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just be careful of the brown eggs
 
Wardy, I've just found this thread, so apologies if this one is answered.

I'm approaching 50, out of shape, teach for a living, 14.5 stone, should be 12.5.

I've started a proper diet (ie. not a fad, genuinely watching what I'm eating). I'm using My Fitness Pal, not as the be-all-and-end-all, but as a guide, and it's really opened my eyes as to where I was going wrong, food-wise.

I'm not on c.2,000 calories a day.

Just (re)joined the gym. Been doing the cross trainer so far, as I like it, and I find it a good way to ease my way back in. The ones at my gym ask for weight and age and monitor your heart rate, so I presume they're ballpark accurate - they say I'm burning about 500-600 calories each time I'm at the gym. I do 5 minutes warm up on 'Fat Burn', then 10 minute stints on 'Cardio', sprinting full tilt for the last 20 seconds of each 10 minute stint.

I'm not in the remotest bit interested in 'body building'. I just want to be not out of breath at the top of the stairs, and lose a couple of stone. I don't mind that it may take a while, though I'm off to Greece in late July and it'd be nice to have shifted some by then.

Tips?

Cheers.

Steve W
 
@Pecker

Sounds like you are doing all the right things already, especially tracking calories and improving your diet.

Exercise wise the calorie counting on cardio machines is pretty poor so dont pay too much attention to it. Your croostrainer sessions are great start but now it is time to do less cardio and more resistence training. Just do the basics well, they work, so pushes and pulls for the upper body, pushes and pulls for the lower body. So perhaps

Squat (or leg press at first)
Deadlift Or leg curl at first)
Bench Press
Row
Overhead press
Lat pull
Planks

Try to regularly add weight and spend no more than 1 hour in the gym at a time.

Have a look through my common gym mistakes thread, it will all start to make sense.
 
Its been about 3 weeks now since I've started the 5x5 and I must say I am enjoying it. Have increased the weight each week and stuck to the plan. Is there anything else I can bring into it as currently do bench press, oh press, squats and deadlift.

Doing it 3 times a week and try to do at least one 2-3 mile run a week and some ab work 3 times a week. Track my diet and have even alot better recently.

So yea, looking for anything else I can add in at home with free weights and a bench.

Re the weight, how much for example is to much to get up on the shoulders for squats without a rack, don't want to get myself in a sticky situation lol.
 
There's no maximum weight, it's whatever you can squat. If you're not coming up, just ditch the bar off your back.
 
Hiya Wardy,
I'm male,45,6ft,12 stone 9, down from 15.5 stone since last Feb,achieved through eating clean (with a couple of cheat meals per month.)

In January this year I started body weight exercises comprising of chin ups,squats,press ups and sit ups.

I've read this thread and tried to get as much info online as possible and my current (week 13-16) workout has added calf raises and have been adding reps every 4 weeks.

Chin ups 7,7,6,5,5 (started with 5,5,3,2,2)

Dumbbell squat 10,10,10,10,10 (started with body weight only till this week)

Press ups 10,10,10,10,10 (struggle with the last rep or 2 in the last set while keeping good form)

Calf raises 10,10

Sit ups 10,10,10,10,10 worked up to this and do it fairly easily so my question is would you advise doing planks and/or another core workout to challenge me a bit more? I know sit ups are a bit out of favour ATM.

I do the above Mon,Wed and Fri, Tuesday and Thursday is HIIT on my pushbike,30 secs all out 90 secs slow,repeat 6 times.

Cheers
 
I've started tracking what I eat and found it easy to stay below 1800 calories.
Today I had a teacake for breakfast, went out on the bike for an hour. For lunch had 2 boiled eggs with a chicken breast on wholemeal bread. For dinner was slow cooked beef with carrots onions and mash potato as a side. Total calories just under 1400. Still have the odd treat (mainly local curry takeaway). Anyhow lost 6 pounds in just under 2 months. Currently 6ft2 and aim to get down to 13st5.
My question is, do I need to hit the gym? I currently use the bike every other day with at least one swimming session a week. Would doing squats etc help with weight loss
 
Would doing squats etc help with weight loss

Of course it will, anything that requires energy will ultimately contribute to burning those calories and body fat. Squats are great too!
 
Anyone see anything wrong with porridge/blueberries for breakfast and then 4 hours or so later weetabix/almond milk with some whey mixed in?

Getting a bit bored of certain things so trying to mix it up and have been having the above with Milk however going to try almond milk.

Then I have a big meal with meat and veg in the evening and a few bits of fruit/nuts and stuff throughout the day.
 
Anyone see anything wrong with porridge/blueberries for breakfast and then 4 hours or so later weetabix/almond milk with some whey mixed in?

Getting a bit bored of certain things so trying to mix it up and have been having the above with Milk however going to try almond milk.

Then I have a big meal with meat and veg in the evening and a few bits of fruit/nuts and stuff throughout the day.

Not at all, you've got to keep the fire burning. Give it a go for a couple of months and see if the outcome matches your goals.
 
I've started tracking what I eat and found it easy to stay below 1800 calories.
Today I had a teacake for breakfast, went out on the bike for an hour. For lunch had 2 boiled eggs with a chicken breast on wholemeal bread. For dinner was slow cooked beef with carrots onions and mash potato as a side. Total calories just under 1400. Still have the odd treat (mainly local curry takeaway). Anyhow lost 6 pounds in just under 2 months. Currently 6ft2 and aim to get down to 13st5.
My question is, do I need to hit the gym? I currently use the bike every other day with at least one swimming session a week. Would doing squats etc help with weight loss

Dont just think about weight loss, think about getting your body to work more effectively and efficiently. The body is designed to push and pull so do exercises that push and pull.

Watch this for some inspiration on how simple things can make the body work, and therefore perform, better.

Maintaining Your Body with Kelly Starrett | CreativeLive - Learn. Be Inspired.
 
After a few weeks on the cross trainer I finally went to Circuit Training today.

It's only on once a week, 10:00am on a Wednesday, so I thought it would be full of housewives and pensioners and that I'd be the fittest there.

I was right about the first part.

As for the second part...I'm being unduly generous if I say I utterly embarrassed myself.

Someone kill me now before I disgrace the human race any more.

Steve W
 
stick at it tho - you have to start somewhere...

it's easy to give up...
 
After a few weeks on the cross trainer I finally went to Circuit Training today.

It's only on once a week, 10:00am on a Wednesday, so I thought it would be full of housewives and pensioners and that I'd be the fittest there.

I was right about the first part.

As for the second part...I'm being unduly generous if I say I utterly embarrassed myself.

Someone kill me now before I disgrace the human race any more.

Steve W

As above dude, keep going you'll make progress each week and really enjoy it. :)
 
well, you need to find a routine that is suitable to you long term...for a lot of people this can be tricky, but its a fine work / family / life balance...
 
Hiya Wardy,
I'm male,45,6ft,12 stone 9, down from 15.5 stone since last Feb,achieved through eating clean (with a couple of cheat meals per month.)

In January this year I started body weight exercises comprising of chin ups,squats,press ups and sit ups.

I've read this thread and tried to get as much info online as possible and my current (week 13-16) workout has added calf raises and have been adding reps every 4 weeks.

Chin ups 7,7,6,5,5 (started with 5,5,3,2,2)

Dumbbell squat 10,10,10,10,10 (started with body weight only till this week)

Press ups 10,10,10,10,10 (struggle with the last rep or 2 in the last set while keeping good form)

Calf raises 10,10

Sit ups 10,10,10,10,10 worked up to this and do it fairly easily so my question is would you advise doing planks and/or another core workout to challenge me a bit more? I know sit ups are a bit out of favour ATM.

I do the above Mon,Wed and Fri, Tuesday and Thursday is HIIT on my pushbike,30 secs all out 90 secs slow,repeat 6 times.

Cheers

Thats great progress, keep it up.

Plank variations work well, sit-ups generally don't unless you have excellent mind/muscle connection and limit the range of motion. Have a read of these for inspiration for you core:

https://www.t-nation.com/training/anti-ab-training

http://www.nsca.com/Education/Articles/Why-Everyone-Needs-Core-Training/

https://www.nsca.com/uploadedFiles/...e Training Evidence Translating to Better.pdf

I know the last article is long, however it is really important to understand the whats/whys of core training, far too many people fail to understand the core so train it poorly often leading to injury.
 
Wardy, thanks for all your help and links! Just good to have someone pick out the better stuff, there's just too much out there for those of us that don't know much.

Kettle bell class today - 45 minutes of near nausea inducing pain. Loved it. Embarrassingly one of the ladies was mostly as strong as me, maybe a bit better in some parts. Call it motivation..
 
yes, kettlebells are great - tho, I strained my upperback at a class over a month ago (was doing 2x20kg clean and press) - was a nightmare as it felt ok at the time (just very hard!) - but your gains will come fast and hard... :D
 
yes, kettlebells are great - tho, I strained my upperback at a class over a month ago (was doing 2x20kg clean and press) - was a nightmare as it felt ok at the time (just very hard!) - but your gains will come fast and hard... :D

I couldn't do more than a couple of reps with that kind of weight I reckon, if that... And yes, it hurts a lot more after you've finished. Which is good in a way, but also bad because you can easily push yourself too much.

Next time I'm down there I'll try the core exercises that Wardy linked to, I want to see what they feel like. Since my main "poison" is cycling, improving my core should help quite a bit.
 
Good morning folks,

Can anyone advise whether reducing carb intake lower then what it currently is will help me get to where I want to be in terms abs.

Currently on 50/25/25 and whilst I manage fine and enjoy the current regime I do, which is 5x5, I'm still not happy at how long it's taking to get some definition around my abs. I feel like it's never going to happen, nearly 15 months on now since I started to get into it.

Example pics below. While it's clear I have changed I'm just no sure these abs are ever going to come along. Everytime I comparing I think I'm going backwards in that section or do I just need to keep going.

It feels like I have a lot of Skinfold just sitting doing nothing, I can literally grab a handful Haha.

Cheers all
 

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Are you referring to post 678 onwards pal? Sometimes I think I may over think and expect more progress.
 
I've started going to the gym again and currently take dymatize whey protein pre and post work out. Is it worth taking casein before bed?
 

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