DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... Anybody got any good workout routines?

So i'm trying to lose this "out the military, screw it" weight.

right now, my measurements are 5'11, 227 lbs. 37 inch waist.

trying to get back to about a 34 inch waist, back to about 195-205 lbs.

however, i feel like i peaked.

here's my current workout routine:

30 minute elliptical at 7.5 mph

push ups - 3 sets, 50 reps
sit ups - 4 sets, 40 reps

bench:

pryamids - 2 sets, 15 reps 135lbs; 2 sets, 12 reps 185lbs; 2 sets, 10 reps 205; 2 sets, 8 reps 225lbs, then backwards

squats:

pyramids - 2 sets, 20 reps of 155lbs; 2 sets 15 reps 205lbs; 2 sets, 10 reps at 275lbs; 2 sets, 8 reps of 315lbs, and backwards

sit ups - 2 sets of 50

then i end it with 30 minute elliptical at a 5.5mph pace.

the problem is this is easy, and it's making me look like a damn tank. i need lean muscle mass.

Purp, i know you that dude when it comes to cardio. any body else that has any suggestions, please please please let me know. i will try whatever.

If you're doing all of that and not losing weight, you need to change your diet.

i knew that was coming.

food taste so good....

I bought a book years ago called Body for Life...by Bill Phillips.

Followed that pretty religiously and other then the past year of my life..always got comments on how I was built looked..dont look anywhere near my age ect..

so idk about others but that has worked for me and for years.

Less fat, more lean, lot's of veggies. Meat should be an equal part of the meal, not the centerpiece.

aight imma hit up barns & noble today see if i can find it.

One other thing its not always the length of the routine but its intensity and how the body adapts very quickly..so change up your routine often.

word. yea i'm looking for new routine ideas. hoping some of you guys post some.

i was looking at different body building forums, but a lot of those guys juice, i aint into all that.

If you decide to get the book it has great efficient work out routines..its about being efficient with your time and getting the most from it.

I'd recommend martial arts. Speed, agility, and strength are the qualities they tend to build.

I did this also with my sons when they was young..They lost interest after about 5yrs of doing the classes/tournaments

I was in a Tae Kwon Do class a few years ago that didn't do tournaments. They taught traditional, not the US version. I learned a lot of joint manipulations and lethal moves. The basic idea was to disable an opponent quickly, not impress them. I don't think I was ever going to do a spinning jump kick into someone's head, but I would dislocate a shoulder or elbow and drive my heel into their spine just below the neck. Power moves are more suited to my size and strength over finesse.

we did Jujitsu..I loved it ...they got bored kind of..and went onto sports in high school.

There is only one way you can gain muscle and lose weight at the same time......and it's illegal. It involves intramuscular injections.


Calorie surplus to gain muscle.

Calorie deficit to lose fat.



They are conflicting goals. Do one or the other at any given time.

Double the aerobic stuff. I suggest swimming for a longer twitch muscle. The lighter & higher rep stuff may help too.

Lift opposite sets; old guy taught me this (bodybuilder). If you do a set of curls for bicep, immediately follow it with asset for triceps. He recommended slow reps as well and fewer of them to avoid joint wear and tear.

Good luck!

More bacon, less bread. Seriously, it's all about the carbs and the sugars. Cut them out.

Secondly, when you do the elliptical, it should be burst/rest for 30 minutes. warm up, go as hard as you can for a minute, then a relaxed pace for 2 minutes, then hard for a minute, then relaxed pace for 2 minutes, and so on. Way better for you than just plugging along at a moderate (or even quick) pace for the entire 30 minutes..

*Sigh*

8 years ago, I was in the best shape of my life. I had a goal of getting down to a 34 inch waist by the time I hit 44 .... and I actually got to a 32 inch waist. I was working out daily, was down to 195 well distributed, strong pounds, and I felt great!

Then my back went, and I have added 10 inches to that waist size. Man that's depressing.

Yes HIT training can be very effective.

Step one: Go to the store, buy a case of 12 oz cans of beer (your choice of brand)

Step two: go home, and do a series of 12 oz curls on the couch until the beer is gone, preferably in front of the TV with doritos.

Do that every day and in no time, you'll loose a ton of weight. Because you'll lose your job and won't be able to afford food and thus, weight loss.. Magic right? LOL

I can tell you this right here right now, clean up your diet/eating habits first if all you want to do is shred up some gut/waistline.

Your gains will be noticeably better. Good luck!

I'm sorry, ignore my post above, I should have read the replies (least the first one, haha)

What Erik said!

thanks for the info and suggestions guys!!!

Are you going for Strength, or get lean.

I have been working out with a strength trainer and we are doing some crazy Strength stuff. We are doing some load training (I think thats what its called)

Load training work out today with the flat bench

1 set 50 reps x 45 lbs.
1 set 10 reps x 65 lbs.
1 set 10 reps x 85 lbs.
1 set 10 reps x 105 lbs.
1 set 10 reps x 125 lbs.
1 set 10 reps x 145 lbs
1 set 10 reps x 165 lbs
1 set 7 reps x 185 lbs
Now since I failed at 185, I did 5 sets of 10 (with his assistance)
1 set 10 reps x 185 lbs
1 set 10 reps x 185 lbs
1 set 10 reps x 185 lbs
1 set 10 reps x 185 lbs
1 set 10 reps x 185 lbs

I ended up doing a total 13 sets for a total of 19,695 lbs in 30 minutes of only bench press(with the last 5 assisted.) My chest was pumped and still feels fatigued right now.

You could just start training with me.... I'll shoot you an email each day with my training schedule for the day

I think that might be the weed

As far as your routine goes, focus on more intensity. You're really blowing your muscles up with your split. It really emphasizes form and size of the muscle, with how many sets and reps you're doing. Try to focus on more weight, but far less reps. This will give you a wiry strength that it sounds like you're looking for a bit.

Also you should make your ab workouts more of a cardio. Doing situps are nice, but you should be doing a gauntlet of exercises for it and increase the cardio so you're sweating.

As far as running is concerned, quick sprints mixed with walking is the quickest way to burn calories. Sprinting for 10-20 seconds then spending the next minute walking would be the best. I've always read that you should do that combination for a mile for best results.

That said, I prefer long cardio. While it's less effective in burning calories (Due to how the body converts energy. I could send you a link to the science behind it if you'd like.) I find the increased stamina of running long distances is much more important than losing weight quickly.

One absolute I've learned is that losing weight is about 80% diet. I tried for so long to do the small meals regularly thing, but it never worked for me because I'm an all-or-nothing kind of guy.

I came to learn that you just have to do what works for you. So now I limit my eating to an 8 hour window each day (16/8). I also limit myself to 600 calories a day 2 days a week (5:2 Diet). On the other 5 days, I try to stay within my total daily energy expenditure. It may not work for everyone, but it does work for me, which I think is the important thing for each person.

As far as actually working out, I like to go to the gym, put a pretty sharp angle on the treadmill and put it at an interval setting. Sprint for 45 seconds, rest for 1:15. Repeat over and over.

I will say I lost a good amount of weight, and all blood test results were much better.

Hope it all works out for you and you hit your goals, bud.

This is a common misconception, actually. Re-read your science.... I'm willing to bet that it is referencing percentages of calories burned from fat, or something to that effect as the basis for its premise.

The simple fact is this: The number of calories burned sub-threshold (your half marathon or marathon pace) per mile is effectively identical to your threshold (10k pace, or max 1-hour pace) calories per mile, as your anaerobic paces (1mile-5k pace). The only thing that differs among them is where your body turns for energy, whether it is glycogen or fats, and that is dependent upon your intensity - a.k.a. Heart Rate. Converting fat to burn can only be done efficiently at lower intensities, but in the case of glycogen depletion, the body will turn to fat to begin to replenish its stores.

In the end, as long as you get your HR up into your aerobic range (above your recovery zone), your rate of burn will be effectively identical - that is to say that there MAY be a difference, but it will be negligible to the point of being within the standard margin of error. Believe me (well, if you choose), as someone who regularly burns 2,000+ calories per day (avg. daily minimum is on the order of 800-1100 calories) on workouts while tracking ALL of the data possible, I have a fairly good grasp on it.

I used to do the elliptical alongside my strength training. Well, I still do, but only for about 15 min. Now, I also run for an hour after work every other day. My normal workouts are in the weeee hours of the morning.

I've found that the elliptical pales in comparison to running and I've noticed considerable weigh loss (although I wasn't really looking for it) by putting more emphasis on running in my workout schedule than the elliptical-- it makes sense though.

Anyways, I'd consider switching that part of your cardio if weight loss is the goal, even if in the short term.

Change your shape= Strength Workout
Change your size= Cardio Workout

But, as someone else said, the diet is just as important, especially for the weight loss portion.

any of you guys got any diet advice?

I have an excellent weight maintenance routine.

There's ~ 1,000 hand-picked songs on my MP3 player. I put that headset on, start my watch timer, and head-out. Before I know it I'm at an hour of walking time. (maybe 12-16 songs later)

This does two things: burns calories for an hour and uses up an hour of time not eating.

For the last 5 years my weight's been at an appropriate 185-190 lbs.

And I can eat a bucket of Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream with impunity.

Diet is King.

I've gone through exactly what you're trying to do, Swish. I was pushing 250lbs, wore 38" jeans that were too small only because I had too much pride to allow myself to buy size 40's. I ended up getting back to a 33" waist before settling out at 34.

I went extreme. I made a hardcore change in the way I ate, and I did it for about 7-8 months or so before I allowed myself to relax again. I began to make sure that I was only eating REAL foods. If it came from a box, I skipped it. I cut out pizza (for the most part). ALL Fast Food had to go, immediately. I cut out all desserts (sans Honey Hut ice cream). If it was a processed food, I got rid of it. I cut out ALL soda/pop. I didn't have to cut alcohol because I'm already sober, but that should be given big-time consideration as well - the body cannot use alcohol directly, it must convert it to a fat first. Alcohol is basically very calorie-dense and cannot be directly burned. Drink LOTS of water: the body is an electrical machine - keep it full of good conductors. You have to feed the machine, but you MUST break yourself of over-feeding the machine in order to get the weight to come off. Learn to eat just until you're not hungry instead of to the point you're stuffed.


That was the first half (80%+) of it, for me... the other half is what you're doing now. Some light weights work and LOTS of cardio. I began to get on the treadmill at minimum every other day, then built to every day. I would "jog" at 4 to 4.5mph for a minimum of 20 minutes. Eventually, I slowly built that to a pace of 6 to 6.5 mph for up to 35-45 minutes by way of doing intervals.... and by that time, I had lost a ton.


MuscleMass + Heart Rate = metabolism. Get those muscles working and the heart rate up and your metabolism will go into high gear.

TO add to this your body must stop everything that you are doing and process the alcohol, so lets say your metabolism is on full throttle from eating clean or just got done lifting a crazy work out and you are still in an anabolic state. Your body must stop it and focus on processing the alcohol.

This is has been my issue, hit the gym hard 5 days a week and drink on weekends and lose my gains and have to restart the process. I made a commitment to stop the boozing so I won't kill my gains. I think its working!

/sigh because of a 6 pack of IPA is delicous

Having a good diet is pretty simple.

Eat meats, veggies, nuts, and fruits. Some grains and a little starch. Don't do a lot of sugar. Cut out sugary drinks and stick to H2O and tea w/ honey and what not.


Bottom line-if you ever find yourself having to justify what you're about to eat (i.e. "I ate pretty good today", "it's only a couple chips", "I need the caffeine so I'll just have this Soda"), it's probably a food you shouldn't be eatnig.


Realistically, if you are eating the food I listed above, you probably don't need to count calories or do anything crazy. Just eat solid, whole food, ease up on sugary sauces (garlic, salt, pepper, and olive oil go a ong way), and you'll carve yourself up pretty quick.

If you are feeling drowsy during the day, you probably need to eat more. If you feel bloated and sluggish, you probably don't need as much.

Figuring out your diet isn't difficult, it's the discipline needed to stay on track.

To add to that, good things to eat as snack food is carrot sticks (they make you feel more full) and as TI84 said, nuts... proteins will help you feel full longer.

When I pack lunches for work, I always take two whole carrots cut into sticks. That's enough to graze on and not feel hungry pretty much all day.

I applaud your dedication. I workout so I don't become a fat cow and look pretty good and stay healthy, that's all. If adding just a bit more muscle mass means giving up having beers on the weekend, then I can do without the muscle mass. Life is still supposed to be fun and I'm not working toward any trophies, movie roles, or sports contract.. so if you don't need that IPA, ship it on over here.

Absolutely!
Know your goals, and plan accordingly. Everything is a tradeoff between goals, desire, & time..... find the balance that fits you.

I have 2-3 boiled egss and almonds to snack on every day.

I always struggled with breakfast...Who doesn't want a breakfast burito from the food cart lady in front of my building?

I have a co-worker who eats oatmeal everyday packed with fruit and almonds and does not use sugar. I thought it was disgusting until I tried it. My breakfast now 5 days a week is oatmeal with banana, almonds, mixed berries, cinnamon and a little bit of honey. Its healthy, fills me up and not loaded with the extra stuff, the banana is sweet enough that every bite tastes good.

If you want to get serious... then here's what I'd do:

Go to Fitday or some other site that allows you to enter the food you eat, and it'll calculate the calories and macronutrients, etc and break it all down for you. I'd at least supply a week's worth so you can get a great idea of your average numbers.

From there, i'd start cutting down calories from 500 increments. Using FitDay will show you the food and how many carbs/calories/proteins/etc etc etc for you, so you'll know what you'll need to start cutting out.

Depending on your body, If you have a faster metabolism (doesn't sound like it) you could start at 250 calorie increments, and see where your body starts responding to losing weight.

It's kinda creepy, but it's cool to know your body and it's thresholds. I feel like I have a huge advantage to newbie weight lifters because I have taken the time to do this and give attention to the dieting side of adding muscle. Anyone can lift a free weight, do 50 situps in a row - but can you feed your body the proper nutrients so it can grow/rebuild?

In any case, good luck bro.

I went through a period where I ate steel-cut oats every morning. I'd add some pumpkin pie spice to the water when I cooked them, then I'd add a little honey when I scooped out a bowl of it. I'd usually cook up about 4 days worth at a time and keep it in the fridge. I'd occasionally add some walnuts and/or raisins when cooking them, too. To go with it, I'd usually just put 1-2 eggs in a bowl and nuke 'em for about 30-35 seconds - plenty enough to cook them.

It made grabbing a quick breakfast in the morning really simple, and more importantly it go the body going with some food, and that gets the metabolism going.

my problem with diet has always been this:

kinda wanna run a mile, kinda wanna eat 10 tacos.