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Old 09-21-2007, 09:10 AM
EricT EricT is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2005
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On the low intensity cardio question, anything that you can maintain for 60 to 80 minutes is, by definition, low intensity. Basically the shorter the time you can keep it up the higher the intensity.

1. I think that you should change your resistance work to things that utilize your own bodyweight, since you workout at home. If you can do lunges, bodyweight squats, pullups, pushups and basically things that are COMPOUND movements (look in definitions training section) which are movements that utilize MORE than ONE joint, they will be 100% more productive for you.

Those types of things should form the core of your restistance training and you would be better off to do something that is fullbody maybe starting with twice a week. That means you would do something like squats or lunges, deadlifts, pushups, and pullups...just things along those lines...every day you do your weight work. That doesn't mean you can't add a little bit of the other stuff you've been doing just that that should be the main focus of your work. This will be higher intensity and so will have a greater impact on your post exercise fat burning.

A set of simple adjustable dumbells and a pullup bar can do wonders. But I like the idea of using other things that are heavy too .

Read through this thread: http://www.bodybuilding.net/womens-f...html#post39816 to get some ideas of a good basic setup. Read through to the end for the cardio adjustments. You don't have to do the five rep scheme like in that thread. You could do 8 reps or whatever just look at it in terms of a good basic setup that is really all you need right now.

2. Yes, you should lessen the number of days you do cardio. I think you started out with too much. Better to start with a little and add to it as you body becomes better able to cope with the workload. Starting with too much can actually be detrimental to fat loss because your body basically goes in to a kind of starvation mode, expecially if your caloric intake has been lowered. Basically you are telling your body that the shit has hit the fan (pardon my english ) so it will want to maintain energy reserves (fat) in order to survive that.

This is all very general I know but maybe you should try two days of resistance and two days of cardio. You can do some HIIT and some steady state (low intensity longer duration) for now.

3. See 1.

4. It is best to go for a FAT loss of 1 to 2 pounds per week. You may start off dropping it a little faster but if your primary goal is fat-loss then 1 to 2 pounds, slow and steady, is the preferred way to go. That will garner the best long-term results. That means you should start seeing those kind of results right away but it could take several weeks before you start really noticing favorable changes in body composition.

Diet is not my strong suit, especially for fat-loss so I won't go there. Hope some of this helps gives you some things to consider and maybe some more specific questions. I know this isn't everything...just a start.

Quote:
Another thing, since I changed my cardio schedule, I have been having a hard time breathing even hours after the workout. I’ve also been feeling kind of weak. Does that have anything to do with the exercises that I’ve been doing?
Could be a symptom of doing too much too fast. It wouldn't be a bad idea to get a checkup. You shouldn't really have breathlessness more than around 10 minutes and anything over 20 I'd start to think you were doing too much. It's probobly too much in general although it can be caused by doing too much in a session. Are you having any other problems like dizziness or lightheadedness? Cramps in your legs? Those are other signs. If you get a racing heartbeat that persists later on that is a sure sign that you need to cut back and build up more slowly.

But again, if you haven't had a checkup lately I'd encourage you to get one.
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If you act sanctimonious I will just list out your logical fallacies until you get pissed off and spew blasphemous remarks.

Last edited by EricT; 09-21-2007 at 11:25 AM. Reason: typos
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