Fitness Advice needed

mickcarroll10

Just a quick question re fitness any advice appreciated.

My current situation is I m 6 feet 2 inches and 29

I weight 18 stone. I m well built eg rugby type of frame. I want to go back and play soccer while I still can so need to loose weight.

I have little body fat on my lower body,however it is all on the upper body eg chest and mid section.

I will never been slim or skinny due to my size so while I dont want to put an artificial target weight,I would need to loose 3 stone.

My main concern is that I need weight loss,eg fat weight loss. I dont want to tone up and kep my current weight by converting it to muscle.

I would prefer loose around 3 stone and then concentrate on exercises that may add muscle.

So my question is what type of exercises should I do to decrease body fat and size rather than increase muscle and tone up.

Thanks and I hope I make sense.

ali.c

mickcarroll10 wrote:

So my question is what type of exercises should I do to decrease body fat and size rather than increase muscle and tone up.

Hi there,
To drop your body fat you need to also look at your diet (loads of info in the stickies on this). Excercise wise though, just so you know part of the reason why weight training is advocated when losing weight is that it encourages your body not to get rid of muscle, so its more to maintain the muscle mass you have rather than build it.
What excercise are best, hmm i would go with whatever you enjoy and something that will get you fit for soccer. I presume that is also one of your goals? i would concentrate more on interval training but through in some endurance work too maybe?
If you are a member of a gym, transforms program for beginners in the stickies would be a great starting point!

Ali

Hanley

How do you drop alot of weight really quickly with no concern for you muscle mass? Just stop eating.

maxi-twist

Hanley wrote:

How do you drop alot of weight really quickly with no concern for you muscle mass? Just stop eating.

That works pretty well. Wouldnt really recommend it though. I just lost 2.5 stone without any regard for muscle and im quite regreting it now as im a weed.

Hanley

maxi-twist wrote:

That works pretty well. Wouldnt really recommend it though. I just lost 2.5 stone without any regard for muscle and im quite regreting it now as im a weed.

I was hoping the OP would realise something similar...

davyjose

maxi-twist wrote:

That works pretty well. Wouldnt really recommend it though. I just lost 2.5 stone without any regard for muscle and im quite regreting it now as im a weed.

I think that was his point.
OP, you don't need to lose weight to play football, you just need to get fitter. There are people out there with low bodyfat that couldn't run for ten minutes without falling over. Equally there are big guys out there who can run and run. If your goal is to lose weight, diet is important. If your goal is to get fit, then exercise is.

juanveron45

To tell you the truth the best exercises to do while trying to build muscle like squats deadlifts and bench presses, heavy compound exercises are also the bext exercises to do when your trying to lose bodyfat.You see when your dieting your body sees your muscles as well as your fatstores as energy sources so to maintain muscle its best to do exercise that build it up the best.As far as fatloss is concerned your diet is the biggest component to success so you will need to eat alot cleaner. eat lots of protein, adequete carbs maybe reduce starcy carbs and increase fibrous ones a little, this helps with hunger on reduced calories and eat enough healthy fats from salmon or flax and eat -6 meals a day.More cardio is also a good idea

maxi-twist

Hanley wrote:

I was hoping the OP would realise something similar...

Im not saying that i ate nothing, just that when the op wants to loose weight he may be better just shedding the fat rather than muscle aswell.

figs86

hi mate,

i know the feeling i'm 6'3'' and not as heavy as you but overweight myself.
16 and a half stone since u asked!

im studyin a B.Sc in sports science so im not blowing smoke up your ass

just get the basics right and dedicate yourself properly to your lifestyle change with say one ''cheat day'' a week where u can eat stuff u like, have a craving for, etc. that way you dont go mental with dieting cos youre not cutting it out altogether.

as for exercise you probably want to do a mix of weights (i'd suggest machines instead of freeweights unless youve used them before) and as mentioned above to concentrate on exercises that incorporate several large muscle groups such as squats, deadlifts, bench press, upright row and calf raises leg extensions. the logic behind this is that by growing these large muscle groups you need more calories to fuel the new muscle and you end up burning more energy 24/7 even while youre resting and asleep.
you need to do weights at least twice preferably 3 times a week.

as for the aerobic work, running is obviously a sports-specific must but mix it up with say 3 different exercises a week.

swimming is great for muscle recovery and for boosting your lungs so youd be killing 2 birds with one stone there as well as burning off calories.

rowing machines, cross trainers etc obviously very good.

for football youll be doing a lot of sprints and turning direction quickly so exercises like sprints and speed agility quickness ladders would be benificial.
if you look on the fai website theyve some great cone drills for direction changing etc and you can incorporate some ball work into them to keep it interesting and to simulate match situations

in summary:

diet: consume less calories than u burn off (one or 2 slices of bread or a can of coke is the difference each day between losing or gaining weight steadily over time) (drink water as often as possible, soft drinks even fruit juice could contain a lot of calories)

exercise: 3 aerobic sessions a week are a must, 2/3 weights sessions would be greatly beneficial but can be lived without

discipline: the difference between reaching youre goal or not! ( i play ''would you rather'' - e.g. would i rather eat those crisps or lose weight, feel and look better, run faster, play better etc - and ive lost 7 pound is last 6 weeks)

best of luck, keep the head, if you fall off the wagon get right back on,

its not how many times you fall but how many times you keep gettin up, dusting yourself off, and keeping going that counts!

figs86

hi mate,

i know the feeling i'm 6'3'' and not as heavy as you but overweight myself.
16 and a half stone since u asked!

im studyin a B.Sc in sports science so im not blowing smoke up your ass

just get the basics right and dedicate yourself properly to your lifestyle change with say one ''cheat day'' a week where u can eat stuff u like, have a craving for, etc. that way you dont go mental with dieting cos youre not cutting it out altogether.

as for exercise you probably want to do a mix of weights (i'd suggest machines instead of freeweights unless youve used them before) and as mentioned above to concentrate on exercises that incorporate several large muscle groups such as squats, deadlifts, bench press, upright row and calf raises leg extensions. the logic behind this is that by growing these large muscle groups you need more calories to fuel the new muscle and you end up burning more energy 24/7 even while youre resting and asleep.
you need to do weights at least twice preferably 3 times a week.

as for the aerobic work, running is obviously a sports-specific must but mix it up with say 3 different exercises a week.

swimming is great for muscle recovery and for boosting your lungs so youd be killing 2 birds with one stone there as well as burning off calories.

rowing machines, cross trainers etc obviously very good.

for football youll be doing a lot of sprints and turning direction quickly so exercises like sprints and speed agility quickness ladders would be benificial.
if you look on the fai website theyve some great cone drills for direction changing etc and you can incorporate some ball work into them to keep it interesting and to simulate match situations

in summary:

diet: consume less calories than u burn off (one or 2 slices of bread or a can of coke is the difference each day between losing or gaining weight steadily over time) (drink water as often as possible, soft drinks even fruit juice could contain a lot of calories)

exercise: 3 aerobic sessions a week are a must, 2/3 weights sessions would be greatly beneficial but can be lived without

discipline: the difference between reaching youre goal or not! ( i play ''would you rather'' - e.g. would i rather eat those crisps or lose weight, feel and look better, run faster, play better etc - and ive lost 7 pound is last 6 weeks)

best of luck, keep the head, if you fall off the wagon get right back on,

its not how many times you fall but how many times you keep gettin up, dusting yourself off, and keeping going that counts!

Hanley

Figs that was a pretty good post. How are you over weight at 16.5 stone and 6'3????

Just a couple of questions on what you said...
How does one EVER gain the neccessary experience to use free weights if they've never used them before? Should they stick with a machine for ever?

Also, how does one squat or deadlift on machines?

And one final question, just while I'm being a b@stard, since when are calves a big muscle group?

justsomebloke

figs86 wrote:

as for exercise you probably want to do a mix of weights (i'd suggest machines instead of freeweights unless youve used them before)

If possible could you please give your reasoning behind this

figs86 wrote:

and as mentioned above to concentrate on exercises that incorporate several large muscle groups such as squats, deadlifts, bench press, upright row and calf raises leg extensions.

As Hanley said how would one successfully replicate these movements safely using machines?

figs86 wrote:

as for the aerobic work, running is obviously a sports-specific must but mix it up with say 3 different exercises a week.

Again if you could please give your reasoning behind this. As weightloss is his main benefit how is doing various different cardio exercise a week going to benefit him as oppose to just doing one. Would changing the type of cardio session not be a better idea. Say rather then doing HIT, would doing HIIT not be better option, he could even then include some LIT. If anything a combination of HIIT and playing football would probably be the best but

figs86 wrote:

exercise: 3 aerobic sessions a week are a must, 2/3 weights sessions would be greatly beneficial but can be lived without

here you say that he could live without weights sessions but earlier you said

figs86 wrote:

the logic behind this is that by growing these large muscle groups you need more calories to fuel the new muscle and you end up burning more energy 24/7 even while youre resting and asleep.

So surely he would be best doing at least some resistance training to help maintain as much of his lean mass as possible which will help him keep his daily calorific needs as high as possible thus making fat loss that bit easier.
yes I know the OP says he can afford to lose some muscle mass but still losing the fat would be more benifical then losing lean body mass

figs86

1. didnt say he can NEVER use freeweights, just not advisable to dive into any potentially dangerous exercises such as squats withou sufficient technique as injury to muscle or worse spine is possible.

2.squats and deadlifts are possible using a) a squat machine of which ive seen several different types b) a smith machine which is essentially 2 pillars which guide the barbell and can hold bar when necessary

3.and calves are not a large muscle group, you ARE a bastard! hahaha

4.to lose weight i already outlined the benefit of larger muscles in calorie burning above - weights will increase strength which is obv necessary to some extent on football pitch for tackling, fightin for ball etc - using freeweights without proper technique or experience as plenty of people do hinders progress and very possibly leads to injury

5. squats deadlifts bench and upright row are all possible using a ''smith'' machine - the 2 pillars which guide and aid lifter - calf raises are possible on, well a calf raise machine or a squat machine by placing toes on plate and using calves to raise weight

6. doing different types of exercises keeps it interesting and boredom is one of the major factors most people fail to keep exercising, also different muscles are used so (as OP is unfit) more recovery time is possible and they are able to continue training as they are not fatigued. this is obviously essential as weightloss is the goal, not outright aerobic endurance in a particular exercise/muscle group

7. and yes i recommended he do weights it would be of huge benefit to him! im just saying that for an amateur sportsman it might be too much to take in and goin from not training to training 5/6 days a week might be too much! ive done weights for years, would recommend resistance training for practically any sportsman as the benefits are incredible. just because i said it was up to him doesnt mean i dont stand by it! weird thing to pull me up on.....

so thats my attempt at explainin my opinion, its just an opinion, open to disagreement and discussion!

cheers, figs

tribulus

Using a smith machine for squatting and deadlifting is no going to do him any good.

Imo the huge benefits of freeweight squatting and dl'ing outweigh the potential risks involved with it. It would be much more beneficial to start off light with squats and dl's and work up to heavier weights rather than using the smith, it's a pretty sh1t machine.

I've never seen someone do a decent squat in a smith machine, all they do is break at the knees and drop down and I'm not sure how you'd even do a DL in it, though I imagine there'd be a lot of low back involved.

If the OP wants to play football (or most sports for that matter) then getting his glutes and hams active and strengthened is important and again I can't see them being recruited properly using the smith.