Aerobic Vs Interval and more!

Q

queen_sheba

0
Okay - could really use some professional advice as I am getting confilcting information just about everywhere i look....

Here's my dilema....:(

I was weighing about 224 lbs and although not hideously overweight and swathed in fat (more fleshy and chunky/stocky, each breast weighs about 9lbs! - think bottocelli) I want to drop as much body fat as humanely possible and ideally - shock..horror....trim down some of the chunkier areas of muscle - particularly shoulders, calves...well most of it actually.

I'm bordering onthe wrong side of a dress size 18 (UK) at the moment and would like to be a UK 12/14 - bearing in mind boobs are pretty large and I am a wonderful apple shape! (bah!) i reckon my bones are very solid and heavy too...someone said if you wrap your thumb to middle finger round and they don't meet you are big boned? (not an excuse of course!;) )

BMR is 1800cals(yes i was shocked too but i have verified it on 17 different BMR calculators)...and currently I am aiming to eat 1500 per day...so that's a deficit of 300 right?

I've also been swimming for 60mins three times a week...(again, conflicting info as to how many calories this burns, one website said over 1000!(based on weight) and yet - no discernable difference!!

Maybe slightly looser trousers, but I want to be dropping a dress size every couple of months - i want to go windsurfing in sept and size 14 would be perfect.

So how come, with this calorie deficit on the BMR and all the swimming that nothing is happening? Should I take up running instead? or cycling? to drop the fat as fast as possible and a wee bit of the muscle too?:confused:

or some people have mentioned interval training - can this be done at home with my elliptical and 2kg dumbells?

Any advice, ideally with evidence would be great - I'd rather not pay a fortune to join a gym but I do have free access to the following;
swimming pool
very small gym
elliptical
swiss ball
body attack,
Spinning
pilates
yoga
step

Cheers - thanks for any help! :p
 
Try to help

Sheba, if you mean HIIT then yes you can do interval training on a elliptical at home. HIIT basically means varying your speeds at which you are aerobically training. For example, you would warm up on your elliptical for a few minutes ( get your body temp up slightly), then you would increase the speed for approx. 30-90 seconds, then maybe go back down in speed for about 30-60 seconds, then you can raise the speed again where you would be going pretty much as fast as you can for approx 30-90 seconds, then back down again. The times I mentioned vary with the individual. HIIT is a good way to lose wieght. If you are a beginner, I don't even think you should be using HIIT, it is an advanced type of workout, IMO. Damn I can only do it for about 15 minutes ( I know, what a wimp lol ). You have a lot of free options there that you should explore, see which ones you like. All those options you listed can be benificial. I would include weight training also in your program. Post how many days you would like to train, and maybe we can give you an idea of what type of program you can use. Also don't forget, clean diet and lots of water. Hope that helps a bit. I'm sure others will have their ideas also. Best of luck to ya. :eek:
 
WOW! What an excellent post above! Looks like we have another "good one" on the boards! Woohoo :)

Queen_Sheba... a couple of things and I may repeat from what the above post says...

I love your attitude. It's so important to have a healthy attitude and you got it! Good for you. I would definitely start strength training. I would also workout 5-6 days a week. Skip HIIT training right now. You are no where near that level of fitness yet.

However, interval training is different than HIIT (high intensity interval training). HIIT should not be done for more than 15-20 minutes. And if you can do it longer than that then you are not doing HIIT :) HIIT is done at a 2:1 ration of active recovery:going all out. For example:

2 minutes jogging:1 minute sprinting
2 minutes fast walking:1 minute going all out on the elliptical

Regular old interval training is less intense and a more suitable choice for you. Interval training is simply jogging for a few minutes and then running for a few minutes. Not necessarily sprinting or going all out though. It just means that if you do interval training for 30 minutes... some of the time you will be walking, some of the time you will be jogging and some of the time you will be running.

With all that said... here are 5 tips to fat loss. I want you to check out my website () for more information. It has exercise pics, descriptions and other things to get you going.

1) Eat 5-6 small meals throughout the day. Each meal should be 2-3 hours apart. Each meal should contain one protein and one carb. The first meal should be eaten within an hour after waking.


2) Drink lots of water :)


3) Rest properly. This means taking at least 24-48 hours between strength training the same muscles, and it also means getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Lastly, it means taking 1-2 days off from exercising per week.


4) Cardio. This should be done at different intensity levels and different session lengths. Consider doing a low intensity/long session, a high intensity/short session and a few medium intensity/medium length sessions.


5) Strength Training. Strength train each muscle 1-3 times per week. You should lift a proper weight and perform the proper amount of sets/reps for your strength training method.


All of the above things combined will result in fat loss. Good luck to you. Just start strength training! :)
 
Trainer Lynn said:
WOW! What an excellent post above! Looks like we have another "good one" on the boards! Woohoo :)

Queen_Sheba... a couple of things and I may repeat from what the above post says...

I love your attitude. It's so important to have a healthy attitude and you got it! Good for you. I would definitely start strength training. I would also workout 5-6 days a week. Skip HIIT training right now. You are no where near that level of fitness yet.

However, interval training is different than HIIT (high intensity interval training). HIIT should not be done for more than 15-20 minutes. And if you can do it longer than that then you are not doing HIIT :) HIIT is done at a 2:1 ration of active recovery:going all out. For example:

2 minutes jogging:1 minute sprinting
2 minutes fast walking:1 minute going all out on the elliptical

Regular old interval training is less intense and a more suitable choice for you. Interval training is simply jogging for a few minutes and then running for a few minutes. Not necessarily sprinting or going all out though. It just means that if you do interval training for 30 minutes... some of the time you will be walking, some of the time you will be jogging and some of the time you will be running.

With all that said... here are 5 tips to fat loss. I want you to check out my website () for more information. It has exercise pics, descriptions and other things to get you going.

1) Eat 5-6 small meals throughout the day. Each meal should be 2-3 hours apart. Each meal should contain one protein and one carb. The first meal should be eaten within an hour after waking.


2) Drink lots of water :)


3) Rest properly. This means taking at least 24-48 hours between strength training the same muscles, and it also means getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Lastly, it means taking 1-2 days off from exercising per week.


4) Cardio. This should be done at different intensity levels and different session lengths. Consider doing a low intensity/long session, a high intensity/short session and a few medium intensity/medium length sessions.


5) Strength Training. Strength train each muscle 1-3 times per week. You should lift a proper weight and perform the proper amount of sets/reps for your strength training method.


All of the above things combined will result in fat loss. Good luck to you. Just start strength training! :)
Click to expand...


Thank you for the kind words and for adding to my post, Lynn. I appreciate it. We are all here to help others when we can. And as for you Sheba, as Lynn said, keep up your great attitude and keep us posted on your progress or post more questions if you are still confused.
 
ooo great! and thanks for the quick response.

I swim Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays - which I actually enjoy so i'd like to maintain.
Mondays, Wed, Friday and Saturday are free for training. I have a swiss ball, an ab rocker, 2x1kg dumbells and 2x2kg dumbells.(if that's any help)

I also do pilates at lunchtime on a monday if that will make a difference to the plan? Love this, it really gets to the muscle pretty quickly!

My diet is pretty cool actually, bran and muesli at breakfast, tuna, brown rice, salmon, chicken, houmous, bags of fruit, good veggies and loadsa toms, apples, berries, chick peas etc...yum - getting hungry just thinking about it!

sleeping is an interesting point - I have narcolepsy which can tire me out at work during the day - but not on general health.

So how long on the elliptical? Let's say we start with that for the next month and build up fitness so I can look at interval training outdoors - eg running - when the nights get a bit lighter (and me too hopefully!)

Anything else I can do to improve fitness to a level where I can begin HIIT.

Lots and lots of love!
 
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