Another round of 5 fitness questions answered. I really love doing these people I love learning then being able to share with others in a way they understand. We are doing a Biggest Loser Challenge at work, and have a group chat to encourage and motivate each other. I am glad that have been able to help my coworkers with their fitness journey. This is something that I love to do – I love to study and read about fitness, nutrition and wellness then break it down for anyone to be able to understand.
STAYING MOTIVATED
Read this all before you jump in my comments and send me DM’s. Motivation with never come. You will never be motivated to work out. I always think of the movie The Break-Up with Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn. No body wants to do the dishes. Same thing with working out – when it’s tough most quit. My best advice is do the workout. I read somewhere that the brain/body needs 15 minutes to talk yourself out of something. When I worked at a gym, and people said they weren’t feeling it or that they wouldn’t be here very long. I would tell them, take it 5 minutes at a time. The usually finished their workout they had planned.
To be COMPLETELY honest, this is the exact same thing I do when I don’t want to work out. I do it anyway but in 5 minute increments until I stop thinking about it. Some days I finish the workouts, but some days I don’t. Both are ok responses. I believe it’s ok to finish a workout then hate the workout and not coming back at all. (Which I have seen before.) Somedays you just want to, and that’s ok. No shame or guilt.
WORK OUT EVERY DAY?
You can if you want to, but I don’t recommend it. It’s not giving your body time to heal and recover. I usually recommend a rest day after a heavy lift. (heavy lift is max out after 3 reps) If you choose to workout everyday, I recommend one day being active recovery. Active Recovery being something different from your workout plan or you don’t do often. This could be rollerblading, foam rolling or kayaking.
CARDIO or STRENGTH?
Which is better cardio or strength? There is not one answer question. This took a lot of time for me. I used to be a cardio bunny and hated doing strength workouts. To get a complete workout you need both!! On which to do first, I wrote about this previously. If you struggle doing more strength, I recommend taking a group fitness class. Les Mills has a class called BodyPUMP which is a great combination of cardio and strength. If you struggle with doing more cardio, my recommendation would be to just start. Take it 5 minutes at a time and slowly increase the time.
If you are preparing for a run like me currently, I would alternate day of cardio and strength with 1 day of rest. A schedule that works good for me is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are cardio day. Strength is usually Tuesday, Thursday and Satruday. I know that it not a typical runner schedule, but Saturday I usually work out with my husband. He pushes me to lift heavier. Then Sunday is a rest day but I might foam roller or lay on my acupuncture mat.
LIFTING HEAVY WILL MAKE YOU BULKY? (*ladies only)
Lifting heavy weights WILL NOT make you bulky. As a female, the only way lifting HEAVY weights will make you bulky is if you also eat nothing but protein. IF you are looking for big, bulky muscles it would be from consistent intentional muscle building exercises.
HOW LONG TO SEE RESULTS
My general answer is it takes 4 weeks for you to notice a difference. 8 weeks for friends/family to see the difference. 12 weeks for the rest of the world to make a difference. If you are doing just workouts, I would follow this guideline. If you are doing workouts plus changing what you are eating, you will notice results quicker.
Also each person is different on how long it will take to see results. Also men and women lose weight at different rates. Men tend to lose weight quicker than plateau, while women will lose later in the process. I love to see couples working together, but don’t get discouraged when he loses pounds quicker.
