OT : Workout Advice

[Lancer]

I recently joined a gym to try to lose 10-15 lbs.

I was planning to do a cardio/weightlifting workout but the trainer at the gym mentioned not to lift until I lost the weight. It didn't sound right but what do you guys think?

Right now I've been going there 8 days straight since I joined. I'm doing 15 min treadmill to get started (I hate running), then 15 min cycle machine, then 40 min on the Stairmaster, which is kicking my ass but I enjoy it. Then if I have time, I'll do some light 20/30lbs dumbells and bench press (using the machine w/ the hole in the weight, not a spotter). I tried that Elliptical machine but I was all over the place trying to use it.

So I do the cardio daily and alternate every other day w/ the light weights.

Is this a good plan I have for losing 10-15 lbs? Any other advice you guys can give me?

[dbdynsty25]

Well back in April, after finally recovering from my ACL surgery, I started hitting the gym hard. I had gained about 50 pounds in the past 8 or 9 years because of knee injuries, so I had to take that off. As of today, I've lost 42 of it. Here's what I did:

I had a personal trainer for the first two months...just so I could get going in the right direction. His main advice to me was never do more than 40 min. of cardio...it loses it's effect after that point. Also, don't work out for more than a few days in a row at a time. Your body doesn't recover correctly and thus, minimizing weight loss and muscle tone.

So in essence my weekly routine has been simple. I hit the gym 4 days a week, and do 20-30 min. of cardio (elliptical, running, or stair climber) and 20-30 min. of free weight and body weight training. A ton of stuff that uses your own body weight along with balance and core strengthening. It's really simple...I don't follow any regimen or anything like that...and the weight has come off fairly easily. Of course I also cut out a lot of the crap out of my diet, but I still drink beer, still eat dessert and all that stuff. It's the 80/20 diet as far as I'm concerned. I eat good 80% of the time and cheat 20% of the time. It makes it not really feel like a diet...it really is the only way to go as far as I'm concerned. I don't count calories or any of that crap either...just eat stuff that you know is better for you and don't snack on a bunch of sh*t and you'll be fine.

You're definitely overdoing it by going 8 days a week and doing over an hour of cardio. Obvioulsy everyone is different so it may work for you, but having knocked off a bunch of weight, I just wanted to share how I did it.

The only downside is that I've needed to buy new clothes three times in the last 7 months. Gets expensive.

[pk500]

One line of advice that will get you into the best shape of your life: Train like a boxer.

[Rodster]

[Lancer]

Thanks for the advice DB/PK.

My current plan is to go to the gym at least for an hour workout on M,T,W,Th . Fri/Sat/Sun i would take off. But the weekend says I stay pretty active, doing a lot of hiking or being out and about. But it's not as strenuous as the gym.

I think i've gone 8 straight days just because I am new to the whole workout thing and am excited about it. I'll try to cut my cardio workout then. Maybe do 25 min of stair-master instead of 40. And also try some of the other exercises they have at the gym.

I started to eat pretty good about a month ago. For lunch I eat subway or a small sandwich, but dinner I usually eat more food, chicken/fish mainly, sometimes a steak. One problem is I have no time for breakfast and don't eat anything, and it's been like that for the last 20 some years. Weekends it's harder. I usually eat Pizza or other high calorie foods but not junk food. I think that's ok, like you I dont want to get caught up in counting calories etc... I think some amount of 'bad' food is needed just to keep me happy. I don't want to eat salads all day and be unhappy with what I am eating.

One thing I forgot to add : I've developed a nasty habit of taking a nap like an hour after dinner. I guess this really doesn't help does it? Only plus I can see is that right after the nap I go work out at night, from around 8pm - 10pm. I guess try to not do naps?

[fsquid]

There's 8 days a week in Db's world, so that helped too.

[Brando70]

Thanks for the advice DB/PK.

My current plan is to go to the gym at least for an hour workout on M,T,W,Th . Fri/Sat/Sun i would take off. But the weekend says I stay pretty active, doing a lot of hiking or being out and about. But it's not as strenuous as the gym.

I think i've gone 8 straight days just because I am new to the whole workout thing and am excited about it. I'll try to cut my cardio workout then. Maybe do 25 min of stair-master instead of 40. And also try some of the other exercises they have at the gym.

I started to eat pretty good about a month ago. For lunch I eat subway or a small sandwich, but dinner I usually eat more food, chicken/fish mainly, sometimes a steak. One problem is I have no time for breakfast and don't eat anything, and it's been like that for the last 20 some years. Weekends it's harder. I usually eat Pizza or other high calorie foods but not junk food. I think that's ok, like you I dont want to get caught up in counting calories etc... I think some amount of 'bad' food is needed just to keep me happy. I don't want to eat salads all day and be unhappy with what I am eating.

One thing I forgot to add : I've developed a nasty habit of taking a nap like an hour after dinner. I guess this really doesn't help does it? Only plus I can see is that right after the nap I go work out at night, from around 8pm - 10pm. I guess try to not do naps?

If you work out after you nap at night, you'll probably be okay. The sleeping will slow your metabolism, which you don't want right after eating, but since you're exercising it probably won't be a problem.

DB is definitely right about having a couple of off days during the week. Light cardio is fine if you still want to go, just try not to kill your muscles seven days a week.

[ScoopBrady]

Doing the same thing every day is not the best route to go. You can workout almost every day but as db pointed out your body needs time to recover. That is why you need to target specific areas for each workout. If your workout today focuses on lower body strength then you can focus on cardio tomorrow while your lower body recovers. Incorporate a little cardio on days when you aren't focusing on it by doing a 12-15 minute cardio warm up before moving on to whatever your target is. Also, mixing it up not only gives your body time to recover, it prevents you from hitting a plateau. If you do the same thing all of the time your body will adjust and you won't benefit from it as much.

Cardio is definitely the fastest way to lose weight but if your goal is to lose the weight and keep it off then you need to focus more on getting in shape and changing your body. I found myself 40 pounds overweight after 11 years of marriage and 3 years removed from quitting smoking so I decided to finally do something about it after my son was born this February. In the past I had always been able to diet and workout here and there to drop a quick 15-20 pounds but eventually I would just balloon back up. This time I started by cutting my calories and I started losing weight. The weight loss slowed down so I started working out with EA Sports Active on the Wii. I started losing more weight and where in the past I would just do cardio to lose weight I noticed that the 30 day challenge in EA Sports Active had me doing a lot of stuff. It was then that I realized that if I truly wanted to lose the weight and keep it off I was going to need to change my eating and workout habits.

I totally agree with db in the 80/20 way of eating. Your body craves food that is bad for you and to completely deprive yourself of that will make you focus on it more which can lead to overeating those types of food. By allowing yourself to eat some crap it makes it much easier to eat the grilled chicken breast rather than the cheeseburger or brown rice instead of white.

After losing the 40 pounds doing this I took the next step and did the Insanity workout. That showed me just how important mixing up your workout routine and targeting different areas allowing your body to recover was. It's been a great journey and it's always great to hear how people don't even recognize me any more because of all of the weight I lost. Now working out is a part of my life as I still do some of the Insanity workouts to maintain through the holidays and I will go through the whole program again in the new year. I have kept the weight off for quite a while now and I feel like a new man. I'm 38 and literally in the best shape of my life. Sorry for rambling, hopefully you will find some good information in it.

[pk500]

Four days per week:

-- Six three-minute rounds on the heavy bag, at least 100 punches per round.

-- Three three-minute rounds on the double-ended reflex bag, at least 100 punches per round.

-- All punches are thrown with proper technique and in combinations, with constant head and ring movement. Don't just stand there and go "tap, tap, tap."

-- Vary focus each round on the heavy bag. My usual routine:

First round: Focus on technique, getting loose and limber. Nothing too hard, avoid harder body shots at the bottom of the bag.
Second round: Increase tempo from first round, focus a bit more on combinations, body shots and footwork.
Third round: Faster tempo. Then do 10 repeats of left hook, left jab (I'm an orthodox puncher), straight right and right hook, slipping and weaving every four or five punches within each set.
Fourth round: Focus on constant movement. Slip in and out of punches. Bob and weave. Duck and run.
Fifth round: My "Castillo-Corrales I round." Focus on in-close fighting. Hooks, uppercuts, etc., all within close proximity of bag. Hit myself in the head as hard as I can stand at least 20 times on each side of the head and jaw to simulate in-close fighting. I've knocked myself woozy more than once.
Sixth round: Put it all together. A hard, three-minute round incorporating everything from the first five rounds.

One minute of active rest in between all rounds on both bags. By "active rest," I mean either crunches, footwork drills, leg lifts, sitting torso twists, neck lifts, simulated speed bag work, shadow boxing. I probably have only 10 seconds of actual "rest" between rounds. There is one exception: Between the fifth and sixth rounds on the heavy bag, I do 50 sit-ups divided this way:

First 10: Normal sit-ups
Next 20: Punch myself in the stomach and side as hard as I can manage while doing the sit-up. Or I have one of my older kids do it.
Next 10: Elbow-to-opposite knee sit-ups
Final 10: Normal sit-ups

I try to run, skip rope, ride my bike, cross-country ski, downhill ski or shovel the driveway fast (winter) on two of the days that I'm not on the bags. One day completely off every week. Hell, I'm 45.

No gym fees. No travel to the gym. Phenomenal total-body workout. Hitting something is great stress relief, too. Total cost was about $200 for heavy bag, reflex bag, gloves, knuckle guards and handwraps. Hopefully Santa brings a speed bag and platform next weekend.

Works for me.

[10spro]

In addition to what's been mentioned above as per gym routines and diets. Three Sports that keeps my cardio going during the winter. And they are all indoors: Hockey, Soccer and Tennis.

[Slumberland]

Cock push-ups. One is all you need.

But seriously, good advice here. Going every day sounds a bit counterproductive and impossible to maintain. When I got up to about 225 because I liked video games and cheeseburgers my now wife made me an appointment with a fitness instructor who said I needed to go to the gym at least three times a week to make any real difference. I trusted her, attended regularly, and pretty quickly dropped 30 pounds. I could stand to lose some more but I'm not willing to commit to a fourth day a week right now, or any monk-like eating regiments.

One class I take at the Y that I like a lot is Punk Rope... which is a lot of themed drills broken up by intervals of jump rope, all set to punk, rock, metal, etc. I never really jump roped before but I f*cking love it now, and have learned some tricks.

[pk500]

Punk rope sounds cool, Slumber! I have all the finesse of a water buffalo, so I haven't learned any rope tricks yet.

I can't stand the c*cksucker, but Floyd Mayweather Jr. is RIDICULOUS with a rope. Check this out, with apologies for the music in advance:

[fletcher21]

Look at Hershel Walker. Dude got swolled out like crazy without using weights ( allegedly)

All you really need is a soccer field to run on, some 20lb dumbells, a jumprope and some cones. Oh and about 100oz of water per day. I am down to 160lbs, and at 5'11 that's decent. I was up to a disgusting fatbody size of 190. It's almost easier to work out than to eat well. I LOVE pizza, fast food and other bad things. I'd say if you made an equation to get in shape, probably 60 or 75% of it is diet.

[Diablo25]

It's almost easier to work out than to eat well.

Truer words have never been uttered. It's not 'almost' with me. I enjoy working out but I enjoy eating a bit more. I've been trying to drop 10-12 pounds myself. I started my program about 2 weeks ago but hurt my back a few days in and haven't done much since...other than some cardio. My back is just about 100% so I'm going to jump back in soon. Of course the old Christmas glutton fest will be arriving soon.

[F308GTB]

I had a personal trainer for the first two months...just so I could get going in the right direction. His main advice to me was never do more than 40 min. of cardio...it loses it's effect after that point. Also, don't work out for more than a few days in a row at a time. Your body doesn't recover correctly and thus, minimizing weight loss and muscle tone.

??? 40 minutes and it loses its affect? WTF? For weight loss it doesn't lose any effect. In fact, the longer you go the better you are as the body doesn't have all those sugars available in the blood and muscles to convert to energy. It has to start using your fat as a fuel source. And I can certainly tell the difference between a 40 minute bike ride and a 3-5 hour ride or a 40 minute run and 1.5 hour run.

But do give those muscles a break. Doesn't have to be complete rest. Active rest (walking, light bike ride, light weights) is also beneficial.

The other thing - count calories. And learn to go to bed hungry.

[Lancer]

I had a personal trainer for the first two months...just so I could get going in the right direction. His main advice to me was never do more than 40 min. of cardio...it loses it's effect after that point. Also, don't work out for more than a few days in a row at a time. Your body doesn't recover correctly and thus, minimizing weight loss and muscle tone.

??? 40 minutes and it loses its affect? WTF? For weight loss it doesn't lose any effect. In fact, the longer you go the better you are as the body doesn't have all those sugars available in the blood and muscles to convert to energy. It has to start using your fat as a fuel source. And I can certainly tell the difference between a 40 minute bike ride and a 3-5 hour ride or a 40 minute run and 1.5 hour run.

But do give those muscles a break. Doesn't have to be complete rest. Active rest (walking, light bike ride, light weights) is also beneficial.

The other thing - count calories. And learn to go to bed hungry.

Thanks for all the good advice. I can see there are different ways for everyone.

I went again tonight, my legs after the 40 min stair felt weak. So I thought it'd cut it in half and once I got back on the stair-master I felt great again. But did 30 min. Then did another 30 min of other machines. Will do some weights tomorrow and cardio and then take 3 days off.

I work out from 830/9pm - 10pm and right after workout I get an urge to pig out on really bad food like a kit kat or twix. It's weird because I don't eat candy at all. Maybe it's just my body's way of resisting. So far I've resisted on bad food and been eating fruits like grapes, oranges, pomegranate seeds, etc... after working out, but not pigging out on the fruit.

[Lancer]

It's almost easier to work out than to eat well.

Truer words have never been uttered. It's not 'almost' with me. I enjoy working out but I enjoy eating a bit more. I've been trying to drop 10-12 pounds myself. I started my program about 2 weeks ago but hurt my back a few days in and haven't done much since...other than some cardio. My back is just about 100% so I'm going to jump back in soon. Of course the old Christmas glutton fest will be arriving soon.

Diablo, looks like we are in the same boat, same goal , 10-15 lbs off. You also started a week before I did, but with your injury we're probably at the same # of work out days now. Maybe in 3 months we should check post here to compare how much we both lost. Maybe a competition will motivate us a little more.

[dbdynsty25]

I had a personal trainer for the first two months...just so I could get going in the right direction. His main advice to me was never do more than 40 min. of cardio...it loses it's effect after that point. Also, don't work out for more than a few days in a row at a time. Your body doesn't recover correctly and thus, minimizing weight loss and muscle tone.

??? 40 minutes and it loses its affect? WTF? For weight loss it doesn't lose any effect. In fact, the longer you go the better you are as the body doesn't have all those sugars available in the blood and muscles to convert to energy. It has to start using your fat as a fuel source. And I can certainly tell the difference between a 40 minute bike ride and a 3-5 hour ride or a 40 minute run and 1.5 hour run.

But do give those muscles a break. Doesn't have to be complete rest. Active rest (walking, light bike ride, light weights) is also beneficial.

The other thing - count calories. And learn to go to bed hungry.

I believe he's referring to the machines...like the elliptical. Loses it's effect is the wrong way to put it...basically he is saying to switch it up and do something else. Don't do the same thing for longer than 40...which makes sense to me, and I'm no health genius, but losing 40+ lbs in a little over 6 months based on what he's told me seems to work for me.

[ScoopBrady]

I work out from 830/9pm - 10pm and right after workout I get an urge to pig out on really bad food like a kit kat or twix. It's weird because I don't eat candy at all. Maybe it's just my body's way of resisting. So far I've resisted on bad food and been eating fruits like grapes, oranges, pomegranate seeds, etc... after working out, but not pigging out on the fruit.

From what I've heard, if you are going to eat a Twix or some sort of sweet it is better to do so right after working out over any other time because your body is at it's ideal state to break it down for 30 minutes after the workout. Still not a great idea to do it all of the time but if you're going to allow yourself a treat now and again post workout is the best time. I would recommend finding a protein bar that is a little sweet but not too bad on sugar. It can help satisfy the craving for sweets and as long as you find one that isn't outrageous will help your body recover.

And one thing I didn't mention earlier is to stress how important it is to stretch before and after your workout. I never thought much of it until I started doing the Insanity stuff. It's a good way to ease in and out of your workouts and helps prevent injury.

[jimd]

After losing the 40 pounds doing this I took the next step and did the Insanity workout. That showed me just how important mixing up your workout routine and targeting different areas allowing your body to recover was. It's been a great journey and it's always great to hear how people don't even recognize me any more because of all of the weight I lost. Now working out is a part of my life as I still do some of the Insanity workouts to maintain through the holidays and I will go through the whole program again in the new year. I have kept the weight off for quite a while now and I feel like a new man. I'm 38 and literally in the best shape of my life. Sorry for rambling, hopefully you will find some good information in it.

I'll just add my endorsment of the Insanity workout. A great product. I started it this summer and did almost the full 60-plus days. It transformed my body and the way I feel. Now I do it 2-3 times a week and it has been great in keeping me at a high level of fitness (in addition to pick-up soccer one night a week). The best part of the Insanity program for me (and why I picked it over the p90X) is that it it's doable timewise: first -month of workouts are all less than 45 minutes each, second month are all less than 60.

[F308GTB]

From what I've heard, if you are going to eat a Twix or some sort of sweet it is better to do so right after working out over any other time because your body is at it's ideal state to break it down for 30 minutes after the workout. Still not a great idea to do it all of the time but if you're going to allow yourself a treat now and again post workout is the best time. I would recommend finding a protein bar that is a little sweet but not too bad on sugar. It can help satisfy the craving for sweets and as long as you find one that isn't outrageous will help your body recover.

And one thing I didn't mention earlier is to stress how important it is to stretch before and after your workout. I never thought much of it until I started doing the Insanity stuff. It's a good way to ease in and out of your workouts and helps prevent injury.

Depending on the workout and what you plan to do the following day, eating carbs/sugar right after is indeed a good thing. Your muscles are like a sponge after an intense workout. Since sugar is the number 1 fuel for muscles, if you are going to have another hard workout 24 hours later, it is important to fuel up. But one thing to note is that unless you know how many calories you've burned (and for cardio, those gym equipment estimates are WAY over) you may have just scarfed down more than you burned.

Stretching? Overrated. There's a lot of debate out there regarding stretching with a lot of the latest research indicating it does nothing and actually may negatively affect explosive power r even create injury. I do about 500+ hours of cardio work (running and cycling) a year and never stretch. Just active warmups (light cycle or jog) for the first 10-15 minutes is all you need. Take a look at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/active/75944 ... ctive.html

[dbdynsty25]

I'm so glad to read that everyone else who has been successful in losing some weight HAS BEEN DOING IT ALL WRONG! Thanks for setting us straight F308.

At least you agreed about the sugar after a workout thing.

[pk500]

Stretching is NOT overrated if you're doing any kind of impact training, such as boxing. If you hit a heavy bag cold, you're asking for trouble. I know -- I've done it, with hyperextended elbows, hurt shoulders, strained wrists, etc., as the result. Every minor, non-hand injury I've suffered in the last year while boxing has come in the first round because I didn't stretch and warm up properly.

I don't even think of starting on the heavy bag without stretching my arms and torso and doing some very light shadow boxing and simulated speed bag work.

[Macca00]

I have a mental picture of PK stretching, warming up and then JD's kid Dom steps into the ring and pummels the s*** out of him.

/Random Thought of the Day

[pk500]

I have a mental picture of PK stretching, warming up and then JD's kid Dom steps into the ring and pummels the s*** out of him.

/Random Thought of the Day

That mental picture probably would be reality! Dom is a monster ...