Monday, September 6, 2010

Working out at week 15.

A few people have asked me how I work out getting a neg calorie balance.

Now before I go further I must make it clear that while burning 1000+ calories at the gym/exercise.  If you do it daily from my experience three things can happen and they have happened to me.

1:  Over training of muscles and end up with injuries or sickness due to weakening your immune system.
2: Putting your body into starvation mode no weight loss
3: Big weight loss or number 2.

So you really need to work out how much is OK with you without hurting yourself.  The day before I torn my calf muscle I was having a D & M with my Personal Trainer and he voiced his concerns to me about my cardio training and burning 1000+ in a gym session.   I was chatting with him about how I was expecting huge weight loss from training like this.  Don't get me wrong I am happy with 1kgs + a week.  I just thought exercising like this, like how the contestants do on Biggest Loser I would be losing like 8kgs a week.

The bottom line is I wasn't eating enough to keep my metabolising running.  It was simply out of fuel.  Sure my body is getting leaner but that is no good when I end up hurting myself or getting yet another cold.  I hope this all makes sense and your welcome to contact me with any questions.

So My goal is to train really hard say every 3rd day (as per my trainers advise) Now knowing me and how I love to keep pushing myself it will probably be every 2nd day.  YOU MUST GIVE YOUR BODY A GOOD 24/36HRS OF REST FOR IT TO RECOVER AFTER HUGE CALORIE BURNING SESSIONS.  You can still exercise the next day but just not as hard.  

For example for me I warm up for 5-10mins treadmill after this time I then start increasing the incline every 2mins and up the level by 2 degrees.  This is called interval training and it gets your heart beat going.  I walk at a fast pace but as the incline goes up and actually slow my walking speed down.  By doing this it makes your heart (cardio) work harder therefore burning more calories quicker in less time.  I never hold onto the sides of the treadmill and I keep going until I know I need a break (usually after the little voice in my heads says "Felicity drop it back this is getting too hard") I never give in the first time my brain starts being giving me naughty thoughts.

I then drop the incline back down and up the walking speed for a few minutes and then I go thought the whole process again a few times.  Its an amazing quick way to get your heart rate up to that of someone who is jogging without the stress to your body.  Its a great calorie burn as well much quicker than just plodding along on the tread mil like your out for a Sunday walk.    While walking is great if its not at a higher heart rate level you are not going to burn calories.  Especially if your looking to lose weight at a reasonable pace.

*I am not trained in fitness (although its is something I would like to do) or diet*  This is just what has been working for me so far with the help of my Personal trainers and stuff that read.

OK after treadmill I then hit the bike and keep my heart rate up.  Bike is fantastic for this I just don't have to really really work as hard to keep my heart rate up.  Bike is usually around another 20mins and I generally just push myself to keep my heart rate at a level that I know is burning calories for me its 145-155beats.  Sometimes I will ride at nice pace and then I will increase the intensity on the bike and ride flat out for 1 mins have a rest for 30sec and repeat for about 5mins or until my brain starts to wonder off.


***PLEASE REMEMBER- I have been working out now for 15 weeks*** Please don't go out and try this in your first few weeks of training.  You will lower your immune system and get sick.   Just read my earlier posts to see.


Then I will hit the Cross trainer ( I used to hate this machine) but with right head space its the one I love the most now.  Its a cross between a stepper, boxing type movement and snow skiing.   I will do this for at least 45mins.   If I do a full on cardio workout at the gym it is around 1hr & 15mins and I can hit about 1000 calories.

If I spend more time on the bike and Cross trainer & less on the treadmill I will achieve 1000calories a lot quicker, therefore less time spent at the gym.  Please please please remember my fitness is at a different rate now.  While I am still overweight the skinny chick inside is a lot fitter and slowly getting out of this fat suit.

Where I was going wrong was Doing my weights workout after warming up and only burning a few hundred calories.  I would feel disheartened so I would then go and do cardio for another hour to achieve 1000calories.    At the moment, while I feel great doing it.  I just don't think truthfully I need to push myself so far, as I have not been seeing any results other than getting really firm and seeing more muscles.  It does feel nice to feel and see muscle - I am not seeing a loss on the scales.

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