Yoga Booty Ballet sounds hilarious. And hard. I pretty much *only* do cardio, but I'm aware that I should start mixing in some lifting or something to build muscle mass. I just don't enjoy it, and my main goal at the gym is to burn calories, which happens in a far more obvious manner on a cardio machine. Perhaps when I reach 145 I'll start mixing in some weight training (or yoga booty ballet, if I can find it )
I've been doing 60 mins on the elliptical each day as planned. Today I'm going to do an extra 30 mins on the treadmill as well. I have a delicious lunch planned today (veggies sauteed in pam and a piece of salmon) and I'm willing to work extra hard to get it.
Strength training is SO important for me. And remember, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn all day...not as obvious as the counters on the cardio machines, but a BIG impact. Yoga Booty Ballet also has a cardio segment - yoga, ballet, weight training, and the cardio...its a really nice combination.
I've had to try lots of different things to enjoy my weight training, but now its my favorite (leg days ROCK). It makes me feel strong and healthy. And I know it makes a major difference in how I lose.
I know, I know... My Y offers a free consultation with a personal trainer and my plan is to burn my millions of calories on the cardio machines, and once I'm closer to my goal weight, to make an appointment and come up with a weight regime that works for me. As it is, when I do anything with weights, I half-heartedly work my biceps, triceps and shoulders with free weights and then leave it at that. It's not particularly effective and it's boring. (I like to think that the elliptical and the treadmill work my leg muscles enough, without having to use weights. I enjoy my delusions )
I'm off to do my 90 mins (despite the fact that I have CRAMPS!!!).
Tell us more about yoga booty ballet! I've seen it on this board several times but I don't know anything about it. I do a yoga DVD once a week, but it's pretty basic. It's fun and I love how it makes me feel -- it's also nice because my husband does it with me -- but I'm always looking for new stuff!
Well, I did the "strength basics" video that was made for on-demand.
It started with a tiny yoga-esque segment, sort of a time to sit and relax and open yourself up to the workout. 5 minutes or less - then a warm-up that was stretch oriented. Then the hard stuff started...there were four segments of 8-10 min each...1 ballet segment focusing on leg lifts to work the butt, 1 strength/cardio segment that worked the arms using hand weights while doing squats/plies/etc to get heart rate going, an ab segment using a non-weighted squishy ball (or a towel - worked almost as well and didn't require extra equipment) and a fairly challenging yoga segment with a lot of down/up dog and planks...it was hard for me, since I don't have a lot of yoga experience. Then a pleasant cooldown and a close similar to the opening...sitting, with some non-spiritual mantra repeating (again, less than 5 min)
Tonight I ran out of time, so I just did 30 minutes on the elliptical and 12 minutes walking on the treadmill. I did lots of resistance and hills, etc to maximize the time. Back outside for a run tomorrow, I hope!
Baffled - it depends. My standard week includes an hour of cardio, 6 days a week, plus at least one upper body strength session and one lower body strength session. So that works out to just over an hour a day, on average.
I have a couple of advantages for sneaking it in elsewhere, though...I work from home, meaning that my lunch hour is usually open to do something active (like the YBB "bonus" workouts, or sometimes one of my strength workouts"). Because I work from home, I can also be ok with going to the gym until 7:30 or 8 each night (we go at 6:30 or 7 for our daily hour of cardio) because I prep anything I possibly can for dinner while I'm home during the day...dinner never takes more than half an hour to get on the table once we arrive home. So its a major advantage to work in my PJs.
I also have a considerable amount of time, really, compared to other people. I mean sure, I'm planning a wedding and that eats up some time, but I don't have kids or too terrible a work schedule (I average 10 hr a day of work, which is more than some, but less than others) so I can fit in the exercise time. I don't have a commute (except to my couch).
I'm actually doing a bit more than usual this week - first off, this weekend is going to be crazy (bridal shower/people coming in from out of town/madness) and second I've just been in a "get moving" kind of mood. I made a deal with myself that if I EVER get a craving to exercise, even if it is fleeting, I'll do it, so this week when my head started thinking "you know, yoga booty ballet sounds like it might be fun" I just plan to do it on my lunch break and do it, thus the "bonus" workouts that have been going on.
Today will be less - I am getting my hair done during my regularly scheduled workout time, but will do something cardio on my lunchbreak.
(I also work from home, and completely flexibly--I'm writing my dissertation. The upsides are that I can spend my mornings planning my meals and that I can go to the gym during quiet hours. The downsides are that I get the urge to snack ALOT and that I fritter away too much preparing meals and going to the gym )
55 min stairclimber on my lunch.
30 min DDR (I wasn't tired enough from the stairclimber, lol)
and probably something later tonight with my partner (skipping the "formal" gym date tonight because we have appts to get our hair done in our normal timeframe, but we'll do a WATP or something when we are done...).
And I want to do more! Anyone have one of those days? Unfortunately, they seem to come with increased hunger...probably because I am working my tail off with all the random exercise.
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7k
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