Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Reader Questions Answered

Yesterday, Kelly asked: I see that you work out 7x a week -- aren't you concerned about having enough "downtime" in your schedule?

I do work out 7 days a week, and here is my reasoning - I have an office job, though I'm up and down doing things, for the most part I'm planted at my computer all day. I like to get out and exercise after work just because I'm so anxious after sitting all day. On the weekends when I'm home, I don't have a lot going on so I workout all throughout the day and it doesn't seem like I'm working out as much. I really look at my weekends as the time to work really hard.
During the week, my workouts are about an hour, which isn't terribly long.

As you can see, every day I have 3 or more workouts. Now and then, I'll only do 1 or 2 of the 3-4 things listed if I'm crunched for time or just feel tired. If I'm on vacation and can't get to a DVD player, I'll skip the shred, or if it's raining out, I'll skip a run or bike ride. But I do try to get at least one physical activity each day.

Also, and it's a mental thing for me, when I miss one day, I don't feel so bad about missing 2, then 3, then I quit. In order to keep my spirits up and keep myself motivated, I make myself do something every day.

Many days, my body is tired, but not exhausted. I still like to push myself though, and I don't feel like I "need" a day of rest ever. It's a completely personal choice and it depends on each individual's body. I know rest days are important, but I try to avoid them! Again, works for me, might not work for you!

6 comments:

  1. Thanks for the answer, Ash! -- and a good answer at that :-)

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  2. I love that you work out 7 days a week. I aim to work out 6 days and usually get at least 5-6 a week. One day a week I do rest just to let my body recover, but great answer! I love how you vary your workouts too!

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  3. I have a question for you: When you first started your fitness plans for losing weight, how difficult was it to stick to your schedule? Do you have any tips for someone that is completely sedentary (I'm about 35-45 pounds overweight and very unfit)? I have tried several times to start being healthier but I have really bad eating habits and my cravings always seem to win!

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  4. good for you. (i've been following your cooking blog)

    i've worked with experienced figure/body building trainers and no matter what you are doing - you should ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS have 1 FULL day of rest.

    in fact, every few MONTHS you should have AT LEAST 1 full WEEK of just LIGHT cardio and NO weight lifting.

    HTH!

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  5. good for you. (i've been following your cooking blog)

    i've worked with experienced figure/body building trainers and no matter what you are doing - you should ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS have 1 FULL day of rest.

    in fact, every few MONTHS you should have AT LEAST 1 full WEEK of just LIGHT cardio and NO weight lifting.

    HTH!

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  6. Definitely whatever works for you. Sometimes I'll go 2 weeks or more working out every day, and then I'll take several days off. The intensity of my workouts varies so I don't think it's a bad thing. For instance, I count yoga as working out as well as a 45 min walk with my dogs. To each his own, right? :-)

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