I understand that our bodies become accustomed to doing the same exercise after a while.
I got back on the treadmill about a month ago, and have worked up to a brisk walk at a very slight incline for 60 minutes. If I throw in some sessions of pre-programmed treadmill workouts (which vary speed and incline every few minutes) is that enough variation to keep getting maximum benefit from my exercise sessions?
Also, I manage to get in some snowshoeing, not on a trail, usually about an hour a day, maybe 3 consecutive days every 2-3 weeks...is this different enough to help?
I really do not like the stationary bike or swimming as a fitness exercise, and while cycling in the summer is no problem, we are weeks away from cycling weather here!
I went to a seminar at school on cardiovascular health. The woman who spoke was a Phys. Ed. teacher, personal trainer, and nutritionist. She said that in order for you to maintain good cardiovascular health, and in the process lose weight, you have to vary your exercises!!
My rule of thumb is if I'm not sweating, I'm not working hard enough. Sometimes changing machines will make your body work in a different way and give it variation.
Sorry, not much of an answer, but I guess the point is to vary your exercises. Maybe if you go outside and walk at a really brisk pace instead of staying on the treadmill that would make the difference!
Some people just don't sweat when they workout so I wouldn't necessarily go based on that. It completely depends on your body and how effectively you can cool yourself down.
Snowshoeing sounds like a good change of pace. You said you're doing brisk walks, maybe once or twice a week try jogging for 2 minutes, walking for 5 and just keep repeating that. I'm not sure if you have access to this but I recently started doing a spinning class and really enjoy it (I'm a runner and I pretty much loathe all the other cardio equipment too). If you like cycling maybe that's something to consider... What about swimming? That's a great cardio workout. You could always try jumping rope too. It's cheap and easy and you can do it anywhere and is HARD! LOL.
Walking is great and I wouldn't necessarily say you're not getting enough variation. If you feel your heart rate is up and you're getting a good workout still then I wouldn't worry too much about it. You'll feel it when things get too easy... But you may want to try other activities so you don't get bored or sick of the walking. More variation and different types of exercises definitely wouldn't hurt either!
Last edited by rockstar87; 03-20-2008 at 08:52 PM.
omw: I have promised my dog that we'll get outdoors more often. This morning, we did 30 minutes on a narrow, hard/frozen snow trail, very rough ground walking - well, for me anyway...pooch had no problems! - so that worked different walking muscles.
Also, I have a tendency to overheat, so sweating is not an issue for me.
rockstar: I am looking forward to getting back to a walk/run programme, but I am prone to shinsplints and have plantar fasciitis, so I want to lower my weight a bit more first. The spinning class is food for thought...
Location: Lyin' in a puddle of sweat on the floor.
Posts: 2,296
S/C/G: 235/201/175
Height: 5'7"
Are you a CC skier? You could train your dog for skijouring, and you'd both get a workout! (don't mind me, I'm a dog pulling-sports addict)
I'm just starting up with learning weight lifting, myself, but before I got the equipment together for that, I started doing some little things to get more out of my jogging workout. I mainly did my jogging, but every 5 mins or so, I'd put in a few pushups, crunches, stair steppers, or something similar, then go right back to my jogging. Not sure if that's a "proper" workout, but it seemed a good idea, since I wasn't getting quite the workout from the jogging in that same time frame, and it I keep hearing that you shouldn't work on speed until later. I had to have something to do, or end up running 2 hours at a snail's pace!
I would suggest maybe trying some dvds. They're some pretty good ones out there and they'll get your heart rate up and work different muscles. I did the 'TM for an hour' routine but just got really, really burnt out on it and felt like my body just kinda said 'oh, THIS again' and not too much happened. I love doing intervals on the TM. You can start out at your normal speed, then up it to a 'perceived level of 6 or 7' for 15-30 secs then back to your normal speed for a 1 to 2 minute recovery. Do 6 rounds of this (this is just an example). It will ramp up your HR and get you done w/your w/out quicker. I also saw a thread in here that gave a few good incline workouts. One was to walk at 2.5mph at a steep incline (6% or whatever is steep for you) for 30 minutes. I personally like variety and try different things. Maybe incorporate wts into your routine -- you'd be surprised how just doing a little wts and changing up the TM speeds/incline just a bit can make a big difference. My strength and stamina are much better now than when I was just doing one thing most of the time.
For the treadmill I suggest checking out itrains or cardio coach for some good interval training! They make the time go by really fast!
I use the treadmill as my primary cardio exercise but I usually get in a step class atleast once a week. I also vary my treadmill time some days hills, some days low incline but higher speed.
i would highly recommend adding some strength training to your routine. You will find that that more muscle you develop, the better your body burns calories. I know wt lifting can be intimidating...and trust me...you won't "bulk up". I have been working hard with a personal trainer and we do a combo of cardio and wt lifting...and my body size has changed a lot...even if my wt has only dropped about 10 lbs. I'm' getting more curves and loosing more inches. Wt training combined with cardia...really helps me. Keep up the hard work...fyi if you don't want to go to a gym...check out some dvds like the firm that have wt training incooperated with cardia.
Is this enough excercise variation?
