Level of Fitness

[Ed.]

I really don't know the level of my physical fitness.

Basically I went to the gym a lot like 4 weeks ago for 2 weeks or so, but then i haven't been for a week and went back today and did:

15 minutes rowing

25 minutes cycling - average heart rate around 175

I go back to uni on saturday and have sport fitness tests on wednesday - do you reckon I can raise my level of fitness in this amount of time?

[e5]

You need to be going frequently, 3-4 times a week for around 2 hours for atleast 2 weeks before youll start to notice a difference in fitness. doing exercise them stopping isn't a good idea. It also depends on your diet

[Ed.]

You need to be going frequently, 3-4 times a week for around 2 hours for atleast 2 weeks before youll start to notice a difference in fitness. doing exercise them stopping isn't a good idea. It also depends on your diet

2 hours of intense cardio? I don't do weights, only fitness.

[e5]

Fair enough. Maybe you should consider weights. You need to spend around 1-2 hours at the gym, you can have rest inbetween that. You can pick up a cardiovascular fitness plan online easy which will help you out and give you a good 2 hour work out. If you really want to get your fitness up, you want to try aim for that. Maybe lower it to begin with and build it up, but you won't just become fitter by saturday

2 hours of intense cardio? I don't do weights, only fitness.

[Ed.]

Fair enough. Maybe you should consider weights. You need to spend around 1-2 hours at the gym, you can have rest inbetween that. You can pick up a cardiovascular fitness plan online easy which will help you out and give you a good 2 hour work out. If you really want to get your fitness up, you want to try aim for that. Maybe lower it to begin with and build it up, but you won't just become fitter by saturday

I'm not a fan of doing weights, I'm more interested in just cardio fitness as the required muscles usually come from that.

Can you link me to a good plan?

[Eric]

Yea sure. You can do more than an hour a day as long as you have a good diet and a good workout. I'd recommend you to go to the gym for 5 times a week. Dont overdo it though, it's bad. If you can't do it just change your workout plan.

[blackops121]

I'm currently studying to be a Personal Trainer, from what I have learned so far it doesn't necessarily matter how many times you work out, or how long you work out for. It all depends on how hard you are willing to work, as well as being sure you are having an incredibly good diet.

On the fitness side of things, if you aren't really interested in doing weights, then do plyometric and body weight exercises if nothing else, you need to do this if you want your CV system to improve faster. It will also increase the amount of osteoblasts in your bones that will allow them to get bigger and stronger, reducing any chance of injury during your fitness tests as well as reducing the chances of osteoporosis and other problems you may encounter at a later age.

You need to do around an hour of intense work out or cardio, literally to the point you are spewing if you want any real results. Put it this way, if you are serious about this and want fast results, just try and speak during your work out. If you can still talk, you aren't working hard enough.

On another note, diet will be important to your regime, you will need to reduce your fat levels and increase your carbohydrate levels of course, but SUGAR is the real thing you need to try cut out. Sugar causes the pancreas to release insulin, during this time your body is practically unable to burn off any fat for up to a few hours, meaning all your working out means nothing in a body fat percentage sense.

All of that in more simple terms, eat a healthier more balanced diet, while making sure you work as hard as possible in the gym for around an hour, perhaps around three times a week if you want to increase cardio.

Quick-Tip: Work out your hearts training zone and make SURE you are within it.

[Wig44.]

I'm currently studying to be a Personal Trainer, from what I have learned so far it doesn't necessarily matter how many times you work out, or how long you work out for. It all depends on how hard you are willing to work, as well as being sure you are having an incredibly good diet.

On the fitness side of things, if you aren't really interested in doing weights, then do plyometric and body weight exercises if nothing else, you need to do this if you want your CV system to improve faster. It will also increase the amount of osteoblasts in your bones that will allow them to get bigger and stronger, reducing any chance of injury during your fitness tests as well as reducing the chances of osteoporosis and other problems you may encounter at a later age.

You need to do around an hour of intense work out or cardio, literally to the point you are spewing if you want any real results. Put it this way, if you are serious about this and want fast results, just try and speak during your work out. If you can still talk, you aren't working hard enough.

On another note, diet will be important to your regime, you will need to reduce your fat levels and increase your carbohydrate levels of course, but SUGAR is the real thing you need to try cut out. Sugar causes the pancreas to release insulin, during this time your body is practically unable to burn off any fat for up to a few hours, meaning all your working out means nothing in a body fat percentage sense.

All of that in more simple terms, eat a healthier more balanced diet, while making sure you work as hard as possible in the gym for around an hour, perhaps around three times a week if you want to increase cardio.

Quick-Tip: Work out your hearts training zone and make SURE you are within it.

The second part of your post is just wrong. Sure, insulin does reduce mobilization of fat, but it isn't going to stop your training from being effective. You know what happens when you use your muscles? Glycogen stores deplete. Even if he goes at it for an hour to the point of collapse, they won't be completely empty. Any sugar (or any carbohydrate for that matter) that he ingests will simple refill muscle and liver glycogen stores. Any deficit will then come from adipose tissue.

I'd recommend weights OP, cardio only takes you so far. Also, try to walk as much as you can when outside the gym. An hour or two every day makes a big difference.

[blackops121]

The second part of your post is just wrong. Sure, insulin does reduce mobilization of fat, but it isn't going to stop your training from being effective. You know what happens when you use your muscles? Glycogen stores deplete. Even if he goes at it for an hour to the point of collapse, they won't be completely empty. Any sugar (or any carbohydrate for that matter) that he ingests will simple refill muscle and liver glycogen stores. Any deficit will then come from adipose tissue.

I'd recommend weights OP, cardio only takes you so far. Also, try to walk as much as you can when outside the gym. An hour or two every day makes a big difference.

The second part of the post is not wrong, I think you misunderstood me, obviously it will not make it obsolete, but what I was trying to say is that it MUST be cut down if he wants effective results, I mean sure, lets say... 10g of sugar will not stop his exercise being worth-while, but 100g will definitely slow it down compared to that 10g. Understand? I am well aware that you cannot cut out sugar 100%, you need it and will always find it in the majority of foods, even fruits have natural sugars, but it must be cut down a fair bit to increase the benefits.

I know it's true by personal experience also, I was drinking 2l of Irn-Bru every day along with lots of sweets and rubbish food, when I cut all that out not only did my fitness results increase at a far quicker rate, I over-all felt better and performed better in daily life.