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Old 11-01-04, 07:19 PM  
horsemom2
 
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I have discovered the same results

last winter I ended a 4 year plateau after rebuilding an aerobic base and then stupidly added more and more intensity till I gained back what I had lost and then some
Now I am going low intensity again cuz the cooler weather aggravates my joints and started losing again

Barb S
who will really fight the urge to add intensity this time round
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Old 11-01-04, 10:04 PM  
ronnee
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Me too!

This summer I did 8 weeks of the P90X and got nicely toned but gained a few lbs despite my carefully keeping track of food intake. Once the Fall started, my semester got crazy (I'm a full-time college prof) and my toddler started to get up earlier I had to cut back to about 45 mins a day. I went back to circuit workouts and short but intense cardio (e.g. Cathe CTX). ALso started doing a bit of Pilates once a week and more kickboxing. So far I've lost a couple of lbs and my clothes fit much better! I haven't lost many strength gains from P90X either. Go figure.

Funny thing, as I was writing this my Dept. chair came by to tell me that "you look great!"

OK, off to go home and eat dinner. Another addition to help my crazy lifestyle is a crockpot so I actually have a nice healthy meal waiting for me as opposed to the processed food my DH would nuke for dinner.

Ronnee
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Old 11-02-04, 05:05 AM  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by abbyalex
So I not only reduced my workout time from 60 or more minutes a day to only 30 minutes a day (4-5 times per week), but I also reduced the intensity from very intense (i.e. Cathe) to more "light-to-moderate (i.e. Leslie Sansone, PHH).

The surprising results are (drum roll please......) in the past 3 months I lost 7 lbs.!!
There are several books that speak to this "phenomenon." "24 Hour Turnaround" by Jay Williams, "The Maffetone Method" by Philip Maffetone, "Biomarkers" by Evans and Rosenberg. and "Smart Exercise" by Covert Bailey. All advocate low to medium intensity to burn fat. High intensity burns sugar, for one thing and for another, it is stressfull and raises cortisol in the body which in turn makes the body hold on to fat as a defense mechanism. Also, obese people metabolism is so messed up they burn sugar and have to retrain their body to burn fat with (you guessed it) low intensity exercise. Bailey says that some will tell an obese person not to exercise too much whereas he says "Exercise every chance you get" meaning 10 minutes here, 10 minutes there, walk to the store, walk up the stairs, etc.

There have been lots of threads discussing high intensity vs. low, and it is difficult to believe that low intensity works unless you read the science behind it and/or experience it for yourself.

Nancy
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Old 11-02-04, 11:41 AM  
fitfun40's
 
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interesting fitness change--lost inches doing less

I too haven't been doing just cathe. I love her workouts but I love all my different instructors for kickboxing and my new love for pilates and stability ball workouts. I am getting better results doing a little less and not so high intensity everyday.

I am very glad I didn't order the hardcore series now. I was upset 1st and then had a long talk with myself. I didn't want to do just cathe dvds the rest of my life there are a lot other good instructors too.

Janis saffell,billy blanks,pilates,ect ect. They are good workouts as well and I am seeing the best inch loss with kickboxing,taebo and pilates and stability ball workouts

less is best IMO but we are all different!!

Debbie
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Old 11-02-04, 11:50 AM  
toaster
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Abby, thanks for sharing your results. Doing less work for more gains is something I've been wondering about for ahwile, particularly since in the past year, I've been working out much more (more often, longer sessions, higher frequency), yet haven't seen any positive changes at all--if anything, my weight has gone up a bit (probably from being hungrier!). I've been a bit less intense lately in that I've been doing more Pilates, and it seems to be having positive results. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I plan to start a rotation which will be heavy on TBM/Callanetics/Pilates but lighter on cardio with no traditional weight training--I'm eager to see what happens!

My one reluctance about cutting back on my workouts is that I actually find myself feeling guilty when I'm not using all of my videos on a regular basis! I don't have a huge collection--around 40 right now--but it just seems like if I have them, I should use them. Anyone else have this weird quirk?
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Old 11-02-04, 12:01 PM  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by toaster
My one reluctance about cutting back on my workouts is that I actually find myself feeling guilty when I'm not using all of my videos on a regular basis! I don't have a huge collection--around 40 right now--but it just seems like if I have them, I should use them. Anyone else have this weird quirk?
No, you're not the only one. Several months ago I began doing mainly Slim Series, yoga, and Pilates and felt really bad that a full 3/4 of my videos are gathering dust, especially ones it took me ages to get my hands on! I keep telling myself that someday I will be happy to have them, whether I need to alleviate boredom or break a plateau, lend a friend, or whatever.

Abby, thanks for your insights! I am gradually working my way back into a routine after being injured and starting school, and I really only have time for 30-45 min workouts most days. I was noticing this morning, though, that even with the limited time I've been putting in the past week or so, I'm already noticing results. Maybe there is something to this... I sure hope so!
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Old 11-07-04, 11:42 AM  
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Abby, I just found this post, and I thank you for sharing this. I too, am having trouble finding the time I need to do longer workouts. I'm turning 40 next month, and am finding that the break from the Firms with the tall box climbs (even many cardios use the blasted tall box climb) has been good. My knees were hurting me. A new sypmtom for my aging body. I recently tried reincorporating some of the more intense Firms in an attemptto try to get more cardio in, and relieve guilt of not doing enough cardio.

To my surprise, with so little cardio recently, I don't feel I have lost cardio fitness. Yet, those achy knees are returning. So back to barre workouts for me, but I will try adding lighter cardio and won't feel guilty that I'm not killing myself.

Toaster, I'm the same as you. I feel guilty about all my workouts just sitting, but believe it or not, my DH told me, unless I hate the workouts and I know I will never do them again, I should keep them for a time when I might want to include them in my rotation again.

I'm doing the same as you Toaster. Barre workouts, yoga/pilates, stability ball and light cardio. No heavy traditional weight training. Maybe I will do an occasional resistance band workout or light weight workout, but I am really liking the way my body is changing shape, even if I haven't really lost weight.

Videophile, thanks for the comments on the benefits of low intensity, and the links. I'm going to check those out.

Are you maintaing your results since you posted, Abby?
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Old 11-07-04, 03:32 PM  
susan p
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Gosh I love this thread. *giggle*

(and actually, I can say that the switch to less intensity has been very good to me as well. With age comes wisdom!)
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Old 11-07-04, 04:14 PM  
Sung Tse
 
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I had the same thing happen to me. But, I think your hectic schedule and loss of appetite resulted in your weight loss, not the lower intensity and duration of exercise. The numbers just don't compute.

If everything remained the same (your eating, your schedule) while only your workout durations and intensity LESSENED, you would gain weight, not lose.

I have been struggling to lose the last 10 lbs for almost 8 years now. About 3 years ago, I was under tremendous stress trying to close escrow on a home I was purchasing as well as a home I was selling. I hardly had time to eat and I exercised on average about 2 or 3X per week vs. my normal schedule of 6 or 7 days per week.

At the end of 4 weeks, I had lost more than 10 lbs. My pants were literally falling off of me and people commented that even my face looked gaunt. (I was 35 btw.)

We know that it's easier to decrease the # of calories we consume than it is to burn more calories through exercise. (It's easier to NOT eat that 300 calorie bagel than it is to run for 30 minutes AFTER eating it to burn it off.)

"You can exercise less intensely for a shorter duration and still lose weight while eating the same amount of calories."

How I would love for the above to be true. But, IMO and 20 years of exercise experience, it is not.

SOMETHING is happening and resulting in a calorie deficit and subsequent weight loss.
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Old 11-07-04, 06:57 PM  
lfcjasp
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Thanks, Abby! Great thread!

I've been hitting it hard the past few weeks and being a good WW'er as well...and it's all worked, but I have the opposite problem of Toaster ...I'm looking at the Bar Method I just got in a trade and my LBM's/Callanetics/Pilates and thinking they're feeling sort of neglected. And I have Minna Lessig's Balanced Blend and Emergency Workout staring at me, too! I have been loving my Cathe's, but also don't regret passing on preordering Hardcore.

Maybe a dose of lighter intensity would be a good shake up for me and help with the hunger factor.
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