How much is enough.

[Jolandie27]

I've recently started the Hard reset cardio and strength programs. I am 8 days in and started at a level 2 fitness.

I am not unfit in the least as in the last 4/5 months I have been doing an hour cardio (dancing, aerobics, walking at home, etc) plus another hour calisthenics at atleast 5 times a week. Problem is I got bored so I thought let me try this. Anyway my question is am I supposed to do some other form of excersise with this program. As you can imagine for me, having done 2 hour workouts at a time and now only doing these make me feel like I'm kind of cheating.
Believe me it's working because by day five I could hardly walk. But I'm just wondering if the cardio and these strenght excersises in conjunction with my eating plan is enough to continue me on my weightloss journey.
In the last week I've defnitely toned up more than I have in the last 4 months but I don't want to stall my weight loss.

So my point is should I still do extra cardio with these programs or should these programs be sufficient?

Thanks in advance
Jolandie

 

[TopNotch]

I think a lot of people believe that the only way to lose weight is to do cardio. That's just not true. Your diet plays a major role and, as you mentioned your eating plan, it sounds as though you already have that in hand. Don't get me wrong, cardio can be great, but it's not the only solution. Adding more muscle will also help you burn off calories, and you're doing that with the strength programme. Some people claim that if you're just doing a lot of cardio, then you're not building muscle which is why it's recommended runners (for example) do some specific strength training twice a week - but that's a whole other issue that I won't go into here.
But what do you want to do? That's really the main issue. If dancing or walking is something you enjoy, then do it. You don't have to do them every day unless you want to. Really, a lot is up to you and what you feel you need, but the programmes should be sufficient. If you want to add anything else, there are many challenges you could try, or you could just do the WoD every day.
For me, I dislike 'cardio'. But I enjoy going for a hike. Jumping on the exercise bike when I haven't been moving for a bit is great. I change things around sometimes and do a spot of rowing instead. Not because I like cardio but because I like feeling my body move this way.
In short, if you want to exercise in order to lose weight and tone up, do what you find fun! That's kind of my motto. If you don't enjoy doing it, then you're not going to want to do it. You're going to resist it, find it a chore, and not put 100% effort into it, which means you won't get as much out of it.

 

[Andi64]

Welcome to the Hive @Jolandie27
As @TopNotch stated before, the amount of exercise is usually not as important as the caloric intake. But the kind of is. I 'd like to go a little bit into that:
Adding muscle is a sustainable way of loosing fat, because muscles use up energy. If you build muscle through strength training, most of the heavy lifting in your body happens in your sleep/rest periods and not while actually working out.
Your metabolism needs all that energy for building that new muscle and maintaining the old one. So unless you are a professional athlete, the so-called 'basal metabolic rate' accounts for ~ 70% of the energy you spend. The rest is for digesting food, yes, that costs energy as well, and moving around. In the end building muscle is a better way to tilt the caloric-balance in your favor than cardio.
That said, cardio has a lot of benefits: Its great for your cardio-vascular system, hence the name. It's great for your lungs too if you do it in clean air. But it will not help you loose weight. At least not as much as you might think after all that time on the treadmill. That is mostly done in the kitchen, not the gym.
Owners of fitness-studios, maybe not invented, but exploited the ''fat-burning-zone". A comfy 70% of the maximum pulse-rate, where more fat is burned than glycogen. But that's just in relation to each other, not absolute. So the customer does some light 'cardio' with the notion of 'burning fat'. But to little avail.
Do not worry about 'bulking-up'. If you are female, it's very hard to bulk without steroids. Your testosterone levels simply won't allow it. Same goes for males past their physical prime. Toning is more like it.
Be careful with your newfound strength. Muscles grow relativly fast, tendons and cartilages have to adapt to the new regime.
With the cherished words of @TopNotch :

Do what you find fun!

All the best!