Please give me exercise advice...

[alank2]

Hi,

I'm 41 and I've begun to exercise and lose weight for the last 6 weeks or so. I was drinking too much coke and have replaced about half of it with water so I've improved in this area although not as much as I'd like. I'm 5'8 and was up to 194 pounds at the end of last year, but I'm down to 178 now. I'd like to get back to 170 or even 165 in time.

I've got an exercise routine that I do daily, but it is just something I've come up with on my own so I don't know if there is a better way than what I'm doing. For the last couple of months I do situps, and a couple of dumbbell exercises. I'm up to 30 situps daily. I'm not sure what to call these exercises so I'll just describe them. I think the first one is a curl, I will stand and one arm at a time left a 10 pound dumbbell 30 times. After both arms are done, I will then keep my arm straight and lift the dumbbell away from my body in the direction of the arm - right arm lift towards the right until it is horizontal, let it drop and then repeat. 30 times for each arm.

I've certainly felt my abdominal muscles be tighter than they were before and my biceps are also larger and stronger.

Is there a better way to do what I am doing? Should I do 3 sets of 10 reps on each arm while going back and forth between arms or is 1 set of 30 just the same?

I've been doing this daily? Is this a good idea or bad, I've seen some mentions to every other day, but daily is easier for me to keep track of and stay with.

I've got a treadmill, but just haven't got on it yet.

I'd love any advice you guys have for getting fit on top of what I've got going on now. I also take a daily multivitamin, Target generic I think.

Thanks,

Alan

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

Some guys here may call me a quack but I use the p90x program, it works and its hard ass hell. You should just cut soda altogether, the easiest way it to stop buying it!

[kest_01]

Look into crossfit, and really check your diet.

[bp7178]

I've got a treadmill, but just haven't got on it yet.

I'd start there.

[BrigandTwoFour]

Losing fat happens in the kitchen first. You need to kick the soda habit all together and focus on eating real food. Minimize things based on flour (pasta, etc).


As far as the weights, try to lift heavier. If you can lift 30 times straight, then it's not enough of a challenge. It should be difficult to finish 8-10 reps.

Stay away from steady state cardio like jogging. Instead, stick to walking as much as possible. If somewhere you need to go is in walking distance rather than driving, then walk there. Sprint sessions are good maybe once a week. You don't need more than total 2 minutes of all out sprints (break it up into 20 second blocks if you want) to get the same benefit as 30 minutes of "cardio."

[bp7178]

Stay away from steady state cardio like jogging.

That's pretty horrible advice. You had me on everything else. Walking is a very efficient human movement. You aren't going to loose a lot doing that. At first you may, but only if you were a slug before.

I'm with dropping sugar. Know that sugar is worse in your diet than fat by a long shot.

Flour based anything I'd lose. Even when I make steak tacos, I use the corn tortillas that you have to cook before serving.

Less ingredients in your food the better.

[BrigandTwoFour]

That's pretty horrible advice. You had me on everything else. Walking is a very efficient human movement. You aren't going to loose a lot doing that. At first you may, but only if you were a slug before.

Contrary to popular belief, you don't burn much of anything doing "cardio" either. The benefits of exercise come during the recovery phase, not during the activity itself. The "calories burned" number on the treadmill is laughably bad, designed solely to keep you on the belt for longer so you can feel like you've done something for yourself. Hell, most of the number it gives you is how much you've burned by simply sucking air and living.

Walking a lot isn't about burning fat, it's about not being sedentary. That alone will pay huge dividends. Getting up to go work out for 30 minutes or an hour and then sitting back down again for the rest of the day at your desk or on the couch is a terrible way to go about things.

I'm not going to go into the issues with steady state "cardio," as there are others here far more qualified than I (and lots of opinions either way). But the bottom line is that spending lots of time doing "cardio" may help someone lose "weight" up front, but it does not help body composition. If anything, an abundance of cardio decreases muscle mass (look at endurance athletes for an example) and increases the release of cortisol into the blood stream, which further drives fat retention- especially in the mid section. Cortisol can be good for short term workouts (heavy lifting or sprinting, for example) but WILL cause issues if too much continues to float around in the body.

If you look at the work of Tabata back in the mid 90's, they pointed out then that short durations of maximum effort (i.e. sprinting) triggered the body to spin up all the same fat burning processes as "cardio" in far less time and with far less wear and tear on the joints.

If the OP wants to run a mile, then go for it. Running a mile or two isn't going to cause too many problems, especially at a slower pace. But there are far more productive ways to spend 50 minutes in a gym than on an elliptical. Actual strength training, mobility work, and short intense bursts of activity like rowing, KB swings, boxing, or other activities. Those things will net far better results than mind-numbing "cardio."

[alank2]

Hi,

Thanks for all the advice guys. I am looking for the best for the bang in terms of effort and time. I'm using a 10# weight right now, so I should up this somewhat? How should I do the reps/sets? Should I do it everyday or every other day? Should I add anything else?

Thanks,

Alan

[QuickStrike]

Barring any real medical reasons, I would look into heavy compound lifts involving the barbell. Lifts like squat, deadlift, overhead press, rows, etc...

Look into the Starting Strength book by Mark Rippletoe.

[bp7178]

Contrary to popular belief, you don't burn much of anything doing "cardio" either. The benefits of exercise come during the recovery phase, not during the activity itself. The "calories burned" number on the treadmill is laughably bad, designed solely to keep you on the belt for longer so you can feel like you've done something for yourself. Hell, most of the number it gives you is how much you've burned by simply sucking air and living.

Walking a lot isn't about burning fat, it's about not being sedentary. That alone will pay huge dividends. Getting up to go work out for 30 minutes or an hour and then sitting back down again for the rest of the day at your desk or on the couch is a terrible way to go about things.

I'm not going to go into the issues with steady state "cardio," as there are others here far more qualified than I (and lots of opinions either way). But the bottom line is that spending lots of time doing "cardio" may help someone lose "weight" up front, but it does not help body composition. If anything, an abundance of cardio decreases muscle mass (look at endurance athletes for an example) and increases the release of cortisol into the blood stream, which further drives fat retention- especially in the mid section. Cortisol can be good for short term workouts (heavy lifting or sprinting, for example) but WILL cause issues if too much continues to float around in the body.

If you look at the work of Tabata back in the mid 90's, they pointed out then that short durations of maximum effort (i.e. sprinting) triggered the body to spin up all the same fat burning processes as "cardio" in far less time and with far less wear and tear on the joints.

If the OP wants to run a mile, then go for it. Running a mile or two isn't going to cause too many problems, especially at a slower pace. But there are far more productive ways to spend 50 minutes in a gym than on an elliptical. Actual strength training, mobility work, and short intense bursts of activity like rowing, KB swings, boxing, or other activities. Those things will net far better results than mind-numbing "cardio."

The benefits of cardio aren't just in weight loss. I'm not advocating that one has to be a marathon runner to be in shape, but any unbalanced training regime will give unbalanced results.

If you are spending 50 minutes on an elliptical, you'd be much better spending half that time running. Elliptical machines are a poor substitute for running. Its easier because you aren't working as hard. Treadmills don't directly equal running on the road either. You can get closer with incline work, but I digress...

Some of the best training cycles I've had are running a fast mile (in the 5:40 range), then hitting the weights. I've had better increases doing this, only running maybe 6 miles a week, then training cycles where I hit 125 miles for the month. But both have their place, and not being in one routine for too long is key.

Most people don't run because they are horrible at it, having no understanding or demonstrated ability as to proper running form.

Pace work is where I experienced more over training issues than doing distance work. If someone didn't have a demonstrated ability as to proper running form, and can't even run at any pace continuously for 30 minutes, I wouldn't advocate doing wind sprints.