The HCGers exercise thread
 

I thought I would start a thread about exercise, specifically for those of us doing HCG. I hope we can leave it here in the HCG forums, but if it gets moved, I totally understand....

We have some unique exercise challenges with this protocol that others don't face:

p2 and exercise -- to work out, or not? Add protein, or not? Etc.

Exercise gains and correction days... do we, or don't we?

Etc. -- these are challenges that are particular to this protocol, so I thought it might be good to have a place to discuss these questions, as well as for the fitness buffs among us to discuss workout stuff, and keep each other on track.

As most of you know, I have added my workouts back since starting p3 .... I did do a few easy ones in p2, but on the whole I found it to be too much while on the strict protocol.

I have been doing resistance training (Lotte Berk method, Bar Method) at-home workouts. Tonight, I added my first real cardio-- I love rebounding (mini trampoline) so I decided to incorporate that in as well, in rotation with the other workouts.

One big question on my mind, and I know I am not alone, is whether or not I should do a CD if I reasonably suspect that a gain is due to being in a post-workout state of water retention.... I am currently thinking that the answer is yes, since I really do want to stay stable in my window.

I am going to be SORE tomorrow, I think. The rebounder works muscles in a very different way than the resistance training does, and I suspect it will be very evident when I try to move in a few hours....

Other exercisers, I would love you to start posting here, too.... maybe we can work out some of these questions amongst us....

I have no answers for heavy exercising but I do light exercising. I cycle daily for my health and BG levels. I cycle about 30 minutes a day broken up in the Am & PM. I have not seen it so far effecting the scale. I plan on exercising in P3 gradually adding some intensity so we will see how the scale responds. I decided way before starting P2 to keep cycling in my daily routine and won't give that up.

So I cycled today this AM for 15 minutes and used a 4lb weighted ball for upper arms by bouncing down on the floor and raising it above my head and bounced back down onto the floor 50x's.

This is the extent to my exercises. :)

Thanks for starting this thread, Minimonkey! I too am curious about what others have to say regarding exercise during P2 and P3, particularly in figuring out when to do a correction day.

I had planned to start a very light weight lifting routine during P3. Since it's been years since I lifted weights, I have no idea what impact that will have on my body in terms of retaining water. I already know from past experience that even when I was rowing competitively I never built muscle easily. Strength, sure, but I never looked that toned. So I'm curious to see what I can do with some of the suggestions Tim Ferriss writes about in 4 Hour Body. The book is a bit goofy, but the tweaks are small and worth trying.

During P2 I've been either walking on the treadmill at 1.0 incline at 3.3 miles/hour, or doing a light 30' on the elliptical. It's an enjoyable time for me, reading and catching up on the news, so I don't plan to drop it unless it starts to become difficult.

Awesome Mini!

I've been working out 3-5 days a week since starting HCG. I do fairly heavy weight training and about 2-3 hours of cardio a week. I run, do hills, HIIT, spin classes, stair master, etc for my cardio. Some days I'm ok, others I feel tired and need a break

IMO- it's all about listening to your body

I wouldn't do a CD if I knew my weight was up from the workouts, or, I'd wait until 2 days post workout. If you are still up en I'd do a correction day. I don't think there is a right answer to this but that's my opinion

I haven't started weights back up again although I think that may change today. I've got a Bowflex which generally speaking makes me less sore than regular weights so we shall see. I also have a treadclimber and water rower that I use daily for 15-30 mins so a mix of cardio and weights for me. I'll keep y'all posted on what the weights do to my weight tomorrow. (I am actually a little UNDER my LDW so what better way to start retaining a little water! :laugh:)

I'm looking forward to P3 so I can restart my Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. It was def too intense for P2. I was getting really good results and know that if I lost a little bit of padding on P2 then I would really see results.

Mini, thanks for starting this thread. I really hope it will be allowed to stay in the HCG area (I forget to go over to the exercise boards!!!)

During P2, I maintained my regimen of Power 90 and Callanetics, and lost just fine. I also carried it into P3 and seem to be doing fine. I'm in the middle of a metabolism experiment right now, so I can figure out why I kept gaining. I'm at this point 95% sure it was due to too much food, and tomorrow I'll add the exercise back in to see what happens then (that's my remaining 5%)

Also, now that Spring weather is arriving, I'll probably be subbing out the Callanetics for running, and doing the Callanetics on rainy days or when I don't feel like running. Regardless, I plan on keeping myself reasonably active long term, and I need to develop the habit while I'm re-learning food portions etc.

I like the P90 sculpt because it's giving me a pretty solid overall workout, a bit heavy on the top/arms. Callanetics is helping reshape my middle, at least, and hopefully as I improve it will also help my legs/butt. The running I do because I enjoy it - haven't seen much out of it outside of improved lung capacity though. :)

I'm also totally curious as to what others are successful with and enjoy, so...

@aBuck, what's 30 Day Shred? What do you get out of it, like aerobics, muscle building, reshaping?

@Mini - can you tell the rest of us what 'rebounding' is, and what it's good for?

I am just restarting regular exercise after a long break, so it was way too much for me in p2 round 1. I had enough of a challenge just getting through the day on p2 protocol! (I do have an active daily life -- lots of walking in the hilliest part of San Francisco, and a lot of upper arm usage due to doing metal and plaster sculpture).

Now that I am in p3, I am loving the freedom to work out again!!!!!!

I'm on the fence about a CD if I suspect a post exercise gain -- thanks for weighing in on this one, Disney! If I do find myself needing to make that decision, I will opt for either an egg or an all-protein day -- I figure that will aid in muscle recovery, in any event.

Disney, you are a little powerhouse!!! You go!! I don't do heavy lifting, because I DO build muscle easily and quickly, and have a tendency to bulk up, particularly in my lower body. Light lifting and resistance training, however, works really well for my body -- I build long, lean muscles, and still gain a lot of strength.

I have also thought that waiting at least 2 days for a CD might be a good idea if I suspected a post-exercise gain.. but I am working out so regularly now, that I will never really have time to fully shed the water weight.

I am in the upper part of my window at the moment, so as long as I stay within it, I am not needing to worry about that.

I know a lot of people avoid exercise because of the fear of seeing a gain on the scale, though... so this is really worth discussing.

I thought I would be dying of soreness today after yesterday's intense cardio rebounding, but I feel surprisingly fine :)

Mini, I agree that a lot of people might flip out a bit over the water gain from exercise.

Personally, I have no problems with it, as long as I know what that gain IS. Meaning, what addition to my window do I need to accommodate the exercise - 1? 2? 3? pounds? Only way for me to get some kind of idea is to not exercise for a few days, drop the water weight, stabilize, and then exercise and measure my gain. All other things being equal, that will give me a range to work with. So if I know I might retain, say, 2# from exercise, then my window is 2# plus 2. Which will help keep me sane.

And now I need to rant:

Contrary to popular belief, muscle does NOT weigh more than fat. One pound of feathers is THE SAME as one pound of lead. One pound of fat is THE SAME as one pound of muscle. A POUND IS A POUND. The difference is DENSITY. Muscle is denser, and therefore takes up less space than does the same weight in fat. (And using the first example, a pound of lead takes up waaaay less space than a pound of feathers - think about it!!) So ideally, you want to swap a pound of fat for a pound of muscle - yes, the scale will stay the same, but you'll LOOK smaller, because of the difference in volume.

Okay, rant over. It's just a pet peeve of mine when people are out there yelling one weighs more than another when in fact if they're talking about the SAME WEIGHT, it's patently untrue. A POUND IS A POUND.

Oh, and by the way, lean muscle mass burns calories, even at rest, so there's an added benefit to putting on a bit of muscle. You don't need to be Ahhhnold, just strengthen what you've got and you're better off!

I alternated T-Tapp and Callanetics throughout P2 and ended my round with Super Callanetics only in the last week....unless running around campus counts as cardio that's all I did. I am not planning to exercise in P3. I will be watching this thread with interest though as I am intrigued by the window for water weight experiment that mousie is doing.

Another thing to remember- you can NOT gain muscle while eating at a calorie deficiet. You can maintain your mass but can't build. That's why I still lift, to maintain what I have

[quote/]@aBuck, what's 30 Day Shred? What do you get out of it, like aerobics, muscle building, reshaping? [/quote]

30 day shred is a jillian michaels dvd that is about 25 min. She does three circuits of 3 min strength/2 min cardio/1min abs. It doesn't take that long to do with some pretty nice results for many (and me) I could feel results and see muscles but knew I'd like to see more definition.

I actually just purchased callanetics 10/10 and have power 90 that I wanted to try after finishing one more round. I hope you get great results from this combo :aprayer: After p90 I'd really really like to do ONE round of p90x. I look so much better with a more toned body.

Do you find yourself experiencing more hunger during P2 or P3 because of the high impact aerobics?

Rebounding, for those who are curious, is exercising on a mini trampoline. They were developed by NASA -- space age fitness! One can run on them, or do aerobic exercise with or without weights -- it is low impact, great cardio -- and I have some super cheeky, corny workout videos that are designed for the rebounder. It is a LOT of fun!

Many people swear they are excellent for lymphatic drainage as well.

Per square inch, muscle weighs more than fat. Is that better? I don't have too many square inches, though... mine are mostly blobs.

On the days after working out, in p2, I was definitely much hungrier!

:laugh: yes, that is marginally better, because it's a function of density per volume. As opposed to weight vs. weight. Think about it, 1=1 and you can't change that. One pound=one pound. HOWEVER, 1 square foot of feathers will weigh a heck of a lot less than 1 square foot of bricks.

Yes, I'm a nerd. I'm also a geek.

Today is the part of the experiment wherein I re-start my exercise regimen, and tomorrow I'll observe what, if any :laugh: water gain I have as a result. Holding rock steady on the scale otherwise!

Ok, I'll just say OUCH, here! I am SORE today! AND I'm up 2.7 pounds. Luckily within my window so off to do some cardio and let my poor muscles rest... Happy Monday folks!

Nope. Not at all

Tonight is weights and probably a jog. I can't wait for the weather to warm up so I can start running outside again

I'm dying to exercise again.

I tried one day last week, but got really pooped at a 10-minute workout with a weighted ball. I chose it because it was just 10 minutes, but it is pretty intense. I will have to dig through some videos and find something easier. I really just wanted to get through this round before exercising and start in P3, but I can't stand it!

Hmm, I just remembered I have sort of a "belly dancing" workout that wouldn't be too bad, I bet. I'll have to go find it and maybe try that today or tomorrow. I'm too pooped to pop today after a weekend of very early mornings (I hate it when I can't sleep in on my days off!).

I re-started exercising this weekend. I bought EAS Active 2 for my Wii. It is a 1/2 workout combining cardio & strength. I did 2 days of the 90 day program. Its fun.

mini - I used to love my rebounder but it broke. I may have to get another one. I used to just bounce around & jog on it.

OK, so it wasn't the weights--it was the mat pilates for abs. I was trying to figure out what weight that I did to make my stomach and lower back ache so much! When I went to do the pilates again today, well, question answered! :laugh:

Well, as I reported on the P3 thread, I didn't retain any water from yesterday's exercise. Then again, I got up FOUR times in the night to pee, so I think that's why (usually none or maybe one). I'm also not suffering from DOMS today, so that might be part of it too.

Otherwise, I did establish that I had been eating too much. I know now, that unless I really ratchet up my exercise intensity, that the prescribed calories established by the Harris Benedict equation is just too high for me. I'll use the lower multiplier from here on out, and hopefully that will allow me to have smooth sailing in future P3s (because I know I'm going to have several, based on how much weight I still need to lose).

Additionally, I think I discovered part of the problem with the HB equation. Not just that it's an equation for the "average" person (whatever THAT is), but also their exercise multiplier only addresses frequency of exercise, not duration or intensity. So by my going by their 4-5 times per week indicator, that gave me a higher calorie requirement. When apparently, although I do exercise 4-5 times per week, it must not be as intense as whatever factors they used to devise the equation. So therefore, going by their result, I was eating too much. No wonder this drives people like me nuts - it's ENTIRELY up to interpretation. GAH. :annoyed:

Very good thread idea, Mini!

I stopped my last round of HCG on January 13th to start Couch to 5k along with doing low carb. I finished up the program this past Sunday but want to keep on running because I am running in the St. Pats Day 5k.

I really hope starting up HCG again on Feb 28th will not hurt my running progress or stifle my weight loss.
Any ideas?

I usually run at night and then go to bed shortly after so I'm hoping there won't be any hunger issues.

This is good to hear since I'd like to keep up with my regular exercise routine on vlcd. Is it due to the hHcg working though because I'm usually hungry after a workout on the regular.

I did a 30 minute spin class followed by a 15 minute jog. I'm tired but otherwise feel fine. I had an extra 2oz of chicken after

Hi,
I just posted on another thread and then saw this one. Kind of answers my questions but I am wondering this..I am R2P3D16 and have maintained well until three days ago. Up 2.2 over my LDW. I had upped my exercise, water aerobics and treadmill. Should I wait a day or two and see if this comes off as water weight or do a correction steak day tomorrow? Thanks!

Well, if you're only .2 over your window, I wouldn't bother with a CD. If I'm misreading that and you're 2.2 over your window, I'd give it one day in case it's water, and then do a CD if necessary. But this is my suggestion based on what I've done. Obviously, you know your body, and can make a better determination if this is muscle retained water, or if it's weight gain.

I exercised throughout my entire last P2. But I dialed the intensity down quite a bit to where I was most just walking 2-3 miles a day ala: Leslie Sansone Walk Away the Pounds videos.

I did increase my protein a bit. Usually 4 oz per serving, occassionally up to 5. (cut out the melba after week 1).

In P3 I took things back up to my normal level (classes at the gym, Jillian Michaels videos) and I feel it was helping me A LOT with reshaping. My jeans were falling off of me moreso every week.

If ONLY I hadn't sabotaged myself over the holidays. *sigh*