people doing crossfit, looking for direction

tinner777

I'm a fat geezer, 300lbs, 6'2. Spent the last month making changes and get myself on track. Sorted my diet and started last week, with help from paleo/sisson. Please see

http://www.fitday.com/fitness/PublicJournals.html?Owner=tinner777

I want to start working out with some proper direction. After reading the success stories of people who have used this I really want to try this. Especially Sue Lozinski

Issues straight away are that I'm stuck at home with my three young boys or working 12 hour shifts, the gym at this point in my life is not a possibility. So at home I have a exercise bike, dumbbells and a bar. My doors will not take a pull up bar with my weight.

After reading loads and searching for wods suitable for me I found this, thanks to sara fleming on the crossfit board
http://board.crossfit.com/showthread.php?t=45943

"The first workout I have them do is a modified Cindy which is 3 rounds of 10-15 air squats, 5-10 body rows, and 10-15 pushups."

I was thinking I could start here doing Bent over barbell/dumdbells row instead of pull ups. If I got myself a cheap bench I could do the rest at home?
Would a bench hold my weight for body rows?

I then found this topic, "Comprehensive bodyweight workout list for download" by Shane Skowron.
http://board.crossfit.com/showthread.php?t=38312

Now, if I start with the modified Cindy as above what should I be aiming for, and how should I move through the different wod as described by Shane?

I'd be really grateful for any help or direction.

tin

ps im asking here as ive had no joy on the crossfit board

Transform

pop up to www.crossfit.ie on saturday if you can as there is a crossfit competition on and you will see people scaling and adjusting workouts at all levels of ability.

Cindy is just one crossfit workout and there are hundreds to choose from.

there is a metcon thread here also that will throw up tons of ideas also

cmyk

tinner777 wrote: »

I'm a fat geezer, 300lbs, 6'2. Spent the last month making changes and get myself on track. Sorted my diet with help from paleo/sisson. Please see

Good work, how much are you down in that month? The fitday link didn't work for me.

tinner777 wrote: »

Issues straight away are that I'm stuck at home with my three young boys or working 12 hour shifts, the gym at this point in my life is not a possibility. So at home I have a exercise bike, dumbbells and a bar. My doors will not take a pull up bar with my weight.

No problem, you could put together a decent little circuit/workout with that equipment.

tinner777 wrote: »

After reading loads and searching for wods suitable for me I found this, thanks to sara fleming on the crossfit board
http://board.crossfit.com/showthread.php?t=45943

I don't know where to start with that thread, I didn't get too far down it though.

tinner777 wrote: »

"The first workout I have them do is a modified Cindy which is 3 rounds of 10-15 air squats, 5-10 body rows, and 10-15 pushups." I'd be really grateful for any help or direction.

I'll come back later when I've more time to give more thoughts, if others haven't in the meantime, you'll need to provide more info on the diet though if link doesn't work for others.

tinner777

sorry, try this

http://www.fitday.com/fitness/PublicJournals.html?Owner=tinner777

tinner777

Transform wrote: »

pop up to www.crossfit.ie on saturday if you can as there is a crossfit competition on and you will see people scaling and adjusting workouts at all levels of ability.

Cindy is just one crossfit workout and there are hundreds to choose from.

there is a metcon thread here also that will throw up tons of ideas also

hi transform, i'm in cork mate but i'll look at the metcon stuff, thanks

Hanley

Things that probably aren’t a great idea if you’re obese and just getting started:
-running
-jumping (box jumps, plyos etc etc)
-skipping (see jumping)

Things that probably are a good idea:
-having a one on one chat with someone who knows what they’re talking about and aren’t out to sell you something
-having a look at, and changing, the obvious ‘big’ problems in your diet
-walking a certain distance non-stop (400m, 1km, whatever – it’s individual) and trying to improve each time
-low impact exercise (push ups on your knees, planks on your knees, bodyweight rows w/ the height of the bar adjusted to allow ya to complete good quality reps
-not actually trying to or past the point of failure, you’d be much better getting 6x medium intensity sessions where ya feel alright/energized afterwards than 3-4x high intensity ones where you’re wrecked and unable to do stuff the next day

At the end of it all, it takes a lot of time to gain significant amounts of weight, and it’ll take the same to reverse it. Chase the small goals and the big stuff will fall into place.

EDIT: That's just a general post btw, not specifically directed at you. Think of it as a first step for people really out of shape.

Jackie307133

Hanley wrote: »

Things that probably aren’t a great idea if you’re obese and just getting started:
-running
-jumping (box jumps, plyos etc etc)
-skipping (see jumping)

Things that probably are a good idea:
-having a one on one chat with someone who knows what they’re talking about and aren’t out to sell you something
-having a look at, and changing, the obvious ‘big’ problems in your diet
-walking a certain distance non-stop (400m, 1km, whatever – it’s individual) and trying to improve each time
-low impact exercise (push ups on your knees, planks on your knees, bodyweight rows w/ the height of the bar adjusted to allow ya to complete good quality reps
-not actually trying to or past the point of failure, you’d be much better getting 6x medium intensity sessions where ya feel alright/energized afterwards than 3-4x high intensity ones where you’re wrecked and unable to do stuff the next day

At the end of it all, it takes a lot of time to gain significant amounts of weight, and it’ll take the same to reverse it. Chase the small goals and the big stuff will fall into place.

EDIT: That's just a general post btw, not specifically directed at you. Think of it as a first step for people really out of shape.

thanks for the great advice, at 286lbs, all help appreciated

tinner777

Hanley wrote: »

-low impact exercise (push ups on your knees, planks on your knees, bodyweight rows w/ the height of the bar adjusted to allow ya to complete good quality reps
-not actually trying to or past the point of failure, you’d be much better getting 6x medium intensity sessions where ya feel alright/energized afterwards than 3-4x high intensity ones where you’re wrecked and unable to do stuff the next day

hi hanley, what would you define as medium intensity? I was going to do some kind of hitt on the bike and then the crossfit stuff in-between?

Im in the middle of sorting room, boxes to attic etc, so want a program i can follow.

Hanley

tinner777 wrote: »

hi hanley, what would you define as medium intensity? I was going to do some kind of hitt on the bike and then the crossfit stuff in-between?

Im in the middle of sorting room, boxes to attic etc, so want a program i can follow.

Low intensity - something you could keep up for quite a while (say walking/jogging for the average person)

Medium intensity - something that challenges you but doesn't leave you on the floor absolutely gasping for breath and struggling to move the next day afterwards

High intensity - going absolutely guts out, feeling like you're going to get sick, burning all over your body as your muscles work



High intensity has its place for everyone from time to time, but it's for the more experienced person to use regularly cos they know their body and what it's capable of.

Right now for you what's important is just punching the clock every day. Getting good quality exercise in, keeping your motivation high, seeing progress and looking forward to the next days training - do that and you'll never miss a gym session.

tinner777

Hanley wrote: »

Low intensity - something you could keep up for quite a while (say walking/jogging for the average person)

Medium intensity - something that challenges you but doesn't leave you on the floor absolutely gasping for breath and struggling to move the next day afterwards

High intensity - going absolutely guts out, feeling like you're going to get sick, burning all over your body as your muscles work



High intensity has its place for everyone from time to time, but it's for the more experienced person to use regularly cos they know their body and what it's capable of.

Right now for you what's important is just punching the clock every day. Getting good quality exercise in, keeping your motivation high, seeing progress and looking forward to the next days training - do that and you'll never miss a gym session.

thanks Hanley,

so as original post as i'm stuck in the house. Now i'm fat, make no big bones about it, but i can walk for four miles and my boys keep me on the go around the house and garden. Im looking for something to be hard and maintain my interest.

thanks again for everyone's help

Transform

tinner777 wrote: »

thanks Hanley,

so as original post as i'm stuck in the house. Now i'm fat, make no big bones about it, but i can walk for four miles and my boys keep me on the go around the house and garden. Im looking for something to be hard and maintain my interest.

thanks again for everyone's help

there are two crossfit places in cork - might be worth your while to pop in or give them a shout.

Start slowly and focus on doing the simple things right first and that includes the nutrition

Stick with the Paleo/Primal and you will do great. The weight will fall off. I would say weight loss is 90% diet. Exercise really comes into play when you're interested in making your body look/feel/perform the way you want it to. Hanley above is speaking a lot of sense in terms of intensity.

Good luck and well done so far.

cmyk

Tell us a bit more about your diet tinner.

I've just had a look through your fitday, are they complete days? Seems to fluctuate a bit, from 729kcals at lowest to 2363kcals at the highest point.

Are you calculating it right, logging everything including fluids? Looking at the date of your post you've been about 2 weeks at that diet now right?

tinner777

cmyk wrote: »

Tell us a bit more about your diet tinner.

I've just had a look through your fitday, are they complete days? Seems to fluctuate a bit, from 729kcals at lowest to 2363kcals at the highest point.

Are you calculating it right, logging everything including fluids? Looking at the date of your post you've been about 2 weeks at that diet now right?

Hi, yes two weeks, messed up at first using nuts to snack, I learnt quickly, I'm logging everything. I'm trying to follow the whole30 and to be honest I'm not hungry. But I'm feeling great. However I'm not working out either. I will be starting tomorrow

mrpink6789

Hey tinner, I was your weight and I just concentrated on the diet aspect more, made sure I was at a calorie deficit all the time while still allowing myself to have a treat at least once a week, diet will be a huge factor in your weight loss. As far as exercise goes I havent tried crossfit but I heard its great, just make sure you talk to someone as Hanley says who isn't trying to sell you something because you could put extra strain on your muscles at your current weight.
I started off just walking 2 miles a night, built myself up to the cross trainer and then do a combination of running and weights now (although im useless at running :P)

depends on your goals but if its just weight you want to lose I'd go for diet and some sort of medium intensity workout like the cross trainer.

cmyk

tinner777 wrote: »

Hi, yes two weeks, messed up at first using nuts to snack, I learnt quickly, I'm logging everything. I'm trying to follow the whole30 and to be honest I'm not hungry. But I'm feeling great. However I'm not working out either. I will be starting tomorrow

Ok, that's great, but in my opinion 740kcals is quite low for a number of reasons, one of which is sustainability, are there refeeds involved? mrpink is right, diet is going to have the biggest dent in weight loss for you so I'd concentrate on getting that consistent.

I don't know the whole30 diet plan...a quick google tells me you've to buy it though which already sets alarm bells off.

Transform

tinner777 wrote: »

Hi, yes two weeks, messed up at first using nuts to snack, I learnt quickly, I'm logging everything. I'm trying to follow the whole30 and to be honest I'm not hungry. But I'm feeling great. However I'm not working out either. I will be starting tomorrow

lets get brutally honest here - you are 300lbs.

At that weight you could spend the next 6months going for walks and just nailing downa really consistent diet and you could drop a good 50-60lbs easy.

I dont think you need to get overly complicated - eat less, focus on better food quality and when you get under e.g. 220lbs THEN start looking at e.g. crossfit or very specific nutritional approaches.

Best of luck and master the majors first

tinner777

http://whole9life.com/2010/12/whole30-2011/

cmyk wrote: »

Ok, that's great, but in my opinion 740kcals is quite low for a number of reasons, one of which is sustainability, are there refeeds involved? mrpink is right, diet is going to have the biggest dent in weight loss for you so I'd concentrate on getting that consistent.

I don't know the whole30 diet plan...a quick google tells me you've to buy it though which already sets alarm bells off.

The Whole30 Program, As Outlined

Eat real food – meat, fish, eggs, tons of vegetables, some fruit, and plenty of good fats. Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because they’re natural and unprocessed.

More importantly, here’s what NOT to eat during the duration of your Whole30 program. Omitting all of these foods and beverages will help you regain your healthy metabolism, reduce systemic inflammation, and help you discover how these foods are truly impacting your health, fitness and quality of life.

Do not consume added sugar of any kind, real or artificial. No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet, xylitol, stevia, etc. Read your labels, because companies sneak sugar into products in all kinds of ways.
Do not eat processed foods. This includes protein shakes, pre-packaged snacks/meals, protein bars, milk substitutes, etc.
Do not drink alcohol, in any form.
Do not eat grains. This includes (but is not limited to) wheat, rye, barley, millet, oats, corn, rice, sprouted grains and all of those gluten-free pseudo-grains like quinoa. (Yes, we said corn!) This also includes all the ways we add wheat, corn and rice into our foods in the form of bran, germ, starch and so on. Again, read your labels.
Do not eat legumes. This includes beans (black, kidney, lima, etc.), peas, lentils, and peanuts or peanut butter. This also includes all forms of soy – soy sauce, miso, tofu, tempeh, edamame, and all the ways we sneak soy into foods (like lecithin).
Do not eat dairy. This includes all cow, goat or sheep’s milk, cream, butter, cheese, yogurt, whey, ice cream, etc.
Do not eat white potatoes. It’s arbitrary, but they are carbohydrate-dense and nutrient poor, and also a nightshade.
Most importantly… do not try to shove your old, unhealthy diet into a shiny new Whole30 mold. This means no “Paleo-fying” less-than-healthy recipes – no “Paleo” pancakes, “Paleo” pizza, “Paleo” fudge or “Paleo” ice cream. Don’t mimic poor food choices during your Whole30 program!
One last and final rule. You are not allowed to step on the scale for the duration of your Whole30 program. This is about so much more than just weight loss, and to focus only on your body composition means you’ll miss out on the most dramatic (and lifelong) benefits this plan has to offer. Give yourself a well-deserved, long overdue break from fixating on that number on the scale! Absolutely NO weighing yourself or taking comparative measurements during your Whole30.


So no refeeding or anything stupid like that, just eating good food. 700 is too low, out all day, got in late, did not want to eat and goto bed

tinner777

Transform wrote: »

lets get brutally honest here - you are 300lbs.

At that weight you could spend the next 6months going for walks and just nailing downa really consistent diet and you could drop a good 50-60lbs easy.

I dont think you need to get overly complicated - eat less, focus on better food quality and when you get under e.g. 220lbs THEN start looking at e.g. crossfit or very specific nutritional approaches.

Best of luck and master the majors first

thanks transform, i'm kind of stuck in the house, hence why i asked for direction on what kind of exercises i should be doing at home in limited time frames. The whole 30 i picked up from sissons daily apple. In fairness its in no way complicated and purely a kick start to a different kind of life for me.

tinner777

well lads on the 5th may 2011 i weighed 321lbs. On the 5th june 2011 i now weigh 286lbs.

As advised I sorted out the basics and started to exercise a bit. Although still big I feel like a new man. The only thing i miss to an extent is cheese and wine, so going to add them into my diet. Otherwise I'm good, i find my appetite is appropriate to what I'm doing, so if i'm working and have eaten nothing between 8 and 2pm i'm hungry so have my main meal then. At home messing about with the kids i have breakfast later so main meal later in day. No biscuits, bars, cakes or scones etc and to be honest after the first week i didn't want them.

Might have a few glasses of wine at home but not a load of cans!

I hope to be 270lbs this time next month, same diet and more exercise.

Rovi

tinner777 wrote: »

well lads on the 5/4/11 i weighed 321lbs. On the 6/5/11 i now weigh 286lbs.

As advised I sorted out the basics and started to exercise a bit. Although still big I feel like a new man. The only thing i miss to an extent is cheese and wine, so going to add them into my diet. Otherwise I'm good, i find my appetite is appropriate to what I'm doing, so if i'm working and have eaten nothing between 8 and 2pm i'm hungry so have my main meal then. At home messing about with the kids i have breakfast later so main meal later in day. No biscuits, bars, cakes or scones etc and to be honest after the first week i didn't want them.

Might have a few glasses of wine at home but not a load of cans!

I hope to be 270lbs this time next month, same diet and more exercise.

That's tremendous, very well done!

You've just lost the best part of 40lbs in a month, and while you're certainly still 'big' as you say yourself, please don't expect for that rate of loss to continue into the future.

Something along the lines of 1.5-2lbs/week is perfectly doable and sustainable, and is much more likely to be 'permanent', if you get what I mean. Your target of 270lbs next month (16lbs loss from now) is a very sensible aiming point, in my opinion.

Again, congratulations on the excellent start!

compaqlaptop1

Crossfit is high intensity stuff. Even someone who does a bit of exercise will find that tough going. So I cant see how a newcomer is expected to do it. I would imagine doing crossfit stuff would actually put a newcomer off exercise as they would be thinking 'jesus this stuff is extremely tough' and start missing workouts and eventually just pack it in. Standard weights routine & low intensity cardio would work much better for a newcomer imo. So many people bite off more than they can chew when they decide to start working out and have that big burst of initial movitation - then in a few weeks they are burned out and give it up completely.

Mellor

Rovi wrote: »

That's tremendous, very well done!

You've just lost the best part of 40lbs in a month, and while you're certainly still 'big' as you say yourself, please don't expect for that rate of loss to continue into the future.

There appears to be a typo, the date says 6/5/11, its now June not May, so the loss was 35lbs in 2 months, which is still great going

Rovi

Mellor wrote: »

There appears to be a typo, the date says 6/5/11, its now June not May, so the loss was 35lbs in 2 months, which is still great going

Oh yeah

Oops!

As you say, 35lbs in 2 months is still great work

tinner777

sorry copied dates straight from fitday site

Mellor

Well in that case, the other date is equally "off", so it was still a month

4th may - 5th june, 35lbs in less than 5 weeks :eek:

impressive