Weight Loss and Fitness Training

It wasn't me!

Currently getting back in shape after a few years away from serious exercise and just looking for help. I've always found it hard to shift weight, had the problem even when I was younger and playing a huge amount of rugby and the like. It's certainly slower to move on me than most people, even with strong fitness regimes. I'm happy with my current programme, which is running, cycling and gym work three or four times a week. Going to increase the frequency as I find time. I'm focussing on developing lean muscle, core strength and very high fitness, but I would like to lose as much fat as possible as well. What can I do with regard to my exercise regime to maximise the fat loss? My diet is reasonably good, with regular meals and sensible portions, and very few snacks of any sort. Thanks for any help in advance.

BobbyJohn

If you are working at high intensity all the time you could just be building muscle and eating up muscle glycogen stores. Try to introduce a low intensity session, just doing cardio for an hour or so, preferably in the morning before breakfast.
If you are already doing this, you may need to look at the intensity of your workouts to make sure that you are hitting the right stimulation for your body.

metamorphosis

Id still go ahead and post up your typical daily diet inc. everything. Diet plays a crucial role in fat loss and most people who think they ave a good diet ... well, don't. Post up also what you are doing in the gym.

It wasn't me!

Breakfast:
Cereal
Coffee

Lunch:
Brown bread
Cheese
Tomatoes
Coffee

Dinner:
Meat/potatoes/veg
or Stir fry

Also drink a few litres of water a day.

Gym sessions, focussing on modest weights and high repetitions, as I do not want to build larger muscles. I'm big already and would rather be leaner if anything than bigger muscles.

I try and get a broad cross section of muscle groups exercised in a given day, so typically I might have

Abdominals and obliques
Hamstrings and glutes
Quads
Biceps
Triceps
Deltoids
Lat. Dor.
E. Spinae
Pectorals

And again, the focus is on high repetitions at modest weight.

**Timbuk2**

Your diet looks ok, as far as I can see? What cereal do you usually eat? Porridge, Weetabix or Muesli are usually healthier options. Don't eat any cereal that is high in sugar - usually if they turn the milk a different colour, they contain a lot of sugar!

Maybe if you eat more times throughout the day, but in smaller portions, so you would eat the same amount of food but spread over 5/6 meals instead of just 3 square meals.

Vegeta

Hey IWM

Just saw this and thought I'd throw in my 2 cents

That is, that eating habits are paramount when it comes to any sort of body change.

Look I am no expert but you should be asking yourself (with an open mind to actually accept the answers)

Just how much food does my body need?
Am I eating over that amount of under that amount every day?
How big are my portions, do I eat 40grams of cereal for breakfast or closer to 200 grams
Will I gain any appreciable muscle while
A) Trying to lose weight
Eating very low amounts of protein

If you train well you will get fitter, you will get stronger and will feel better but imho unless you eat with purpose then you will still look similar

It wasn't me!

Yeah, that's kinda my problem at the moment in a nutshell. Much fitter, much stronger, and much more toned than I was for a long time, and noticeably thinner, but just not shifting excess body fat well. Particularly around the waistline, there's a layer of it (shifting, but not as fast as I would like) over strong muscle. I reckon I'll be going back to rugby within a couple of months anyway though, so will see what happens then. I keep an eye on what I'm eating and I reckon I'm fairly consistently around the 2000 calories mark per day.

Vegeta

If you're going playing rugby then that weight may actually be a useful tool, depending on position of course.

Weighing portions and counting calories is a pain the the hole but is probably the most scientific way of approaching it if it is really bothering you. I know how you target shooters LOVE the science

count 2000 calories a day this week, if no weightloss then 1800 next week and so on.

An easier way is just visibly and purposefully reducing portions.

I will say this though prioritise your goals. Is it fat loss or muscle gain, is it cardio fitness etc etc

If it is weight loss or gain(adding muscle) then eating habits will make or break the results.

It wasn't me!

Vegeta wrote: »

If you're going playing rugby then that weight may actually be a useful tool, depending on position of course.

Weighing portions and counting calories is a pain the the hole but is probably the most scientific way of approaching it if it is really bothering you. I know how you target shooters LOVE the science

count 2000 calories a day this week, if no weightloss then 1800 next week and so on.

An easier way is just visibly and purposefully reducing portions.

I will say this though prioritise your goals. Is it fat loss or muscle gain, is it cardio fitness etc etc

If it is weight loss or gain(adding muscle) then eating habits will make or break the results.

I've played just about every position, will probably be going back as a front row though, most likely tighthead.

The priorities are cardio fitness, which is improving massively, fat loss, and muscle toning rather than building. I'm a big guy and always have been, broad shoulders and chest, don't want to be bulky. In fact, the less I weigh, the better off I'll be as I'm planning a career in the army. When I was extremely fit and playing rugby competitively, I was about fifteen stone at 15 or 16. Currently about 16 1/2. Wouldn't mind keeping the musculature down for the sake of weight. Would like to get down to about 13 1/2 or 14 stone as for my build, that would be very thin. I'm fairly well on track for the fitness and the musculature is developing well, so fat loss is the current key point.

InTheTrees

I'm no expert but it sounds like you're doing the right things.

Maybe just have more patience?

It wasn't me!

InTheTrees wrote: »

I'm no expert but it sounds like you're doing the right things.

Maybe just have more patience?

Okay, cheers. To be honest it's been so long since I had a proper training regime that I'm as much looking for confirmation that I still know how to do it as anything.