So confused...please help

M

minimee

New member
Hi guys

As the title says...

I am so confused with cardio/strength training and how to balance the two.

I have tried to read as much as I can on healthy ways to lose weight and maintaing etc.
I think like a lot of people, I always thought it was a matter of lots of cardio = weight loss.

I have since been educated on the importance of adding strength training and building muscle to help lose weight and fat (it was explained to me in more depth of course :)).
So I added squats, push ups, sit ups lunges etc but still do at least 30mins of cardio.

It may seem odd that i am asking all of this because I am losing weight, but I just don't know if I am doing enough of the right exercises.

Ive read about building the muscles, but I am still confused by it all.
I understand that I don't need to lift heavy weights in order to build muscle.
I just don't know how much of each I need to do.

I also read that mass amounts of cardio is not needed and I just want to know how much of each I need to be doing to get the most out of my workout and to get the best lasting results.

I guess my main worry is that I still may be doing to much cardio and not get the results I am working so hard for.

I have read the stickys also, I'm just still not sure what strength training and how much of it to do, and I am driving myself crazy trying to work it out.

I am losing weight (so far 38lbs in 2months) but am I losing fat? or muscle? who knows...

Please if somebody could just break it all down in simple terms so that I can incorporate it into my daily workouts and put my mind at ease about it once and for all.

So my main questions are how much strength training do I need to do?
How much cardio? What type of strength training do I need to be doing?

I really appreciate any input and I am sorry if my answer is in this forum already but I have spent weeks looking and I just wanted to get my answer.

If you need anymore info regarding my weight or workout please ask.

Thanks in advance
:D
 
Hi I probably can't give you the definitive answer you are looking for but I will answer what i can from what i know.

Firstly if you've lost 20kg/38 pounds in two months, you are making EXCELLENT progress and you are worrying for nothing about nothing.

Secondly, cardio is great exercise and depending on what form you are doing, it also builds muscle so keep doing it. Ie running, swimming, even walking - especially if its uphill or on a bit of an incline. Stick to the 30 minutes a session at the least. Don't do less or less frequent.

Be careful with situps. These can bugger up your pelvic floor and cause incontinence. You should do pelvic floor exercises to compensate. You can read up more about this on the web if you google about a bit. Lunges don't really build muscle as far as i am concerned. They are more a stretching exercise.

Yoga is really good regarding both stretching and strength exercises. And even also cardio. I love iyengar the best but unfortunately i can't afford to do any classes these days. Hatha is very gentle and ashtanga is very vigorous and you are not taught that well. There are also other forms but in iyengar yoga you get very good instruction on how to do the poses properly because the teachers have been so rigorously trained. I find the classes really interesting. They usually go for an hour and a half. Once you've learnt how to do the poses, you can start doing them at home on your own so really only one class a week is all you need to do. These types of exercise will be much more beneficial than the ones you've mentioned because they work all parts of the bodily. And it also feels beautiful for the mind. It has a variety of psychological benefits. For me yoga is not a spiritual practice at all. Its merely a good exercise practice with psychological benefits that are somewhat different from other types of exercise.

That's all i can think of.

Carry on you are doing great. :)

What you are losing depends to some extent on what you are eating. But its likely you are losing fat. I don't think you are doing enough exercise to lose muscle.
 
Hi minimee,
Have you joined some gym? Do ask from your instructor and you will get best reply.
You will get better advice on how to build muscles and cardio/strength training.
[link removed]
 
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Hey Minimee, congrats on the weight loss so far! When you say that you do at least 30 mins of cardio, how often do you do this and at what intensity (easy, moderate, vigorous)? If you're having success, the I would say, keep doing the cardio that you're currently doing. If you can add 20-30 mins of strength training 2-3 days per week, it will help you preserve muscle and maintain your metabolism. How many sets/reps do you do for the pushups, lunges, etc.?
 
Hey all,
Thanks for the replys.

In answer to the questions...

I'm not actually joined to a gym, I have simply been doing my own exercises at home.

I have a manual treadmill that I power walk (well I walk as fast as I possibly can, so I will call it power walking :)) then I run for a couple of minutes and then back to power walking.

I do 3 sets of 30 on each, so sit ups, leg lifts, squats etc (I can't name them all as I have mostly looked them up and followed videos so not sure of the correct names)

I work out everyday, first thing in the morning I do approx 30mins cardio which is usually either dancing or some high energy workout for 20mins) then I do 10mins on the treadmill.
Later in the day I do approx 30mins strength training(well my understanding of strength training, so its like sit ups, squats, lunges, push ups that type of thing) then if I feel like I can do more later in the day, I do another 20mins treadmill.

I know it may sound like alot, but I am just trying to be as active as possible and without a professional I havent really been able to base it on anything other than how much I can push myself to do each day.

Hopefully this is enough information to give you all an idea of what I have been doing or what changes I can make to improve.

Thanks again guys.

Minimee
 
Hey Minimee,

It sounds like you're off to a good start! There's really no 'magic formula' for how much time, what intensity, or what specific exercises you need to do to lose weight. The idea is to GET MOVING! Which is exactly what you've started to do. The more you can incorporate activity into your daily routine, the more successful you will likely be in the long term. Family walks, taking the stairs and not the elevator, parking farther away from the store, getting off the bus a stop or two early... these things all add up on top of the scheduled exercise that you're doing at home.... Basically, don't worry too much that you're not doing the 'perfect' exercise routine... just keep moving! If you need some ideas, look up videos on you tube on 'exercise at home' or 'exercise at work'... you'll find tons out there. If you like dance, look up learning dance videos or at home zumba.

For some basic strength exercises you can look here as well:
Free Exercises, Exercise Instructions, Custom Workout, Personalized Workout, Ab Exercises, Abdominal Exercises, Training Programs

Just try to do exercises for all of your body parts :)

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!
 
I also forgot to add this, here are some exercise videos that might help:
 
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