Gym: how long before I can expect to see a difference?

Idiophreak

I think you need to be clear about what your goals are for now...Do you really think you've much fat to lose, or are you after pure toning?

If the former, try and do more, basically...35 minutes isn't really long enough for a pure cardio session...Anything you can push it out beyond 45 mins will really help...try and borrow a heart rate monitor, get a feel for what your "fat burning zone" feels like, then do a workout that keeps you at that level of intensity for as long as possible. As a rule, treat 45 mins as the minimum, then you can think "anything I do extra will really help" - and that's an extremely motivational way to think about it.

If you actually think you've little fat to lose and toning's the way forward, I agree with the others on this thread wrt introducing more weights into your routine.

And I also agree with the advice to lower the carbs and up the protein.

murphydog999

heartbreak_star wrote: »

What scooby said, except given the choice I'd ban all weight machines (including Smiths) from gyms and install massive free weight areas

Absolutely, the body should be used to control the weight, not the machine.

Lizling wrote: »

Why not leave the yolks in? As I'm sure you're aware, you do need fat in your diet and egg yolks are definitely in 'good fats' territory.

Absolutely, all the vitamins and minerals and good fat is in the yolk.

Fire_Fox

angelil wrote: »

I joined a gym mid-January and so far am a little disheartened with the results.

I've probably been attending for about four weeks (was out for the count with illness for 1 week), about four times a week. Each time I go, I tend to burn 200-225 calories on a mixture of bike, stepper and cross-trainer machines, taking about 30-35 minutes to do this. I'm a size 10-12, about 5'6" tall, weighing 65-66kg, so not enormous, but definitely could do with dropping a few pounds (my target weight is 62kg).

However, after the month of going four times a week I'm still unhappy with my flabby thighs in particular. Am I just being impatient? Or am I doing something wrong? It's not that I expected to be alarmingly svelte after only a month of regular gym-going, but I did expect to see a small difference during this time. Any hints, tips or suggestions gratefully received

I will try to have a go on the weights machines when it's a bit quieter maybe to build up confidence. I really want to work on my butt and thighs as I am very "pear-shaped": very small boobs and waist, huge everywhere else

Assuming you are healthy and have been cleared to exercise intensely ....

You aren't burning enough calories to make any real difference since a pound of fat is ~3500 calories and most machines overestimate your burn. Don't waste time on the bike, rower or stepper, use the cross trainer and walk hills on the treadmill (no holding on). Do a seven to ten minute easy warm up, then an intervals programme like Hills or Random for ten to fifteen minutes each machine (30 to 45 minutes in total) getting so your muscles are burning and you are gasping for breath intermittently. You should get off the machine with jelly legs and be unable to do more than that ten to fifteen minutes.

You aren't doing any 'toning'/ strengthening/ muscle building exercises - do some weight training. If you don't know how or struggle with confidence attend classes instead: BodyPump, Bums'n'Tums, Boxercise. To a lesser extent Spinning, Circuits or Pilates. Again work HARD, full range of movement, great technique, very heavy weight for you, move slowly, to failure (cannot do another rep with good technique).

angelil wrote: »

Diet is quite good but not perfect. My typical day goes something like this:

Breakfast (about 7.00): small bowl of muesli; 1-3 small slices of brown bread with jam, Marmite, butter or honey; small glass of fruit juice; single espresso; half an orange sometimes.

No morning snack as no time/not usually required anyway.

Lunch (about 1.00): EITHER leftovers (pork stroganoff and root & veg crumble are examples of this week's), OR something else really quick, like noodles, cup-a-soup, or a rice/pasta sachet that can go in the microwave. Usually vegetarian unless it's meat I've prepared myself (like the stroganoff). Normally followed by a yoghurt or fruit pur!e pot, sometimes also have a portion of nuts, seeds or Twiglets. Then half a litre of water.

Mid-afternoon (between 4.00 and 5.00): another half a litre of water. Sometimes a cup of tea or instant hot chocolate as well. Always have a snack mid-afternoon: sometimes a Graze box portion, or something like a cereal bar. Usually the snack is around 100 calories.

Dinner (between 8.00 and 9.00): almost always home-cooked; mostly vegetarian. We practically never get takeaway or eat out. This is usually followed by another single espresso and a square of dark chocolate.

The 'danger zone' is usually between 6 and 8pm, so I try to keep busy otherwise I know I will head for the chocolate. Luckily this isn't usually a problem thanks to a combination of late finishing times at work, my driving lessons, and of course the gym membership itself.

Your breakfast is wall to wall carbohydrates, mostly high GI which can spike and trough the blood sugar, encourage fat gain/ retention. Try basing your breakfast around lean protein, healthy fats, non starchy vegetables or low sugar fruits. If you have starches go for beans, lentils or barley.

Don't see any oily fish or enough dairy products - these both supply nutrients which have been linked to lower body fat. Start tracking the amount of sugar you have, IMO there is a lot more hidden in your healthy snacks than you realise. Products containing added sugar or added fats should comprise no more than 10% of daily calories which is one small snack.

Be sure you are having seven to nine servings of low sugar fruits and non starchy vegetables a day in the full rainbow of colours, cut back on wheat to once a day maximum. Most wheat is processed so behaves much like sugar in the body, also it's recommended to have a wide range of different foods.

Be sure you are having lean protein and healthy fats at lunch and your evening meal, don't rely too heavily on starchy carbs especially refined ones. No need to be meat but seafood would be good: otherwise nuts and seeds because they supply minerals and fibre, omega-enriched eggs (all the nutrients are in the yolks!), dairy, Quorn or tofu at a push. You should find more protein, fats and fibre fill you up so reducing cravings and snack attacks.

Avoid have caffeine at night this puts the body into a state of stress and disturbs sleep quality if not quantity: poor sleep patterns mess with processing of nutrients, blood sugar, appetite and is associated with higher body fat.

Lastly nothing wrong with low sugar dark chocolate - cocoa is packed with minerals which you need more of when exercising regularly and is surprisingly high in fibre. :j A favourite snack of mine is low fat soft cheese, reduced fat cocoa powder, peanut butter and natural sweetener all mixed together, then served with defrosted frozen berries. You might also try making your own hot chocolate instead of having the sugar laden stuff.

Fire_Fox

aliama wrote: »

I'd also suggest easing back on the stepper, as I've heard they can actually bulk up the bottom half. No idea whether this is true, but every time I've had an induction the gym instructor has told me not to bother with it.

Gym instructors are spot on, stepper is a completely pointless machine. When you do squats and lunges the top half of the movement is largely front of thigh above the knee, the lower part of the movement hits the bottom and the rest of the thighs. The more you press through the toes the more strain is on the knee area, the more through the heels the more stress on the backside.

The range of movement on the stepper is far too small to hit the bum and thighs properly, most women lean in appalling posture which stresses the lower back and throws the effort forwards onto the knees. They then push with their toes and, to add insult to injury, the calorie burn is pathetic.

hannah78smiles

Low carb diets are a very fast way to lose weight although not the best way, you'll lose the weight mainly in water but it will be noticable fairly quickly. Avoid dairy, fruit and high carb foods, try eating almonds as a snack as they help with your skin too

MasterPoo

Egg whites = low fat high protein!
Egg yolk = contain all of the egg's fat and cholesterol, and about one-half of the protein!

I'm not against egg yolks, I sometimes make omelette for dinner using whole egg, I'm just aiming for HIGH protein dosage in the mornings as I don't fancy any other sort of protein! Works for me!

heartbreak_star

Yeah, so use the whole egg! All of the protein, all of the vitamins, and GOOD fat and cholesterol to keep you full

HBS x

heartbreak_star

murphydog999 wrote: »

Absolutely, the body should be used to control the weight, not the machine.

I see so many people who injure themselves because they think they can lift the same free weight as they can on a machine...except they don't have any stabilising muscles or core strength so when they lift a free weight, they hurt something

HBS x

adouglasmhor

Tiglath wrote: »

Squats did incredible things for my butt and thighs, and weight-training in general meant I could feel muscle developing in a matter of about a month. You're only 5 weeks in - give it a bit more time, but do think about adding in some weight-training (with proper instruction because it's easy to hurt yourself through poor technique). What's your diet like?

To add to this - if they do a body pump, RBK pump class or kettlercise, you will learn squats etc. safely with lighter weights and high-ish reps plus you can burn over 500 calories in a class once you know the excercises.

adouglasmhor

heartbreak_star wrote: »

What scooby said, except given the choice I'd ban all weight machines (including Smiths) from gyms and install massive free weight areas

That's a personal daydream though

HBS x

Nooooo not my beloved cable rower :eek: and the assisted pull up to a lesser degree as well. Everything else bin them.