I’ll sometimes talk with people I know about their weight loss plans, and how they expect to lose weight. When I ask them what they’re doing they’ll give me a report of drastically reduced calories, and a workout plan that involves a few situps and walking once or twice a week. In most cases I don’t think that type of a plan is going to be successful, just for the small amount of exercise they’re doing, and because their diet will cause their metabolism to shut down, and harm their prospects for weight loss.
In an article I was reading today people were having a different issue. They were exercising for too long, using a exercise that wasn’t as beneficial as they thought. One reader of the MSNBC site emailed in:
I exercise every weekday morning in my hot tub, doing 2,000 forward bicycles, 2,000 reverse bicycles, 2,000 frog kicks and 2,000 reverse frog kicks. It takes me almost three hours. Am I doing too much exercise? I’m trying to lose weight this way because I have leg problems that keep me from doing any other type of exercise.
doing leg kicks in a hot tub for 3 hours? Are you kidding me? Who does that? I know some people do have some physical limitations that preclude them from performing some normal exercises, but there has got to be something better out there for this person to do. I seriously doubt they are getting much actual impact from their bicycle and frog kicks!
photo credit: Tigerzeye
The fitness expert answers the question:
There’s a lingering misperception in fitness that if 20 repetitions of an exercise are good, then 200 — or 2,000 — must be better. But sometimes — such as when doing 4,000 frog kicks and another 4,000 bicycles consumes your entire morning — exercise may just not be worth that much time and effort. In fact, you may be pleasantly surprised to know you can restructure your program so that you actually work out for less time and get more bang for your buck.
The person writing in probably needs to look at some other options for their workout plan. Some low impact whole body workouts like swimming in a pool, riding a stationary bike, or something along those lines. Even though they’re exercising quite a bit currently, the exercise that they’re getting really isn’t that helpful - especially since it takes so long to complete.
Sometimes we all need to take a look at our workout plans, and decide for ourselves if the work we’re putting in is worth it. Is our plan well thought out? Will it actually have the result we’re looking for? If not, it may be time to sit down and come up with a new plan of action with someone who knows what they’re doing like a personal trainer at a local gym, or a friend who is a fitness guru.
Set goals, make a plan of attack, and carry out the plan in such a way as to attain positive results.
Have you ever had a workout plan that didn’t work? What was the reason for the plan’s failure?
Tags: Fitness·News
Week 3 once again
Today I restarted week 3 of the 100 pushup challenge - again. Lately it seems that every time I try to restart this whole thing we get busy, have nights out and I just can’t find the time to get my workouts in. I think I may start having to get up earlier so that I can exercise in the A.M.
Week 3 day 1 Column 2
Once again I started with 20. No problem. Powered through.
the two sets of 15 weren’t too bad, maybe the rest I’ve had actually helped? The 13 and was harder, but overly hard.
For the last set I made it to 20, and it wasn’t as much of a struggle as it was last time. So Wedensday I move on to day two again.
Looks to be a little harder, but do-able.
How’s your pushup challenge going? Have you given up yet? Still giving it your all? Doing it half-way? Let me know in the comments!
100 pushup challenge for Ipod
If you haven’t downloaded the 100 pushup challenge for your Ipod (or other portable device) yet, you can still do so by subscribing to our RSS feed. The download link will appear in the RSS feed. If you have trouble finding it, please email me through our contact page, and I’ll be happy to help.
If you have already downloaded the file you may want to re-download it as I have corrected some mistakes, and made some updates. Thanks!
Tags: 100 pushup challenge·Exercise·Progress Reports
Over the past few years I’ve learned quite a bit about what it takes to get healthy and fit. I still haven’t reached my goal of being “fit”, and applying what I’ve learned is the part that’s easier said than done. At the same time I feel like I have a decent amount of knowledge, and I should share what I’ve learned, and possibly help some of you out that aren’t sure where to start.
Over the next few weeks I’m going to share some pointers on the ways that I’ve lost weight, and give some tips on exercises that you can do, and healthy foods you can eat. My hope is that it will help to motivate you, as well as helping me to kick myself into gear. And I know I’ll learn some new stuff along the way as well!
I plan to call this series of posts “Back to Basics: Exercise, Nutrition and a Well Rounded Life“.
Some things that I’ll cover in this ongoing series:
- Healthy eating & nutrition
- Weight lifting
- Cardio & Aerobic exercise
- Motivating yourself to get up and get active
- Reviews of popular fitness plans
Stay tuned for our first post in the series sometime next week!
In the meantime, check out some great posts from my fitness brothers and sisters in the blogosphere!
Tags: Exercise·Links·Series
Just when I was looking for an excuse not to go running anymore I stumbled on an article in Time Magazine titled “Runner’s High: Joggers Live Longer“. Ugh.. So - what’s this all about?
That runner’s high may translate into a lot of other long-lasting health benefits, a new report from an ongoing study suggests. Researchers have found that regular jogging, or any consistent aerobic exercise, in middle age and late in life may reduce people’s risk of disabilities and help them live longer and healthier.
The study looked at two groups of people, those who run regularly, and those that never do. Other than that indicator the two groups were relatively similar in their makeup.
photo credit: mikebaird
The two groups were looked at over a 20 year period, and here is what they found:
Researchers analyzed the accumulated data at 8 years, 13 years and, most recently in 2005, the 21-year mark. Not surprisingly, the data showed that exercise was a boon to health. Over the years, compared with the never-exercisers, people who exercised regularly — in addition to running, activities included biking, aerobic dance and swimming — showed improved aerobic capacity, better cardiovascular fitness, increased bone mass, fewer inflammatory markers, less physical disability, better response to vaccinations and even improved thinking, learning and memory. They also lived significantly longer.
The article continued:
By year 19 of the study, 15% of the runners had died, compared with 34% of the non-running control group. Not only did fewer runners die of cardiovascular causes, but fewer died of other causes such as neurological and infectious disorders. At 21 years into the study, the authors reported, the running group experienced fewer disabilities in eight basic daily functions, including walking, eating, dressing, grip strength and routine physical activities — reporting, on average, one mild disability out of the eight. Never-runners recorded one to two disabilities on average, and were more likely to have a complete disability in one of those daily functions. Even as participants approach their 90s, the groups’ disability and survival curves continue to diverge.
So, if you’re not already running, biking, dancing or swimming (or other aerobic activity), it’s time to start. It’s never too late! So get moving!
Tags: Exercise·News·Running
Age: 32
