This topic may have been addressed here already but I couldn't find it. Due to my knees and now a foot condition, the treadmill and bike are too painful. Do youthink it is possible to get an all over workout with just lifting weights? Will circuit training do the job? I think I may also be motivated to workout if I stick to lifting. I was getting bored with the bike so avoiding the gym. Now my foot is acting up. My work involves being on my feet on cement floors for 8 hours which may have some impact on my motivation to jump on the bike or treadmill.

Weights can be used around injuries. You just avoid using the parts that are injured. Since your lower body is the pain area upper body workouts are in order and working in lower body exercises very lightly and carefully will help. Aerobics can be had many ways. It's just a matter of raising your respiration and heart rate up for an extended period of time. Legs are just the easy way since they have the biggest muscles.

I've had several previous knee injuries, so treadmill kills me, too. I started out on the bike, 5 or 10 minutes at a time and worked my way up to the elliptical, which doesn't jar my knee when I use it. You can get amazing results from weights, it's true, but cardio is really good for you. Hopefully you'll find something that won't aggravate your personal sore spots, which is what I had to do as well. Good luck!

You dont't need cardio to lose weight... losing weight is all diet and eating at a caloric deficit... its that simple. Eat fewer calories than you burn daily and you will lose weight. If you list weights with intensity its just as good if not better than a cardio session IMO. Lifting with intensity is key though, it will keep your heart rate up while working out.

I dont hear it on these forums enough but be careful how few calories you eat daily. While most people here advise to eat very few calories, extreme caloric deficits upwards of 1500 cal a day, Is destroying their metabolisms. They lose weight quickly, lose a ton of muscle, and then a few months out wonder why they are not losing even when eating so little... its because the months of eating at an extreme caloric deficit has messed up their metabolism and now they have to focus on repairing it.

Mike - agree whole heartily with your points.

I wish the average WLS Center program did a better job at emphasizing this. Mine did not mention this at all, but I eventually figured it out after reading posts like yours and many months ago from Susan (Admin).

There is a time and place for extreme caloric deficits that help many succeed (including myself) on the post op diet. However, do try and advance out of the extreme caloric deficits after month 5 or 6 in order to not kill your metabolism. It is a gradual ascent and may take a few months of tweaking to get your eating and workout plan to a happy equilibrium.

It is *so* much easier to achieve the weight and physique goals if eating enough calories from a set of well balanced meals, focusing on the macro nutrient ratios. Without the calories, you are constantly fighting your body for measurable progress. My calories are currently at 1600-1800 and I hope to raise them even more based upon TDEE to achieve some specific body transformation goals over the summer months.

Unfortunately I did not learn and embrace this until after weight loss finished a!nd lost a lot of muscle as a result. My progress crashed and burned for a couple months as metabolism was in a state of decline. Fortunately, I have turned things around in the last few months and am continuing to going forward. I enjoy not having to stress at all about eating or really having to pay attention to "dieting" in order to achieve weight lifting progress. It feels so natural.

Learn from my mistakes people!!!

I seldom do cardio anymore. I do weight lifting 3-5 days a week. It is what is going to shape my body the way I want it to be. And, as Fiddleman mentioned already, I eat based on my TDEE less a 10% deficit. Right now, that has me at about 1650 calories a day. When I lift weights, I increase my caloric intake, mainly through high Protein foods. It took me close to twelve weeks to reset my metabolism, and it was completely worth it.

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thanks everyone. The gym where I go has a recumbant eliptical bike which I like but find it boring after awhile ,Lissa, the regular stand up eliptical did bother my knees. I do watch the calories but think the weightlifting will help in the muscle loss department. Plus, after kayaking for two hours yesterday I realized I needed the arm workout. Susan, what is "TDEE"?

I seldom do cardio anymore. I do weight lifting 3-5 days a week. It is what is going to shape my body the way I want it to be. And, as Fiddleman mentioned already, I eat based on my TDEE less a 10% deficit. Right now, that has me at about 1650 calories a day. When I lift weights, I increase my caloric intake, mainly through high Protein foods. It took me close to twelve weeks to reset my metabolism, and it was completely worth it.

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I do weights no more than 3 times a week and one of those days is a very intense HIIT with weights on my feet and in my hands running up a steep hill which I complete in about 20 minutes.

Cardio has never worked for me. It always seems to run me down and lead to injury and sickness. Lifting has always worked for me. The HIIT seems to a cross between the two.

I also keep the calories up especially on workout days when I hit the whey and glutamine and night supplements, (Animal Packs).

Do youthink it is possible to get an all over workout with just lifting weights? Will circuit training do the job? I think I may also be motivated to workout if I stick to lifting. I was getting bored with the bike so avoiding the gym. Now my foot is acting up.

Circuit training can be very beneficial in getting cardio AND resistance training in. The Crossfit training is basically circuit training at a higher, more intense level. However a lot of the required lifts are compound lifts as well as body weight lifts, and some of them require you to be on your feet. Nothing get's me winded and makes me feel like my heart is pounding out of my chest like a few sets of clean and jerks. It's a full body lift that if done for several reps, is very much cardio but will also make you very strong and explosive. However, you're on your feet to do this and you mentioned a foot problem. Depending on what kind of foot problem, you may still be able to do these lifts or deadlifts which are a little less explosive. With these, you're basically on your feet, but not running, which you may or may not be able to do on your bad foot. You can probably start out doing these kind of compound lifts using kettlebells. If your gym has these, you'll want to get a little training from a staff person before using them, if you haven't used them before. You can also use a barbell. Just keep in mind that these are very technical lifts that you'll want to stay light with for quite a while before progressing to heavier weights. Just one idea on how to do just some full body lifting, but also get some cardio in the process.

I do weights no more than 3 times a week and one of those days is a very intense HIIT with weights on my feet and in my hands running up a steep hill which I complete in about 20 minutes.

Cardio has never worked for me. It always seems to run me down and lead to injury and sickness. Lifting has always worked for me. The HIIT seems to a cross between the two.

I also keep the calories up especially on workout days when I hit the whey and glutamine and night supplements' date=' (Animal Packs).[/quote']

What do you think of the Animal Pak Vitamin supplement? I tried it a couple weeks ago, but was having trouble with some side effects. I still have the canister so think I will give it another shot.

Thanks aroundhky, my gym does have kettle balls and a great staff. You reminded me that I did do dead lifts with a personal trainer many years ago. Not lift and jerk or whatever it is but dead lift up to the chest. I did get a great workout in the abs with them. As soon as I finish my 2 12hour shifts I will be in the gym working on a routine.

Also consider Pilates, which was invented for injured ballerinas, you use your own body weight and will end up drenched in sweat with a good pulse rate but never exerting your joints, so long as you find an instructor who is more focused on recovery and isn't competitive.

Yes! And it will help you retain your lean body mass, which will contribute to a sustained metabolism throughout weight loss . You can still burn by focusing on the activity you do when you're NOT working out (NEAT: non exercise activity thermogenesis) such as fidgeting, cleaning, shopping, wrangling kids. Because let's face it, we're NOT working out (23 hrous= 96% of your day) a lot more each day than we ARE working out (1 hour = 4% of your day). All the crazy people who tell us to park far away and take the stairs all these years were on to something. I wear a Bodymedia Fit, which uses sensors to track steps, heat reflux, and etc to calculate daily burn. To my surprise, I have better burns on days when I am out and about all day- more than the days when I have a good workout but am a couch potato the rest of the day. Moral: don't feel tied to a cardio machine to push through your pain and burn calories, do something you can enjoy and sustain! You can avoid looking "skinny-fat" this way, bc lifting weights is what transforms the SHAPE of your body. Focus on compound lifts that engage multiple muscle groups through pushing and pulling (most bang for your buck).

I am not an expert by any means, but I wouldn't recommend that you stop cardio. Cardio is essential to losing visceral fat (the fat that is deep in your body surrounding your organs...subcuteaneous is just beneath the skin layer.) Can you try swimming?

You dont't need cardio to lose weight... losing weight is all diet and eating at a caloric deficit... its that simple. Eat fewer calories than you burn daily and you will lose weight. If you list weights with intensity its just as good if not better than a cardio session IMO. Lifting with intensity is key though' date=' it will keep your heart rate up while working out.

I dont hear it on these forums enough but be careful how few calories you eat daily. While most people here advise to eat very few calories, extreme caloric deficits upwards of 1500 cal a day, Is destroying their metabolisms. They lose weight quickly, lose a ton of muscle, and then a few months out wonder why they are not losing even when eating so little... its because the months of eating at an extreme caloric deficit has messed up their metabolism and now they have to focus on repairing it.[/quote']

Thank you....I figured this out the hard way too. You're dead on.

This topic may have been addressed here already but I couldn't find it. Due to my knees and now a foot condition' date=' the treadmill and bike are too painful. Do youthink it is possible to get an all over workout with just lifting weights? Will circuit training do the job? I think I may also be motivated to workout if I stick to lifting. I was getting bored with the bike so avoiding the gym. Now my foot is acting up. My work involves being on my feet on cement floors for 8 hours which may have some impact on my motivation to jump on the bike or treadmill.[/quote']

Did you consider swimming in addition to the weight lifting?