Help with taking in to the next level..

Weight routines will help you burn up calories like nothing else so it'd be really hard to find as good of a replacement. If your really against that then I would suggest only lifting 2-3 times a week and then picking up a sport like boxing. Boxing will definitely chop the pounds off you with all the sweating you'd be doing.

 

Definitely something basic, at least to start out with. Do you know what your max is on any exercises?

 

Keep at it

I'm new to it, too, but these guys have been a big help. We also have a social group if you would like to join that.

http://forums.thephins.com/group.php?groupid=13

 

I'm not sure what you mean about the second workout. But anyways, JCow said hes going to post a new cardio routine today so you should check that out and see if its more up your alley. If not, I'll get some more info from you and put together a weight training program.

Just see what you think of his routine first and we'll tweak what you need from there.

 

First of all, let's define some terms:

-Healthy: Free from disease

-Fit(ness): Physically capable of handling challenges above and beyond a resting state.

-Exercise: Any activity that causes a physical change to enhance health and fitness without damaging one's health to improve one's level of fitness.

The second thing is, if you are looking to ensure a long, healthy and fit life, weight bearing exercise (imo) is absolutely necessary. There are a lot of people that don't care for it, and I don't blame them. It's HARD WORK- and it hurts. And that sux. But it is also the best way currently to ensure the goals you wish to attain. It's like eating your veggies when you were a kid- you hated doing it (and you still might), but your parents made you do it b/c it was good for you. You're in the same situation now, only YOU'RE the one that's going to have to force yourself to "eat your veggies" so to speak.

Ok, now that we have that out of the way bum- here's what you do. 5 simple lifting exercises, no more than 2x a week, just 1 set until you can't do any more. Should take you no more than 20 minutes. I can give you the science behind it, but suffice to say for now that if you would get the same results out of 20min/week or 3hrs/week, which would you choose?? Anyway, here are the exercises:

1.Seated Row:Here's what the machine should look like.

You want to try to touch your shoulder blades together when you do it.

2. Bench. You can do this on a machine or barbell bench, whichever you choose. If you're doing it by yourself though, I would do it on a machine. If you have Hammer, MedX or Nautilus machines at your gym, I would use those.

3. Chin-up or machine pulldown. Chin-ups (or pull-ups) I'm sure you're familiar with, but here's what a pulldown machine looks like:

It's pretty much the same motion using the same muscles, but if you can't do more than 5 pullups with your own bodyweight, then I would suggest finding one of these machines.

4.Overhead (shoulder) press. Same thing as with the bench- you can do either machine or free-weight, but if there is no one there to spot you, I would go with the machine. It should look something like this:

5. Last exercise- the leg press. You could do squats or deadlifts, but for a beginner who doesn't really like to work with weights, it's a lot easier to get the form of the leg press right. *I still see ppl in the gym after years of "working out" still doing the latter two wrong.* Anyway, here's what one of the leg press machines should look like:

There are ones where you lay on your back, but this is the most common form and the easiest one to get in and out of.

That's the whole workout, from start to finish, in that order. 1 set, until you can't do any more, no more than twice a week with at least 3 days of rest in between.

I really hope you didicate yourself to exercising with weights. As slick mentioned, there is no better exercise out there currently than an intense resistance-based workout. If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask (or you can PM me). We're all pulling for ya bro, and I wish you the longest, fittest, healthiest life possible.

 

if you really dont like the weights...then i wouldnt do them. you dont want to start "hating" the gym. if im you, id continue doing the cardio you enjoy, and maybe go buy a gut buster. its an old school wrap, that goes around your midsection, gets more sweat out of there, with hopes of minimizing the size of your lower stomach.

id also grab a broom stick handle or something similar, put it behind your head/neck on your shoulders and do twists for 10-20 minutes. and no carbs after noon.

 

It's all good. You have to treat yourself a little every now and then.

 

When you say 'consistent', do you mean eating the same things all the time, or eating at roughly the same time every day?

Also, it's not just food- your sleep cycle has a lot to do with it as well.

 

I would go with JCow's workout as well if I were in your position bro. I agree with the assessment its necessary to do some weight work to ensure health.

Also, as I suggested to Seth in a different thread try and vary the intensity of your runs. Change speeds on the treadmill to challenge yourself. 1 minute sprint, next one jog. The sprinting burns more calories. You can also do that as a sprint 2x a week for 1-2 miles and a jog 2x a week for 3-4 miles. Either provides a pretty good workout.

If you want a great semi-substitute for weights I would try boxing or martial arts (since thats easier to find a lot of times). I can tell you Jujitsu is a physically challenging workout. If you combine this with the weights it should have a good effect. It also helps with your breathing and stamina which you may find when youre running. I definitely turned a corner with both weight training and running when I started martial arts.

 

Your body has a natural rhythm to it, and a part of that rhythm is that your energy levels drop to their lowest point around 2-3pm, which is why a lot of countries have siestas!

A good way to keep your energy up is to snack. It ups your metabolism, and depending on what you snack on, will fuel you to your next full meal. There are so many factors involved with one's energy level, it may be hard to pinpoint what exactly it is from one day to the next.

Your diet appears to be in line and a good source of energy for you. Sometimes it can be the time you go to bed at (if you aren't used to it) or how well you slept, or even how well hydrated you are. Once you can start eliminating things one by one (like your diet, for instance), then you'll be able to get at the root of your energy issues.

 

Bumrush do you like to swim?

I mean you Live in FL you have pools all around you and swimming is a very,very good way to stay fit and Healthy.

As far as the walking/running thing, i'm not really sure if you can balance the running with brisk walking........I use to try and fight it via just running 1/4 of a mile, then walking the next 1/4 mile and i'd do that for 4,8, or 12 miles depending on how much time i had that day.

If your just trying to burn fat calories brisk walking is the way to go.Also situp's are very good for busting a gut.

 

JCowScot,

What percent of your Max are you doing in that workout?

 

Approx. 80%...haven't done a max in a while though, so that's not going to be totally accurate. But 75-80% is a good estimate, as well as a good place to start.

 

As far as the shoulder press, I would go to the free weight version. Machines are sometimes very difficult for the body to get acclimated to and are unforgiving. It could also mean you have weak shoulders in particular your rotator cuff.

There are two things you need to do for this:
One is called raisers. The name says it all. Grab a light weight in each hand and one at a time extend each arm out in front of you. You should be able to extend your arm out and raise the weight to your shoulder level. Lower it down and then raise the other arm the same way. Basically youre extending your arm out in front of you with a weight in hand. Very basic and very effective. Repeat 10x each shoulder per set.

Second instead of using a machine for shoulder press do it free weight. Because machines cant sense when youre uncomfortable or hurting this may be easier. Basically, you should have a piece of equipment that looks like a chair in your gym. Grab a light weight and sit. With weights in hand form a goalpost then push up until the weights almost clank together. Lower back to "goalpost position" and repeat. Form is everything so have a trainer or friend spot you. I like this much more then the machine.

Heart rates while running are going to vary. Unless its abnormally high I wouldnt worry. You can also raise the target heart rate but your target heart rate isnt really meant to be taken while running because running by nature makes you short on air/cause shortness of breath, makes your blood circulate faster, and usually has a high level of physical exertion after a few miles all of which will contribute to a higher heart rate. Or it could just mean your out of shape (and I say that in the nicest way possible)

To burn fat and not just calories, try and go to the gym early in the morning before you eat anything. If thats not possible try and do it before you eat a meal; for instance after work but before dinner. It may push your dinner time back some but thats the best way if mornings arent an option or if youre like me your just a lump of coal before 11AM

 

I just wanted to mention one thing on the shoulder workouts. It's okay if you do a lot less weight on that one. My personal experience is that I'm a lot weaker in that exercise as well. I've always been fairly athletic and active and pound for pound fairly strong, but I never specifically worked out my shoulders. It seems to me that unless you are genetically predisposed to that exercise or have worked shoulder presses specifically you will probably be weaker there. It's just not a movement that you do regularly in every day life.

I find that using free weights for my shoulder exercises works best for me. I feel like working the ancillary muscles involved in stabilizing the weights benefits me more than just using the machines.

And through the years you may find other areas that are relatively weak. (ie. I'm unhappy with my flexibility in certain areas) Finding those is a good thing. It gives you the opportunity to strengthen them and improves your overall fitness. It's like the principal that a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link.

 

Bum, you could also try shrugs if you have shoulder ROM issues, or the raisers to the front and/or side as Boik suggested. I wouldn't recommend doing the shoulder press w/ free weights unless you have someone there to spot you- holding a heavy weight over one's head is a risky venture, especially when one is close to muscular failure.

Boik and rafael, you both make good points in your posts.

In regards to heart rate, the higher your heart rate, the more muscles are calling for blood. Now, that could be for oxygen transport, waste removal, tissue repair or a number of other issues. The key here is that the muscles are the thing that makes the heart go. The more of and the more muscles you use, the higher your heart rate is going to go (in relation to your current 'ceiling' of fitness).

What you are trying to do with alternating running/walking is go beyond your body's ability to convert fat calories using oxygen and force it to use it's precious stores of glycogen. You want your heart rate to be that high, as it is a signal that the body can't keep up with the demand through oxygen alone. What this does is, along with a reduced calorie diet, is force the body to convert those caloric fat stores back into sugar (glycogen) to be put back into the muscle during your off-time.

The reason your body does this is as a survival response- it needs those stores of glycogen readily available to be used in a fight/flight response situation. When it can't get them through diet, it will convert fat stores in the interest of self-preservation. This is why intense physical exercise is so important to both losing fat and building muscle. Without a sufficient enough stress, the body will not be forced to adapt. So don't worry what the machine says- you're burning fat when you're not even on it!

Also, if you have access to a pool, I agree w/ funk about swimming. GREAT workout. B/c you can't breath under water, you're doing the same thing as when you alternate running/walking- and it's much easier on your joints.

 

Congrats!

 

Congrats to everyone on their progress! Got a lot of work to do myself, as I'm getting together a garage gym for the first time, and it's looking pretty good. Man, it sure is inspiring to read about how well y'all are doing- brought a smile to my day. Good job you guys.

 

Man, I wish I had a garage gym.

Soooo nice for the summer (I live in NY so thats like 2 months).

These stupid cars are always parked in my gym.

 

Nice

I recently moved and have nice big unfinished basement in the new house that I filled half way up with all my weight lifting equipment. Got back into my routine a couple weeks ago after slacking for a couple months, feels great.

 

So, Got my first real piece today- a Nautilus 2nd gen omni-machine. *Hint: It's the one that does the dips, chins and calves.*

It it SWEET. I am soooo stoked about this. I'll post a pic of it later this week. If any of you are in FL and are looking to start/add pieces to a quality home gym, I would seriously look into getting a Nautilus machine from this guy. The gentleman I bought mine from still has quite a few, and they can be had for literally pennies on the dollar (compared to what he paid for them). If any of you are interested, I'll put you in contact with him.

Anyway, can't wait for my first workout on it- it's going to be a blast!

 

Haha enjoy.

I just started a new job about a month ago and basically I walk around and up and down stairs for 6-8hrs with very little breaks.

My calves got real huge, real quick.