I keep hearing that running is bad for you but I find I can work up a huge sweat and heart rate as well as burn way more calories on the tread mil then just walking, plus I have limited time. I am trying to watch what I eat as I am starting to feel the effects of being a bit to heavy, I am about 250 lbs and should be about 215, I used to be a power lifter but then had to get a real job after I graduated form college. I am kind of scared to go to the doctors and just want to loose the weight on my own and feel better. I have a gym quality tread mill and a set of power blocks and a bench, I run about a mile a week and lift about once a week which is not cutting it. I have an office job where I sit all day and I love my work but I feel like its killing me and one of these days im going to drop dead of a heart attack. I like the running because I can hop on do a little warm up walk and go like hell for a mile and its over with rather than a drag out an hour walk because then I dread doing it.
best bang for limited time
- Thread starter ironman
- Start date
Running is not bad for you, but excercise that is intensive can raise your blood pressure and so if your heavier then is deemed healthy, its very important to get your doctor check you out to see if your able to take on intensive stuff. Also, high impact stuff when your overweight can put additional pressure on your joints and can cause injury. Be informed about what is going on in your body, its the best tool you have.
I'd say though- when you do get yourself into fighting shape that HIIT (High Intensity Insterval Training) seems to be the best 'bang for your buck', your workout intensivly for around 30 seconds, possibly 1 min at most- so intense you cannot go any harder. Your heart will begin to sky rocket and just as you hit the30 or 60 second mark, bring it all back down to a moderate though not easy level for about 60 seconds. Your heart rate will initially continue to climb and then drop to a moderate level, then repeat as desired. You do this for about 20-40 mins in total, its supposed to be very draining and if you can manage more, your probably not pushing yourself enough.
I do interval training, its a step down from this I think. I do try to put in as much ooomph as I can but I find I can carry on with a normal cardio workout afterwards and again the next day. I do interval training for 20 mins (just like HIIT above but not as intensive in the intense minutes) then move onto something like running or cycling, then go back and do another 20 mins.
If your looking to go back into aiding your weight loss without the impact, make sure you check your posture, it can feel infuriating not being able to work out as fast as you want to be if your not ready, especially if you've had experience of being able to do more. This can mean your head is pushing yo to work harder whilst your body is lagging behind, the first thing that you lose when in this battle is your posture. You lose your posture your at risk of injury and can miss out on much of the benefits of the exercise your doing. There is a right and wrong posture for each exercise, generally speaking, slouching is out, holding in your stomach is good, leaning on your elbows is out, head upright is good.
Try non impact exercises like cycling, the elliptical machine, the stair master, the arm cycle machine and weights. Lower your weight to a safer level and then try adding in running. Build yourself up to interval training or HIIT training after a few months, don't go into it cold.
I'd say though- when you do get yourself into fighting shape that HIIT (High Intensity Insterval Training) seems to be the best 'bang for your buck', your workout intensivly for around 30 seconds, possibly 1 min at most- so intense you cannot go any harder. Your heart will begin to sky rocket and just as you hit the30 or 60 second mark, bring it all back down to a moderate though not easy level for about 60 seconds. Your heart rate will initially continue to climb and then drop to a moderate level, then repeat as desired. You do this for about 20-40 mins in total, its supposed to be very draining and if you can manage more, your probably not pushing yourself enough.
I do interval training, its a step down from this I think. I do try to put in as much ooomph as I can but I find I can carry on with a normal cardio workout afterwards and again the next day. I do interval training for 20 mins (just like HIIT above but not as intensive in the intense minutes) then move onto something like running or cycling, then go back and do another 20 mins.
If your looking to go back into aiding your weight loss without the impact, make sure you check your posture, it can feel infuriating not being able to work out as fast as you want to be if your not ready, especially if you've had experience of being able to do more. This can mean your head is pushing yo to work harder whilst your body is lagging behind, the first thing that you lose when in this battle is your posture. You lose your posture your at risk of injury and can miss out on much of the benefits of the exercise your doing. There is a right and wrong posture for each exercise, generally speaking, slouching is out, holding in your stomach is good, leaning on your elbows is out, head upright is good.
Try non impact exercises like cycling, the elliptical machine, the stair master, the arm cycle machine and weights. Lower your weight to a safer level and then try adding in running. Build yourself up to interval training or HIIT training after a few months, don't go into it cold.
Ask yourself honestly if you can't make time to become more fit and healthy.
Nobody's asking you to devote more time to your lawn or car maintenance, but to your actual lifespan.
Kinda off topic: I think one of the reasons I find it so easy to hit the gym for an hour or more, 7 days a week, is that I dislike watching sports. I don't even watch the super bowl. Not having to 'catch the game' (and not having children) gives me loads of spare time, especially on weekends. Many weekends my wife and I will walk the dogs for 2-3 miles at 7am, a good 4mph pace, then go workout (weights or cardio), and then in late afternoon we do another 3-4 miles with the dogs. Weekdays I rise at 6am and solo walk the dogs 2-3 miles and my wife does the same after she gets off work at 3:30pm, and we hit the gym at night for weights or cardio.
Maybe I'm just really good at budgeting my own time and have circumstances that allow us to be fairly selfish with our free time...but I find ways to give myself that time even on the one night a week I do watch House M.D.
Nobody's asking you to devote more time to your lawn or car maintenance, but to your actual lifespan.
Kinda off topic: I think one of the reasons I find it so easy to hit the gym for an hour or more, 7 days a week, is that I dislike watching sports. I don't even watch the super bowl. Not having to 'catch the game' (and not having children) gives me loads of spare time, especially on weekends. Many weekends my wife and I will walk the dogs for 2-3 miles at 7am, a good 4mph pace, then go workout (weights or cardio), and then in late afternoon we do another 3-4 miles with the dogs. Weekdays I rise at 6am and solo walk the dogs 2-3 miles and my wife does the same after she gets off work at 3:30pm, and we hit the gym at night for weights or cardio.
Maybe I'm just really good at budgeting my own time and have circumstances that allow us to be fairly selfish with our free time...but I find ways to give myself that time even on the one night a week I do watch House M.D.
No question about it, ALL the research shows HIIT is the way to go for time efficient calorie burning. Has the added benefit of building some metabolism enhancing muscle.
Full body, high intensity, fast paced weight training is probably equally effective and will build even more muscle to boost your resting metabolism.
I always recommend a combination of the two above methods.
Full body, high intensity, fast paced weight training is probably equally effective and will build even more muscle to boost your resting metabolism.
I always recommend a combination of the two above methods.
The best return on investment I've ever gotten as far as biggest bang in the least amount of time is training with kettlebells. I can get a very solid workout in, in about 15 minutes with kettlebells