A total Novice - Please Advise

Mitten30

Hi All,
Am a little scared so please don’t bite! I am very very new to this part of boards!
I have been a lapsed gym member for the last few years and as a result saw my weight soar to 18.2 stone, am a 5’5” female so this is massive. I started a keep fit and low cal eating regime in February and have lost 3 stone to date and am feeling so much better. I have a long way to go yet and am looking for some help with my gym regime.
At present i go to the gym at least 4 times a week – i do 30 mins on the treadmill (alternating walking and jogging) then i do 20 mins on the Cross Trainer at a resistance of 10. I also do some arm weights with 2Kg weights – bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, dumbbell obliques and over head pull downs with weights. I do 2 x 20 reps of each. I also go swimming about 2 times a week and complete approx 20 lengths of the pool.
I am looking to tone myself up all over and obviously continue loosing weight, I kind of feel like i am doing a very DIY plan at the moment. Last weekend i went to the gym 3 days in a row, did all of the above and as a result of too much jogging hurt my ankle. Should i be doing the same cardio 4/5 days per week? What else should i do?
At each session i burn approx 450 cals and am looking to continue with this.
All help and advice very much appreciated!

d'Oracle

Mitten30 wrote: »

Hi All,
Am a little scared so please don’t bite! I am very very new to this part of boards!
I have been a lapsed gym member for the last few years and as a result saw my weight soar to 18.2 stone, am a 5’5” female so this is massive. I started a keep fit and low cal eating regime in February and have lost 3 stone to date and am feeling so much better. I have a long way to go yet and am looking for some help with my gym regime.
At present i go to the gym at least 4 times a week – i do 30 mins on the treadmill (alternating walking and jogging) then i do 20 mins on the Cross Trainer at a resistance of 10. I also do some arm weights with 2Kg weights – bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, dumbbell obliques and over head pull downs with weights. I do 2 x 20 reps of each. I also go swimming about 2 times a week and complete approx 20 lengths of the pool.
I am looking to tone myself up all over and obviously continue loosing weight, I kind of feel like i am doing a very DIY plan at the moment. Last weekend i went to the gym 3 days in a row, did all of the above and as a result of too much jogging hurt my ankle. Should i be doing the same cardio 4/5 days per week? What else should i do?
At each session i burn approx 450 cals and am looking to continue with this.
All help and advice very much appreciated!

3 stone? Fair play.

Would a trainer be an option from a financial point of view?
Cos you probably aren't going about things in the most efficient way.

Mitten30

Am afraid not - am more looking for an easy to manage but get me fit and toned programme.

Thanks on the 3 stone - can't be happy about it though as am still so mad with myself for getting that big in the first place!

d'Oracle

Well there are a few folks on here who are trainers.

With my limited knowledge I would say that doing isolation exercises on your arms are not going to to a whole lot.

You can work your biceps and triceps with other exercises that will work more of you body too. More muscle used = more energy used, which is what you are looking for. You don't even necessarily need weights, pushups, lunges, squats etc, all use a fair amount of muscle.

Have a look at the Fitness Basics sticky thread: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054876750

The thread starter, Transform, knows his stuff. He will probably be on at some stage but he often posts the following vid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkhwmRUD3iI

There is of course heaps more that some of the trainer types on here could tell you.

Shane732

OP if cash is a problem with going to see a trainer on a weekly basis. I'd look into maybe doing one session with Dominic (Transform) and get him to do up a program for you.

You'll know yourself within a few weeks if you have the will power to follow the program through. If you do have the will power then you should probably go back to Dominic once every 6-8 week just to see how you're getting along.

From my own personal experience I must say Dominic is brilliant.

My 2 cents about your work out (I'm a novice so my 2 cents probably isn't worth anything):

Is there any need for you to be doing both the treadmill and cross-trainer 4/5 times a week? Would you not be better to alternate from treadmill to cross trainer each day or week? There both cardio exercises so if you do either one of them properly then you should be f**ked after it. You might be better to look at doing some sort of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). There's lots of good websites out there on it but it's basically a form of cardio training whereby you do 10-20 minutes alternating between running and walking at regular intervals. At the end of it you should be cooked, so make sure you're doing it at as hard a level you can maintain for the intervals.

Also up the weights and drop the reps 2kg weights are pointless.

I go to Dominic once a week and it's well worth it. You'll do more in a session with him than you'll do in 2 sessions in the gym by yourself. He just keeps pushing you!

Also start doing proper push-ups etc....

niallofthenine

I think you should spend more time on the cross trainer and less or no time on the threadmill and this seems to be putting excess strain on your ankles. the cross trainer is a non impact machine and R.S.I would not be a problem. It also burns more calories than any other machine. In half an hour it is very easy to burn 400 calories. I would recommend an offroad programme for this, where on min your at high resistance, the next a low resistance.
Also It would be very motivational if you posted some before and after pics, even just to track progress.
If I were you, id work my up to 40-50 mins on the cross trainer, followed by a quick 10 mins low - ish resistance bicycle,

niallofthenine

in addition to the above post it is important to add that:
as you lose more weight, it will therefor become more difficult to lose weight, this probably wont make much difference to you for a while yet.
But as it gets more difficult, it will be important to critique your diet.
Toning should not be an issue yet, as you still have weight to lose, which when shed, will leave a well toned body in its wake.
"keep doing what you've been doing and you'll keep getting what you've been getting"