How much exercise to really see results?

[losenotloose]

I've recently joined my local leisure centre. My plan is to do a couple of spin classes a week, a body pump class and maybe a gym session. Will I see good results from that, and in how long?

I'm 5'6 and weigh ten and a half stone.

If you do enough so you burn 500 calories a day extra than you're eating.

That's the only actual answer of scientific proof of you mean for fat loss.

If you mean for building muscle (which is a totally separate thing) then you need to start weight training of some kind (can be resistance training) and you should see results of that quickly.

It depends how hard you work. I go to the gym and most people are not intensively exercising. Walking slowly on the treadmill for 20 minutes will not make a massive difference! It might be worth getting some advice from the gym itself.

Well I'm literally dripping with sweat during the spin class! I've only used the gym once and did push myself but I find it a bit dull. One of the trainers did a programme for me which I'm planning on following, a combination of strength and cardio stuff.

500 calories?? I jog for half an hour and it doesn’t even burn off 300!

If I swim 3 x a week for an hour (moderately energetic crawl), I definitely see the difference. Not in terms of weight loss - not trying to lose weight - but in terms of how I feel, muscle strength & definition etc.

I think spin is pretty good at burning calories, up to 750 calories an hour.

What results are you wanting to see ? What are your specific goals?

If you train hard 3-4 times a week, you should see results in 4-6 weeks. Of course it depends whether you're going for fat loss or building muscle/strength but 4-6 weeks is usually a pretty good rule of thumb. They key is consistency, consistency. consistency. They normally say you'll see a change in 2 weeks, your partner/close family/friends will see a change in 4 weeks and everyone else will see a change in 6 weeks.

A mix of Body Pump and Spinning is usually a good combination to see some change in your body shape as long as you do 2 x Body Pump/week and 2-3 Spin. And don't be one of those annoying women in Body Pump who use the tiniest weight because "they don't want to bulk up". Or the people who coast in Spinning with hardly any resistance. We see you bouncing on your saddle, we can tell!!!

I want to lose a bit of weight but mainly tone up. I definitely give it my full effort, like I said, in the spin class I was dripping with sweat!

You'll see quickest results from working with weights.

euro does that have to be free weights or are the machines ok? I'm a novice!

When I started to use the machines, I saw the results with a few sessions.

I try and run (either in gym or outside) three times a week, and use the resistance machines 2-3 times a week. Can't use free weights, as they hurt my back and I am scared of them!

@losenotloose do you know your % body fat ?

Free weights are more effective than machines (machines isolate that one specific muscle or muscle group whereas free weights work more of your body i.e. they use compound movements) but if you're new to weights, using machines is just fine and you'll still get results. Body pump is also a good way of learning some basic free weights moves and building your confidence.

Also consider circuit training as it burns a lot of calories and is a great mixture of cardio and weights. And it's fun! (well, most of the time).

@block no I don't know my body fat!

Speaking from experience, I've been doing Body Pump twice a week for eight weeks and I can already see a massive difference. I started feeling stronger after the first couple of weeks.

I'd highly recommend getting a scan done which will show muscle mass/fat % as the scales don't really mean much. Then set yourself a goal maybe over 8/12 weeks. I have trained 5-6 days a week HIIT circuits solidly for a year. I know I am guilty of over training, which can be ineffective. But only now am I seeing results. Now have clear definition, but that's mostly diet.
If you train like you've described 4 times, you'll get results. But your intensity has to be there. Cardio will strip fat. Weights will build muscle. Ask for help (PT) to safely lift as heavy as you can, like others say won't bulk you. Buy a heart monitor, that will show you a better picture of calories. I'm a similar size to you, 5km run sub 25 mins - 300 calories. 45 mins of HIIT, 500-600. An hour of HIIT 800 calories l. So you need a combo. But diet will 100% play a part, you can't train to burn 2000 a week (4 sessions) if on the weekend you drink 2x bottle of wine, Friday take away, Saturday coffee and cake, Sunday pub lunch. You'll blow out ! Good luck OP ! It's tough as a female to get definition, but training is great fun!