need help from exercise guru's....Callanetics vs T Tapp

[dancer67]

I am 47 yo. I need to lose at least 20 pounds. I am already doing a LCHF diet and have lost some weight. But I really need to add in some exercise.

 

I love Zumba. Problem is, I can't seem to keep up.(not for 30 minutes or longer or as my primary workout)

 

I have been reading that at my age, posture and preserving muscle is  very important. But I also want to lose weight and tone up. If that is even possible at my age :)

 

I own BWO+ from T Tapp. I have tried to do the BWO+ but I am not so sure this is what I want.

 

I am going on a tropical vacation in April, and really want to look my best. My problem area is definitely in my stomach. I have been on Be Fit on Youtube, and although those look really good, again I am not so sure I could keep up. AND, looked like it was meant for the younger crowd.

 

Someone had mentioned Callenetics. It seems very close to T Tapp. What is the difference between the two?

 

I know I would need some cardio to go with these, and I could easily throw in 15  to 20 min of Zumba every other day on top of doing core training.

 

So if you like one or the other, why?

 

If you prefer Callanetics, I saw a full length video on Youtube I could do. Or is there another workout you might recommend? I am not a beginner when it comes to moves. I have been a dancer for a very long time, and also familiar with many t tapp moves.

 

What says the hive? Thank you!

 

 

 

 

[hornblower]

I'm a boring broken record on this. The vast majority of weight loss happens in the kitchen, not the gym.

 

The gym will increase your metabolism, and will tone you (which makes everything look better) and it will improve your cardio, flexibility, strength & balance - which are all good things.
 

But biggest bang for the buck is the food you (don't) put in your mouth. It's way too easy to eat 250 extra calories & quite hard to burn it.

If you can't make it through a full Zumba workout yet, I think I'd be inclined to suggest walking. Can you add a 30 min very brisk walk to your day? The kind like you would be to make sure you get to the bus on time.

Also, can't really spot lose. Planks are great for core strength though... :)  I lost 20 lbs over about 2 years a few years ago & my BMI hovers around 20 but the belly? She's still flopping around LOL  TBH, I haven't really put in an effort to deal with the muffin top....

However, it absolutely IS possible meet your goals! Just don't look at it like a diet or an exercise plan you're doing for a while. You're doing this forever, now. And each year you need to decrease your caloric intake & increase a bit of your exercise, just to stay in the same place! So pick a food plan and find a bunch of exercises you like so that you can rotate through them as you get bored. I wouldn't worry at this moment which is 'best'. Just pick one & see if you like it.  Getting your cardio fitness up right now is going to be a priority.

I'd add yoga for flexibility and fitness. And some weights for upper body because I like a toned arm :)

oh & come join us on Negin's weekly  exercise threads to be cheered on!

 

[Katy]

I've never done t-tapp.  But when I was trying to motivate myself to do callanetics one time I found a LCHF forum about it.  Some people alternated between t-tapp and callanetics, but they all seemed to think Callanetics was more effective so I never tried t-tapp.  I bet you can watch clips from both on youtube and figure it out if you want.

[dancer67]

I can't really walk now.

 

It is very icy, I live on a hill, and it is 30 below. Not to safe.

 

I need to do something I can do for a long time. So I understand what you ladies are saying.

 

I am on LCHF right now. Trying to stick with it. Hasn't been to bad. I really want to look good by April, but I want to make sure I whatever I do I can do for the long haul. Osteo runs in my family so I want to prevent that, and I know belly fat is not good at all. That is where I carry most of my weight. That needs to go.

 

I was always under the impression that yoga was more for mental health(which is fine). And there a MILLION different versions of yoga. I cannot afford to go to any outside classes, and do not feel I should have to when most exercise programs can be found on youtube, or even on DVD. Figuring out moves is usually not an issue.

 

T Tapp though, just seems strange. I want to believe in it. But everything I have been taught in dance, or from past experiences, leads me to believe that some of these exercises(such as KLT, ok nobody ever stands like that), can be very harmful for a person who  has back issues..

 

Old school me, thinks....Cardio with alternating strength training. But at my age, I know there is no way doing an hour of Zumba and picking up weights is going to help me in the long run.

 

Now that I have kitchen down, I need to work on flab, muscle tone, ongoing weight loss/maintain, preventing arthritis and bone loss.

[hornblower]

 

 

Old school me, thinks....Cardio with alternating strength training. But at my age, I know there is no way doing an hour of Zumba and picking up weights is going to help me in the long run.

 

Now that I have kitchen down, I need to work on flab, muscle tone, ongoing weight loss/maintain, preventing arthritis and bone loss.

Not sure why you'd say that? I'm 48.  Took up Zumba about 3 years ago. (did bollywood workouts & step aerobics before that). There are lots of women older than I am in  my classes.  I do very high impact workouts but everyone paces themselves.

 

For yoga, I tend to do hatha. Free workouts are avail on www.doyogawithme.com & some other sites. You can make a donation to support the site but it's free to use.

oh for cardio, you can also get free workouts on fitnessblender

 

[redsquirrel]

can you do both? Get one and then next month or the month after get the other one. As a lifetime exerciser, if you want to make it a part of your life you need to have some variety. Why does T-tap preclude doing callenetics? And what about some free youtube exercise videos? There is pop pilates, fitness blender, zumba, Tiffany Rothe... the list goes on.

 

This is a free yoga website:

http://www.doyogawithme.com/

it has beginner videos.

 

Do you have a public library? My library has about 500 exercise DVDs to borrow. Most of them are yoga for some reason, but there are so many to chose from.

 

I don't think there is a best between Callenetics or T-Tap..the best is the one you will do. Which do you find more appealing or doable? You say you have one t-tapp now? Then why not try a callenetics and compare? Doing both, even alternating days, won't hurt you.  What Callenetics did you see on Youtube? I have seen the two 'new' callenetics on youtube, one is Cardio Callenetics? I am not sure that the older Callenetics workouts are all that similar. There is the classic DVD and then there are a few others, but they are all pretty much the same thing. Depending on what you saw on youtube, if you liked it you should just go with that.

 

I can't say anything about T-Tapp. Some people love it and say they got amazing results. I have tried it with good effort and an open mind, I swear I have, but I did not feel like I was working out. It just does not click for me. That said, I want to like Callenetics and just can't stand the super slow pace. I do like contemplative workouts, but Callanetics just puts me to sleeeeepzzzzzzzz

 

Isn't it a good thing they make so many different workouts for different people! That way we can all find stuff we can stand to do, lol.

 

Best of luck to you! And congrats on losing some weight already :hurray:

 

[Katy]

One thing about callanetics is that it's terribly, terribly boring.  I found that if you watch the video a couple times and learn the moves, you can make a list of the exercises and follow that instead of watching the video.  It's much easier to do all those pilates-type stomach hundreds with tv on in the background instead of Callan's soothing voice.  Her voice always makes me want to sleep.

[dancer67]

I might incorporate the two. I do need variety, because just doing one thing will bore me to tears.

 

I have never done yoga. I didn't even know about that free yoga site. Definitely will be adding that in as well. Thanks!

[Negin]

I don't have much time at the moment and will get back to you later. I really like Callanetics and have found it to be effective, although I haven't done it in a while, primarily because I have far, far too many choices and too little time. T-Tapp has seldom appealed to me. That's more of a subjective thing, however. Instructor style, etc. Just like some might love Denise Austin and some not. 

[Negin]

I have been reading that at my age, posture and preserving muscle is  very important. But I also want to lose weight and tone up. If that is even possible at my age :)

 

Someone had mentioned Callenetics. It seems very close to T Tapp. What is the difference between the two?

 

If you prefer Callanetics, I saw a full length video on Youtube I could do. Or is there another workout you might recommend? I am not a beginner when it comes to moves. I have been a dancer for a very long time, and also familiar with many t tapp moves.

You're right about posture and preserving muscle. I've been thinking about that quite a bit also. These days, I love Classical Stretch. Again, I haven't done Callanetics in a while, due to too many workout choices and too little time. I've never tried T-Tapp because it hasn't appealed to me at all. Callanetics was very do-able and is effective. At least it was for me. I believe that any workout you choose to do can be effective, but only as long as you do it regularly and consistently. Your plan is a good one and you should see results regardless. Yes, losing weight is hard as we get older. I struggle greatly also. It is mostly about diet and I can't do that these days. I have almost all of the Callanetics videos. Love them all. Wish I had time to do them far more regularly. 

[Joyofsixreboot]

I can't really walk now.

 

It is very icy, I live on a hill, and it is 30 below. Not to safe.

 

I need to do something I can do for a long time. So I understand what you ladies are saying.

 

I am on LCHF right now. Trying to stick with it. Hasn't been to bad. I really want to look good by April, but I want to make sure I whatever I do I can do for the long haul. Osteo runs in my family so I want to prevent that, and I know belly fat is not good at all. That is where I carry most of my weight. That needs to go.

 

I was always under the impression that yoga was more for mental health(which is fine). And there a MILLION different versions of yoga. I cannot afford to go to any outside classes, and do not feel I should have to when most exercise programs can be found on youtube, or even on DVD. Figuring out moves is usually not an issue.

 

T Tapp though, just seems strange. I want to believe in it. But everything I have been taught in dance, or from past experiences, leads me to believe that some of these exercises(such as KLT, ok nobody ever stands like that), can be very harmful for a person who has back issues..

 

Old school me, thinks....Cardio with alternating strength training. But at my age, I know there is no way doing an hour of Zumba and picking up weights is going to help me in the long run.

 

Now that I have kitchen down, I need to work on flab, muscle tone, ongoing weight loss/maintain, preventing arthritis and bone loss.

Don't say that about your age, I was 49.5 before I got serious about exercising and diet. I ended up losing 40 pounds. I started with walking and yoga ( which uses quite a bit of strength if you haven't done much recently). I now run, do weights, etc at 52. I would do Zumba or some cardio (at home or class) and add in body weight stuff like push ups, etc. Other posters are correct that weight loss is mostly diet though.

[Peach]

Weight lifting is very worthwhile at this age - it's great for helping bone density which is important for women past 40/50. 

[ashfern]

I did Callanetics when I was much younger. I do T-Tapp now. If you have a dancer background and flexibility then Callanetics may work out for you. If you have access to both, then try them out and see which you prefer. I like T-Tapp because I do the Basic + which takes about 15 minutes. I can squeak that much time out for exercise. Anything longer and I wouldn't do it consistently. I restarted T-Tapp at the end of December. I took measurements on Jan 1st and again today. I'm down 3 lbs and 17.5 inches!!

[snickerplum]

I do BWO+ in the morning because it energizes my day. I do Callanetics in the evening (almost always, some nights get busy) because I find it quite relaxing. :-) Judging by my sore muscles, I find both to be effective.

[hornblower]

For walking and running outside on ice you can use ice grippers. I'd get some old ski poles and walk up and down your hill with ice grippers on. That would be an excellent workout. See other winter tips for runners here (there's a picture of what ice grippers look like) http://running.about.com/od/coldweatherrunning/tp/Tips-For-Running-On-Snow-And-Ice.htm

 

Don't discount paying for classes. Once you've paid and committed for a set of classes, it's much more likely you will go for your workout. Plus you make friends there and social support is very important when establishing a new habit.

 

Yoga can be very challenging physically. Other than restorative, almost all other forms of yoga challenge your muscle strength and balance and will develop core strength. It's a physical exercise, not a meditation, even though sometimes they're combined, and there can be a meditative aspect to it in terms of being mindfully present in each pose.

[Liz CA]

I am 47 yo. I need to lose at least 20 pounds. I am already doing a LCHF diet and have lost some weight. But I really need to add in some exercise.

 

I love Zumba. Problem is, I can't seem to keep up.(not for 30 minutes or longer or as my primary workout)

 

I have been reading that at my age, posture and preserving muscle is  very important. But I also want to lose weight and tone up. If that is even possible at my age :)

 

I own BWO+ from T Tapp. I have tried to do the BWO+ but I am not so sure this is what I want.

 

I am going on a tropical vacation in April, and really want to look my best. My problem area is definitely in my stomach. I have been on Be Fit on Youtube, and although those look really good, again I am not so sure I could keep up. AND, looked like it was meant for the younger crowd.

 

Someone had mentioned Callenetics. It seems very close to T Tapp. What is the difference between the two?

 

I know I would need some cardio to go with these, and I could easily throw in 15  to 20 min of Zumba every other day on top of doing core training.

 

So if you like one or the other, why?

 

If you prefer Callanetics, I saw a full length video on Youtube I could do. Or is there another workout you might recommend? I am not a beginner when it comes to moves. I have been a dancer for a very long time, and also familiar with many t tapp moves.

 

What says the hive? Thank you!

 

I don't know TTap but I have been doing Callanetics for 25+ years. It is very gentle, adaptable yet builds muscles in the abdominal area and slims the hips. Back when I started, YouTube did not exist, so I have the book. There used to be a CD around as well where you can watch the woman do the exercises but I think you mentioned it's all on YouTube anyway. I can only say they worked for me, however, for about one year I have also been going to a gym to use their equipment for more resistance exercises.