Since I am i very inactive person and probably have only worked out maybe once or twice every month or so for the past year, do you guys know what kind of changes I should expect in my body? I'm not overweight by any means, I just have all the normal things such as love handles, loose arms, etc. that drive me crazy!! What changes did you guys see in your body and over how long did those changes take place? Thanks so much again for all your encouragement!!
meagan
meagan
It will depend on three things.
a) how much you exercise - Don't go crazy and start spending 20 hrs. a week in the gym. You'll either burn out or injure yourself. Gradually build up to your goals. Conversly, don't only hit the gym/run/whatever once a week and expect fast results.
b) how closely you watch your diet - Volumes have been written on this subject, so I'll just say that you'll see results faster with a balanced diet than you will with Snickers for breakfast and ice cream for lunch and dinner.
c) genetics - Women tend to store excess fat on their hips and butt. Men tend to store it in their gut. You can't spot reduce the fat, but you can reduce the overall fat. Genetics determines where the fat deposits are stored and which fat deposits are burned off first. No creme or ab-balster is going to change that.
a) how much you exercise - Don't go crazy and start spending 20 hrs. a week in the gym. You'll either burn out or injure yourself. Gradually build up to your goals. Conversly, don't only hit the gym/run/whatever once a week and expect fast results.
b) how closely you watch your diet - Volumes have been written on this subject, so I'll just say that you'll see results faster with a balanced diet than you will with Snickers for breakfast and ice cream for lunch and dinner.
c) genetics - Women tend to store excess fat on their hips and butt. Men tend to store it in their gut. You can't spot reduce the fat, but you can reduce the overall fat. Genetics determines where the fat deposits are stored and which fat deposits are burned off first. No creme or ab-balster is going to change that.
I agree with what has already been said.
It all depends on the time you put into your workouts
It all depends on the time you put into your workouts
I don't know about everyone but for me, some of the first changes I noticed were overall awareness, I just seem to be more awake and my reflexes seems to be a little quicker. The body started to firm up and I just felt much better after 1-2 months of running. I would think for each person it is different but that is what I saw.
I never started running for weight loss, but i had abit off a beer belly. After about 3 months of running and eating less fat and sugars. I lost about a stone and a half..and noticed a general toning....escepically in the legs, i do a few sit up and press ups etc to tone my upper body.....but thats because im vain. Basically running and eating well will give you all u need to tone up, and small calorie deficiency each day.
Patience is really the key, too. I tried not to focus on the scale but more, like RB said, on how I felt, and of course the fact that my pants were getting looser without me stressing about it. Enjoy your new lifestyle for what it is, fun, healthy and good for you, and the results will show much faster than if you worry about them. Not saying you are, but just saying what worked for me. The times I was really looking for improvement I saw far less.
I think PH sums it up best. Maybe another factor to throw in after genetics is age. Though not the same for all people, personally I find it harder to lose weight the older I get. I've got those spots mentioned above as well (love handles...sheesshhhh...who gave them that name. I don't love them)and finding they aren't going away too quickly. Over all body fat has decreased though, so that's a good thing. Too bad I couldn't tell my body which parts to start losing the fat...
I reiterate all the comments above. One thing which you should'nt do is expect too much. Don't look at your mirror everyday. Its not gonna work that way. If you run for a month or two and make sure you have an acceptable calorie deficiency you will definetely see a difference, both in terms of how you feel and look. Also remember that you will lose muscle with fat, its a fact how and much of this happens depends on your body.
I hate to say this in a running forum, I hope i dont offend anybody. I love Biking as much as Running and it can help too. Cross training can not only be fun but the nature of biking is that you usually bike over a longer time and your HR doesnt reach the highs of running unless you are doing hills. But beware that entirely different muscle groups are exercised, and you have to make sure your bike fits you. One thing that helped my psyche was that you usually do more miles of biking before you stop and it kinda adds to your running confidence saying 'hey if I bike that far I can run a lot more than I used to' wrt distance and time
Good luck running.
-D
I hate to say this in a running forum, I hope i dont offend anybody. I love Biking as much as Running and it can help too. Cross training can not only be fun but the nature of biking is that you usually bike over a longer time and your HR doesnt reach the highs of running unless you are doing hills. But beware that entirely different muscle groups are exercised, and you have to make sure your bike fits you. One thing that helped my psyche was that you usually do more miles of biking before you stop and it kinda adds to your running confidence saying 'hey if I bike that far I can run a lot more than I used to' wrt distance and time
Good luck running.
-D
I agree, I love biking as well. Although if your serious about competing in running I'm not sure how much it helps. My dad, who bikes all the time, and is really good at it for his age, really struggles with a 400 metre run. I'm guessing it's probably the different muscles that are used between the two sports. I personally love biking because you can explore much more than running, and I usually bike twice as long than I can run. It's a good experience, and it doesn't let you get bored at all with running. Thats why I like to bike on days that I'm resting from a run.
Your name is duathalon. Is that like biking and running? If so maybe I could have a chance competeing someday. with my variaty of biking and running.
Your name is duathalon. Is that like biking and running? If so maybe I could have a chance competeing someday. with my variaty of biking and running.
Duathalon is a run-bike-run event
Duathalon is a run-bike-run event Nice, I might look into that in like 5-10 years...yeah...I plan ahead lol.
Nice, I might look into that in like 5-10 years...yeah...I plan ahead lol. Purple Hayes has done a few du's. He is our resident expert
Cool. Does anyone know what the distances are? Or do they vary between competitions?
Well it is actaully Duathlon and not Duathalon... who said I couldnt spell
;-). Well Some of the ones I did were 3-10-3 the longest was a 7-18-6 miles. They vary depending on the event. It is a lot of fun. I do not know where you are, Mike G, but usually a lot of tri's do duathlons too.
Just as a prelude there are various adventure/fun bike-run races such as the muddy buddy. These are over a 10K course where you bike and run. This might give you more of an idea.
-D
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Alright sounds good thanks. I'm in Canada by the way. I have a mountain bike which I ride on the road, I'm guessing there isn't a big difference between the two, with the muscles you use at least. I probably won't get a road bike for quite some time, because if I were to get one, it would be a high class one.