hi guys, have been lurking here for a while without posting. hopefully someone can help me. sorry for the essay!
I’m 31, 6’ 2”, 180lbs and have been doing weight training for about a year and cardio (running, skating etc) for about six months. I am not a body builder – have been training for all-over increases in strength to improve participation in sport (kiteboarding) and for general fitness reasons. Build-wise I am your classic ectomorph, though I have put about 25 lbs on over the last year and most of it is muscle I think!
From March 2003 to Xmas I was aiming to weight train three times a week using a fairly comprehensive programme that worked pretty much my whole body, using a mixture of free-weights and machines. It’s been a real learning curve and I’ve gone through a lot of the common lessons and mistakes.
I made very rapid initial improvements but after 3 months or so this tailed off. I basically responded to this by overtraining – workouts were too long, with too much cardio in between and nowhere near enough calories or protein in my diet. Around Xmas time after doing some more reading/research I shortened my routine, tried to mix it up a little (working the same muscle groups but with different machines/weights, varying number of sets and speed of repititions) and increased my protein/carb intake.
However, at the same time I moved house so now have a big commute, and a young family so had to drop my workout frequency two TWICE per week. I simply can’t get to the gym any more often.
I was disappointed last night to find that not only have I stopped improving, but I had to reduce some of my weights to levels I haven’t been at in months.
Again – I am not a body builder but want to improve my overall strength and fitness so that I can continue to enjoy sports like kiteboarding and climbing at a decent level for as many years as possible – though obviously spending all this time in the gym it would also be nice to see some improvements in my overall physique.
Can I hope to stay in shape on a two day programme? I am also working on my cardio again a break of a few weeks so need to take this into account. At the moment I am jogging in the cardio-respiratory zone for half an hour AT LEAST three times a week, together with pursuing my interests in inline skating, hill walking, climbing and kiteboarding when I get a chance.
I’d be very grateful for any thoughts on how I can get the best out of my two trips to the gym, and anything else I could be doing in my limited spare time to improve my strength and physique a little.
I’m 31, 6’ 2”, 180lbs and have been doing weight training for about a year and cardio (running, skating etc) for about six months. I am not a body builder – have been training for all-over increases in strength to improve participation in sport (kiteboarding) and for general fitness reasons. Build-wise I am your classic ectomorph, though I have put about 25 lbs on over the last year and most of it is muscle I think!
From March 2003 to Xmas I was aiming to weight train three times a week using a fairly comprehensive programme that worked pretty much my whole body, using a mixture of free-weights and machines. It’s been a real learning curve and I’ve gone through a lot of the common lessons and mistakes.
I made very rapid initial improvements but after 3 months or so this tailed off. I basically responded to this by overtraining – workouts were too long, with too much cardio in between and nowhere near enough calories or protein in my diet. Around Xmas time after doing some more reading/research I shortened my routine, tried to mix it up a little (working the same muscle groups but with different machines/weights, varying number of sets and speed of repititions) and increased my protein/carb intake.
However, at the same time I moved house so now have a big commute, and a young family so had to drop my workout frequency two TWICE per week. I simply can’t get to the gym any more often.
I was disappointed last night to find that not only have I stopped improving, but I had to reduce some of my weights to levels I haven’t been at in months.
Again – I am not a body builder but want to improve my overall strength and fitness so that I can continue to enjoy sports like kiteboarding and climbing at a decent level for as many years as possible – though obviously spending all this time in the gym it would also be nice to see some improvements in my overall physique.
Can I hope to stay in shape on a two day programme? I am also working on my cardio again a break of a few weeks so need to take this into account. At the moment I am jogging in the cardio-respiratory zone for half an hour AT LEAST three times a week, together with pursuing my interests in inline skating, hill walking, climbing and kiteboarding when I get a chance.
I’d be very grateful for any thoughts on how I can get the best out of my two trips to the gym, and anything else I could be doing in my limited spare time to improve my strength and physique a little.