Should I repeat week 3

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Dizzysmum
Posts: 12
Joined: Sat Jun 18, 2011 8:44 am

Should I repeat week 3

Post by Dizzysmum »

Hi everyone, I am very new to this and have been reading all your posts and seen that I should be running outdoors.
I have been using the gym as I thought it would be better for keeping my speed constant and I can increase speed easier.
Obviously I am wrong! Just done my first run outdoors, wk3 r2, and it was struggle and I know I didn't run as fast as I do at the gym,I did finish the run though. Should I repeat week 3 in order to get me used to running outdoors before embarking on week 4.
I am trying to lose weight as well, want to lose about 1 stone, and although I have cut down on my intake I have not lost anything! Starting to get a little disheartened! I also go to the gym twice a week on top of runs to do weights or zumba class.

Any tips would be appreciated.

Thanks
samjdalton
Posts: 67
Joined: Tue May 17, 2011 8:52 pm

Re: Should I repeat week 3

Post by samjdalton »

Running outside is harder, there's no doubt about that. You can *simulate* running outdoors in the gym by putting the treadmill at an incline, but you still don't have to "push off the ground" as you do outside, you just have to keep up with the belt (i.e the ground moves for you), you also have no wind resistance in the gym and the treadmill is much springier than outside on the whole. Personally I can't stand the treadmill and much prefer to run outside, but it's all about what you get used to. Why not push on to week 4 outside and see how you get on? The worst case you don't finish and go back a couple of days, the best case you get through it and move forward to week 5. I say go for it - what's the worst that can happen?

On the weight loss front - don't get disheartened. It may be that either your intake is still greater than your outgoings and you could cut down in certain ways (i.e possibly less fat or sugars) or you are building muscle to replace fat - remember muscle weighs more than fat. Eventually you'll start seeing results in the mirror and on the scales so keep it up.
kickboxerchick8
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue May 17, 2011 3:57 pm

Re: Should I repeat week 3

Post by kickboxerchick8 »

samjdalton wrote: or you are building muscle to replace fat - remember muscle weighs more than fat.
Muscle does not weigh more than fat. A pound of muscle and a pound of fat weigh exactly the same. One pound. Muscle is denser than fat, so it takes up less space, and you need less muscle to reach one pound than you do fat. Just like the riddle of "what weighs more, 5 pounds of bricks or 5 pounds of feathers?" They weigh the same. It just takes less bricks to reach the goal weight of 5 pounds.

So as you increase your muscle mass, you probably won't lose weight, or your weight may increase, but your measurements will change, and your clothing will fit better. That's why you can't always go by what you see on the scale.

You can run on the treadmill all you want, but as long as you realize that it's a lot different than running outside, so you cannot expect the same level of performance when you switch between the two. Also one thing you need to be aware of is that the important thing is not to run as fast as you would on the treadmill, or to run fast at all. The important thing is to finish at a pace that is comfortable and challenging, but not too much. I think if you keep going to week 4, but just cut your pace back a little bit when you run outside, you should be fine. I was running on a treadmill, and I went to run outside, and started over at week 1. I'm regretting it now, because it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be.
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