So I'm and 18 year old girl I'm 5ft6 and I weigh 230 now? I have PCOS (basically my body is resistant to insulin so I can't eat many carbs) and I just don't have the time/discipline to exercise for long periods of time. I'm really been trying to lose weight and get in shape, and a lot of people have recommended HIIT. I tried it out and I've been doing it for about a month (I know it's not too long but shouldn't i be feeling the miraculous effects already??) and I've actually gained weight. So far I've just been doing it at home, but if this doesn't work I'm debating whether or not it's time to throw in the towel and get a personal trainer. Money is tight but I need to get healthy!
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HIIT Training for PCOS weight loss?
- Thread starter MadalynB
- Start date
I was doing a body weight HIIT. Warm up, then 30 second of "mountain climber", 30 seconds of squats and 40 seconds to a minute of rest. Repeating that 3 to 4 times and then cool down. Sometimes I couldn't even make it through the full 30 seconds of the mountain climber, and I'm not sure what the right time ratio is. Everywhere I go either says rest for twice as long as you work or the exact opposite. My main problem is everything I read tells me to do something different.
^ Well, there are a lot of different ways to do this, so you'll get that.
To put your workout into context, you're doing roughly 4min total of training, excluding warm up and cool down. HIIT is good, and from what I understand it's the preferred method of training for someone with PCOS, but you aren't going to burn a lot of calories at that rate. Including warm up and cool down, you're probably not burning more than 100kcal/workout (and the intervals probably aren't burning more than 50kcal). That's better than nothing, but you're not going to see a lot of magic at that rate, either.
I'd like to see you doing a circuit with more exercises in it: squats, incline push ups (the higher the incline, the easier they are, so these are scalable to whatever level you're at), some form of row (you could use conventional equipment like dumbbells, kettlebells or resistance bands; if you have a sturdy railing you could do inverted body weight rows (like incline push ups, except pulling yourself up rather than pushing yourself up); or you could use less conventional equipment like sandbags or a backpack with books in it), step ups, incline plank (like an incline push up, but as a static hold -- good ab exercise), glute bridges, then go for a quick walk before the next round. 40 seconds for each exercise, then walk for 2 minutes (active recovery = less lactic acid and more calories being burnt, even if only marginally; drink water while you walk), then repeat. Start with 3 rounds, progress by adding more rounds over time and gradually making the exercises harder. Now instead of doing 4 minutes total, you're doing 4 minute per round, for 3+ rounds, so 12min or more intense exercise. Including 2min between rounds and 5min warming up/cooling down, that's coming up to half an hour of exercise, and you're looking at burning closer to 200-300kcal. That's looking a bit more optimistic as far as results go.
All that being said, the more improvements you can make on your diet, the better.
To put your workout into context, you're doing roughly 4min total of training, excluding warm up and cool down. HIIT is good, and from what I understand it's the preferred method of training for someone with PCOS, but you aren't going to burn a lot of calories at that rate. Including warm up and cool down, you're probably not burning more than 100kcal/workout (and the intervals probably aren't burning more than 50kcal). That's better than nothing, but you're not going to see a lot of magic at that rate, either.
I'd like to see you doing a circuit with more exercises in it: squats, incline push ups (the higher the incline, the easier they are, so these are scalable to whatever level you're at), some form of row (you could use conventional equipment like dumbbells, kettlebells or resistance bands; if you have a sturdy railing you could do inverted body weight rows (like incline push ups, except pulling yourself up rather than pushing yourself up); or you could use less conventional equipment like sandbags or a backpack with books in it), step ups, incline plank (like an incline push up, but as a static hold -- good ab exercise), glute bridges, then go for a quick walk before the next round. 40 seconds for each exercise, then walk for 2 minutes (active recovery = less lactic acid and more calories being burnt, even if only marginally; drink water while you walk), then repeat. Start with 3 rounds, progress by adding more rounds over time and gradually making the exercises harder. Now instead of doing 4 minutes total, you're doing 4 minute per round, for 3+ rounds, so 12min or more intense exercise. Including 2min between rounds and 5min warming up/cooling down, that's coming up to half an hour of exercise, and you're looking at burning closer to 200-300kcal. That's looking a bit more optimistic as far as results go.
All that being said, the more improvements you can make on your diet, the better.
All that being said, the more improvements you can make on your diet, the better.
^^^This.
I completely agree with what Ryan has posted. I see so many people say they are doing HIIT and so many comments about how great it is for fat burning, yet as Ryan pointed out, the actual time working (thus the actual calorie burn) is really low. You have to move and keep moving - 30 minutes is a good starting point. However, to drop any weight, you really must focus on diet.
Write down every bit of food/drink that goes in your mouth for a few days. Everything! And be brutally honest - you want to get healthy, you want to lose weight, given your age, you can certainly turn your health concerns around and the sooner you do, the better for your adult health. In order to do this, you must get a handle on what you are eating and how much you are eating, so don't 'forget' anything, particularly drinks other than water. And while it is hard, try not to modify what you are eating at first - that will likely come later, but you will learn more about why your weight is what it is by seeing what you eat now! You don't have to share it with anyone, but if you want help, feel free to put it here - it's your thread and there are people who are responding and inclined to help. I would suggest that the weighing/measuring/calorie counting should come later, first, just pay attention to when and what you eat, and maybe consider how you feel. Were you actually hungry? Just bored? Stressed? Happy?
Write down every bit of food/drink that goes in your mouth for a few days. Everything! And be brutally honest - you want to get healthy, you want to lose weight, given your age, you can certainly turn your health concerns around and the sooner you do, the better for your adult health. In order to do this, you must get a handle on what you are eating and how much you are eating, so don't 'forget' anything, particularly drinks other than water. And while it is hard, try not to modify what you are eating at first - that will likely come later, but you will learn more about why your weight is what it is by seeing what you eat now! You don't have to share it with anyone, but if you want help, feel free to put it here - it's your thread and there are people who are responding and inclined to help. I would suggest that the weighing/measuring/calorie counting should come later, first, just pay attention to when and what you eat, and maybe consider how you feel. Were you actually hungry? Just bored? Stressed? Happy?
^
I'd like to see you doing a circuit with more exercises in it ... then go for a quick walk before the next round. 40 seconds for each exercise, then walk for 2 minutes (active recovery = less lactic acid and more calories being burnt, even if only marginally; drink water while you walk), then repeat. Start with 3 rounds, progress by adding more rounds over time and gradually making the exercises harder. Now instead of doing 4 minutes total, you're doing 4 minute per round, for 3+ rounds, so 12min or more intense exercise. Including 2min between rounds and 5min warming up/cooling down, that's coming up to half an hour of exercise, and you're looking at burning closer to 200-300kcal. That's looking a bit more optimistic as far as results go.
so you're saying do 40 seconds of intense exercise then walk for two minutes? Or 3 different exercises for 40 seconds then walk around for two minutes, and repeat the set 3 - 5 times? Any recommendations for simple low impact exercises to get me started?
and re: all the stuff about diet, I am working very hard to improve that area. It's taking longer than I would like due to having PCOS (it's very hard to find a variety of food to eat that doesn't won't be bad for me) but I am working on it. I would rather take a while to build a good foundation and do it right (as this is the diet I will have for the rest of my life) then rush into a diet that I can't sustain for more than a few weeks
and re: all the stuff about diet, I am working very hard to improve that area. It's taking longer than I would like due to having PCOS (it's very hard to find a variety of food to eat that doesn't won't be bad for me) but I am working on it. I would rather take a while to build a good foundation and do it right (as this is the diet I will have for the rest of my life) then rush into a diet that I can't sustain for more than a few weeks
Issues with insulin be they PCOS or Diabetes etc. are all improved if you can take in a slow steady diet. What you eat is important but when you eat it is more so. Classic western diet is 3 square meals a day, I have no idea why this is and have not eaten this way most of my adult life. I am what is fashionably known as a browser, but was doing so before the term became fashionable. I used to say I have 1 meal a day and I pretty much do, just taking breaks to train and sleep.
The benefit to this is that you will never flood your body with blood glucose unless you eat sugary foods. The main bulk of your diet should be complex carbs as with any other human animal, but by taking this in slowly throughout the day you will not overstress your insulin system. If you are in any doubt about this seek medical advice, and if you want some guidance on what to eat come back with what you eat now, I never advise drastic changes to current diet especially with medical conditions.
If you are worried about being able to, work or school will have to allow it under disability discrimination law, so it's over to you.
so you're saying do 40 seconds of intense exercise then walk for two minutes? Or 3 different exercises for 40 seconds then walk around for two minutes, and repeat the set 3 - 5 times? Any recommendations for simple low impact exercises to get me started?
I recommended in there doing squats for 40sec, incline push ups for 40sec, rows for 40sec, step ups 40sec, plank 40sec, glute bridges 40sec, walk 2min, repeat 3-5 times. So that's 6x40sec exercises (4min total) followed by 2min walking (6min to fulfill the round of circuit+walk), repeated 3 times at first (18min), and building up to 4 times (24min) and finally 5 times (30min). That's excluding 5min warming up and 5min cooling down/stretching at the end.