I felt like a celebrity. A lady approached me and asked," You’re a trainer right? Can I ask you a question?” As it turns out she recently joined a gym and made a serious commitment to fitness. Her question was “I go to the gym five mornings(5:30am)a week. Three mornings I do an hour of cardio and two mornings I do 30 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of weight training. Should I continue or should I switch my routine and do the hour of cardio 2 mornings a week"? I’m impressed. I had three questions for her.
#1. What are you trying to accomplish?
#2. When you are in the gym, are you serious about your workout?
#3. What is your nutrition like?
Her answers were.
#1. Her goals are to lose weight and tone.
#2 She takes it very seriously.
#3. She is eating clean.
I quickly did the math. According to Len Kravitz, PhD., women are more successful at weight loss if they do at least 200 minutes of cardio per week. I know that weight training is also very important towards a weight lose goal. For one thing it builds muscle mass and increases metabolism. By switching her routine to 2 sessions of an hour of cardio plus the 30 minute sessions on 3 days a week she will reach her 200 minute requirement. The additional weight training is an added bonus. This is all new for her. One hour of cardio 3 times a week is a lot. A concern of mine is burn out so switching her routine limits treadmill time and gets her doing other things. She is on the right track. She has put herself on her own to-do list!
