One of the other men - 4 weeks in

TheJackyl

Hey everyone. Typical story for me. I used to be quite active when younger and actually in very good shape, something of course time and laziness takes it's toll on. Been riding a desk for years now and although knowing I was carrying a few extra pounds I made it "okay" by telling myself I still looked pretty good and I could shred the excess easily with a month in the gym.

In my younger years I used to play quite a bit of sports, work hard labour jobs. However, after seeing some pictures of myself awhile back I realized at 37 years of age I had let it go for too long and was rather disgusted with the look of myself.

I'm 5'9" and 225 lbs. Despite all of this my short term goal is not to lose any weight at all but rather rebuild the muscle base I have and cut the fat. I've only recently started adjusting my diet after not quite seeing the progress I'd like.

I've attached a before and a couple current photos. The shirt is on in the before photo but the bulk around the mid-section is fairly obvious. I figure at my current progress I'll have met my short term goal in approx another 6 weeks and it'll be time for a new goal. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

- Terry

Before:



This Morning:

kerrilucko

Lookin good so far!

If you want to get rid of the fat you have 2 options- eat less (fewer calories) or exercise more (by that I mean cardio- running, swimming, cycling, intense sports, etc). I get what you mean about not want to lose weight persay, but if you don't lose the excess fat, you'll simply build up big muscles underneath the layer of fat. Does that make any sense? I hope Banks comes along, he always has good advice :flowerforyou:

TheJackyl

Lookin good so far!

If you want to get rid of the fat you have 2 options- eat less (fewer calories) or exercise more (by that I mean cardio- running, swimming, cycling, intense sports, etc). I get what you mean about not want to lose weight persay, but if you don't lose the excess fat, you'll simply build up big muscles underneath the layer of fat. Does that make any sense? I hope Banks comes along, he always has good advice :flowerforyou:

Doing both now. I started just working out 3 days a week (full body workout plus cardio) and didn't plan on changing my diet as I've always been one of the lucky ones to have always eat what I've liked (thankfully I've never had much of a sweet tooth). Thinking about adding cardio only sessions for 3 days a week as well.

Not seeing the progress I'd like I have begun to adjust my meals going with healthier choices and trying to ensuring I'm getting the proper balance of carbs/protein/fat. My caloric intake so far is pretty much always below my daily allowances. Bad trend I've noticed so far is my net calories on workout days are well below (like 1000 cal below) my allowable while non-workout days they are only 300-500 below. I need to learn to fuel the body a little more on those workout days.

xsargex

Kerrilucko... Though I agree that cardio and diet (cuttin calories) is a great way to burn fat. For some people it either gets old and boring, or with age can be kinda difficult. When you weigh 220+, running 3-4 times a week can turn into overkill and usually cause more damage then good. Unless you have a good solid base to work with i.e. strong leg muscles.

Also, it seems that alot of runners and cardio-nuts seem to snub their nose at the idea of lifting weights. Alot of women think that if they pick up a set of weights, their muscles are gonna explode and look like Arnold Schwartnegger. Thats just very far from the truth. Muscle mass burns calories.
Hands down. Circuit training for instance, uses light weights to yield the same result as jogging, running and whatnot.

Exercise with everything, needs to have a fresh balance. I think its the prioritized combination of that balance that yields good results. Depending on one's goals.... age, overall weight, diet, familiarization with exercising and other genetic factors come into play.

Example. I have a friend who was nearly 300 just last november. He's just as tall as me, about 6-1.
He's naturally a big guy, so there's no getting around that. In college, he was mentored by a fitness guru and learned the fundamentals of weight lifting, exercise and diet. When he put himself on a lifting reiment, he quickily started shedding the pounds. He did ZERO running. Maybe some light, impact cardio for a warm-up, but strictly hit the weights. In 6 months he had lost 80lbs. I'm not exaggerating. Just from eating right and sticking to his work-out routine.

I think alot of people really get too fanantical about their "theories" instead of just focusing on their eating habits and a good solid workout program. Sticking to their goals and monitoring their progress.

Anyway, I just wanted to comment on that. And Terry keep it up.... big guys like us, need the support too.

TheJackyl

Aye, no running for me Sarge. I used to sprint in high school but long distance running and I have never gotten along well. Currently I do 15 mins of cardio warmup on the recumbent bike. I've structured my weight lifting so I'm always working two exercises for two different body parts at the same time, this allows me to keep my heart rate up in the cardio zone for my entire 60-70 minute workout. If/when I add further cardio for my non-lifting days I'm thinking of going to an elliptical machine for 30-45 minutes (low impact running doesn't count as running :P).

xsargex

Aye, no running for me Sarge. I used to sprint in high school but long distance running and I have never gotten along well. Currently I do 15 mins of cardio warmup on the recumbent bike. I've structured my weight lifting so I'm always working two exercises for two different body parts at the same time, this allows me to keep my heart rate up in the cardio zone for my entire 60-70 minute workout. If/when I add further cardio for my non-lifting days I'm thinking of going to an elliptical machine for 30-45 minutes (low impact running doesn't count as running :P).

Excellent. Glad to hear your mixing it up. When I was younger, I could out-run the cops (not literally).
But years of rugby and skateboarding, have not been too good on the ole joints, if you know what i mean. I was never formally trained on weights or how to eat correctly, cause it was never an issue.
Well now that I don't play sports or stay SUPER active outside of work.... now I'm adjusting to being a gym rat. Honestly, its kinda intimidating at first. My friend suggested a great book. Its an old one by Joe Weider, but it really hits on the fundamentals of weight training, diet and what I believe to be most important, mental attitude. Dont' get me wrong, I'm not a hippy when it comes to the mind. But we don't give our brains enough credit. I use it like a weapon against my body, cause my body doesn't like exercise, ha!

Anyway, welcome to the pack. We'll have to exchange lifting routines. I'm always looking for some good muscle confusion.

TheJackyl

Aye, no running for me Sarge. I used to sprint in high school but long distance running and I have never gotten along well. Currently I do 15 mins of cardio warmup on the recumbent bike. I've structured my weight lifting so I'm always working two exercises for two different body parts at the same time, this allows me to keep my heart rate up in the cardio zone for my entire 60-70 minute workout. If/when I add further cardio for my non-lifting days I'm thinking of going to an elliptical machine for 30-45 minutes (low impact running doesn't count as running :P).

Excellent. Glad to hear your mixing it up. When I was younger, I could out-run the cops (not literally).
But years of rugby and skateboarding, have not been too good on the ole joints, if you know what i mean. I was never formally trained on weights or how to eat correctly, cause it was never an issue.
Well now that I don't play sports or stay SUPER active outside of work.... now I'm adjusting to being a gym rat. Honestly, its kinda intimidating at first. My friend suggested a great book. Its an old one by Joe Weider, but it really hits on the fundamentals of weight training, diet and what I believe to be most important, mental attitude. Dont' get me wrong, I'm not a hippy when it comes to the mind. But we don't give our brains enough credit. I use it like a weapon against my body, cause my body doesn't like exercise, ha!

Anyway, welcome to the pack. We'll have to exchange lifting routines. I'm always looking for some good muscle confusion.

All sounds very familiar to me. I was never a gym rat before. Just sports and plain old hard work. Never paid attention to the diet etc. Kinda have to now as it's gotten me here. Just picked up a book myself I'm working my way through. "Food for Fitness" by Chris Carmichael. It's all about proper ways to fuel your body for perofrmance etc. None of these cut this out or that out but eating balanced and knowing/counting what you're eating. I may not be involved in organized sports anymore but I still am a bit of a weekend warrior with snowboarding, hiking, etc

Took two more small steps today in my progress. Started 30 mins of cardio on my non-lifting days and picked up an HRM. The cardio machines are great for tracking but as I somewhat circuit train on weights I wanted to track heart rate and cardio performance there too.

slawdawg

Great to see you guys here. Question - I'm way over the accepted limit for this body and have the knees to show it. That makes it easy to go with the no-running policy. I'm going to begin with bodyweight exercises soon (Average Joe Fitness) and try to develop some muscle mass to help the burn. Unfortunately, the squat/lunge thing is really difficult and at time painful. Any ideas, or should I focus on decreasing the load on my knees first before trying to work the legs too much.
BTW - when I was in the gym regulaly, I had no problem with the leg press machine or hack macine, just regular sqwuats and lunges kill the knees.

xsargex

Great to see you guys here. Question - I'm way over the accepted limit for this body and have the knees to show it. That makes it easy to go with the no-running policy. I'm going to begin with bodyweight exercises soon (Average Joe Fitness) and try to develop some muscle mass to help the burn. Unfortunately, the squat/lunge thing is really difficult and at time painful. Any ideas, or should I focus on decreasing the load on my knees first before trying to work the legs too much.
BTW - when I was in the gym regulaly, I had no problem with the leg press machine or hack macine, just regular sqwuats and lunges kill the knees.

I would suggest using some leg machines that isolate your quads and especially the lower portions of those muscles around your knee's. This would help to strengthen your legs, so that doing hack squats don't irritate your knee's and further risk injury. I'd say that if your not comfortable or its too painful to do squat/lunges...then just stay away from those exercises. Slower progress is better then no progress. Unfortuantely, being injured results in no progress.

Also do some research or ask around, get some good tips on low-impact cardio. Alot of people really like the elyptical machine over treadmills or just outside running/jogging. It may not yield as much calorie/fat burn but its better then nothing. You just gotta do what you gotta do to keep safety first.

Look into Circuit Training and PHA (peripheral heart action) training. This is great for dropping that excessive weight, getting the load off your joints (and problem areas) so that you can get to more traditional cardio and weight training.

I've been reading this book by Joe Weider (I found an new copy on Amazon for 10 bucks) its called Ultimate Bodybuilding. Its amazing. Though your not training to be a professional bodybuilder, it has great information regarding strength and weight training, plus diet, cardio, and mental attitude.

Hope that helps.