BS LJ Workout Group

[cadfael]

Today's Workout:

Treadmill for 10 minutes to warm up. Started at 3.1mph and increased to 3.5mph.
Stretches for back, hamstrings and quads
20 abdominal crunches with 55 pounds resistance. This was a mistake. I wanted 50 lbs and did not notice that the extra 5 lbs lever was on.
25 rotary twists each side with 40 pounds resistance.
20 preacher curls with 40 pounds
20 minutes on the elliptical trainer, heart rate peaked at 153bpm. HR target at my age/weight is 130bpm.
10 preacher curls with 55 pounds.
Stretches for back, hamstrings and quads
Treadmill for 10 minutes to cool down. Started at 3.0mph, decreased to 2.5mph.
Shower and back to work (after getting dressed)
Time 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Again, please feel free to offer any suggestions for a better/more productive workout. I am stalled around 170. I am getting tighter everywhere, my clothes fit much better without cutting off circulation, but, I want to lose some weight.

Comments

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

170 sounds like a good weight for a guy to me on average. :)

I really want one of those elliptical trainers! They're so much cooler than treadmills and bikes. One day. *sigh*

Are you combining a diet with your exercise? If not, that might be the best way to cut some weight. Make sure you keep your protein intake up though. Maybe you could talk to lindalee about the plan she's using.

[lindalee.livejournal.com]

*psst*

What in the world is a "preacher curl"?

You Remind Me of Someone...

[wild-place-king.livejournal.com]

There are several type of curls:
Preacher Curl
1. Find a comfortable position seated/standing behind a preacher bench holding a dumbbell.
2. Use an underhand grip, one arm at a time.
3. Lean into the preacher stand, firmly pressing the upper chest muscles against it.
4. Lift the dumbbell slowly upward in an arc until they almost touch the biceps
5. Make sure to keep your upper arm on the pad and don't let your elbow move off the pad.

Standing Barbell Curl
1. Hold barbell with both hands, shoulder width apart.
2. Stand, knees slightly bent.
3. Start with bar at arms length against upper thighs.
4. Curl bar in semi-circular motion until forearms touch biceps.
5. Keep upper arms close to sides.
6. Lower to starting position using same path.
7. Keep elbows against your sides at all times to fully isolate the bicep.
8. Inhale up, Exhale down. (This can also be done with dumbbells.)

sabrinamari told me of others, but I can't find them in mypast LJ posts. I use the preacher curl in my workouts.

[lindalee.livejournal.com]

I'm not doing all that much, really. It's just that there are some studies that suggest that your body needs 1 gram of protein per day for each pound of lean body mass that you have, in order to maintain it. Some people who diet cut down so much on their protein that the weight they lose is muscle mass rather than fat...and since the muscle mass is the stuff that burns calories, their ability to effectively burn calories goes away with it.

There's also a school of thought that says you think in terms of inches rather than pounds, because muscle is a lot denser than fat, and a muscular person will weigh far more than a non-muscular person of the same size. Having recently had my lean body mass measured, I learned that it would be pretty much physically impossible for me to weigh what I used to weigh in high school with my current amount of muscle mass. It was an eye-opener.

Apparently many people discover that if they increase their protein intake to 1g/day per pound of lean body mass, they will start shedding inches (at places like their waist) at a fairly rapid rate. There are diet plans that will sell you protein shake stuff for lots of money, but you can do it yourself. I make fruit smoothies with protein powder all the time: frozen bananas (I freeze them myself), frozen berries (buy berries-of-choice at the store), protein powder (milk, egg, and/or rice for me, since I can't do soy), and milk (or rice milk, or soy milk if you're not me).

So, my "plan," such as it is, involves keeping my protein up and not being stupid about what I eat. Not much of a plan, really, and I've been somewhat half-hearted about it, and I know I don't get that much protein every day. Even still, though, my old jeans are now hanging on me like a sack, so I guess *something* is happening.

[wild-place-king.livejournal.com]

Thank you for quite a lot of useful information. I am going to use it.

Your picture looks so familiar.

[evilbunny.livejournal.com]

Maybe cross-train? Try something that increases endurance without building muscle, such as yoga, pilates, or speed-walking. If you've been dieting, you might want to try a plateau breaking week, cutting calories and fat quite a bit. I would say don't go below 1800 calories, and 15-20 grams of fat a day.

Just my suggestions. I've been out of the loop exercise-wise for quite a while, so my weight lose has stalled because I need the metabolism boost of regular exercise. That's what I get for moving an hour away from the good yoga studio.

Dude! Weight, shmate.

[elphaba-of-oz.livejournal.com]

Who cares what you weigh. How do you feel? Is it getting easier for you to do your workout? Are you able to up your reps or your weights? Are your clothes fitting better? Are you getting stronger? (If you can curl a preacher, you're a heck of a lot stronger than me.) Do you have more stamina? Are the endorphins in your nervous system making it easier for you to cope with stressful events?

Weight is just a number. Numbers were created by the forces of darkness and negativity to make us feel bad about ourselves. Weight isn't health. Health is what matters

Re: Dude! Weight, shmate.

[wild-place-king.livejournal.com]

I hear what your are saying. I've been focused on weight for a very long time so its hard to break the rythm I guess. Still, I want to be a bit lighter and be slimmer.

lean muscle is key

[giffin.livejournal.com]

Lean muscle mass and cardio are the key when it comes to exercising for weight loss. (Diet is another important factor, but I don't know as much about that.) Building lean muscle with more reps of lighter weights will build your body in a way that makes it use more calories even when at rest. Also, aerobic exercise is the best for burning calories directly. You want your heartrate elevated a bit, but not too much. Your energy use will go anaerobic as soon as your heart is pumping enough that it's moving blood faster than you're taking in oxygen. Once you go anaerobic you're in a better position to build cardio fitness and work on bulk muscles, but it's not what you want for weight loss. I'd suggest either a treadmill or eliptical at a pace that's just enough to get you pulse up a touch above its rest pace and keep it up for at least a half an hour at a time.

Re: lean muscle is key

[wild-place-king.livejournal.com]

Great advice; thank you! So, looking at my chart above, would you recommend any changes?

Re: lean muscle is key

[giffin.livejournal.com]

Well, I'd up the amount of time on the treadmill or elliptical, but not get your heartrate so high. At the heartrate you're hitting, you're getting cardio benefits, but not as much weight loss as if you were actually at your target. As for the weightlifting portion, it's hard to say without knowing how strong you are. For exercise that'll build lean muscle mass, go for a weight that you can do something along the lines of three sets of twenty without failing on the last set. (If you were trying for bulk muscle, the advice would be pretty much the opposite -- high weights, small sets.) Make sure, for the sake of your posture and alignment, that you do exercises in pairs. Don't work your biceps without also working your triceps, etc.

Re: lean muscle is key

[wild-place-king.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much! I will follow your advice and incorporate all of the advice I've received so far. Thanks to everyone.