How to balance cardio and weights?

angaustinbrody

angaustinbrody

New member
I am 5'7, 188 lbs. I have a before pic in my journal. I carry my weight above my knees and below my shoulders, lol. I do have nice calves ;)

Anyways, I am mostly a stay at home mom but I also work as a long term care aide so when I do work, i move a lot, but I only work about once a week. I don't have the money for the gym, so thats not an option. I have a set of 2, 3, and 5 lb handweights, , Leslie Sansone Walk & Jog DVD (30 mins, works my butt), Leslie Sansone 1 & 2 Mile Walk (30 mins, but doesn't get my heart rate up), Turbo Sculpt (45 mins weight lifting, a defenite workout, yipee), Turbo Jams (20 or 40 min Cardio, defenite workout), and I also have a Tony Little Gazelle (really gives me NO workout), and I have a pair of legs and a dog that LOVES to be walked ;)

i am trying to rid myself of the scale obsession. i am obsessed with the numbers and I get really disouraged if it doesn't move or I gain weight. But I feel I have to weigh myself or else I will lose focus. I went on an anti-scale period a few months back and gained 20 lbs. I know weight training is important, but I am afraid I will just get muscle underneath the fat and that i'll just look and feel bigger.

So how should I balance the cardio and weights?
 
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I think you're over-analyzing everything. Just start doing.

To be more specific..... losing a lot of muscle at your current weight isn't likely. That said, I'd put a larger emphasis on cardio right now than weight training. Something like 3-5 cardio sessions per week and 2 weight training sessions per week will suffice. Of course this is just shooting from the hip..... as it's different for everyone.

I'd ditch the little dumbbells as they aren't going to do much for you and put together a calisthenics routine of things like squats, lunges, pushups, etc.

You can go to (god I can't wait to have my website videos done!) to get some ideas. Basically though, you want to construct a routine that hits all the major muscle groups. Doing 2-4 sets of 10-15 reps on each exercise for starters would suffice.

Cardio can be whatever you like.

Above all, nutrition is going to be the primary, driving factor for you. If you're nutrition is off, none of this is going to make much of a difference in terms of physique.

And I wouldn't sweat building muscle, especially considering the facts such as 1) you're in a caloric deficit 2) you're a woman 3) you're a woman 4) you're a woman and 5) you don't have much at your disposal in terms of equipment.
 
Well I COULD go buy some heavier weights, but I just haven't done it yet because I didn't know what exactly I was going to do. I do tend to over-analyze everything, I know that. I've already started doing it, but I've only been doing cardio (Walk & Jog). I haven't done any weight lifting in a few months. My hubby laughs at me because I can't even do ONE push up, that's how weak and febile I am, lol. Not even one granny push-up. :blush5: I will look into the calisthenics routine though!

Steve said:
I think you're over-analyzing everything. Just start doing.

To be more specific..... losing a lot of muscle at your current weight isn't likely. That said, I'd put a larger emphasis on cardio right now than weight training. Something like 3-5 cardio sessions per week and 2 weight training sessions per week will suffice. Of course this is just shooting from the hip..... as it's different for everyone.

I'd ditch the little dumbbells as they aren't going to do much for you and put together a calisthenics routine of things like squats, lunges, pushups, etc.

You can go to (god I can't wait to have my website videos done!) to get some ideas. Basically though, you want to construct a routine that hits all the major muscle groups. Doing 2-4 sets of 10-15 reps on each exercise for starters would suffice.

Cardio can be whatever you like.

Above all, nutrition is going to be the primary, driving factor for you. If you're nutrition is off, none of this is going to make much of a difference in terms of physique.

And I wouldn't sweat building muscle, especially considering the facts such as 1) you're in a caloric deficit 2) you're a woman 3) you're a woman 4) you're a woman and 5) you don't have much at your disposal in terms of equipment.
Click to expand...
 
angaustinbrody said:
Well I COULD go buy some heavier weights, but I just haven't done it yet because I didn't know what exactly I was going to do. I do tend to over-analyze everything, I know that. I've already started doing it, but I've only been doing cardio (Walk & Jog). I haven't done any weight lifting in a few months. My hubby laughs at me because I can't even do ONE push up, that's how weak and febile I am, lol. Not even one granny push-up. :blush5: I will look into the calisthenics routine though!
Click to expand...

You might have to get creative since you are very new and don't have the adequate strength yet to perform some of this stuff, which by the way is nothing to be ashamed of!

If you can't do a pushup, what about a modified version where your knees are on the ground. Something like:



Or even wall pushups:



You can modify any exercise to make it doable.... just have to think outside the box a bit. And have no fears or hesitations about starting out too conservatively. The more conservative the better IMO until you learn not only what your body can handle, but also until you build a baseline of strength and coordination that can carryover to exercises that call on more skill.
 
Listen to your body

Morning,

What I've found over the past year or so is that after awhile, your body will tell you what you should do.

For example, I generally do everyday some aspect of:

--- Gym cardio
--- P90x workout
--- Karate

Yesterday, I had spent approximately 2 centuries online building my new sites, and the time came for karate. As my brain was fried, all I could imagine was instead, do the Yoga DVD! Don't overdo exertion - get calm, get focused, get smart.

So I did. It was still exercise, it was still useful, but it wasn't my usual plan.

Regarding weight lifting, it's super for losing weight! One of the first resources I ever learned about was Bodyweight exercises at . That was 5 years ago and I still use it today! Other bodyweight resources are:





Regarding pushups, it takes time to build up to them! I adore pushups and pullups; my kids and I go bananas during any boot camp sequence that includes them. Check out these resources:




Hope the above helps!

Enjoy,

Barbara
 
You know, angaustinbrody, a terrific site you might like to check out is .

It's geared to women's weight training - but on an introductory level.

Really lots of good info.

Answers a lot of the questions you raise.

But of course, don't be shy in asking here also. :)
 
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