I'm Getting my Groove Back

[jdrgator]

So I completed my sixth week back in the gym after what was pretty much a five year hiatus (at least of regular lifting).

Feeling great. Lost about 15 lbs so far (I believe), last time I checked nearly two weeks ago, it was 13 lbs.

The program I am in right now finishes up in three weeks and then there are two "continuation" weeks in which my cohort will work toward more individualized training programs (for both lifting and cardio). So I will begin to expand my routine and go from lifting three days a week to 4 while getting back to doing some of the type of lifting I did back in the early 00s.

But so far so good. I hope to hit my goal of losing 100 lbs or just getting down to a low bf % (around 9-11%) by next May. But really, my goal is to just get in shape, great shape in terms of health. The benefits in terms of energy throughout the day, strength in doing household chores (such as replanting our lawn), and general health have been amazing even though I am still a good 85 lbs over weight!!!!!

I can better appreciate the sound advice about exercise now that I have experienced being obese much better than when I worked in the health industry, where feeling "good" was pretty damn routine.

[jdrgator]

So today I completed my 7th week of training in my pursuit of losing about 100 lbs (or more generally, getting lean regardless of how much I weigh). I've lost a solid 17 lbs thus far; down to 290 from 307. My intention is to reach my goals by May 2012 (10 months).

I am training six days a week for about 1hr each day. In two of the weeks I trained only 5 days (though I spent those two days working outside doing manual labor for the entire day; hurricane clean-up and I replanted my lawn).

The official program ends after 10 weeks (after 9 weeks for me since I started a week late), then I will strike out on my own and will restructure my routine somewhat. I've been progressively upping my weights and I am getting stronger so it's working well so far.

Here's a basic run down of what I have been doing:

Tu,Tr, Sa (Group-based lifting and cardio)
Weights: 30 minutes (using dumbells for all except the quads)
3x12 Sets: Pecs/, Lats, Delts, Bicepts, Tricepts, Quads: using the ball, no weights

Cardio: 30 minutes on the Elliptical
Base Height: 20 (max height)
Base Resistance: 7
Base SPM: 110-120
Sprint intervals: Varies depending on the instructor (SPM 200-220 @ resistance 7)
Hill: Varies: Max at resistance 15 thus far
Cool Down: 5 mins

M,W,F (Individual)
Weights: 20-25 minutes
Hammies: 5x10
Abs: 5x10
Calves 5x10

Cardio: 40 minutes on the Elliptical
Base Height: 20 (max height)
Base Resistance: 7 (Strides Per Min: 110-120)
Sprint Intervals: 10 @ 30 secs ea @ 7 resistance from mins 5-19 (SPM 200-220)
Hill Climb: Resistance 10-15 & back to 10 @ mins 20-35 (SPM 100-110)
Cool Down: 5 mins

Stretching: 10 minutes

[Dreamliner]

I would never recommend training six days a week, but if you enjoy this sort of template, and if it helps you to achieve your weight-loss goal (or if you achieve your goal in spite of it) ... who am I to argue ?

[deviation]

I don't know what kind of condition your knees are in or what kind of cardio equipment you have @ your gym but if you are looking to burn more calories the stair master or jogging/running on a treadmill will burn more calories faster than a eliptical would.

Plus the great thing about a stairmaster is that it's just another exercise for your calves and hams. Quads too.

In 15 minutes, i ran at a speed of 10 on a treadmill. It came to be 2 miles, while a friend of mine went at a easy speed of like 60 or so on a stairmaster and he burned just about the same amount of calories as i did. He was doing so much less work.

Wife always does the eliptical and i always burn more calories than her in a shorter time period when i run or get on the stairmaster.

Eliptical is still a great form of cardio especially if you have bad knees. Just thought i would throw my 2 cents out there.

The one eliptical i love most is the free motion one. I guess it's a form of a eliptical. The range of motion is much more. It works your hamstrings so much more.

[Dreamliner]

Nothing burns calories like a calorie deficit. Just saying.

[jdrgator]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner

I would never recommend training six days a week, but if you enjoy this sort of template, and if it helps you to achieve your weight-loss goal (or if you achieve your goal in spite of it) ... who am I to argue ?

Let me ask you this before I explain my thinking on it: What would you recommend (generally speaking) given my stated goals?

My thinking on it is that I know how much too push myself, and the first step was obviously just getting back into the gym. But I wanted to make sure that I trained hard to lose fat in a relatively short but reasonable amount of time (100 lbs in 10 months, or something in that general range); not to just maintain. It's one thing if I had never worked out before, but because I was an athlete and worked in the industry for quite awhile, I have a pretty good understanding of what I need to do.

On the other hand, when I start getting to a point where I am much more comfortable with my weight (say around 230), I would drop down to 5 days a week and then eventually to 4 days a week after hitting my goals.

At least that is how I conceived this before I headed back into the gym. When I was in my late 20s and early 30s and in good shape (about 187/9% bf), I did cardio and weight training 3 days a week and one 4th day just cardio, but at the time, I also played in a modified fast-pitch softball all summer and fall and did other things like mountain biking, skiing, racquetball, intramural sports in college etc.... IOW, I was generally much more active.

But now I write/research and teach for a living so if I am not teaching, I am at my computer writing, and that has had a big effect on my weight gain (plus I had completely stopped working out or playing any sports since 2005). So training six days a week has some real psych and energy benefits right now considering that outside the gym, I am still pretty sedentary.

Anyway, your thoughts are always enlightening, dream.

[jdrgator]

Originally Posted by deviation

I don't know what kind of condition your knees are in or what kind of cardio equipment you have @ your gym but if you are looking to burn more calories the stair master or jogging/running on a treadmill will burn more calories faster than a eliptical would.

Plus the great thing about a stairmaster is that it's just another exercise for your calves and hams. Quads too.

In 15 minutes, i ran at a speed of 10 on a treadmill. It came to be 2 miles, while a friend of mine went at a easy speed of like 60 or so on a stairmaster and he burned just about the same amount of calories as i did. He was doing so much less work.

Wife always does the eliptical and i always burn more calories than her in a shorter time period when i run or get on the stairmaster.

Eliptical is still a great form of cardio especially if you have bad knees. Just thought i would throw my 2 cents out there.

The one eliptical i love most is the free motion one. I guess it's a form of a eliptical. The range of motion is much more. It works your hamstrings so much more.

I don't have bad knees. In fact, given my weight and years of sports, my body has held up pretty well, though I struggled with my lower back issues b/c of my weight....not much anymore, though. But we don't have any stairmasters at this gym, unfortunately. Probably because a large part of the clientele are morbidly obese, geriatric, or have some physical limitations (the gym gets fed clients from many of the doctors in the city who send their patients there).

But I wish they did. I love the stairmaster and it certainly kicks my arse. I was always a fan of the ones with the chains though, not the cables. And I don't like to run, at least not yet. I am still 290 though when I get down some more, I am going to include some running in my weekly routine. In due time I suppose. It's working for me now so I am not so quick to change it up until it's needed.

Originally Posted by Dreamliner

Nothing burns calories like a calorie deficit. Just saying.

That is the the first rule of losing weight!

I am keeping my cal intake at about 2k a day, though I drop down to 1.6k once a week (I've done that the last three weeks).

[Dreamliner]

jdr, certainly you know your limitations. Equally important: you know your 'exercise personality.' If you truly enjoy training every day, split routines, isolation movements ... go for it. My perspective is that exercise, especially split routines and isolation movements don't burn very many calories. And certainly my bias is to focus on calorie deficit and just hit the 'sweet spot' on exercise, the minimum effective dosage. But maybe I'm just lazy.

But if you want to exercise a lot SO AS to GREATLY bolster your calorie deficit, I'd do what I have done in the past, total body workouts 5-6 days a week, maybe alternating strength and cardio emphasis, something like the Monkey Bar Gym template.

Just my two cents.

[deviation]

I just brought up the knees question because usually people that use the elliptical is because they can't use the treadmill. The elliptical is much easier on the knees.

Also you can burn A LOT of calories through out a routine if you keep your rest times low and do everything in either circuit or superset form.

I wore a chest strap and a HR watch one time to track the calories i burned and my heart rate through out my chest & shoulders routine. In that hour of chest and shoulders i burned 650+ calories. Not counting the calories i burned for my cardio afterwards. I put everything in supersets that day.

Leg day, i burn much more. Around 800 and 900 cals.

[jdrgator]

Originally Posted by deviation

I just brought up the knees question because usually people that use the elliptical is because they can't use the treadmill. The elliptical is much easier on the knees.

Also you can burn A LOT of calories through out a routine if you keep your rest times low and do everything in either circuit or superset form.

I wore a chest strap and a HR watch one time to track the calories i burned and my heart rate through out my chest & shoulders routine. In that hour of chest and shoulders i burned 650+ calories. Not counting the calories i burned for my cardio afterwards. I put everything in supersets that day.

Leg day, i burn much more. Around 800 and 900 cals.

I know exactly what you mean. If done right, you can burn a lot of calories in really only a short period of time. At some point, I will change my training routine to start hitting it even harder. I mean, I am going hard now, but I want to finish this 10-week class that I signed up for (it isn't cheap) and then I'll see after that.

I think I also might invest in a HR watch one of these days...

Thanks for comments, they are helpful! Same to you dreamliner!

[Dreamliner]

Originally Posted by jdrgator

I know exactly what you mean. If done right, you can burn a lot of calories in really only a short period of time. At some point, I will change my training routine to start hitting it even harder. I mean, I am going hard now, but I want to finish this 10-week class that I signed up for (it isn't cheap) and then I'll see after that.

I think I also might invest in a HR watch one of these days...

Thanks for comments, they are helpful! Same to you dreamliner!

And jdr, I almost hesitated to comment at all. You're obviously making great progress and that is to be commended!

[jdrgator]

Originally Posted by Dreamliner

And jdr, I almost hesitated to comment at all. You're obviously making great progress and that is to be commended!

Your comments have a lot of value. I like hearing different approaches since I am trying to remain open to new ways of training. It's easy to get into a routine but they can go very stale, so hearing others opinions, especially those with expertise, is obviously beneficial.

p.s. After eight weeks, I am down to 288.5 from 307.8. Blood Pressure is 110/80. Waiting to receive my results from some other tests but so far, so good!

[Dreamliner]

Fantastic! I wish I had your blood pressure. Mine tends to run high no matter what I eat and no matter how lean I am and no matter how active. Just the hand I was dealt. My sister is 5-2 105, runs marathons, does yoga ... and has to take two BP medications.

[gatorman_07732]

jdr glad to see all is going well and that you are in the zone. I have eclipsed my threshold of 200 lbs and now whittling my way down to 190 lbs. It's been some years since I've been down this low but it's feeling good. Glad I kept those 34 waist jeans.

[jdrgator]

Originally Posted by gatorman_07732

jdr glad to see all is going well and that you are in the zone. I have eclipsed my threshold of 200 lbs and now whittling my way down to 190 lbs. It's been some years since I've been down this low but it's feeling good. Glad I kept those 34 waist jeans.

Awesome gman! I'm sure you are feeling great.

BTW, I am now down to 282.8 lbs (pre meal morning weigh in). Haven't skipped meals, but I have cut back quite a bit, though still remain satiated. Keeping about a 1800-2100 cal regimen.

[gatorman_07732]

Originally Posted by jdrgator

Awesome gman! I'm sure you are feeling great.

BTW, I am now down to 282.8 lbs (pre meal morning weigh in). Haven't skipped meals, but I have cut back quite a bit, though still remain satiated. Keeping about a 1800-2100 cal regimen.

Are you doing any bike riding?