Exercise Preference?

What type of exercise do you find to be the most effective?

I’m doing a combo of cardio 3X a week and strength training exercises 2X a week. So far, so good!

My preference is swimming.  You’d think living next to the ocean I would be able to swim a lot.  However, I prefer to be the only critter in the water, so I prefer a pool.

Yeah .. the ocean I’m fairly close to in addition to the critters (including sharks and sea lions) also is very cold and is known for sleeper waves and rip currents.. I’ll stick to my elliptical

Well, I’ve discovered that strength training, while important for other reasons, doesn’t seem to help with weight loss at all. It is all about cardio for me and I find walking and swimming the most enjoyable/tolerable…

Same here .. and being the nerd that I am I figured out that 30 minutes on the elliptical plus stretching beforehand and a little cooldown afterwards equals the length of an episode of Star Trek TNG… 

I’m on season 2 and I figure by the time I finish the series I’ll have reached my goals. Then I’ll need to revise my goals so I have an excuse to watch DS9..

I like a combo of strength training and cardio. One exercise DVD that combines the two and gets quick results is Slim in 6 with Debbie Siebers.

I love to walk.  It gets me outside (and away from my computer!)  I get to smell fresh air.  The area I live has a lot of hills, so a good walk is quite the workout.  I find if I do at least a 20 minute walk each day—I eat less and can keep weight off easier.

I have done almost every form you can think of, all with varying degrees of success. I really prefer a gym membership, so I can do elliptical and treadmill 4 days a week and hopefully do weights 1 or 2 days. I did the gym membership before my wedding to drop 2 sizes.

The original Tae-Bo was my go-to in college and I lost 30 pounds with that.

My weight tends to fluctuate a lot—I seem to gain and lose the same 25 pounds over and over.

Right now I’m doing a combo of walking and Biggest Loser DVDs for a weight loss of 15-20 pounds, starting at the end of January (so about 1/2 a pound a week). I think I’ll have to step it up to lose more than that.

I have tried a bunch of other DVDs, from belly dancing to Denise Austin to pilates. What seems to work best for me is that I get sweating from every pore in my body!The Biggest Loser DVDs definitely work—even my knees sweat when I’m done with the 50 minute cardio section!

Walking or jogging work for me. In the summer, I swim, but since we don’t have a lap length pool, it’s more for enjoyment than exercise. Plus, I never feel like I’m working as hard when I’m in the water.

Gyms don’t work for me because the only machine I like is the rower. I much prefer being outside.

I love to walk! I have a very active young German Shepherd, and she needs tons of exercise, which is fine by me.  We walk a total of two or more miles every day.  I also love to get exercise just by doing my chores around the farm - digging in the garden, hauling compost into the vegetable beds, walking through the woods around the farm to prune the trees that fall across the paths.  I add weight training whenever I can.  I hate gyms. I just don’t like them. Anything that gets me outside into nature is best for me!

I need a combination of strength training and cardio, preferably in spurts. For example, the Core Secrets program (the one with the ball and the DVD, etc), does five-minute cardio sections between strength training sections. I swear, it made me feel better over the course of just a few weeks. I didn’t just lose weight, I toned up, too, so I wasn’t just a smaller version of my old, wimpy self. LOL If I could get a television in my basement where my treadmill is, I would love to pick this program up again as it was my absolute favorite. I don’t think I want to have to add a run up and down the stairs every five minutes or so, though.

For cardio, I do a combination through the week of swimming, elliptical, and spinning.

I love spinning!

The sign outside the spinning room at my gym says, “You don’t wait to try spinning when you are in shape - you use spinning to get you INTO shape!” Because I love riding my bike throughout the spring, summer, and fall, I’m really glad I can spin in the winter. The instructors I’ve had so far are fantastic about making sure you go at your own pace, so you don’t need to feel the pressure of keeping up with the guy beside you. Plus, you’re more inclined to do interval training (always good to boost a calorie burn) in spinning, because you have the coach to guide you.

I also like spinning because of the coaching and the music. It’s a fun time, but not annoying, like aerobics classes.

However, because I have exercised-induced asthma, I can only spin for about 30 minutes, and a regular class is 45-60 minutes. But it’s okay - I just pick a bike on the end, stop when I need to, go lift weights, and come back at the end of class.

I’m also a fan of strength training - usually 2x a week. For 12 weeks this fall, I worked with a personal trainer to understand certain form and motions and to get a jump start on my routine. It was *expensive*, but I think it was worth it. Now I’m in a good rhythm of doing it myself.

I also do a 30-60 minute yoga routine 1-2x a week.

This all sounds like a lot, but I need a lot. :D I usually exercise 5 days a week, but after the first of the year, it will be 7 days, divided between cardio, strength, and yoga.

Hi Jeanne,

You sound very much like me. Walking is my favorite exercise. I do try to do some core training or strength training a couple of days a week, but when gardening time comes, THAT works my whole body. Not only that, but I feel like it also feeds my soul, and down the road the fruit of my labor also feeds my body. I saw yesterday that gardening is moderate exercise.

This year I plan to expand my garden to include herbs too, so I’ll be out there a little more.

Donna

Lately I’ve also added strength training to my routine. It’s easy and I get results fast, which is something that motivates me. I can also squeeze it into a busy day and lift weights while I watch television or while waiting for the water to boil for tea.  Nothing like multi tasking AND getting healthy!

Hi Jeanne,

I also walk while on the phone. My house layout is perfect. I can walk through the kitchen, into the dining area, into the living room and back into the kitchen. This way if I have a call that lasts 15 or 20 minutes, I’m not just sitting around while talking. It’s learning to take advantage of every chance to move and be active, just like parking further away from the store’s door so we have to walk a few extra steps. Our bodies are designed to burn calories, when we burn less than we take in, we gain weight. Activity is a good thing and if we can multi-task—even better!

Donna