How to lose a weight and improve fitness without running?
Discussion
Hi, I am looking for some training advice. I am generally a fit person, I play football twice a week and do a lot of walking but in the last year or so I seem to have acquired a beer belly. I've been slim all my life and am having problems getting rid of it, the thing is everyone tells me I should take up running but I detest running unless it's after a ball. Has anyone got any tips on how to burn some fat and improve fitness without resorting to running x miles each day? Press ups, sit ups?
tomirk said:
Hi, I am looking for some training advice. I am generally a fit person, I play football twice a week and do a lot of walking but in the last year or so I seem to have acquired a beer belly. I've been slim all my life and am having problems getting rid of it, the thing is everyone tells me I should take up running but I detest running unless it's after a ball. Has anyone got any tips on how to burn some fat and improve fitness without resorting to running x miles each day? Press ups, sit ups?
Guess where the name comes from.tomirk said:
Hi, I am looking for some training advice. I am generally a fit person, I play football twice a week and do a lot of walking but in the last year or so I seem to have acquired a beer belly. I've been slim all my life and am having problems getting rid of it, the thing is everyone tells me I should take up running but I detest running unless it's after a ball. Has anyone got any tips on how to burn some fat and improve fitness without resorting to running x miles each day? Press ups, sit ups?
You could do a thousand sit ups a day and I doubt you would lose a single pound of fat. The same goes for press ups. As regards alternative aerobic exercise to running, you could always try cycling, rowing, skipping, boxing, swimming.....oh, and maybe steer clear of the ale.If you already play footie twice a week then you certainly don't need to do any more running!
There are lots of ways of getting out of breath without running as has already been suggested but I fear your beer belly is trying to tell you something.
If you're not losing it with 2 footie matches a week then I definitely reckon that what's going in is far exceeding what's going out. Get your intake right and then look for something sustainable that you enjoy doing. For me it's cycling, kickboxing, weights and spinning but you may have a different preference.
If space is tight then burpees, star presses, skipping etc will all burn calories.
Good luck
There are lots of ways of getting out of breath without running as has already been suggested but I fear your beer belly is trying to tell you something.
If you're not losing it with 2 footie matches a week then I definitely reckon that what's going in is far exceeding what's going out. Get your intake right and then look for something sustainable that you enjoy doing. For me it's cycling, kickboxing, weights and spinning but you may have a different preference.
If space is tight then burpees, star presses, skipping etc will all burn calories.
Good luck
Definitely rowing - get yourself on an erg and you'll find its a fantastic way to get yourself super fit as well as building muscle tone. However, make sure you get your technique correct at the start or you will end up screwing up your back - get yourself on the Concept2.co.uk forum and you'll pick up lots of handy tips.
MKnight702 said:
Kettlebells?
Not wanting to pick you out (even though it looks like i am, so sorry!), but replies like this do my head in tbh (on other forums i see it more) :PA kettlebell is a piece of equipment, not unlike a dumbell.
The OP needs exercises that he can do with equipment ;]
Kettlebell exercises are a good option though, specifically things like windmills and turkish getups.
Depends though doesn't it?
Some people (me) love their food, cooking, eating etc. For me burning extra calories is a better option than cutting out too much of what makes you happy.
Bad example given the thread title, but when I was running 20 miles a week it was hard to put on any weight.
Of course, what eventiually happens when you find a sport/activity that you really truly love is that you start to give your body the best fuel it needs to run/swim/cycle/lift -because performance becomes very important to you and you can feel the difference between crap and good food. So the better diet sort of happens by default.
Some people (me) love their food, cooking, eating etc. For me burning extra calories is a better option than cutting out too much of what makes you happy.
Bad example given the thread title, but when I was running 20 miles a week it was hard to put on any weight.
Of course, what eventiually happens when you find a sport/activity that you really truly love is that you start to give your body the best fuel it needs to run/swim/cycle/lift -because performance becomes very important to you and you can feel the difference between crap and good food. So the better diet sort of happens by default.
captainzep said:
Depends though doesn't it?
Some people (me) love their food, cooking, eating etc. For me burning extra calories is a better option than cutting out too much of what makes you happy.
burning kcals might be a better option for you but it is much easier to not eat crap than it is to do exercise.Some people (me) love their food, cooking, eating etc. For me burning extra calories is a better option than cutting out too much of what makes you happy.
Normal meal - 1000kcal
lighter option - 600kcal
400kcal saved in 1 go, no exercise needed.
400kcal is about 45 mins on a static bike doing steady state cardio.
3500kcal a week to burn 1lb of fat. that could mean anything from ~4-9 hours of cardio. To make 2lb drop a week, you would need to be burning 7000kcal, that's a serious amount of cardio to do (not inc the amount other time that goes alongside exercising).
Instead a 1000kcal drop would be much easier (after tapering down to that amount).
Edited by Morba on Friday 29th October 15:22
LordGrover said:
No - that's 'going on a diet'. Obviously if someone restricts what they eat they'll likely lose weight but as soon as they return to their old habits, 'come off the diet' they go back up again.
Changing your diet is the most effective way to lose fat and keep it off.
Maybe.Changing your diet is the most effective way to lose fat and keep it off.
I think whichever way you achieve a calorie deficit that works for you -thats fine.
The key for me was a lecture by Dr Robert Ross who showed that 'thin' inactive people live shorter lives than overweight 'fit' people. Cardio-metabolic risk appears to be very closely related to physical exercise rather than body size per se.
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