Weights or Water

[caligurl]

for me... it's all about the diet! i can exercise... ride... exercise.. ride... but if i eat like crap... i either gain weight or don't loose any!

of course the best routine is one of a good, healthy diet AND exercise.... which i really really really try to do... but unfortunately.... i've been being bad on weekend and even being uber good the rest of the week... with my daily exercising and almost daily riding.... i still won't lose unless i'm good about eating the majority of time!

i read the same thing at my fitness forums... people exercise and exercise and exercise.. but don't watch what they eat.... and they don't loose or gain....

[MomOnBike]

{Pant, pant}

OK, I'm back now. I got all inspired from this thread so I put down the mat on the living room floor, stretched out...and got a face full of dachshund.

I could just hear him thinking. "Oh boy, she's down on my level! Play time! What's she doing?! She's not paying attention to me! She's wiggeling funny! I'll just jump on her face! That will fix everything!" (Dachshunds think in exclamation points)

Ugh. However, despite the "help" my core feels stronger already.

Thanks, ladies.

[caligurl]

oh i love my helpers! every morning bailey works out with me... (OK... he pretty much sleeps behind the stability balls... and i work out!)

lately since i've been leaving the door open (i work out in the garage).... jamine (other cat) and brie (dog) come out and coach me too! brie has a bad habit of getting in my way though! today i kept telling her to "SIT" and each time i backed up... she'd move forward (not sitting as she was being told!)

but i really do enjoy my workout company!

[Kathi]

I'm a fan of weight lifting and here's why. First of all I'm stronger hill climbing, skiing, hiking etc. and keeping my quads strong keeps my knees happy.

My usual routine for the legs is squats, single leg lunges, hamstring curls on the fit ball, leg presses, and some core exercises (not enough).

I do lots of cardio, in the summer I ride 150-200 miles per week and often ski 3-4 days per week in the winter, as well as hike and snowshoe.

In Jan. I tore my acl/mcl. I had 6 weeks of rehab on the mcl before acl surgery. For rehab on the mcl I was allowed single leg squats, leg lifts, pilates and some work on the pilates reformer in PT. I was riding my trainer 5-6 hours per week.

For the first few weeks after surgery I was only allowed rom activities, riding the trainer at a limited speed and limited pilates workouts.

During this time I did not gain any weight, however, as I lost muscle mass in my quads, hams and glutes the weight redistributed itself around my stomach.
The fit of my pants was much tighter, my waistline almost disappeared. It's hard to believe how quickly the flab appeared!

I'm 8 weeks post surgery and for about the last 4 weeks I've been doing more weight work , both in pt and the gym. I haven't increased my cardio time yet, still around 5-6 hours but I'm definitely seeing changes back to where I was as I increase the muscle mass in my legs and glutes. I have not changed my diet.

I do not work with a trainer but have been working out in the gym for a long time. I had very good instructors in step aerobics who taught me the proper way to squat and do lunges (that's very important to avoid knee injuries). I follow the guidelines in a book called "Weight Training for Cyclists" by Eric Schmitz and Ken Doyle.

It doesn't take hours in the gym to achieve the gains, you don't want to work out like a weight lifter. You do need total body, however, arms, back, shoulders etc.