over think" it.

I just do what feels good that day. I mix it up. I do it all. It's heavy weights, it's circuits, it's running, it's AWT.... all of it works together.
 
I entirely agree with Sparrow - there's no one right solution. Even for individuals, there's no one method that works all of the time. For instance, when I'm under high stress and travelling (meaning not getting much rest), the "right rotation" is not at all the same as when I'm happily working in a low stress situation at home. And, the "right rotation" for fat loss is not the same rotation for me as improving my cardiovascular system; and the order of the individual rotations (not just individual workouts) also makes a big difference. All of those factors combine.

What works for me is to set overarching goals for the year, minigoals for a rotation, and then tailor my daily workouts to my environment and how I am feeling, and how my body is responding, to the rotation. In other words, the rotation is an approach to a minigoal, which I'll modify based on how how my lifestyle and other factors affecting me, and how I'm feeling during a rotation.
And, if I pick a workout that isn't "perfect"? There's always tomorrow. Keeping things fun and safe, and making regular progress, is enough for me.


What's neat is that there *are* so many options to choose from! Learning how each of them affects my body has helped me tremendously in getting, and staying, fit.
 
i think all the confusion is what has led me to not be able to stick to a rotation. I start one and then a week later i read something else and i switch to that one and it just keeps going. in my head what i want my body to look like is so clear but for some reason i get so mixed up on how to get the results. it makes me not want to workout at all but i know thats not the answer. it would be so much easier if everyone responded the same to workouts.
 
I lost my pregnancy weight 4 years ago by doing 5-6 days of cardio per week and lifting moderate weight.

2 years ago I lifted heavy and did only 3 days of cardio (P90X) and got amazing results from it. No weight loss to speak of except for maybe a pound but in pics it looks like I lost 10!

I recently ended a many month struggle with trying to lose some weight I had put on last summer. After trying everything I finally lost the weight with Slim Series and now Insanity so endurance lifting a lot of cardio.

When I am done with Insanity I plan to do another round of the X and I have no idea what kind of results I will get.

As you can see all different kinds of work outs have made the difference for me at different times. You just have to try different things...and stick with it long enough to see if it makes a difference! ;) If you don't see any changes (or the kind of change that you want) after a few weeks then try something else. I know how frustrating it can be, trust me! :confused::rolleyes:
 
This is my experience...to lose fat, eat less; for your health and to build muscle, exercise.

I lost 10 pounds a few months ago by eating less and running. But I have been so busy the past month that I haven't exercised, fitting it is was one more stress. But guess what, I still have kept the weight off.

I got used to smaller portions, so I don't even really think about it anymore. For instance, I'll have half a bagel for breakfast, not a full one. The full ones are 400 calories, not counting cream cheese!! So, half is a real serving nowadays.
 
Well, I'm new here but I just happened upon this thread and I just wanted to add something from personal experience. I've been faithful to my fitness since 1982, at 19 years old, was active in sports through school years too. Something I have to consider when setting my goals is the damage I've done to my system from climbing up and down the scale over many years. From working with professionals in the nutrition and sports physiology fields, I've learned that my body doesn't respond the way it did before I started experimenting with fad diets and whatnot. So now I just cross-train with things I enjoy, at times pushing to the top limits of my ability and others, just going with a more steady workload. Variety is key for me, and being realistic about what I can achieve, then seeing what works at that time. Have a great day!!
 
kariev said:
i think all the confusion is what has led me to not be able to stick to a rotation. I start one and then a week later i read something else and i switch to that one and it just keeps going. in my head what i want my body to look like is so clear but for some reason i get so mixed up on how to get the results. it makes me not want to workout at all but i know thats not the answer. it would be so much easier if everyone responded the same to workouts.
Click to expand...


That is exactly how I feel!!! I'll get as far as 3 weeks in and something will happen. I'm excited to get the 2 circuit workouts I just ordered though. Maybe I'll try something just doing circuits. I tried running but could not get into even though I wanted to very badly. I don't have a treadmil or anything I could really use to do proper interval training and I don't want to run prints in the backyard and look like na idiot :p
 
L Sass said:
I think the first question is ... what's your goal?

I have posted before and thoroughly believed that for me to lose weight (and I was always looking to lose 15 or so pounds) it was ALL about the food. The reason was that I exercise frequently at a Cathe intensity, so if I am always going to be an exerciser, it all came down to food. So I firmly believed that FOR ME, weight loss was 100% food given that I see my exercise as always being there.

I have changed my mind, and am back to the camp that says for me, weight loss - or body reshaping - is 80% food and 20% exercise and the way I exercise. Of course this revelation has come ofter 9 months of working with a gal who is IMO, the best personal trainer on the planet. Yes, I am lucky for sure. But using VERY heavy weights, and a lot of cardio, with very smart eating, I have totally reshaped my body. Even though the weight is a little higher that I actually wanted, I can now fit into smaller sizes than I have ever been able to before. But this kind of training with someone who is adamant on proper form, proper shoes, proper timing of meals, etc has allowed me to no longer be confused. I have tried it all, and I am very lucky to have learned what I have. Good luck in your quests.
Click to expand...

What does she (your trainer) say about meal timing? I always eat some carbohydrate after a cardio workout but is there more to it than that? (tia if you get around to answering this)
 
kariev said:
i think all the confusion is what has led me to not be able to stick to a rotation. I start one and then a week later i read something else and i switch to that one and it just keeps going. in my head what i want my body to look like is so clear but for some reason i get so mixed up on how to get the results. it makes me not want to workout at all but i know thats not the answer. it would be so much easier if everyone responded the same to workouts.
Click to expand...

So true, kariev!! I get so excited starting a rotation and then I see someone raving about their results doing something else and I get itchy to try that something else LOL.

In the last few weeks, I've started to FINALLY make progress in losing the marathon training weight I gained last year (2 pounds isn't much, but sadly, it's the most I've lost in over a year, plus I've also lost a total 2 inches, so it's definitely not just water weight I'm losing). Coincidentally (or not?), it's also when I switched from lifting fairly heavy--8 weeks of CLX, followed by 4 weeks of STS--to more moderate weight, circuit-style total body training with Red Carpet Ready. So you would think that with these results, I'd want to keep going with this type of workout and move on to Valerie Waters' next series, I Want My Bikini Body (boy do I hate the names she gives these workouts! Makes them sound so flighty), right? But once again, as I start a new program, I start thinking about what other ones I could be doing and whether those would be more effective. Every time I see someone here talk about the fantastic results they got from heavy weights, I think I should go back to CLX again; every time I read about kettlebells, I want to do kettlebells and nothing but; so on and so on.

I think for now, I am going to stick with IWMBB and see if I can continue the momentum from RCR. I'm still finishing up my marathon training, so I'll have plenty of cardio, and I'm really trying hard to eat more cleanly than I have been so I can accelerate the fat loss. I figure I'll give myself the 6 weeks the program calls for, and by then I can decide whether I need to switch it up or not. I would just hate to "waste" 6 weeks if I could have gotten better results doing something else, but I won't know unless I try!
 
Do what you enjoy - you are much more likely to stick with it. I personally enjoy yoga and walking my doggies! Both bring me a lot of pleasure and I look forward to doing it. I stopped lifting weights and doing traditional cardio workouts about 10 months ago and I feel happier. I am still strong -- tested myself the other day to see if I can still do push-ups. I am still able to do 25 push-ups straight through on my toes, which I attribute to all the yoga practice. I am not trying to push yoga on you though, just encouraging you to do what makes you happy! Life is too short.
 
moni_stout: I've often thought about doing a yoga and cardio-only rotation... How often do you do yoga in a week and for how long each session? Do you take classes or use any particular DVD's?
 
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