Any keep fit guys on here? Need a bit of advice :-)

D

Darren Slone

Lifer
 Nottinghamshire
Over the past 4 months or so I have upped my exercise regime, cut down on drinking, I'm on a sabbatical ( edit** should read " on the wagon :oops: " until March atm like I do every year, and I'm watching what I eat, not dieting but no McDonalds or KFC as is the way with most guys on the road.

I have always played squash at least once a week and now have a XTrainer in my garage and a Trek Mountain bike as I'm very close to many cycle routes.

At the moment, due mainly the weather, I go on my Xtrainer 4 or 5 times per week for 48 minutes and burn between 930-1000 calories at a time.

Since seriously starting this regime I have lost over a stone in weight, I'm looking to loose another 7lbs ideally, but I'm not moving from my current weight, I'm quite stocky btw, 32 waist and 40 chest.

My friend seems to think that I'm not eating enough that's why the extra 7lbs won't go?


Typical days intake would be

Cereal 7-7.30 am

Lunch 12.30-13.00 M&S at the services, pasta, salmon or similar, around 300-400 cals

Dinner 18.00-19.00 Roast with veg/ pasta carbonarra/bolognaise / fish n chips / take away at the weekend.


Has anyone got any personal experience on this or advise ?
 
Do you alternate the routine much?

Also you may need to focus on certain muscle groups, as CV alone will not always shift the problem area
Have often do you have Carbs in your diet?
 
My other half does personal training so i have a slight insight. Sounds to me like you need to look at diet further and start looking in the mirror for results rather than the scales.

Get a diet plan together and KNOW whats in everything you eat. If your rigorous with the amount of calories and fat you consume it comes together without the need to train like an olympian!

Ive done it before to slim down and it really works. I have to say though its AWFUL! It takes so much effort to prep low cal meals all the time and it becoming a big part of your life. but i had no choice as i wasnt ever going to turn into a gym freak or marathon runner!

Be prepared to have a food diary and endless tupperwares of healthy food topped with birdseed in the fridge!

Oh, and the last place you will lose the fat is belly, fact. Unless you do lipo! :( :D
 
Best advice, just exercise and eat and drink what you want in moderation. Cut out bread, fast food and sugar.
 
Thanks guys, that's interesting about not loosing weight and building muscle, my wife thinks thats whats happening, as for carbs ill have them most days, pasta, potatoes or chips, I rarely adjust the pre-programme on my machine, tend to stick to the same one, although there are about 10 iirc, I've increased it over time from 20 mins upto 48mins in 10% increments with more intensity, I'm not a porker by any stretch of the imagination :D , but would like to lose the extra few lbs :thumbsup:
 
Stuart Truman said:
Are you burning fat and building muscle? You'll look better but not lose weight...

What does your sabbatical consist of?
Click to expand...


Sorry Stuart, my sabbatical consists of not drinking, maybe " on the wagon " would have been a better phrase :)
 
Darren Slone said:
Stuart Truman said:
Are you burning fat and building muscle? You'll look better but not lose weight...

What does your sabbatical consist of?
Click to expand...


Sorry Stuart, my sabbatical consists of not drinking, maybe " on the wagon " would have been a better phrase :)
Click to expand...

That explains it. I get a paid sabbatical every 5 years by banking 5 days of holiday a year. I was wondering how the heck you managed an annual one!
 
I would change your exercise regime to an interval type training scheme.

Typically low intensity CV/ endurance type workouts will help, but your body will only start to burn fat as its main energy source after maybe 45-60 minutes of exercise.

However, you also burn fat as a main energy source during recovery, which is why interval training is excellent, as long as your heart rate and breathing rate remains elevated during your periods of rest you will benefit.

The problem with changing your diet is that it would need to be a lifestyle change, any short term diet modifications will yield only short term benefits.

Unless you are very motivated or have a specific medical reason to change your diet I'd imagine you could get the results you want from efficient exercise regimes.

I'm not a personal trainer so will not attempt to prescribe a workout, but I've a bachelors degree in Sport and Exercise Science so I have a reasonable idea of how the body responds.

Study up on interval training. It's also an idea to do some isometric resistance work. This will help your body recruit more muscle fibres (without growing your muscles to a massive size), which will ultimately mean a higher resting metabolic rate and help to keep your results.
 
I've found this which looks like it will fit the bill, thanks!

Getting Up to Speed
They say that slow and steady wins the race. But the cardiovascular key to fat burning is using interval training workouts - workouts that alternate high-intensity levels with lower-intensity effort. As I mentioned earlier, that formula keeps your body burning calories long after you've stopped working out.

Interval training mimics sports - start-and-stop motions with periods of sprinting or close-to-sprinting speeds followed by light jogging or rest. You can use interval training workouts any way you want - running, cycling, swimming, on elliptical trainers, even walking if you alternate a speed walk and slow walk.

You can also vary the intensity levels in different combinations. To start, here are three options for setting your workout. (If you use exercise machines, don't choose the interval workout; choose the manual one, and create your own intensities by adjusting it yourself. It'll give you greater control over the speeds and will help you burn fat faster.) You'll derive benefits in as little as a 20-minute interval workout. As you build up endurance and strength, you can add time to your workout.

Interval Variation I: Standard
The following is a typical interval workout. You alternate the same period of low intensity with the same period of higher intensity.

1. 3 - 5 minutes warmup (light jog, low intensity, gradually increasing at the end of the warmup period)

2. 1 minute moderate or high intensity followed by 1 minute low intensity (repeat 6 - 8 times)

3. 3 - 5 minutes cooldown (light jog, low intensity, gradually decreasing by the end of the cooldown period)

Interval Variation II: Pyramid
This pyramid structure allows you to start with short bursts of speed, and then you'll peak at the longest surge of energy in the middle of your workout before coming back down.

1. 3 - 5 minutes warmup

2. 30 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity

3. 45 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity

4. 60 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity

5. 90 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity

6. 60 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity

7. 45 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity

8. 30 seconds high intensity

9. 3 - 5 minutes cooldown

Interval Variation III: Sports Conditioning
Sports are unpredictable. This interval simulates some of that unpredictability by having you doing different times and different intensities. You can mix and match the orders and repetitions as much as you want. Rest longer after the periods in which you use the most energy.

1. 3 - 5 minutes warmup

2. 2 minutes moderate or high intensity followed by 2 minutes low intensity (repeat once

3. 30 seconds high intensity followed by 30 seconds low intensity (repeat four times)

4. 60-yard sprints (or 10 seconds if not running) followed by 90 seconds rest (repeat 6 - 10 times)

5. 3 - 5 minutes cooldown
 
Another vote for High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and knowing exactly how many calories you consume. There's an iPhone app called My Fitness Pal which is a great way of keeping a track of what you are eating. Those two things combined with targeted weights sessions will torch body fat. Exercises to help strengthen your core are very good - i.e. squats, one legged squats (absolute killers), lunges, deadlifts, bent over row, bench presses, shoulder presses, press ups etc.

The bad news is the workouts really hurt. You should barely have enough breath to speak after a HIIT session but the good news is they don't last too long!

You should be able to set the x-trainer up to do intervals and if you can't do it manually by cranking up and down the speed/difficulty levels. :thumbsup:
 
Read above ^ Darren. Thats exactly why i watch what i eat, so i dont have to bust my balls to the point of death! :D

Forget Pasta, bread and potatoes exist and along with some regular exercise you'll be sweet!
 
Can recommend the building trade if you don,t like the Gym yet want to stay slim & fit :) 5ft 8 / 11stone
Been the same weight since i was 20 ( apart from a 3 month stint working away when i added 2 stone from the landlady's breakfasts :P )
Admire you for taking the wagon route Darren . not something i could adhere to i,m afraid , enjoy the vino too much for that :wink:
 
Darren Slone said:
Lunch 12.30-13.00 M&S at the services, pasta, salmon or similar, around 300-400 cals

Dinner 18.00-19.00 Roast with veg/ pasta carbonarra/bolognaise / fish n chips / take away at the weekend.
Click to expand...

I'd say that's one area to focus on - takeaways and M&S lunch items.

I lost a lot weight last year, it was the combined result of cutting my meals (especailly lunches) down a bit, whilst at the same time I was working shifts (manual work) for a few weeks as part of a project.

This combined with my usual 10hrs+ tennis a week was making a huge impact, and I'd suggest if you enjoy the squash step it up. Always found I had to make an effort to go to the gym... with tennis you'd have to make an effort to stop me going!
 
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