Frustrated... Can't get into strength training b/c I'm obsessed with burning calories
I've been doing so well since i started 2 mos ago. I work out 6 days a week without fail and I generally enjoy going to the gym. I stick to my calories 5 or 6 days a week which is a big deal for me.
Anyway, I'm obsessed with cardio because I can see the calories burned. And I know the machines are way off-- I enter my weight lower and subtract about 30% of what I've burned so I'm getting an accurate idea.
I'm so into seeing those calories burned and calculating everything that I have to force myself to even do 10 min of circuit training. Now that my body is in better shape, I KNOW it would be very beneficial. And it's so ironic that I have the mental willpower to go to the gym almost every day, but cannot get myself off the treadmill and into the weight training area.
Is it that you don't know where to start with the machines? Or are you afraid that you will bulk up? If it is that you don't know where to start with the machines ask one of the trainers/staff to show you how the machines work. As for bulking up, it won't happen because women don't have the testostrone to bulkup. As a matter of fact, lift weights will build muscle which allows your body to burn more calories. The more muscle you have the leaner you will be.
I see this a lot with breastfeeding mothers. They are concerned about how much milk the baby is getting because they cannot measure it. It takes trust in the process and evaluating success using other markers, and I think that is what you need to do too.
We really are a numbers oriented society. Remember that one of the benefits of weight training is that it goes far beyond the calories burned in a weight training session and will change the shape and size of your body over time. Weight train for the joy of it....the results will come.
I wonder as you get closer to your goal if you will become more comfortable not dropping the pounds as fast and then focusing more on the strength training?
One of my biggest strength training motivations is my aging body and working with senior citizens. I know what aging can look like and I know how important the muscle and body density is as I age. This isn't to say I don't care about scale weight as well - because you can bet I do. I am just saying this is a huge part of my motivation.
As I have gotten into my goal range I am far more comfortable with the pounds not moving as much while I focus more on the body fat% and my physical strength. By nature I am an active person and value the physical strength so I am may be coming at it from a slightly different mental perspective.
Finally. You can change your mini-goals.
Right now they are pound focused. You could still leave the pounds and add for example:
2. 155 by 11/24 + 1 day/week of serious strength training
or
2. 155 by 11/24 + ability to do 10 good form push-ups (whatever).
Is it you don't know how many calories you burn on the weight machines, or that you feel that doing cardio is time better spent because you burn more calories that way?
Just give it a shot! Find a beginner's strength program that focuses on lifting heavy and effectively with simple exercises and just do it! You definitely won't regret it if you seriously give it a shot regularly for a couple months.
You don't have to start with weights. How about resistance strength training using your own body. Exercises like lunges, planks, pushups, squats, inch work etc. Work on that and as you see your strength increasing you can always add weights. Strength training is gaining power within yourself, it's so different than cardio. You feel strong, you feel your muscles flexing, and the more you do it the more aware you are of what "tight" feels like. For instance, if I go dancing, I can FEEL my lower and upper abs moving. It's such a cool feeling, that tightness. That alone is why I do it. Plus you look leaner and more toned doing strength training. Give it a shot!
ETA: Strength training is another reason why I weigh over 200lbs but my size 12's are getting loose on me! Inches count, strength training really transforms your body.
My suggestions is read up on calorie burn from resistance training because study after study has shown that circuit training (moving rapidly from one set of exercise to the next) not only gives you cardio benefits right then (my heart rate is 150+ when I lift weights) but you also have up to 3 *days* of after burn as your muscles repair themselves where your calorie burn is increased- this is a benefit you do not get from cardio. And finally, muscle is metabolically active, so when you add muscle to your body you become more efficient at burning calories and staying lean. I resistance train 4 days a week and do cardio 2 days a week and find the results are really working well for me.
Building muscle through strength training causes your body to burn calories and fat. More muscle means more calories burned, even when at rest. I'm not talking about Body Building caliber of muscles either, not even an athlete's body.
Another possibility: buy a heart rate monitor and use that to track your calories when you're doing strength training as well as when you do cardio.
Weights are my favorite kind of exercise (I'm currently doing the New Rules of Lifting for Women--*awesome*) but I also like to watch my heart rate and calories burned while I work out. I generally burn only slightly fewer calories lifting weights than I do slogging mindlessly on a cardio machine. That plus all the extra benefits described above makes it a winner.
I have to say that I've focused on cardio so far because I wanted to minimise any chances of gains on the scale or plateaus, so I'm only now gradually adding in strength training as I'm nearing the end of my goal. I'm doing the sorts of things that InsideMe suggested, like planks and push-ups so I'm starting off small and will hopefully add in weights as I get better.
If you really don't want to leave the treadmill, why don't you try sneaking a little bit of muscle-building into your treadmill routine? Set the speed slower, ramp the incline up as high as it goes, wear ankle weights, and maybe even carry small hand weights. At the very least, you'll have very nice glutes and leg muscles in no time, and watching the calories peel off at a super high incline is even more fun than doing cardio.
i'm the same way, i feel like i HAVE to do cardio and when i get done i am soo exhausted i slack on the weights and i know i need to but i just can't stick with it
Having said that if you want to look good naked than lifting weights is the best way to accomplish that.
Also - if you think you're burning more calories on that treadmill than you would be lifting weights - think again.
How many calories you burn while lifting weights depends on the kind of routine you do. I'll take the pepsi challenge on a good circuit program vs the treadmill any day of the week.
Go buy the book NROL. Do their break in program, than the Fat loss I, Fat loss II, and finally Fat loss III.
As someone mentioned get a heart rate monitor than will track your caloric burn. I assure you there will be more calories burned in those programs minute for minute than you burn on a treadmill.
Also - as mentioned - there is an afterburn effect due to EPOC which while not a huge number of calories is still there.
Finally - as mentioned - maintaining your muscle while dieting will cause your body to burn more calories. If you maintain 10lbs of muscle while dieting that you might have lost by not weight lifting that is an additional 60 calories burned every 24 hours at rest. Not a lot but per month it is 1800 calories which is 1/2 a lb of fat!
Frustrated... Can't get into strength training b/c I'm obsessed with burning calories
Inches count, strength training really transforms your body.
