Ned help with: Weight loss, weight lifting and supplements

[Rik756]

Hi all,

Brand new member as of today. I've read several FAQ's and stickys and lots of outside reading so I have most of the general concepts down. I'm here for more specific and detailed info for my personal routine. I put his in weight loss since that is goal #1, but I would like a lot more.

My main goal is weight loss. Period. With that said, I would love to pack on some muscle along the way and more importantly not lose any muscle in the process of getting less fat. Even at my ideal goal weight of 200 I'll still be overweight but that is a weight I am very comfortable at despite the BMI and all the crap charts. 210-220 with a some beach muscles wouldn’t hurt my feelings either.

I was walking around at 200 in the Army 12 years ago but got out and gained to 220. I quit smoking about 5 years ago and ballooned to 250. My all time high was 256 five weeks ago when I decided I was tired of being fat and ugly so I'm going to try to be less fat. Labor Day will begin week 5 of my mission to lose weight.

Stats:
39 year old male
5' 9"
245lbs (down from 256 five weeks ago) Goal weight of 200-220 with muscular physique
Weight lifting M-W-F (see below for info and questions)
30 minutes cardio M-W-F, 50 minutes cardio T-T (I prefer the elliptical but have ran up to 2 miles on the treadmill)
1500 calorie a day diet (averaged via MyFitnessPal app and purposely varied on different days) Most meals are low fat diet plan from emeals.com. Usually have a granola bar (of of the two bars in the pack) between breakfast and lunch and the other one between lunch and dinner.
100-150gr Body Fortress Super Advanced Whey Protein - Vanilla (50gr at breakfast, 25gr pre-workout and 25gr post-workout)
5gr a day of micronized creatine post-workout. (loaded with 20gr p/day x 7 days.
Taking 3000mg of fish oil a day along with a good multi-vitamin and mineral supplement. Drinking 80-100oz of water a day.

I joined a gym and they gave me a pretty garden variety routine to start with. I asked about getting a more personalized one but apparently that would require a personal trainer and a 1-year contract...

All exercises were to be done for in 3 sets 30 reps. Last week I was doing 5 sets for 50 reps of each which was usually to failure. I've increased the weight a little each week. Some pretty dramatically. For now, I am wanting to build upper body. I like lots of work on tri's and bi's. I workout immediately after work in the evenings from 4pm until complete. I always do weights before cardio.

Monday-
Bicep Machine
Fixed Pulldown
Seated Row
Back Ext.
30 minutes cardio

Tuesday - 50 minutes cardio

Wednesday-
Leg press
Leg ext
Leg curl
Hip add
Hip abd
Glute machine

Thursday- 50 minutes cardio

Friday-
Ab machine
Delt raise
Shoulder press
Rear delt
Pec fly
Chest press
Tricep pushdown

That’s what they designed for me. On Mondays I already replaced the bicep machine with preacher curls, added dumbbell pulls, dips, standing press, shrugs, and incline press.

My questions:
1. Is my diet even remotely close to lose 1-2lbs a week while either building muscle or ensuring I'm not losing any? (I'm already feeling more definition which is awesome!! I just can’t see it yet) <I already lost some weight and feel some muscle growth/definition but I'm looking for optimal results on both>

2. Am I taking the right supplements in the right way? Money IS an issue so I can't really increase the amounts nor buy much fancier stuff.

3. Is my weight lifting missing any major muscle groups? If so, which ones and what exercises do I need to add and when?

4. Would it help or hurt to do the Monday workout on Monday and Thursday and do the Friday workout on Tuesday and Friday? (I already have really defined and muscular legs and with cardio x5 days I think the Wednesday workout is plenty for legs)

5. THR vs METS? The trainer I stated with for my free intro demo mistakenly told me that my THR was 182 so I damn near killed myself trying to maintain that for 30-50 minutes for almost a week. After I finally figured out that she was nuts and talked to a different trainer, he said I should workout at about 60% of that to burn fat. However he also mentioned METS and RER and said that achieving a METS average of greater than 6 was usually pretty good and not to pay too much attention to the THR. He also explained RER a little. Sooo I usually try to do intervals where I am at 140 BPM on the low and 165BPM on the high. Is that a fair way to burn calories and carbs? Is there a better way?

Any help and suggestions are appreciated. I know that A LOT of info but the intro sticky said more is better

Thanks,
Rik

 

[Spartacus Mars]

You can give my journal a glance, it's my sig. I'm a bit older than you and have lost over 50 lbs of fat since the start of May. Funnily enough I'm also taking the same supps (fish oil and multi-vits with minerals).

I've done this exclusively through cardio, I wanted to get the weight shifted before turning to a weights/cardio mix. Others say it's fine to do both, I'm wanting to get the flab off first. It's working for me.

Cardio is not about length (e.g. doing 2 miles) but about intensity. So how long does it take you to do two miles? Under fifteen minutes? Closer to ten minutes than fifteen? Jogging isn't running.

For example, when I'm on a treadmill I get myself pumped to crazed proportions. I have fast-paced techno on an iPod shuffle and I do punching (boxing, mostly jabs) to the beat. Swinging your hands nice and efficiently at your side - typical running/jogging - keeps your heat rate at the lowest possible level for the speed you're running, i.e. the lowest possible intensity. Raising your arms, punching your arms, raises the heart rate (and significantly) and thus raises the intensity and the calorie burn.

I'm like you the weight I've carried for years as given me pretty good muscle and strength in my thighs. I think a good part of keeping that muscle and strength (which I have) is not to starve the body. If you starve the body it'll burn equal amounts of fat and muscle as it thinks you're not getting enough food to maintain the muscle. If you eating well enough then it'll concentrate on the fat, so I'm not afraid of carbs, and I'm not afraid to down a lot of skimmed milk, tuna, nuts, etc. for the protein.

For my money you should be looking at doing an hour of cardio per day, at least 40 minutes of which is intense. I've done this through the Les Mills Body Attack classes, but there are classes or exercise regimes to consider. They're brutal, and I attack them brutally. Try to make every movement significant (that is, tiring), don't stop between tracks but do high-knee running on the spot, etc.

If you could do your cardio in the morning, before breakfast, then have your breakfast, day, whatever, and do your muscle work later I've heard that's good. Some of the stickies talk about it.

Also, granola bars (and similar). Do not just worry about high/low fat, but also sugar content. A lot of food labelled "healthy" because it is is lower-fat has insane amounts of added sugar (often in the form of fructose).

For example, the Nature Valley Trial Mix granola par has thirteen grams of sugar - per bar not per pack. Another example, one "WHOLE GRAIN" (and thus good for you right?) granola bar I just Googled had these ingredients:

Whole Grain Rolled Oats, Sugar, Canola Oil, Crisp Rice, Soy Protein (Rice Flour, Soy Protein Concentrate, Sugar, Malt, Salt), Pecan Pieces, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Brown Sugar Syrup, Salt, Soy Lecithin, Baking Soda, Natural Flavor, Walnut Flour, Almond Flour, Hazelnut Flour, Peanut Flour.

I'm not against the sugars in actual fruits, nor against the fats in nuts, so if you like fruit and nuts, eat fruit and eat nuts. Nuts are amazing - eat a good handful or two per day.

My biggest, quickest tip for food is BUY INGREDIENTS - NOT FOOD. That is, nothing processed. Nothing where there's a big list of ingredients. Of course it's easier to say than do but it makes a huge difference.

And if you can get into tinned fish, a can of that is an amazing little snack. Tuna is the common one to advise but my god I like a can of kippers. :costumed5: