My first MFP post

TroyTrudel

Hello,

I am about two months into my weight loss efforts and I have lost about 10 pounds so far by just tracking my eating and exercise habits. I have not started an exercise routine yet but I am going to put something together and begin this week. I have a question about exercise timing and wanted to get some advice/suggestions. Here is the scenario:

I am a father of two boys ( 2 years and 6 months) and I work full time. My days are very packed before, during and after work so I need to fit in exercise where I can. I walk briskly whenever I can at lunch but I often get pulled into meetings so I can rely on that as my only form of exercise so I am planning the following.

Morning:

30-45 minutes of cardio in the morning on an elliptical trainer ( I get up between 5:00-6:00 with the 2 year old so I can do this before getting him breakfast and getting ready for work)

Evening:

Strength training with free weights before bed. ( I have a complete set of dumbbells and a good bench for this)

My questions are:

1. Has anyone had success with splitting their workouts up like this?
2. I am thinking this direction because I think that cardio at night would keep me when I try to go to bed - has anyone had experience here?
3. How many days a week should I aim for?
4. Are there specific exercises for strength training with or without dumbbells that people can recommend for someone working out at home?

I am open to feedback on this approach and any advice that people have. I am trying to get down to 160-165 (I am at 180 now) but I also want to build my strength and endurance to keep up with the two little guys over the years. I am not that concerned with my overall weight as I am losing that to improve my health (triglycerides, cholesterol level) so I am more focused on getting to a healthy but stronger weight.

Thanks in advance!

Troy

SideSteel

Tagging

Sarauk2sf

Cr@p - sorry, this got over-looked. Will get to asap.

SideSteel

Hello,

I am about two months into my weight loss efforts and I have lost about 10 pounds so far by just tracking my eating and exercise habits. I have not started an exercise routine yet but I am going to put something together and begin this week. I have a question about exercise timing and wanted to get some advice/suggestions. Here is the scenario:

I am a father of two boys ( 2 years and 6 months) and I work full time. My days are very packed before, during and after work so I need to fit in exercise where I can. I walk briskly whenever I can at lunch but I often get pulled into meetings so I can rely on that as my only form of exercise so I am planning the following.

Morning:

30-45 minutes of cardio in the morning on an elliptical trainer ( I get up between 5:00-6:00 with the 2 year old so I can do this before getting him breakfast and getting ready for work)

Evening:

Strength training with free weights before bed. ( I have a complete set of dumbbells and a good bench for this)

My questions are:

1. Has anyone had success with splitting their workouts up like this?
2. I am thinking this direction because I think that cardio at night would keep me when I try to go to bed - has anyone had experience here?
3. How many days a week should I aim for?
4. Are there specific exercises for strength training with or without dumbbells that people can recommend for someone working out at home?

I am open to feedback on this approach and any advice that people have. I am trying to get down to 160-165 (I am at 180 now) but I also want to build my strength and endurance to keep up with the two little guys over the years. I am not that concerned with my overall weight as I am losing that to improve my health (triglycerides, cholesterol level) so I am more focused on getting to a healthy but stronger weight.

Thanks in advance!

Troy

1. Nothing wrong with doing this but you could potentially wear yourself out just by trying to do too much too soon. One thing you could consider as an alternative would be to do cardio 2-4 days per week and resistance train 2-3 days per week and start on the low end of that to see how you respond both physically and to see how it impacts your lifestyle.

2. I don't do any cardio other than walking but if I lift weights late at night it disturbs my sleep.

3. See 1. This is also goal dependent. Assuming you are trying to lose fat and just stay in reasonable shape then 2 to 3 days of resistance training and add in cardio based on your need to increase energy output.

4. You Are Your Own Gym would be a good place to look. This is a body-weight based training method. You can also see here regarding DB work:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/902569-barbell-routines-when-you-only-have-dumbbells

Sorry for the long delay!

TroyTrudel

Thank you for the reply and the included thread about dumbbell workouts answered my follow-up question too!

Thanks again for taking the time to reply its a big help!