exercise ?? for earl or jeremy or anyone else

Hi there, I try and do 3 sets of 60 crunches a day and i try to do my treadmill every night at 8 pm for 1 mile for 30 minutes. well my husband and a few others tells me my body will get used to this and it wont work and wont loose weight... do you know what i mean.have you ever heard this?? i wont get nothing out of my exercise?  i dont think its true.... and advice.... thanks.  Anita

First of all, congratulations on starting a fitness program!  This is great, and I'm sure has made a lot of difference in how you look and feel.  A couple of comments which might be helpful: As you get fit, your body will need to use less energy to perform the same level of exercise.  So if you want to continue to progress in fitness as well as burn the same number of calories, you WILL need to up the exercise levels.  That's why people continually increase the amount of exercise they are doing until they reach a level of fitness that they want to maintain.   Check out the article on this site (on the first page of Cardiovascular Training) about walking for fitness.  It notes that while walking 2 miles nonstop 7 days a week is the best way to get in shape, walking only one mile won't do much.   Walking one mile burns glucose, not fat, apparently.  The article also implies that since walking two miles revs up your metabolism, walking right before you go to bed will not give you all of the benefits that walking in the morning will.  (That being said, I exercise at night, too, since the morning isn't possible.) You probably need to focus on additional parts of the body besides the abs, so that your whole body will get toned as you lose weight.  You want to target the arms, legs, sides, back, etc.  Have you thought about weights?  Or a good toning video for home. So good luck.  You are on the right track.  As you go along you will learn the tricks and techniques (a lot from this site) for getting fit.

Hi Anita, First, you're doing great so far. Second, 3 sets of crunches and 30 minutes of walking is more than 90% of the population does everyday. So be proud of that. In my opinion, with the level of exercise you're doing now not being enough to lose weight, it depends on your goals. You're getting pretty close to your goal weight, so like someone else posted on here, your body gets more efficient and uses less energy to move your body. You're metabolism generally slows down too because your body gets used to eating less and requires less calories to maintain your weight the less you actually weigh. So just some suggestions I think might help... 1 mile in 30 minutes is 2 mph.  If you only have 30 minutes to walk at night, I think you should pick up the pace. If you have the time increase the amount of time of the walks also. Most people settle in on 45 minutes to an hour. I think 2 miles should be a minimum mileage. Everyone is different so there's no magic MPH or length of time. I think you start increasing the intensity also, raise the level of the treadmill so it's like walking a hill. Start building up gradually. Walking to me is about activity. I sit at a desk all day so walking is my way of staying half way active, stretching and getting the blood circulating again. It's my way of burning a few more calories and staying healthy. But let's be honest here, it's not exactly that same thing as running a marathon or digging a ditch. Walking isn't the high intensity exercise that requires you to rest for 2 days to do it again. Walking is always the number one form of exercise I recommend to everyone, especially WLS people that usually have never exercised before. As for the 3 sets of crunches, I think that's good but you should be changing the exercises for your abs too. There are a lot of different muscles around your core area and they require a lot of different movements. Crunches are great, but I think people over use them because they're the easiest ab exercises to do. You really don't have to expend a lot of energy to do a crunch. The abs are just like any other muscle group and shouldn't be trained intensely every day anyway. Some people train them every day because they believe it spot reduces the area.  I personally don't think you can spot reduce like that. I do think you can over train the muscle to make it smaller though. But it would take a lot more than 3 sets. Anyway...If you're expecting better results you should probably increase the effort. Not over night, but gradually increase the time and intensity of your efforts and it will help you reach your goals. Sorry if I rambled. I just got up. Good luck Earl

Thanks for all your help... I do the 2.0 mph for 15 min and i raise the incline to the highest setting then back to a normal setting for 2.5 mhp for 15 min. my foot dr. told me to start out slow since a few months ago i fractured my foot. so i have begung to try and not go to fast like i like to . i can do my treadmill anytime i like to since i'm just a stay at home house wife. i am waiting to see my wls surgeon to have a panni removal i see him jan 3rd. i was trying those crunches to get rid of my belly but now i know its just mostly skin.i will try other exercise like the plank ect.. thansk for all your help. anita

Hi Anita, Well...you left off that little bit of important information. (fractured foot) I know how it is. I've fractured my foot many, many times. It's actually messed up for life now because it didn't heal properly years ago. I had a coach in High School that made me run sprints with a broken foot. I had to learn to deal with pain he said. So it's my limiting factor in how much I can do usually. If it starts hurting...I stop whatever I'm doing, because I know it's only going to get worse. So if it starts hurting...STOP! Trust me. Nothing good will come from working past the foot pain. Getting injured will only mean you won't be able to walk at all. So be careful. Listen to your body. Good luck. Earl

Whoo boy.  That's rough, with a foot fracture.  Have you thought about buying a rowing machine?  I bought a good one for about $350, and it's great.  It gives you a total body workout, but is low impact.  I put it in front of the TV, and worked my way up from 5 hard minutes to over 20 minutes.  Now I combine it with other exercises at the gym.  But with your foot, it would be a great way to increase your workout while letting your foot heal.

Hi Anita Earl is absolutely right, of course. I just wanted to speak to you about the crunches. Cruches are great, but doing a lot of them shortens your abdominal muscles and can cause a limited range of motion. You get better results when lengthening the muscles. Some of my "favorites" are planks, side planks, medicine ball rotations, and side bends. Have fun! Sharyn

The crunches will have a positive effect on your abdominal muscle group, but they are just like ever other muscle in the body...they can be overtrained.  I recommend a total body workout alternating days with aerobic exercise.  If you are temporarily on the sideline and your MD hasn't cleared you for weight training, swimming is another good aerobic exercise,  which burns fat.  Stretching exercises (like yoga) will increase your range of motion, limiting the chances of an injury in daily life or other types of exercise.  I highly recommend stretching because it will improve your posture and range of motion.  Be careful though, don't do more than you can handle, as injuries can occur.  Training all of your muscles will not only increase your resting metabolism but will also provide side benefits that aren't talked about as much, i.e. better posture, increased range of motion, etc.  Your body can get used to a certain exercise and won't get any additional benefits.  In effect, you are just maintaining a level of exercise/fitness.  Same goes with weight training.  I also agree with another poster on the time issue.  I didn't read the article, but I do know that in order to burn fat, a low intensity aerobic exercise (walking, swimming, Tai Chi, etc.) needs to last for at least 45 minutes to an hour in order for your body to move from burning glucose (comes from carbs we eat) to burning fat.  I don't really know about the time issue...I think it would depend on your schedule and how soon you sleep after you exercise.  To use myself as an example, I can't exercise an hour or 2 before I plan to sleep because of the endorphin rush I get after I exercise.  My adrenaline is too high and I can't get calmed down enough.  An option for you could be to do another 30 minute session in the morning or at another time of the day if the 30 minutes at 8pm works for you.  As long as your foot is better and feels good, I would recommend that.  If you have hit a wall, so to speak, on your walking, swimming is an excellent aerobic exercise, like I stated before.  Tai Chi is also something I personally recommend because of the fat burning benefits of an hour practice.  There is no such thing as spot reduction in any place on the body...it's a myth and doesn't exist.  Just a little side-note.  Good luck! Chris Gillette 2nd year M.S. student in Exercise Science (Sport Studies)

Hi Chris, I have not been doing my crunches but I have been doing my treadmill.. i can do my treadmill anytime since i am a house wife. now what is a total body workout?? i have no weights and i cant swim plus tight on money so cant join a gym at this time. so you say 30 minutes in the moring and 30 minutes at night??? that isnt too much??? i can do that.. my foot is all better now. i just cant go super fast or i will fracture it again. now i do have a date for my panni removal on jan. 19th. so i know i cant exercise after that till i'm healed. i love to do my treadmill i will be lost..

how does this look i just did my treadmill. i had alot of running around to do today so could do a set time so here is how it looks what i just did..

30 minutes treadmill 1.17 distance 52.0 fat 166 calories 15 minutes 2.2 mph 15 minutes 2.5 mph how do those # look????  thanks,, anita

The 30 minutes twice a day is good and will expend calories.  Honestly, if you can it would be really good to just go ahead and spend an hour at one shot if you can because of it does take time for your body to move from burning glucose (carbs) to fat catabolism (fancy way of saying breaking down fat molecules).  A good way to measure it is to try and hold a conversation with someone (doesn't matter if you're the only one there) and keep talking.  A pace that allows you to hold a conversation without too much huffing is pretty much what you want.  Remember that in order to burn fat optimally, the exercise needs to be at a low-moderate intensity and it needs to be aerobic (walking, Tai Chi, etc.).   As far as the numbers go, I don't really know what exactly the fat thing is measuring...but if you can do the hour (whether it's 1 hour at one time or 2 30 minute sessions or even 4 15 minute sessions), you will be able to burn more calories. If you like, there are tons of other exercises that will help you burn calories and get you in good shape.  Stretching is something I recommend for everyone because it does reduce your risk of injury in everyday life as well as reduce your chances of injury if you take up more rigorous exercises.  Plus it improves posture, and a host of other things. Do something that you enjoy, like the treadmill.  You're more likely to stick with it and are motivated to actually do it.  You don't have to do weights...there are literally hundreds (if not thousands) of different exercises that require you to use your body weight as resistance.  Push-ups, butt-ups (sounds funny, but will REALLY work you hard) and many more.  If you would like some exercises that you will be able to do (stretching, aerobic, resistance, or whatever), just let me know.  I can work with you and will gladly do it.   Good luck!