[Leigh P.]

Originally Posted by spears80

Hi again Leigh =)

I have a couple more questions about OPT-Remix:

1. How come there are a lot of exercises demonstrated at "www.avidityfitness.net/exercis es-for-opt-remix" that are not included in the OPT-Remix programme?

(I was half dreading and half excited about performing duck walks - excited because they look tough, and dreading them because of the stares I'd get in my gym! lol)

Ha yeah there are like maybe 3-4 exercises that I loaded up in there for a few clients to see. It wasn't relavant to that, just a passoword protected video area.

That being said if you want to throw the duck walks in, go for it. A great exercise for force firing the glutes.

2. How much additional 'cardio' can I do in addition to what you outline in the programme?

I know you say to do nothing other than what you say, BUT:
- I sit on my butt all day at work. I try to walk at lunchtime everyday, and recently I tried walking 30mins in the morning upon waking to get a bit more low-intensity activity but I found this boring doing it every day.

- I used to be a cardio junkie and did 2x workouts every day if I could. For the last 18months I've dramatically reduced the cardio, and now the only cardio I really do is on a bike or rower or bodyweight HIIT. I've found that I now feel 'heavy' on my feet and just not quite as agile as I used to be, AND my waist has thickened. I think this is because I used to do a lot of kickboxing style workouts that were intense and worked my whole body all at once.

- I'd really like to do a few more 'cardio' sessions a week, partly do increase my activity (seeing as I sit on my butt all day at work), and partly because I feel like I want to do something that will make me feel agile again.

- If I do 20-45min kickboxing workouts a week, first thing in the morning (which is when I enjoy it most and have the most time), will this be a big problem for the OPT-Remix programme?

Here is my short answer. Walking as much as you want is fine. If you start to feel too tired, results aren't great, or you have a hard time sticking to your diet then the extra goes, k?

3. When does regularly taking part in activities you enjoy (e.g. kickboxing, climbing, dancing, mountain biking, netball etc.) become 'too much'? It seems that everyone warns about doing too much aerobic activity, but this seems to be more related to people doing hours on a treadmill or crosstrainer just to burn kcals. What if you're just doing things you enjoy? I've given up doing a lot of things I enjoy because I was told they weren't good for fat loss (i.e. I was doing too much cardio, elevating cortisol levels, and causing muscle loss), but too be honest, I don't 'feel' as fit and healthy as I used to!

If you are moving so much in your daily life than it isn't that in which that needs to shut down, its the formal training. No need to go to the gym and kill yourself if you are moving a lot in the day.

It is also a big mindset and the aggression level of movement. It is a big difference to say go out and dance or play a game with some friend vs HIIT sprints with a weight vest after a session of 30 mins superseting huge compound movements. See what I am saying?

You have to let logic come in and say "Do I really need to be doing all i am doing and if not, what do I enjoy/need the least?"

Make sense at all?