A lot done, a lot more to do - where to go next?

crazyderk

Hi all.

Looking for some general advice on whether I keep doing what I'm doing or should I start thinking of changing things when it comes to my exercise routine.

Apologies for the long post but to give you a back ground on what I've done wrong and how I've learned from it.

I'm 6'4 (currently 31 going on 32 next week) and never cared about my diet growing up and never exercised.
during my teens 20's I grew and grew and grew and grew. (mostly due to junk food and alcohol)

My mums side of the family has a history of high blood pressure and I got it measured and it was high at the end of 2006 I was asked to go on medication I refused and stuck my head in the sand.

In 2007 I finally saw a photo of myself that made me cringe and I realised something had to be done.

I reckon if memory serves me correctly I reckon I was in the 290-300 pounds category


I lost a tiny bit of weight over the following 2 years and thought I was OK until I proposed to my now wife and we tried to lose weight together.

We of course did it the wrong way and went on a complete meal replacement diet and I lost a crap load of weight. We did it 3-4 times in total, we would do it for 3 weeks lose a couple of stone, put some weight back on and then do it again (at my lowest weight I was under 220 pounds)

When I got married I was 225 pounds

When the wedding was done the weight piled back on and I would yo yo diet but my weight always hung around the 260-270 mark

2 years ago I finally tried some exercise. I got into running I started doing the couch to 5k and signed up and completed my first 5k a couple of months later. Shortly after this my wife gave birth to our first baby

it was hard to keep it up over the winter but last April Ben Dunne gym opened up across the road from work and I joined that, at first just to run when it was raining but then I started doing a little more.

a couple of months alter I was given some very good advice on diet by a friend of mine who is training to become a personal trainer and so my mission began on the 31st of May last year I started at 263.5 pounds

I spoke to a personal trainer in the gym also and worked out a plan

I do weights on Monday
Bench press 3 reps of 12 (started with 15kilos now I bench press 25)
medicine ball squat 3 reps of a minute each
Lat pull down started with 39 kilos now I do 45 3 x 12
Military press started with 17 kilo now do 25 3 x 12
push up 3 x 12
and one other exercise I don't know the name of but its where you pull weight towards you like a rowing machine
started with 39 kilos now I do 45 3 x 12

Tuesdays I go for a run 6km in 30 minutes
followed by 3 sets of push ups and sit ups

Wednesday I'll do a body fitness class for 45 minutes

Thursday I go for a run 6km in 30 minutes
followed by 3 sets of push ups and sit ups

Friday if I have the energy (most times I don't) I'll do something like weights again or maybe some cardio

I do all of this on my lunch from work so I'm limited for time. mornings evenings and weekends are spent with my wife and son.

Along the way I introduced weighing scales that measure body fat (not a great way to measure I know but I'm using the same thing every week and recording the result so i figure it has to give me some sort of accuracy)

Then I also started measuring waist and chest.


so far since May 31st I have lost 42.5 pounds the proper way with diet and exercise and on my last weight in I weighed 221 pounds

I've lost 4% body fat since September
I've lost 6 inches of my waist since sept and 4.5 inches form my chest
Blood pressure is completely normal

so I am now approaching the year mark, when I first started I wanted to reach 220 pounds and then I would re-evaluate.

since I've now hit one of my big goals I've done a lot of thinking of where I want to go.

My goal is to lose more body fat and build muscle

I would like my body fat to be in a category of acceptable and not over weight or obese so that my health is not at risk

I would like to build muscle so that I look good.

So do I just keep doing what I'm doing

any suggestions on what Im missing and what I should work on?

Zillah

Great work so far, congratulations! You must feel awesome. I am always delighted to hear from people that were overweight and are actively coming back from it.

I'm not a professional but one thing I would say is that one session of weights per week sounds like far too little. I would do less cardio and do two or three weights sessions per week, with a day or two between them. If you want get more muscle once per week is going to take a very long time to show good results.

A question: All of your weight sets are for 12 reps x 3. Are you really struggling on the last set? I would suggest going heavier for slightly fewer reps. If you could do, say 10, 10 and then fail when you get to 8 or 9 on the last set that would probably be a much better workout. If you're able to finish three sets of 12 without really struggling then you should definitely try something heavier. You're never going to get much improvement unless it feels very challenging.

crazyderk

Zillah wrote: »

Great work so far, congratulations! You must feel awesome. I am always delighted to hear from people that were overweight and are actively coming back from it.

I'm not a professional but one thing I would say is that one session of weights per week sounds like far too little. I would do less cardio and do two or three weights sessions per week, with a day or two between them. If you want get more muscle once per week is going to take a very long time to show good results.

A question: All of your weight sets are for 12 reps x 3. Are you really struggling on the last set? I would suggest going heavier for slightly fewer reps. If you could do, say 10, 10 and then fail when you get to 8 or 9 on the last set that would probably be a much better workout. If you're able to finish three sets of 12 without really struggling then you should definitely try something heavier. You're never going to get much improvement unless it feels very challenging.

Thanks very much.

Yes I was going to see the personal trainer at the end of the month and ask him about more of a weights program.

Recently a friend said to me that I should do 3 x 12 reps and then try a 4th with a much higher weight until I can do it no longer. I tried that yesterday and added 5-10 kilos on each exercise I did and was able to do about 8 reps then I could do no more so I think I'll try and keep that up.

Zillah

If you can do 8 reps on a heavier weight on your fourth set then your first three sets are probably far too light! I'd just go with that weight for all of the sets to be honest.

crazyderk

Zillah wrote: »

If you can do 8 reps on a heavier weight on your fourth set then your first three sets are probably far too light! I'd just go with that weight for all of the sets to be honest.

OK I'll give it a go tomorrow and report back

so if I did 3-4 reps of 8 with a heavier weight that's better then 3-4 reps of 12 of a lighter one?

Zillah

(A rep is a single movement, a set is a group of reps )

There are no definitive answers. Studies suggest that sets of around 10 are best for growing muscles, but that means a set where your muscle would be barely able to get an 11th rep out if someone had a gun to your head. If you could easily go for more than 10, then swap to a heavier weight, because it's too easy. I get the impression that your sets of 12 aren't exactly pushing the limit, considering you were able to push out another set of 8 on a heavier weight afterwards.

So I think going with the heavier weight and aiming for 10 is probably your best bet for making sure you're really spending your time well.

All of that is fine-tuning though. The most important thing would be going more than once a week. I'd definitely drop one of those jogging days and replace it with another weights session. Also you don't mention the weekend. Lots of people seem to ignore the weekend. I love weights on Sundays, the gym is always very quiet.

crazyderk

I spoke about it in my OP mornings evenings and weekends are spent with my wife and son so i dont do any workouts then.

I'll try upping the weights and aim for 10 and see how I go

siochain

Your weights don't have any lower body stuff. Ask your trainer to show I how to do squats and deadlifts. The upper body weights seem a bit light for the length of time your lifting. See will the trainer set out a few METCONs for you too. More intense and frequent weights sessions will help fire thinks up for you. Post up your weekly nutrition plan and you'll get some pointers..

Great job so far well done.