Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Wednesday Hump Day

Yesterday was my weigh in day & I lost half a pound. No earth shattering weight loss there, but at least I'm half a pound less than I was last week. It seems I'm averaging about a pound a week, not bad.

We had a physical trainer speak at our weight loss group. She gave some really good tips. One of the things that I got from her was to implement more weight training. Since I've been averaging about 4 days a week at the gym, my goal is to work out 6 days a week. The trainer recommended 3 days of weight training and 2 days of cardio exercise.

I thought it was interesting that she recommended that if you only had 3 to 4 hours a week to work out, she would rather a person do weight training than a cardio work out. Weight training is considered an "anaerobic exercise." When you do 30 minutes of anaerobic exercise, you are continuing to burn calories even after you finished a work out. With aerobic exercise (includes walking, jogging,) which is still great, you stop burning calories as soon as you finish working out. (To learn more about the benefits of anaerobic exercise , go here.)

I work out on the treadmill climber, which I love because it makes me sweat! I sprint uphill at a 7 incline for 3 minutes and do 3-4 sets of those with only 1-2 minute rest in between. After I sprint, I start walking for 20 minutes and increase the incline every 30 seconds. And with each incline the pace goes slower, but I still feel a great work out. By the end of the 20 minutes work out, I end at a 20 incline (equivalent to some of the steep hills in San Francisco)! I've been doing this work out for the past two weeks and each time I'm able to go farther and increase the incline, so my body never feels like it is getting used to the work out. I love being drenched with sweat afterwards!

Today I start implementing weight training into my workout. I look at how far I've come and I'm amazed! Last summer, I had a hard time walking the very slight, little tiny hills on our street. For me, those tiny hills might as well have been Mt. Everest! Since it's a busy week, it's so easy to not go to the gym, so I can spend more time to do the things that need to be done, but what I have noticed is that when I go to the gym, I find myself with more energy to do MORE things and it feels good!



Food for Thought: "Exercise: you don't have time not to."

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Congrats on the loss - every step down is a step in the right direction.
I totally agree on the weight training. I do 1/2 hour of weights and a 1/2 hour of cardio at the gym, 3 days a week.
I really like the weights - I feel so strong doing them!

~closed~ said...

LOVE IT! Love this post. You sound very dedicated. Weight training is something I need to incorporate as well. That's a goal for the coming week. AND, congrats on the 1/2 pounds loss!

Heather said...

Great job with your workouts! I need to become more dedicated to mine... I tend to find reasons to skip or cut them short. NOT GOOD for me!!

Wendy said...

sounds like you are finding your groove. congrats on the half pound loss! that is way better than a half pound gain like i did this week! You are doing an awesome job!
BTW, I love feeling all sweaty after my workout too!

kaseybobasey said...

Congrats on the weight loss! I am going to look up some stuff on anaerobic exercise because I am such a cardio hound! I need to break free and try something new! :) Thanks!

F. McButter Pants said...

I love to sweat when I walk myself. It makes me feel like I've really worked hard.

Thanks for info on weight lifting. Good luck, let us know how it goes for you.

Congrats on the slow and steady weight loss. It's the best kind!

Patty said...

That sounds like a great routine! Pretty intense with the treadmill climber. I bet that does make you sweat! Congrats on the steady weight loss!!

Oh, and love the food for thought! ;-)

Gigi said...

Look how far you've come! Good for you. That workout sounds so intense - I can only dream about stuff like that right now. Hope to be closing in on it soon tho. Keep up the good work.

Suzanne said...

That's good to know about weights. I've been doing them for 4 weeks and got on the scale today and hadn't lost a pound! I almost thought of going back to just running...but I'm glad I read your blog...I'll keep lifting. I know that, but when you don't see results you panic! I think a lb a week is AWESOME! I'm so proud of you for working out sooo hard! No one can take that away from you! KEEP IT UP!!

Anonymous said...

I agree - I mostly did cardio, but then did the Jillian 30 day shred - the month of April I only lost 5 pounds, but I lost 5 INCHES!

And I was only using 3 pound weights!

Great job on the treadmill! :D

Heather Waghelstein said...

Hello H.K.,

I know this is a way late comment but. I always believed Cardio was more important-look at a runner's body. But since I've been doing the boot camp and heavy ab work I notice that I am hungry more often and that I have started to get a little two-pack on my belly.
A doctor, who was an avid runner, said that after any workout you still burn fat.
Who knows? right? Whatever works for a person is what is right. That's what I say.

Congrats on your progress.