Two weeks in...

[sararara]

Just a quick update

I weighed myself yesterday, and then again today on the gym scales since the ones at home seemed to be a bit unreliable. This week, I've lost around three or four pounds - pretty chuffed with that. That means in two weeks I've shed around five pounds (ish).

I ventured to the gym this afternoon for about an hour and a half this time, totalling five miles on the bike, 2700m rowing, some work on the resistance machines, a couple of very very brief exercises on the mats and a ten minute brisk walk on the treadmill to conclude.

Now for week three...

Sara

[RMB398]

Hi Sara

well done. That's great news and good going at the gym.

All the best for week 3.

Ruth

[sararara in reply to RMB398]

Thanks

[Jsports]

Brilliant well done 2lbs a week sounds like your losing fat with those numbers. I don't know if you did it in that order but try and do your resistance first then do your cardio.

Great job

[sararara in reply to Jsports]

Thanks, and I hope so - that's the aim ah, I've been doing it the other way around! Why is it better to do resistance work first? Today and the last time I've been, I started with a 20 min cycle followed by 20 mins on the rowing machine, before going on the other machines. The other day I then did another 20 mins on the bike but today I opted for the treadmill at a fast walk.

[Jsports in reply to sararara]

Because cardio causes you to be fatigued meaning instead of lifting heavier weights which increase muscle mass than increase metabolism your now lifting lighter weights and seeing a lot less gain for the time you put in....don't get me wrong your not going to explode because you lifted a weight but you will tone up much better with the above. Also being fatigued before weights is a nono causing you to reduce your form resulting in injury, poor posture and not hitting the target muscles properly in those exercises. Your main source of energy for lifting weights is ATP which is why you see guys resting for around one minute between sets...if you have just floored all your energy stores in cardio your going to struggle a lot more

Compare your workout to mine I went on eliptical trainer for 10 minutes, did an all over body routine then finished on with 30 minutes cardio....if you want some advice....

Give up the bike your not getting much benefit from it, your rowing is fantastic as it's multiple muscle groups working together whereas bike is literally just your legs. So do 10 mins eliptical or treadmill for warm up, do your resistance, then do your 20-30 minute row and you should see quit a big difference. O and when you do resistance think BIG muscle groups first...for instance, you do chest press/bench press then go onto to do shoulders biceps triceps.....not kill your arms then go and see if you can bench haha when you hit your legs try and keep upping the weight each week...legs and back muscles are the biggest muscles you have...increase their muscle mass and then pound for pound it's the best way to increase your metabolism than any other muscle group. This is one reason why people on treadmills will never compete with fat loss compared to weights.

Hope this helped good luck in your next sessions

O and p.s. Your most efficient fat burning is around 50-60% of your max heart rate...75+ are for athletes trying to get fit and are just burning carbs with very little fat as you cannot burn both energy systems together without diminishing returns.

[sararara in reply to Jsports]

Ah that's really interesting, thanks I'll try your suggestion about the treadmill to resistance to rowing the next time I go.

So far I haven't really been exhausting myself on the bike/rowing - my heart rate's elevated a bit and I've got a little tired, but mostly have tried to go for something more gentle than a complete full-on, exhausting, sweaty cycle/row, and do it for longer instead.

Haha actually, I've just googled chest and bench press machines (I'm definitely a novice) and there isn't a chest press one at my gym (though there are some similar sort of ones, one to work on the back muscles) and I haven't even attempted the bench press - I'm a little scared to and have no idea what I'm doing!

How long would you recommend working on each resistance machine?

Also, (sorry for all the questions!) my main goal at the moment is to lose weight rather than to become a lot more muscly... My thighs are quite muscly already but there is a fair amount of fat around the upper inside. Sometimes at home I put a pillow or something between my thighs to use as resistance and try to squeeze my thighs together and rest, multiple times. Is there anything else I can do (or should avoid - cycling again?) to work on that area? My stomach is the worst area for fat but I don't know of any machines that are particularly good for that. I've been swimming a couple of times a week to try to combat that area and I try to do some exercises on the mats, but my motivation is low! I enjoy working on any other area of my body more than my stomach!

Thanks for all the advice and sorry for all the questions and such a long reply!

Sara