Exercise advice?

[d4n13773]

Hello,

Can anyone give me some advice on reintroducing exercise please?

Prior to starting CD, I used to exercise at my local gym - around about 40 mins of quite strenuous CV work and then 20 of weights/strength. Because of my shifts (and cos I'm tight with money and only have off-peak membership) I would normally exercise in the morning. The problem was that this increased my appetite and I would eat more all day long, thus never losing any weight!

My job can be totally sedentary, (8 hours behind a desk) though sometimes I can spend 12 hours without sitting down!

I'm currently on SS, one week away from AAM week, 1 stone away from target and 10lbs away from starting stabilisation.

In the last week I've managed a little bit of exercise/activity, swimming, gardening, housework, I found I could do what I set out to do, but felt tired after and achy the following day.

Ideally I'd like to have an exercise programme set-up with targets that I can increase when I go back to eating normally.

Sorry this is a long rambling post, my questions are:

Is it worth going back to the gym whilst on SS?, Can I still build muscle by doing weight/strength training or should I concentrate on burning calories? Or wait til I'm off SS altogether?

Should I pay extra for full time membership and move my exercise sessions to later on in the day, in the hope I wont then be tempted to overeat?

Any advice or experiences very welcome, or if anyone has read anything on the topic and can point me to a worthwhile source I'd be very appreciative.

Thanks

[SteveM]

Hi Dani;

I think what the body can cope with on SS depends on the individual concerned. After the first few weeks (allowing the body to adjust to SS), I did a reasonable amount of exercise. I used to play Badminton 3 times a week for about an hour and 20 minutes a go. My colleague, who was SS at the same time as me, could not cope with that though. I got over confident at what I could do, and went up the gym a little to early, and nearly collapsed. It looked like my body during SS could cope with exercise that was in quick short busrts, but could not cope with extended exercise such as the the stepper, the treadmill, or the rower.

I think it is best to go careful and work out what your body can cope with - and being used to exercise you are probably perfectly capable of working that out - you may even already have an idea.

I know that even now, if I try to exercise with too little in the tank, I can end up feeling light-headed and rather the worse for wear, and can achieve very little in the way of exercise before hitting the wall.

What is right for one, will not necesarily be right for another. Being as how you were active previously, maybe your body will be able to cope with reasonable exercise while SS.

Concentrate on fat-burning exercises though rather than muscle building. You don't want to start gaining weight

Steve

[Kate]

Originally Posted by SteveM

Concentrate on fat-burning exercises though rather than muscle building. You don't want to start gaining weight

I would beg to differ - you can't build muscle while on SS but weight training is a VERY good idea to maintain the muscle you do have. Your body will be much more able to cope with resistance training than with intense cardio exercise so the best thing to do would be a mixture of light cardio and resistance training. Cardio will make you fitter but it won't speed up your weight loss by any significant amount (if you're working out hard enough to burn enough calories to make a significant difference to your weight loss, you should be eating more!).

As for feeling tired and achy, make sure you always stretch after a workout. This will greatly reduce any aches and pains the following day.

Right now, exercise for the health and fitness benefits, and look on any extra calories burned as a nice bonus.

[lardass]

I found that the cardio whilst on ss didn't work for me it zapped all my energy and then i got hungry, but swimming and gentle toning was ok.

As for the time of day you exercise you need to bear in mind its harder to drag yourself out in the evening especially in the winter when its cold.

[SteveM]

BTW Kate, the muscle building comment was just at attempt at a joke, it wasn't serious! I know I should just stick to my day job, but I can't even do that as they are making me redundant!

[Kate]

Originally Posted by SteveM

BTW Kate, the muscle building comment was just at attempt at a joke, it wasn't serious! I know I should just stick to my day job, but I can't even do that as they are making me redundant!

Ouch, that sucks. Hope they give you a decent package.

Joke or not, lots of people do seem to think they can build muscle on a VLCD and that doing resistance exercise will slow down their weight loss, so while you might know better, I just thought I'd point it out in case anyone was reading who didn't.

[d4n13773]

Thanks for your advice folk.

So far I've been swimming a few times, think I might try and get into the gym and try to learn to ignore the subsequent hunger before I go back on to proper food (maybe have a CD bar as a reward!). I still have the plan which was devised for me when I first started going, I found it pretty easy and soon upped my times and weights etc. I think I might start by going back to the beginning with that again and build up more slowly. I wonder if I pushed myself too much before which is why my appetite increased and I maintained/gained weight.

Thanks again X

[boofaloo]

I would do swimming and gentle exercises until you get to goal and start upping your calories.
I would concentrate on losing weight first - then toning up and getting fit.