Workout advice needed - a little long

T

tygra

Cathlete
I have been working out to Cathe since last Spring and lately pretty intense - made it through the Aug 05 Botocamp rotation and doing her Jan 07 one now, but finding it hard now to just do one of her workouts with no add ons and feel good about working out, so when she has Imax 2 listed only I do that and add jacks, walking lunges, etc.! I fear if I just do the one workout, it's no longer enought....help!!!

When I was doing my own rotations, I'd find myself working out 2 - 3 hours on the weekends -- doing a full cardio workout and legs one day and then upper body and cardio the next - sometimes all 3 GS's in a day.

What really is best to see results - toned, slimmed down -- more or less cardio? For a 6 day workout week - what would the best be? 3 days cardio (with one being HIIT), 1 circuit and two days full strength? Or 4 days cardio, one full strength and one circuit? Or when I do strength do I need to add cardio, too for 5 days cardio?

Your help is greatly appreciated!!
 
i have heard a lot of people say they did best when they had less cardio. Try that. I'm not therapist, but it seems like you have issues with working out...not thinking its enough to do just one of her tapes? You might want to see someone about that...it could be dangerous.
 
Tygra - I have just learned after doing P90X that I have lost a lot of my "baby" fat from doing more weight training and less cardio. I use to work out 2 hours at a time and have had no results. But after doing the X, I have learned that an hour or a little more is all I need. I am in the best shape ever and I can see more muscle definition. I now continue to do cardio only 2 times a week, yoga one day and the other 3 days weight training. Please don't try to kill yourself working out all of those hours. It really is not needed. Of course what you eat is very important too.

Good luck with trying to find your balance.

Lea
 
Thank you! It's just hard once you are used to something to feel less is okay. I will experiment with more weight training. Thanks again!
 
>i have heard a lot of people say they did best when they had
>less cardio. Try that. I'm not therapist, but it seems like
>you have issues with working out...not thinking its enough to
>do just one of her tapes? You might want to see someone about
>that...it could be dangerous.


I'm thinking along the same lines.

OP, why are you working out so much? At some point, your body might rebel or at least enter a period of overtraining!!
 
Okay, but in P90X, doesn't the lean rotation have you working out twice a day? His workouts are at least 50 minutes?
I have succumbed to the twice a day, two hours total workouts. I see no extra loss of bodyfat or muscle mass gains (my diet while not perfect, is pretty darn good)I am more of a meso/endo body type.
Soo....after reading your posts, I am going to try the Gym Style workouts, with 4 days of cardio (45-60 minutes)

I understand while we all kinda scratch our heads about this, we want to get the most out of all that hard work! But when your body starts getting super tired (mine has, I am always sore and sleepy) you know it is time to rethink. Even in Cathe's rotations, like for instance this month's, she has you doing only one workout per day right?
 
Hi there,

I am with you....I work out 2 hours everyday. But, I have to say I used to only do one hour and I look the exact same!!! I don't get it though....if you work out longer you burn more calories....so why wouldn't it work? Calories in....Calories out? Right??
 
> But after doing the X, I have learned that an hour
>or a little more is all I need. I am in the best shape ever
>and I can see more muscle definition. I now continue to do
>cardio only 2 times a week, yoga one day and the other 3 days
>weight training. Please don't try to kill yourself working out
>all of those hours. It really is not needed.

I agree.
And doing too much exercise, which is a form of stress, can be counterproductive to losing weight. Among other things, stress produces cortisol, which tells your body to hang on to weight.

It doesn't, however, sound to me like you're overdoing if you only do this on weekends, though what is too much for one person isn't for another.

We are creatures of habit, and once we get used to doing things one way (ie: your getting used to the longer workouts), doing something different seems odd or wrong.

I would recommend substituting some cardio-weight circuit workouts for the 'whole weight workout + whole cardio workout' days.

Wouldn't you like to work out more efficiently rather than spend so much time on it? You might have to 'wean yourself off' of the longer workouts, perhaps by alternating longer and shorter, and definitely telling yourself that it's okay not to workout 2-3 hours.

Try interval workouts 1-2 times a week (depending on how you react to them)on non-consecutive days are more efficient fat-burners than steady-state cardio.

You can add a bit of cardio by doing a short cardio workout as an extended warm-up to your weight workouts. That gets you in calorie-burn mode before you even heft a weight. For example, doing the 12-minute warm-up from Cardio Kicks, followed by PLB. Or doing the step-only segment from MIC before doing an upper body workout.

Get your intensity by changing workouts rather than by going longer. For example, go to a new workout, or a workout you haven't done for a long time, or try a new type of activity (if you only do step now, not a good idea, by the way, add kickboxing). With any of these, you body is less efficient because it's not used to the workout, and inefficiency means more calorie burn (though I'm sure it's not scads!).

Many trainers recommend not lifting weights for more than an hour at a time, as more that that is often unproductive (YMMV).
 
thanks again everyone for all the great suggestions!! I will definitely change things up - workout less most days and see what happens! You all are great and helpful!! I appreciate it!!!

After the Aug 05 Bootcamp rotation, one workout per day seems like nothing, even though I know it is not :) :)

Thanks again!!!!
 
>Hi there,
>
>I am with you....I work out 2 hours everyday. But, I have to
>say I used to only do one hour and I look the exact same!!! I
>don't get it though....if you work out longer you burn more
>calories....so why wouldn't it work? Calories in....Calories
>out? Right??


The body has an amazing ability to adapt if you continue to do the same thing. You have to keep the body guessing and that means that if you do a lot of intense workouts, you'll want to change it up and throw in some moderate intensities and light intensity workouts as well. Also, there is a threshold where you stop getting results and start leaning towards overtraining mode. 2 hours a day sounds like overtraining to me, especially if it's all high intensity.


Carolyn
 
I agree with Carolyn. It is really hard to trick your body, it's pretty smart. I really kicked up my cardio and weights and saw results for a few weeks and now nothing. Frustrating, but keep changing your routine and you should see results.

Nicole

Those who do not find time for exercise will have to find time for illness.
-Earl of Derby-

http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?uid=7738930
 
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