What am I missing from my workout?
824297
Cross Training and Diet.\n\nIt appears that you are doing enough exercising....5 days a week is very good. \n\nA Four pound loss is also good in one month.\n\nMuscle weighs more that fat, you may have actually lost more weight, but added some weight with Muscle and Toning.\n\nAdd the tread mill to your exercise routine or add walking.\n\nIncrease your fluid intake and keep an eye on your calorie intake.\n\nTry this for another month and make another evaluation.\n\nMany people do not see any significant weight lose in the first month.\n\nWeight loss is a delicate balance of exercise, dieting and your own ability to burn calories.\n\nKeep up the Good Work.  \n\nBilly                    \n\nFormer Dance Aerobics instructor.
925137
try using a normal weight exercise, increase the reps to 12 and maintain at the set of 3 for all exercise. this might work. I have tried it and it works for me.
272374
are you burning fat or building muscle?\n\nIt depends on what you are doing.  It sounds very good for building muscle..not the best for burning fat.\n\nIt is a tough workout none the less!!  Keep it up!
1074638
You might be overtraining.  Make sure you are taking at least one full day of rest each week.  Also make sure that you are eating enough for all the working out that you are doing.
902485
I have a cup of coffee and a light meal high in carbs before i go.  If I am feeling not so hot i opt for a propel water versus just plain water while i am working out.\n\ni also bring a granola bar or some almonds/mixed nuts with me to snack on after my workout, as it seems i'm pretty hungry after going hard for a few hours...
1154439
You could buy a lateral thigh trainer and hopefully the instruction manual will be there tucked away in the box.\nHope that helps!
1056687
yo, calm down, man. what's wrong with you, acting like you lost your testicles....hahahaha... \n\nAight, man.. best way to do this is by the text book. You got a layer of fat, which is not bad. you'll be doing this at home, so you're limited to some exercises, but i like ya, man, so i'm gonna help ya. Aight, how bout we both race to the six pack? my girlfriend has been buggin me for a couple months to get them, so i'll race you to it, email me on July 24th and tell me if you got em.\n\nhaha, ok, so for your pecs, you're going to want to do a lot of pushups and butterflies. Do your butterflies in the doorway of your room. Lean into the door way and and place your hands on the sides of the doorway, lean in and get a good stretch then push back until your arms are straight, then lean forward again. this should be in a nice rhythm, 1 second up, 2 seconds down. Same with your pushups. What i do with my pushups is for my pecs, my elbows are out away from my body and for my triceps i keep my elbows tucked in to my torso. trust me, you'll feel the difference. Once, you start getting good, after a week or a week and a half, place your feet up on your bed, sofa or chair, the higher you place them the harder it is. but start them at the level of a chair, and do the sam thing. you'll feel it much more, if you're already good at pushups and can do, 40-50 in a row, start your pushups off this way. Also, instead of placing my hands on the floor, i grab dumb bells and do pushups, that way i am a little off the ground and can get a better strecth.\n\nAight, for the six pack, i hear that the bicycle situps work the best and the burn the most too, you'll feel the burn. Also, i have a swiss ball that i do my situps on, you'll be able to find a whole bunch of exercises for that. But, i do crunches on my swiss ball and i sometimes do them with a weight that i hold over my head so that my abs have to pull more weight, man it burns like a.... anyway, the most important thing is that you contract your ab muscles and not push or jerk your body up. bring it up slow, 1 to 1 and a half seconds, then down 2 to 2 and a half. when you are letting your ab muscles go, that's when it burns the most. if you've been doing situps and crunches already, maybe you are ready for a weight to either hold over your head and do crunches or to put on your chest. but don't forget reverse situps either, man, they're really important.\n\nAfter all of this, man... you have to run. Cardio after a werkout burns more fat than if you do cardio before a workout. and you got a layer of fat on you, i don't know what your body fat % is, but you need to get under 10% to be able to see them ab muscles, man. I was at a 9.8 when i ran the philly marathon and i could barely see them... i'm maybe at 11.5% now. but, i suggest running maybe 3-4 miles every other day and then upping it every week. Also, if you don't got some barbells, get em to work out your biceps and you may want to werk out your shoulders a little too.\n\nDieting- I don't believe in dieting that much, i eat whatever, or at least i used too, but diabetes runs in the fam, so i had to learn all that stuff, so, when i was running a lot last year, i would eat a lot of high protein stuff. Salmon, salmon is great for your abs, almonds are awesome for your abs too and supply energy for running, i eat yogurt, fruit on the bottom stuff. Also, try and drink a lot of water, if you don't like water, like me, drink propel, they got a bajillion different flavors. \n\nbut hey, you need anymore help, contact me. And like i said, i'll race you to the sixpack, i got to get in shape for modeling anyway, for my girlfriend, if you know what i mean?\n\naight man, i hope i helped.
757293
I think we have the same body type and I have asked personal trainers about this before...go to mypyramid.gov to see what portions of food you should be eating daily.  As far as exercise, try jogging, walking, as well as pilates.  I have a pilates workout video for the legs and I noticed a difference after using it!!  On the bright side, it sounds like you are a "pear shape" as opposed to an "apple shape".  Pear shapes are better because the fat is further away from your heart!
721715
If you want tone, nothing beats good old fashioned running (esp on incline), stairs, or lounges.\n\nIf you want bulk, try squats, leg curls & extensions.  Higher weight/fewer reps.
282344
after a while you body gets used to the same exercise... simply increase the pace or adjust in to make i harder to wwalk or if it has an incline feature... uo prolly have reached a plateau in your workout.
928465
Thats a tough one.  It sounds like you are in good shape which is good.  I would switch from doing as much sprinting to doing more endurance style work.  Try running longer distances slower or perhaps an elliptical on low resistance for longer time.  This will work more on toning and burning calories rather than bulking you up.  Pilates like the other guy said is good too.  If it takes a long time, don't sweat it.  Many guys like a girl with muscular legs. :)
695063
No matter what the reason you might want to vary your workout. You will see a much better result. You have probably plateaued
201476
Must of the Gyms have Instructors that can set up a working out program suit for your needs, and they should guide you at the beginning of you work out sessions, first timers always get to walk trough out to Know the best machines that will work best for you..ASK and see if they have such programs on your GYM..  GOOD LUCK AND GOOD HEALTH...
810571
LOL are your arms the only thing you work out then???\n\nFor the most part I keep my rest between sets to a minimum, basically enough to catch my breath, drink a bit of water, change the weight or grab different dumbbells, etc. I do a lot of supersets too, with no rest whatsoever between exercises (rest only between the seperate supersets). If I'm totally smoked or if I'm going heavier and need a bit longer to rest between sets, say >1 minute, I will go shoot the breeze with some buddies.\n\nAnd I am going to have to disagree with the comments that say to stretch. While some VERY mild, light stretching is okay, if you are actually trying to build strength & go heavier, you should NOT stretch between sets. That will actually reduce your muscles' ability to lift more weight, which is why you should NOT stretch before a workout (do warm-up sets instead), but AFTER a workout.
681438
I didn't have a butt at all. Then I started running stairs, doing lunges and squats too, and I ended up with serious booty. I recommend you eat allot of protein and if you're not into meat, the bars and shakes can be pretty good, if you get the right ones. I suggest you pick up a women's fitness magazine like 'oxygen'. They always have awesome butt building moves. Hope this helps
560462
If you're trying to build strength, try a heavy bag.  You can't believe what a workout that is!  Seriously, wail away at it for as long as you like, but I think you'd be surprised at how tired you get after just a few minutes.  It's great cardio, and the stress you put on your bones and tendons will build strength.  And if you can imagine you're a boxer training for a fight, keep those legs moving and do the 'bob-and-weave' thing, ducking and rolling, keeping your fists in front of your face.  That way you won't be focusing strictly on your upper body, but overall fitness, especially your 'core'.  See how long you can go, then go longer...\n\nFor strictly cardio, you can't go wrong with an eliptical trainer.
216678
mix up your workouts constantly.  Being part of a team that does that often is something that I see as key.  Different distances and different times.  Different strokes.  But keep all the intervals relatively short.