I hear so much about the right and wrong workouts lately and the trainers at my gym (the ones that sometimes just don't seem to leave you alone) tell you that taking the classes offered is a cardio overload and I wonlt lose weight from cardio...........I get really mixed messages but was always under the impression that if your heart rate is up it is a good workout.

Basically I go to the gym Tues-Thurs and on Sat and Sun morn
I jog for an hour and do not let my heart rate go under 140
after that I take whatever class is offered that day
basically
Spin/Cycle
Kickboxing
Sculpt 2x's a week
and Latin Dance class

What about you guys? any input or successfull workout stories?

Depends on what results you want to get.

Doing just cardio will help you develop endurance, but it won't build muscle. Also there's some evidence that long sessions of SS-cardio are not as effective as HIIT cardio when it comes to weight loss.

Building muscle from weight training or resistance training will develop muscle, which will help increase your metabolism, strengthen your bones, and speed up your weight loss.

I personally try for 3x per week weight lifting and 2x to 3x per week of cardio of some kind - either HIIT cardio, a class, or something.

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Im sorry I dont know what the diff is between SS and HIIT cardio is?

SS (or steady state) cardio is when you do cardio at the same intensity for a period of time - 30, 45, 60 minutes. Whatever.

HIIT is high intensity interval training - that's where you alternate medium intensity cardio with high intensity cardio. Most people can do HIIT for about 20-30 mins at a time becuse it's pretty intense.

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My workout schedule is as follows:

Monday - Bike or Run
Tuesday/Thursday - Swim in morning, weights in the evening
Wednesday - Run in evening (part of training program)
Friday - Light workout or Rest depending how I feel
Saturday - Bike, Run or Hike, depending on weather (either Sat or Sun is another weight day)
Sunday - Swim, deep water running, running or biking

My running right now is pretty much intervals, similar to HIIT because I do run/walk intervals. My swimming is pretty much steady state, biking is pretty much steady state but in both I do have instances where I push myself harder than other times.

I'm also considering adding in a spinning class at the gym although my workouts are basically at home and I'd have to get the motivation to go the gym.

My goals right now are to get my swimming skills and biking skills up so its a bit of exercise but also a bit of learning. I also plan to run a 5k in a couple months which is why I'm doing the running but also I am trying to learn how to run. The purpose of the weights is to build/maintain muscle.

So uhh yeah I'd agree you have to figure out what your overall goals are and then work to achieve them.

My workout schedule is erratic.But usually:

2-3 times a week- Walk 1 mile to gym, run on elliptical for 15-35 minutes, then run home, taking as few rests as I can.
Once a week- Ride to gym, 15 minutes on the elliptical, 1 hour yoga or pilates class, run home.
Nearly everyday- running 1/4-1 mile to class because I'm late.

I also live on the third floor of my dorm, so getting to my room is a little extra work that's given me really rock hard legs. I'm really just interested in loosing my belly fat now. I've been following that schedule since school started, and now I can almost run all the way home. I only stop twice. Also, I can do about 75% of the moves in yoga class, which makes my very clumsy self proud. I think I'll sign up for the ab classes next semester, if this gosh darn belly doesn't go away!

I think keeping cardio up is a good thing personally, but in moderation (most cardio machines shut off after 60mins). When you do cardio workouts they generally work more of your body than spot training alone, and more problem areas are targeted than say, bench pressing alone. For instance, when you do latin dance class, you are shaking those hips and moving your arms and legs for balance and style. You work alot of muscles doing that . I hope the results show!

I don't think I'd do both an hour of running and then a cardio class on the same day. Two hours of cardio in one day seems excessive and unnecessary. I don't think my trainer would recommend it either. I might do cardio and a weight lifting class on the same day, though. But I'm not an expert or in any way qualified to give advice on this subject. The trainers at your gym most certainly know more than I do about what type of exercise and how much of it you should do.

Here's my current workout schedule:
M: strength training with my personal trainer
Tu: 15 min HIIT on stepmill, 20 min HIIT on TM, 5 min SS on TM, and 15 min abs
W: strength training with my personal trainer
Th: 20 min HIIT on TM, 5 min SS on TM, one-hour circuit training class (I do TM in the AM and the class in the evening, I can't do them back-to-back)
F: strength training with my personal trainer
Sa: 75 min swimming (includes 20 min of intervals)
Su: 15 min HIIT on elliptical, 20 min HIIT on TM, 5 min SS on TM, and 15 min abs

Sometimes I do a spin class on Tu or Th instead of my regular workout. Sometimes I do a 6-mile SS run outdoors on Sunday, instead of my regular workout.

So, how many minutes exercise a week does everyone do?

I just added up your workouts in my head Barbara and, not counting the strength training, which you didn't give, it came to 300 minutes a week.

My exercise thus far has been a bit haphazard - I've been doing some but I haven't really been keeping track or doing it on a schedule.

But I have decided to start tracking it and doing a fixed amount of exercise per week. I found a website which said that 30 minutes a day on average was the minimum recommended amount of exerice, so I started with that. Weekends are virtually impossible for me to fit in any exercise due to other commitments but since Monday I have managed to do 215 minutes this week, 5 minutes more than the 210 I planned to start with.

I plan to increase my goal by 10 minutes every week until it becomes impossible for me to fit it in with my life.

Usually my exercise consists of doing my dvd a couple of times a week, getting out for a brisk walk with the pushchair, and going cycling with the baby in a seat several times a week.

I don't count minutes per week, but I can say I did 100 minutes yesterday and 50 minutes so far today. It is rainy too or else my weekend minutes are sometimes higher especially if I go biking/hiking. I do about 90 minutes on Tuesdays/Thursdays and closer to 30 on Mondays and Wednesdays. So I'd say M-Th is about 240 minutes, weekends could be almost equal, depending on the weekend.

Hey mouse! I think you've got the general idea, but you're mixed up on some concepts.

The biggest thing I see here is your comment about bench pressing vs. cardio working muscles. Next is the thing about taking an abs class to make your tummy go away.

Taking the last one first: You simply cannot spot train. If you have a poochy tummy, that's fat. Taking an abs class that works the ab and core muscles is not going to make that fat go away. The only thing that makes fat go away is losing weight and unfortunately we cannot control *where* we lose fat from. And for many of us (not all, but a lot) tummy fat seems to be the last to go. That's not to say that an abs class isn't a good thing - building your core muscles is *always* good. But it won't remove that tummy fat.

So the next thing is that cardio - latin dance, running, etc. - is not going to build muscle. They don't actually "work more of your body" that weight lifting, because you're talking about two different types of exercise. Dancing and whatnot will work *some* muscles simply because you're working with your own body weight to create resistance, but you'll quickly reach a point where your muscles are conditioned and you won't be making progress any more.

Bench pressing, squatting, lunging, military presses, etc, etc, etc, will work muscles in groups - if done right and with proper form. Building muscle by lifting weights has other benefits as well - the more muscle you have, the more you increase your metabolism, which means the faster you lose weight.

Like I said, I think you have the right concepts in mind, I just hear a lot of "gym trainer" myths in what you're saying. It's unfortunate that a lot of gym trainers just really aren't trained ... you have to be careful listening to them and find one who knows what he or she is talking about!!

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My strength training sessions are 50 to 60 min. So it works out to about 420 min per week, or about an hour per day.