Hi all, looking for a bit of advice.

jgomez

jgomez

New member
Hi all, new here. Just found these forums and have been reading around and it's great.


I was looking for a bit of advice.

Last year I joined a gym and was paying quite a bit to have a trainer during the workouts, was going about 2-3 times per week. Diet was not so good but I wasn't eating fried foods or burgers or sodas.

During that year I saw very minor changes, I am sure the diet had a lot to do with it, as well as missing about 2 months of training at one point do to work.

I had to cancel the gym membership due to moving away. I had started that gym at 180lbs and left at 182lbs.

From then until now I have cut a lot more foods out, eating more turkey sandwiches and salads, but do not have a clear diet really set. A bit overwhelmed about what's good to eat or not (other than the obvious). But I managed to go to 165lbs in this way. I am not sure if that was muscle loss or fat loss. I am now fluctuating between 167lbs and 170lbs

Last week I started exercising again. It's a small gym that does 9 stations of different exercises for 3 minutes each and random exercises in between the rounds all in all about 35 min non-stop. It's kick box oriented so there is quite a bit of punching bag etc. I have been to 5 classes so far and my stamina is just gone through the roof.

What I really want to know is if this is enough (5 times a week) for weight loss and if it will help build any muscle or if I should look into replacing some days for weight training at another gym.

Sorry got a bit long.


TL;DR
Joined new kickboxing style gym after 6 months, lots of cardio and punching, wanted to know if this is enough to help with loosing about 15lbs and building muscle, or if I should look into weight training.



Edit: Forgot to mention.
Current:
Height: 5' 11"
Weight: ~170lbs
 
what is your goal? leaner more muscular? or are you trying to lose weight or both?

which is more important to you right now... I guess what I'm trying to get at is what is your goal? leaner more muscular? or are you trying to lose weight or both?
 
Firstly, congrats on trimming down.

Here's my first concern. You're getting relatively light for being nearly 6' tall. I've come across many people who "chase" their ideal body solely with weight loss, never paying much attention to body composition. They're misguided into believing that as long as the scale is falling, the body of their dreams will be exposed sooner or later.

Eventually these folks run into the problem where either a) weight loss is no longer sustainable and they break adding much of their weight back or b) they reach a point where they look like a concentration camp survivor.

So as the above poster alluded to, you might consider focusing more on body composition and less on weight.

You mentioned that you didn't know if what you lost was fat or muscle. It was undoubtedly a combination of each. Each pound gained or lost is always comprised of some muscle and some fat. The ratio is predicated mostly by our genetics, but we do have some control/influence. At your height and weight, most of this control comes by way of:

i) eating adequate protein - something like 1 gram per pound of goal body weight or thereabouts

ii) appropriate resistance training

Obviously the first deals with nutrition. And from the sounds of it, you're not getting into all the food weighing, counting calories, counting nutrients, etc. And that's fine assuming the process is producing the results you desire. I do suggest, however, that you at least track protein grams for reasons mentioned in (i).

If you choose to go beyond simply tracking protein, here's my general advice.

1) Calculate your maintenance calorie intake (otherwise called total daily energy expenditure - TDEE). You can use various equations online (harris benedict is a popular one) or simply assume it's something like 14-16 calories per pound. It's not vitally important that you get it perfect since if you're off, your progress, or lack of it, will let you know and you simply adjust accordingly at that time.

2) Once you know your TDEE, you can set your daily calorie intake goal above or below it based on whether you want to gain or lose tissue respectively.

3) Once your daily intake is set, you need to select the nutrients that will provide you those calories. I suggest, as noted above, approximately 1 gram of protein per pound of goal weight, 25-30% of calories coming from fat, 3-6 servings of fibrous veggies, 2-4 servings of fruit, and the rest of the calories can be filled with whatever you'd like really.

On the exercise front, it sounds like you're doing circuit training, which is great for conditioning. It's not so great for muscle maintenance/growth for anyone but the untrained, generally speaking. The reason being is fatigue interferes with your ability to lift sufficiently heavy loads to stimulate muscle maintenance/growth.

Nothing is set in stone... there are many ways to skin a cat. I do believe there's an optimal approach in each case, but even then that approach can be packaged in numerous ways. If you have more questions, feel free to ask.
 
need a logical way of dropping pregnancy weght

i just had a child 4 months ago i currently weigh 145lbs. when i delivered i was 165lbs, about 2wks after i was 151, by the end of the first month i was 145. my pre-pregnancy weight was 130lbs and im loosing my mind i need to drop the weight (about 20lbs is my goal), summer is coming and i hate being a size 6. im 5'3 145lbs and if anyone has any exercise suggestions that i should try at the gym please help me. (nobody likes a chunky mama)
 
Thanks for the detailed reply Steve,

My main problem is that I was always pretty thin as a kid-highschool. College came along and bad eating habits and some drinking went straight to the gut. All the weight I want to get rid of is right in the mid section. I do want to build muscle as well though, chest/arms/abs. My legs are pretty well defined since where I grew up bicycling was the main method of transportation so I cycled everywhere daily for about 5 years(about 25-30 miles a day).

At the moment I am using an app to calculate approximate calorie intake.

I am eating roughly 1500-1600. Mostly chicken with veggies with a bit of olive oil/vinegar dressing, turkey wraps with no mayo, lots of asparagus, stir fried veggies with a bit of olive oil and salt. A 6-8oz steak every now and then with a side of steamed veggies.


9:30am
In the mornings I have about 2-3 scrambled egg whites with chopped green peppers and onions. I hate the taste of eggs so I sometimes mix in a teaspoon of ketchup. Also a 12oz oj

1:00pm
Lunch is usually a spinach/romaine salad and about 4 tbsp of hummus, or a 6" turkey sandwich with provolone lettuce tomatoes banana peppers.

6:30pm
Snack, salad or 1 toasted whole wheat pita with hummus

7:00pm
Circuit training

8:00pm
Smoothie about 18oz, OJ with about 5-6 strawberries half a banana and 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder.

8:45pm
Sometimes salad, sometimes stew of chicken with vegetables: cabbage, potatoes, carrots in a pot with cubed chicken breast.


I just found a regular gym close by that I could probably go to for weight training but I am a bit intimidated by going in there and looking like a beheaded chicken in the weight section not really knowing what I should be doing.

Since I am getting most of my cardio done during the week, if I were to start weight lifting should I still run or something before a work out or just stretch?

Should I increase my protein intake?


Thanks again for all the info.
 
It's hard to say what your protein intake really is. It might be worth your while to count how many grams you consume in a day just to give you an idea. Then you'll know if you need to bump it up or not.

And don't worry about looking ridiculous in the weight room. Hardly anyone knows what they're doing, believe it or not. And more importantly, they don't care what you're doing. Most people in the gym are egoists and self-centered. Worry about yourself and what's best for you and your goals.

If you're doing sufficient cardio to aid the calorie deficit, I wouldn't worry about doing cardio with your weight training. Focus on getting in and getting stronger over time. You can do some mobility work before lifting and some flexibility work after lifting if you have the time.
 
Thanks again.

Would you be able to point me in the right direction as to which would be the right exercises to do or really where to start reading about what exercises to do when I go into the gym. Should I try lower weights first or try to push myself with as much weight as I can manage 12reps etc?
 
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