TUESDAY 3/17: IT'S ASK HARLEY YOUR FITNESS AND DIET QUESTIONS TODAY!

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mary A. Johnson on March 17, 2009 at 7:35pm

What are the best strength training exercises to start out with?

Permalink Reply by Dara on March 18, 2009 at 10:19am

What are your thoughts on the weight loss body wraps and the whole body vibration weight loss?

Permalink Reply by Daphne Gregory on March 18, 2009 at 10:33am

What is the best way to slim my thighs? I do Barrys Bootcamp for 1 hour 6 days a week. I was curious to anything else I coud do,besides lower my overall bodyfat?

Permalink Reply by Pammlla on March 18, 2009 at 10:40am

Harley,

After I watched TBL last night I was wondering is there such a thing they mentioned as overtraining? I've become frustrated as my weight loss is stalling the last couple months. I've lost 46 pounds in four months and then It stalled. I am nowhere near my goal as I still have 120 pounds to lose. Over the last 4 weeks I have lost about 2 pounds. I take in 1200 calories a day and I burn at minimum 2200 calories as day. Most of the time I burn 3000 calories a day so my daily calorie deficit averages 1500-1800. I weight train twice a week (interval training) and do a minimum of one hour cardio a day. I also do 4 classes a week Spin, Aqua, Step and Yoga. It seems unbelievable to me that my weight is not budging.

Permalink Reply by Harley Pasternak on March 19, 2009 at 11:52am

Mary A. Johnson said:

What are the best strength training exercises to start out with?

Personally, I like using dumbbells and an incline exercise bench to do most of my favorite strength training moves, like incline dumbbell flys and incline dumbbell bicep curls. If your time is limited, concentrate on core strength development. This will help you with better posture, injury resistance, and overall physical capability. Considering that the 5 Factor fitness plan can give you a complete workout in about 25 minutes, why not plan to do that at least three (if not five) days per week while you are getting started? Each workout includes a warm-up, upper body and lower body exercises, and a cool down. The result is strength training and a total body cardio — for an all-over sculpting effect. You can get tips on proper technique for the strength training exercises I mentioned and test out my program for free to see what you think.

Permalink Reply by Harley Pasternak on March 19, 2009 at 11:52am

Dara said:

What are your thoughts on the weight loss body wraps and the whole body vibration weight loss?

This comes up from time to time, and my thoughts on these or any similar weight loss/fitness plans are very concise: They don’t really work and are a waste of time and money. To be healthy, slim, and fit you must eat right and exercise properly. Sorry, that’s the magic formula and there aren’t any shortcuts.

Permalink Reply by Harley Pasternak on March 19, 2009 at 11:53am

Daphne Gregory said:

What is the best way to slim my thighs? I do Barrys Bootcamp for 1 hour 6 days a week. I was curious to anything else I coud do,besides lower my overall bodyfat?

I wish I could tell you that there is a great way to just slim thighs or any other part of one’s body. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work that way. My 5 Factor plan provides a convenient and effective way to do just that, without spending your whole life going to the gym. Among the exercises presented are numerous moves designed to strengthen quads and hamstrings — just the thing for toning up thighs. I have several in my workout programs that utilize an exercise ball, such as Ball Squats and Ball Tucks. I demonstrate them and give you the proper amount of reps on my 5factordiet.com site here.

Permalink Reply by Harley Pasternak on March 19, 2009 at 11:53am

Pammlla said:

Harley,

After I watched TBL last night I was wondering is there such a thing they mentioned as overtraining? I've become frustrated as my weight loss is stalling the last couple months. I've lost 46 pounds in four months and then It stalled. I am nowhere near my goal as I still have 120 pounds to lose. Over the last 4 weeks I have lost about 2 pounds. I take in 1200 calories a day and I burn at minimum 2200 calories as day. Most of the time I burn 3000 calories a day so my daily calorie deficit averages 1500-1800. I weight train twice a week (interval training) and do a minimum of one hour cardio a day. I also do 4 classes a week Spin, Aqua, Step and Yoga. It seems unbelievable to me that my weight is not budging.

Congratulations on your weight loss so far! You’re clearly well motivated and highly determined. You’ve been losing at a very high rate — averaging more than 2 ½ pounds per week. Stalls or plateaus, while discouraging, are common and can be overcome. There certainly is such a thing as overtraining, although I’m not certain that is what is happening to you. Are you chronically tired or exhausted, having trouble sleeping, or feeling anxious? If not, you are probably not overtraining per se. Sometimes your body reacts more by changing shape than by shedding more weight, at least for a while. Do your clothes fit better, and do you have more energy? If so, you are still having a positive effect even if the weight loss has temporarily slowed down. Make sure your meals are diverse, balanced, fiber and protein-rich, and nutritious -- not just low in calories. Plus, make sure you are giving your body enough time to rest and coup too.

Permalink Reply by momtomany on March 24, 2009 at 9:11am

I recently found out that I am in need of a knee replacement. Because of my age, the dr. doesn't want me to have it for another 10 years or even longer. So what kind of exercises should I be doing? If I am on my feet for too long my knee will lock up and it is very painful. I am overweight and really want to slim down to help my knee and overall health.

Permalink Reply by Sonja Jefferson on March 24, 2009 at 9:52am

Dear Harley, I have been exercising for two months now and my feet still hurt. I gazelle with Tony Little's machine for 45 minutes Monday thru Friday along with floor exercises and 5lb dumbells. I have tried different sneakers. Like yesterday my feet hurt so bad the first 12 minutes of gazelling I wanted to stop but I didn't. As time goes on my feet get numb. I am 45, 5.8" and weigh 176 (by the way I have not lost any weight) and never had this kind of problem before. They hurt on the outer ball..along the outside of each foot. My left hurts more. When I force my feet to gazelle on the insides balls of each foot it seems to relieve some of the pain. I was born flat footed and had to wear special orthropedic shoes as an infant. Now as an adult I do have an arch but have always had charlie horses and cramping in the arches. Any suggestions? Thanks Sonja

Permalink Reply by Sonja Jefferson on March 25, 2009 at 10:12am

Hi Again, Harley, Well I discovered what the problem is. The gazelle does not have adequate foot support. It has a metal bar with a plastic foot track for each foot. The metal bar is about three inches in diameter. So I have support for the middle of my foot but not the outsides. The feet platforms are deceiving in their looks. I thought they were hard rubber. When I got down on my hands and knees I could see it's plastic and not very thick with lots of flexibility. Thanks anyways I'm glad it's figured out.

Sonja Jefferson said:

Dear Harley, I have been exercising for two months now and my feet still hurt. I gazelle with Tony Little's machine for 45 minutes Monday thru Friday along with floor exercises and 5lb dumbells. I have tried different sneakers. Like yesterday my feet hurt so bad the first 12 minutes of gazelling I wanted to stop but I didn't. As time goes on my feet get numb. I am 45, 5.8" and weigh 176 (by the way I have not lost any weight) and never had this kind of problem before. They hurt on the outer ball..along the outside of each foot. My left hurts more. When I force my feet to gazelle on the insides balls of each foot it seems to relieve some of the pain. I was born flat footed and had to wear special orthropedic shoes as an infant. Now as an adult I do have an arch but have always had charlie horses and cramping in the arches. Any suggestions? Thanks Sonja

Permalink Reply by Harley Pasternak on March 26, 2009 at 2:19pm

momtomany said:

I recently found out that I am in need of a knee replacement. Because of my age, the dr. doesn't want me to have it for another 10 years or even longer. So what kind of exercises should I be doing? If I am on my feet for too long my knee will lock up and it is very painful. I am overweight and really want to slim down to help my knee and overall health.

There are several ways to get the cardio you need without overstressing that knee. A very good one is bicycling. You can use a real bike or stationary, including recumbent. While this still stresses your knee a bit, it is far less stressful than carrying your body weight doing activities, such as walking, jogging, or using a treadmill. Another good bet is aquatic exercise. This will stress your knee even less, but can still provide an excellent workout. Check out a local fitness centers or YMCA that offers classes.

Since you won’t be able to ramp up your fitness, it’s extra important that you develop and stick with good eating habits. Check out my 5 Factor Diet Web site for some good tips and you can even sign up with a special 2 week trial to my online program for workouts and a daily meal plan and other tools to help you stay with a plan that works. .

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