How much exercise should an overweight girl do a day?

[Anonymous]

and which gym exercises?

how does this sound?

5 minutes stretching

10 minutes weights

30 minutes cardio (elliptical machine or incline walking on treadmill)

20 minutes weights/machines arms legs

5 minutes stretch

im asking this because I tried doing 2 hrs a day cardio last year and caused an injury to my legs, muscle tear had to do physical therapy =/

[candlewax]

That's because you were doing too much too soon. You don't start working out a 2 hour interval when you're not in shape to do so.

The overall work out that you outlined is fine, but you need to remember to alternate resistance to every other day and move that cardio up to at least 40 min and work your way up to an hour if you're looking to lose weight. You might want to spend 10 min stretching instead of 5 and focus on 8-10 different stretches. It doesn't necessarily have to facilitate your work out, but stretching is good for the body overall.

General rule of thumb for cardio and weight loss - an hour daily, minimum being 5 days a week. If you're out of shape, and in this case, also coming back from injury, work your way into that hour and go at a pace in which you won't cause injury.

Resistance should be every other day because you need 48 hours rest for the muscles to recover. You could work it into a daily routine by splitting upper resistance one day, then the next day do lower, and then the day after do upper, etc.

[Asker]

thanks hun! this is awesome advice! yeah I screwd up last time because I failed to stretch! big mistake!

i can do an hour, but I feel like I will trigger an injury to my knees again, so I wanna just stick to 30 like my physical therapist said, he said to do 30 cardio then work on different parts of your body like upper lower machines, weights etc, I messed up last time cause I ONLY did cardio 2 hrs a day 5-6 days a week. =/

[Asker]

by alternate resistance, do you mean that I should change the difficulty settings on the machines from easy to hard every other day?

[candlewax]

Your PT is right though. You can keep it gradual though. However you might want to avoid the treadmill and go with the elliptical, cycle, and maybe even swimming. Lower stress on the knee will help prevent reinjury and at the same time, make it strong so you can gradually reintroduce other methods. By the way, only doing cardio necessarily isn't bad. The only thing that could have been an issue is biomechanics which led to your injury. But having a complete workout WILL help as well.

[candlewax]

No. By alternate resistance I mean if you want to do resistance daily, alternate muscle groups. Resistance training daily will lead to overworked muscles which leads to injury. Example being that you work legs and lower body on day one. Day two, you work upper body. Day 3 you work lower body again. Rinse and repeat. This method is refered to as "splits" You're able to resistance train on a daily basis, but not overdoing every muscle group.

[candlewax]

Also, what did you injure in your knee? ACL?

[Asker]

thanks so much! this explains a lot! yea mainly the left knee, but both knees hurt overall, what happened was that I didn't alternate like you explained, I kept working the legs on the elliptical 5 days a week, 2 hrs a day, so the muscles became imbalanced and I couldn't walk up and down the stairs anymore, my knee was throbbing, and the thigh muscle got so tight, it was pulling my knee cap, he said if I had worked out any more, I would tear the knee tissue

[Asker]

i don't think I can do elliptical everyday, only 20-30 minutes I would have to alternate like you said to upper body then legs, and do treadmill walking as cardio since I can't run

[candlewax]

The ellipitcal is mostly cardio though. You may have developed an issue because you were combining resistance with the elliptical which also works the quads. Women suffer from an imbalance in relation to the quads and knees (quad > hamstring = knee injuries). You can counteract this by working out your hamstrings as well. Instead of the treadmill, do the exercise bike. All the machines I told you are knee friendly, including the elliptical. But if it's a problem, try the bike.

[candlewax]

Also, I think you're confusing cardio and resistance. Ellipitcal/running does not count as a part of the alternating technique when it comes to resistance. Yes, the leg muscles are being worked, but it's not the same as resistance training. Resistance = specific workload to the muscle that causes it to have micro tears. This is what makes them bigger/stronger in the long run. That stress is why you need to alternate and give them 48 hours rest. Cardio can be done daily.

[Asker]

omg you are a genius! this makes so much sense! no wonder I injured myself! I did resistance on the elliptical level 5! sometimes 6! and my once slender sexy legs turned thick and bulky which I hate! you have no idea how much I screwd up! I'm not going to do resistance ever again just level 0! do you know how I can reduce my leg bulk and get my slender legs back? I wish you were my personal trainer you are so knowledgeable you should be a PT!

[candlewax]

Well, I just finished my BS in exercise science. :p Headed off to grad school to work on rehab stuff at some point. So I'm getting there! Thanks by the way.

In regard to bulk, if you were to work on your cardio, and leave the resistance out of it, your legs may go back down. When you to low rep/heavy weight/resistance, you bulk up. When you do high reps and low weight, it strengthens but doesn't bulk muscle. Example- if you want to do your cardio on a bike, keep the resistance low on the pedals.

[Asker]

thanks so much hun! I'm gonna get started on this! I really hope I can get my thin legs back :(

[candlewax]

Np. It'll take time, so don't stress if it doesn't happen fast.

[Izzy2102]

You can work out as much as you want and can keep your form right. Injuries usually don't happen because of overexhaustion they happen because your form and concenetration suffers when you get tired.

You workout plan sounds fine but I think it's better to come up with a weekly exercise plan, because you would want to avoid working the same muscle group in two days right after each other.

And you should warm up before doing weights, at least a bit

[candlewax]

Actually, injuries are also caused by being overworked as well. Biomechanics also add to the risk.

[Izzy2102]

if you work out 8 hours a day maybe, but not after 2 hours of working out. Even untrained muscles can handle that.

The vas majority of people will never expierence any kind of injury because they have overworked their muscles only elite athletes may do

[candlewax]

If you are out of shape and start working out 2 hours a day with no gradual increase to such levels, then yes, you can develop injuries. I'd like to see sources for your information, please.

[Izzy2102]

that's something I picked up doing 8 years of competetive sport. It is furthermore common sense. Our bodies are designed to withstand a high level of (physical)stress

I have never in my life met someone who got an injury from overexhausting his or her muscles (unless you countr soreness). The only common sport injury that may be caused by overexhausting your muscles would a pulled muscle and even that is more often than due to poor technique. It is very rare to get an injury by performing

[Izzy2102]

a move or a serious of movments in proper form. You don't just teat a muscle because you used it too much. If you have ever worked out to your limits you will find that afterward it will be hard for you to stand straight, if you used your legs or lift up even light stuff if you're used your arms. Often that feeling even lasts for an hour or two to some degree. higher than usual levels of lactic acid will develop in your muscles, which makes them feel sore but it will not cause injury

[Izzy2102]

i meant series not serious, in my previous comment, it's still early, sry

No of course if you exhausted while working out this will expose you to a higher risk of inury. If you run or jump you will be more likley to land badly and tear a muscle or break your ankle as a result. That is due to form, when you form lacks you run a high risk of injury, when you form is good you run a low risk. That's why it's crucial that your form is right, as long as you can assure that you can workout safley

[Izzy2102]

assuming you don't have a medical condition.

A lot injuries are caused by an accidental, unexpected and extreme movment. This is more likley to happen when you are tired but can happen every time move. Twisting your ankle and thus tearing a ligament or dislocating your knee cap are common examples of that.

Do you have any rescourse that would state there are common injuries that are not caused by wrong techinque?

I'm not saying it's impossible but it's very unlikley

[Asker]

well I did the elliptical machine 2 hrs a day, 5 days a week, and ONLY that. so my PT said that I overworked my muscles and caused imbalance, the inner thigh muscles remained weak, and the outer muscles became tight, which was pulling my knee cap (muscle), and if I were to keep doing that I would tear my knee muscle

[Asker]

he gave me anti inflammatorys and said if I don't do exercises to strengthen the inner weak muscles, then I will need surgery in the future, so I've been out of the gym for 7 months and I'm feeling better still have weak thighs when I bend down or take the stairs, but I wanna get back in shape he said to do bicycle, only 30 min of elliptical, and work each part of the body alternating

[candlewax]

First off, lactic acid does not cause muscle soreness. Muscle soreness is caused by swelling Micro tears occur in your muscles caused by an exercise. White blood cells rush in to fix it, causing swelling inside the muscle fibers. Voila, DOMS. Second, yes, overworked muscles leads to injuries. You may have been in competitive sports for 8 years, but have you treated athletes for injuries or studied the mechanisms of injury? Do you know why women are more prone to knee injuries? It's not sudden

[candlewax]

whoops, legs were taken out from under me, but a basic plant and twist motion that tears an overworked ACL. Have you ever seen the rate of injuries increase throughout a season? I agree that proper technique is a must, but you can't sit here and tell me that overworking something does not lead to injuries. Sudden trauma will, yes. Bad biomechanics, yes. But overworking everything also leads to injuries.

[Izzy2102]

well can name one common sport injury that is due to overexhaustion, not poor techinque

[Izzy2102]

i didn't mean soreness I meant the feeling you have in your muscles after working them out hard, couldn't come up with a better expresion

[TheGoodTheBadTheHOT]

Don't stretch beforehand, weakens the muscles, leave it for after. Just do a light pace for 10 mons to warm up. Still stretch after to avoid cramping though.

Now there's no specific time which an overweight person has to aim for, just do what you think you can do, and then add in another 10 minute push. But if you start to hurt or feel as if you've got an injury stop your workout and rest for a couple of days then start again but only do about half of your normal routine. A couple of days out is better than a month.

[Asker]

thanks so much!

[TheGoodTheBadTheHOT]

No problem

[Moloch]

I think your workout looks pretty good, only thing is make sure the elliptical machine and treadmill are you making you sweat buckets at the pace you go. If your shirt is not drenched in sweat after a good cardio session, you're not training hard enough.

[Asker]

hmmn good point! the elliptical machine is tricky, because you incraese resistance and I'm scared I don't wanna bulk up, I wanna be slender =/ so I was hoping that I would stick to a low resistance

[candlewax]

Not necessarily true. People are different and amount of sweat is not a good indicator of work intensity.

[Moloch]

I thought so too, but took on insanity and I was sweating buckets.

[candlewax]

Honey, the science doesn't change because Insanity came out. Physiologically, the amount of sweat is not always an indicator. :p Just sayin'. You can have an individual who is sweating buckets at a light jog and another individual who sweats moderately while running a VO2 max test. Everyone is different.

[Moloch]

I don't know, nut every single person I've ever met who was pushed to the limit sweat a lot.

[nermalinda]

It's better to do something you can easily stick to. I would say an hour 5 days a week is the max.

[Asker]

thank u!

[Anonymous]

Yeah, it sounds good. Most important thing is to not overdo it and to get time to recover.

[Asker]

yes thank u! I learned the hard way, more than 30 minutes of cardio is a no no! I used to do 3 hrs!

[Opinion Owner]

Oh wow, you were training for the olympics! lol, but yeah you're doing great, good luck!

[Anonymous]

Work out looks decent, make you are eating proper as well because even one burger from KFC takes about 70 min of light exercise to burn off.

My friend use to be really overweight and now is pretty skinny - normal. He told me his trick was that " If you can't eat healthy then don't eat (that meal) " Don't know how helpful that is but it seemed to work for him.