The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
Please vote in the Forum Structure Poll. Polling will close at 2PM EST on January 21, 2025.
Help me exercise more good
VishNub
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, I recently finished grad school, during which I put on 20-25lbs. I'm now 6'1" and ~225. During grad school I didn't really exercise, other than the 30 minute walk to and from work and occasional weekend trips, hikes, etc... I used to do track and cross country, then ultimate frisbee in undergrad so I was in decent to good shape prior to grad school, and weighed about 20lbs less. I'm not like, obviously obese, but there's a little more gut and chin than I'd like.
Now I'd like to 1) get back in at least fair shape. 2) lose those 20lbs back if possible. I'll take 10 if that's more reasonable. and 3) build a little muscle mass. I'm not interested in running marathons or in looking like a bodybuilder.
Currently, I'm trying to eat healthier than I used to, or least eat less than I used to. And I've started going to the gym at work -- I have access to a full gym, with weights, weight machines, 1/8(12?) mile track, elliptical, bikes, etc...
My usual program is 3 nights a week I do some combination of 10-20m of biking at a heart rate of 120-130bpm, interval stuff on the elliptical with 1m slow then 1m of 160-180bpm, repeated 3-4 times, rowing for 1000m, and weights. For the weights I do 10-15 reps of the max weight I can do 15 reps of for that exercise (usually 70-90lbs). I don't currently do any lower body weight exercises, which I know is bad, but I'm not sure what to do and I'm kind of embarrassed wandering around the weight room looking at exercise diagrams.
So, I dunno, any tips? Is my program structured OK? What lower body lifts should I be doing, etc...
I've found it hard to locate good information on this stuff between the one weird trick articles and the 'roid rage bodybuilding forums.
Now I'd like to 1) get back in at least fair shape. 2) lose those 20lbs back if possible. I'll take 10 if that's more reasonable. and 3) build a little muscle mass. I'm not interested in running marathons or in looking like a bodybuilder.
Currently, I'm trying to eat healthier than I used to, or least eat less than I used to. And I've started going to the gym at work -- I have access to a full gym, with weights, weight machines, 1/8(12?) mile track, elliptical, bikes, etc...
My usual program is 3 nights a week I do some combination of 10-20m of biking at a heart rate of 120-130bpm, interval stuff on the elliptical with 1m slow then 1m of 160-180bpm, repeated 3-4 times, rowing for 1000m, and weights. For the weights I do 10-15 reps of the max weight I can do 15 reps of for that exercise (usually 70-90lbs). I don't currently do any lower body weight exercises, which I know is bad, but I'm not sure what to do and I'm kind of embarrassed wandering around the weight room looking at exercise diagrams.
So, I dunno, any tips? Is my program structured OK? What lower body lifts should I be doing, etc...
I've found it hard to locate good information on this stuff between the one weird trick articles and the 'roid rage bodybuilding forums.
0
Posts
Personally my biggest thing for exercising is whether or not I enjoy the exercise in question. If I do, then even on a day when I'm really not feeling it I'll still manage to complete it. If I don't, then it becomes a lot easier to say "maybe tomorrow".
Which is the fastest way to end the world because tomorrow never comes.
But yes, it seems like a trainer is really what you need. A good (you need to check) trainer will be able to not only set up a plan with you, but take into account your current size, body type, past injuries, realistic goals, and even help some with diet, depending on the trainer. They are also very useful in helping you learn the equipment properly, because while I'm sure there are faster ways to do permanent damage to yourself than misinterpreting a diagram for heavy equipment, this one will likely make you feel the most stupid. It's hard for us to tell you how good your program is for your goals, because we can't see you and we don't really know your history. Maybe more important than how much you do is how maintainable what you're doing is over the long term.
There's a lifting thread in SE, they can probably help you out with weight lifting advice appropriate to your level.
Why just 3 nights a week? I've found 5 nights a week, plus Sunday, to be way better personally, for me. Just from a pure motivational perspective. My brain is trained at this point to be like "Okay, work is done. I just got home. Now time to put on my gym clothes and shoes and go to the gym." And I still get Saturday to stay in and play Stellaris all day. :P
I do weight lifting on M/W/Fri. Cardio on T/Th/Sunday.
Weight lifting: I didn't use a trainer. Instead I just looked up resources online, and bought a book. What's funny is like, I'm pretty sure it doesn't *really* matter precisely what guide you follow. What matters is you more or less hit the major muscle groups. (Edit: Though it occurs to me that if you have injuries or special concerns, yeah for sure talk to a trainer.) Some random tips:
* Have a plan BEFORE you go to the gym. Would you like to copy the routine I'm on now? I'd be happy to share, but I'm definitely not a trainer or fitness professional at all.
* Supersets are great. It's more interesting to do ABCABCABC rather than AAABBBCCC. You get through the routine so much quicker, and it's more fun. Plus you don't look like a dope spending half the time at the gym on your phone. :P
* Definitely get your lower body into your routine buddy!
Cardio: Your cardio routine seems way more interesting than mine! Maybe I should take notes. I usually just run for my three cardio days, 3 miles in ~25ish minutes or so.
You mentioned that you played ultimate in college. Why not join an ultimate rec league?! I did that myself half a year ago and have been kicking myself for not getting into it sooner. It's so much more fun than anything else, and you'll actually have an outlet for all that training you'll be doing. Are you in the SF bay area? If so I have some more specific recommendations.
BTW, the most important thing though of course is food, dude! You didn't even mention it! Food is everything! Way more important than exercise if you're looking to lose weight. If you want to lose weight, cut the calories. Simple as that. Yeah yeah, I too wish I could eat like I did in college and have it make no impact at all, but we're older. :P Get a food tracking app, track what you're eating now. Get a good baseline. Then cut down the calories by like 30%. Or you can do what I did, and not use an app but just kinda eyeball what you've been eating and just not eat a third of it. It sucks for a while but eventually I got used to it, and eventually couldn't eat as much as I used to even if I tried. Also, apparently a low-calorie diet is super good for you. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21840335
Anyway, good luck dude! Honestly this stuff is much simpler than people say it is, in my opinion, for many people, assuming you're not training for very specific athletic objectives or whatever. For most people, I would bet, it's as easy as doing literally any exercise that you want for like 30-60 minutes a day and eating less. It's just a matter of doing it consistently for months and years.
For me calorie counting works wonder. Its not even that I don't know what I'm eating is unhealthy or not, but just having the numbers right there at easy access makes me way more accountable. I also don't let it control my life though. If I have a weekend where I go out with friends, I'll try to pick healthy options, but I won't deny myself a beer just because I'm already at my max. (Obviously this is not an every day thing).
Weight wise, I can't recommend 5x5 Workout enough. I really enjoyed it.
https://stronglifts.com/5x5/
Honestly, and I'm sure this comes from me being a person that prefers routine, losing weight and working out is not THAT hard. It involves lifestyle changes, and the start can be a bit rough, but if you find a routine and steps that works for you and stick to them, you see that its not so bad. Also there's the cycle where you workout out, start seeing the differences (clothes fit better, your workouts feel easier) which makes you push yourself harder to keep it going, which feeds back onto the cycle.
food or exercise alone will not do it. you need both.
DO THAT SHIT.
My workout, hell my professional work performance, were diminished by something that could have been solved with a simple blood test. Your physician is one of your best partners in fitness goals.
Also WRT this:
I think you may have been directing this at me, since I recommended exercising every day! Just to clarify -- yes TOTALLY don't weight lift every day to start with.
What I recommended was exercising every day, but alternate your cardio with weightlifting days. The point is to get in the habit of exercising at the same time every day. For me, personally, it's so much easier to keep an every-day habit rather than a every-other-day habit.
Oh my gosh, YES, the 5x5 stronglifts are great. I had a small bit of trouble getting started with those myself, since my gym didn't have the appropriate equipment available all the time. You can find replacements however for each one of those big groups. For example, instead of an overhead barbell press you can do an overhead dumbbell press!
(I know they say it's super bad to do that but, I'm personally not convinced. Besides, for me, it was like -- either find a replacement exercise or play World of Warcraft. :P)
There are also tons of really, really bad sources of information so if you want suggestions for good ones let us know.
There's a pickup ulti game near me one night a week that I've been thinking about.
I've been doing three nights a week because I have other outdoor hobbies I like to do after work (fly fishing) that require daylight. Which isn't a problem in summer, but its tough to do both in winter.
It doesn't seem like the university gym has a trainer on staff, but I'll ask later. It would be helpful to have someone make sure I'm doing it right the first couple times I do lifting more seriously.
Dooo itttt!
1) Waking up at 4:30 am every day and working out before work. It sucks but you get used to it fast and it is the only way to get myself to workout 6 days a week. Working out after work is just a recipe for skipping days.
2) Track your workouts and make sure you are doing 5-6 days a week. I find I need to run about 30 miles a week to not suck at running.
3) You need to really hit 5-6 days a week for months to make real progress.
Anyone has a certain genetic predisposition to lifting weights, and when you start, you rapidly make gains that are very visible because you leap up in weight. At a bodyweight of 80kg/176lbs I went from squatting 50kg/110lbs to squatting 100kg/220lbs in six months, without my body weight changing. My other lifts went up a lot too, but I didn't record my starting weights for them so I'm not as sure as I am for the squat. I lost a nice amount of fat (obviously, since if I built muscle and stayed at the same weight then that weight had to go somewhere).
Stronglifts is really nice in particular because there's a clean and intuitive mobile app you can use which automatically tracks your progress, allows you to easily track your sets & reps during the exercises, and automatically remembers which workout day it is (A or
11 years ago, if you had told me I'd become a long distance runner, I'd have laughed at you so hard. But 11 years later, I'm still running and many half marathons under my belt. It was something I never thought I would enjoy.
Enlist in Star Citizen! Citizenship must be earned!
You might laugh at the starting weights BUT DO NOT SKIP AHEAD. It is building a foundation and correct form. That is why it is so good.
I just downloaded this app based on the recommendations of this tread, and ya it definitely starts you off painfully light, but you'll progress quickly (as it's increasing the weight every session / every other session). Take the time to practice your form early, establish good habits, and maintain that form when the weight gets heavy. Don't compromise form for weight, and you'll save yourself from injury.
Good work with your routines, boys and girls. Keep it up!
As someone who never could get going to the gym into habit this works great. I've finished a few 90 days series on it and moved into the insanity series as well (harder but only 5 days a week so mentally a little easier to not fall behind.)
Another thing that's helped me is pre workout supplements. It's easy for me to get out of bed just to fill a glass of water and some powder. Then I can may back down for 15-20 while it kicks in and then I'm usually good to go. Much easier to get into a routine that way for me.
Might not be the same for everyone but these things have helped me go from guy who never worked out to guy who works out daily.
I also used weight watchers app to cut 20 pounds a few years back. Good for lifestyle changes as even years later I look at food choices differently.