From my own experience with
cardio I can liken it to a bad relationship… when it is good, it is good but if
you dare to have a week apart, that absence does not make the heart grow fonder! Having said that, I would still
class myself as a ‘cardio kind of girl’ because, like many more out there, I am
addicted to the bright red face and sweat dripping off the end of my nose! But
trust me, I haven’t always been that way inclined and I was certainly not ‘born
to run’! I guess it is much harder when you are almost 14st, like I was, to carry
your body weight around.
When I realised
enough was enough and I had to lose weight, I decided to start running and
entered a 5k race. I thought that it would be too embarrassing if I turned up and
barely crawled past the finish line, so I had to train. Bit by bit I built up
my distance, literally starting at ½ m!! This meant the weight started to come
off and it made it easier for me to run.
This photograph is of me before
my first ever race (I have too much dignity to show you a photo of me after the
race!) Like everyone who has ever tried to change the way they look or just get
fitter, everybody hits that wall where things stop changing. This happens
because your body has adapted to what it is you are doing, which is a warning
sign that you need to start changing what you are doing to see some positive
results again.
Although weights do not give you
the feeling that us ‘cardio lovers’ crave, they DO help keep the weight off and
can play a HUGE part in weight loss by increasing your metabolism and producing
a higher amount a calorie-hungry muscle. If you are doing strictly cardio and
feel like you are not getting anywhere this might be the time to start flexing
those muscles and do some weighted work! If you don’t know what you are doing
or aren’t sure where to start, please come and book in with a member of the Fitness
Team for some advice or a programme.
Emma McMahon, Fitness Instructor
and Personal Trainer
