Certified Personal Trainer Here! Looking For Help?

People can be such INSECURE DOPES! This is a Weight Loss Message Board...ANY ONE and EVERYONE can be an Expert, Trainer, Guru, Doctor, Nutritionist... Heck, I went to a Nutritionist 2 years ago and had more KNOWLEDGE about the subject than she did, she just frustrated Me. So I used My OWN accumulated knowledge and Research; 2 yrs later and 120 lbs. lighter feeling good!

HI Justin

I have just started at the local gym a couple of weeks ago. I am desperately trying to tone up my upper arms, shoulders and back, but because of shoulder and wrist surgery, as well as rheumatoid arthritis, my upper body exercise plan is somewhat limited. For now I am doing 3 reps of 15 bicep curls (3kg) and 3 reps of 15 kickbacks (2kg). Will that be enough to show results given time? Do you have any other suggestions? Up until now, the only other 'weight lifting' I have done is in the spa pool (floating on my back gentle pushups, so to speak).

Thanks for your time!

Hi Justin,

I am a teenager looking for help & advice.
I am 17 years old & I am 129 pounds currently & 4'11 height.
I have a very hard time losing weight. Most of my fat goes to my thighs. It is very hard to see girls my age being skinny & having barely any thigh fat. Is there any way to lose thigh fat quickly? I've done almost every thigh exercise i've seen on youtube. I only eat probably 800-900 calories a day & some days I barely eat at all. I am just so confused on where this thigh weight is coming from. I also drink about 6 cups of cold water a day.

Thank you,
Lyndsay

Sweetie, you HAVE to eat more than that!! You are killing your metabolism which will just set you up for failure later in life. Search for a Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) calculator online; this is the number of calories your body needs in a day just to function properly. I guarantee it's more than 800-900 or less. I also really encourage you to talk to a doctor/nutritionist about your diet. Secondly, you can NOT spot reduce. Your body will place fat where it wants to (in this case your thighs), and it will remove it from where it wants to as well. Work on getting your eating habits healthy first and foremost, then get on an exercise plan to work on the rest.

Hi Justin!
That is great that you are offering your services. What are some good cardio exercises besides the elliptical and treadmill? Also what is a good calorie intake to lose weight. MFp had me down to 1300 cals per day which I thought was low. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Hi Kaw.....I'm not Justin, and I'm not a CPT....I am a CPA though:bigsmile:
But cardio is anything that gets your heart rate up and allows you to keep it elevated for an extended period. This can be power walking, garden work, running, cycling, etc. My personal favorite is cycling because it is non impact and you can see a lot of countryside on a nice long ride.

Hi. I'm not Justin, but the way I believe it works is that the 20?? calories you can eat a day to loose your 2 pounds is if you don't exercise. If you do exercise, MFP adjusts for that, and you can now eat those calories you burned off in exercise and still loose the 2 pounds. If you stick just to the 20?? AND do exercise, you will burn the calories off faster and drop the weight sooner. But whether that's a good idea is the questions. As someone who has dieted to lose weight fast, it has always come back to a higher level than where I started. One reads this, but it really is true, and I see it happening all the time. As a teacher, I see some teachers come back after their summer break having shed lots of weight, and then by the end of the year, they've gained it back and more. So, I think i'm now a believer that you have to lose weight slowly, making small adjustments along the way. You have to decide if you can maintain losing 2 pounds a week. When you first joined MFP, you set your 2 pound goal. Eventually you can change that goal if it becomes too hard to maintain losing 2 lbs a week after some period of time. So, if you exercise, you still can eat up to the adjusted calories, carbs, etc, and continue to lose 2 lbs. (But you can't fudge the data!) Good luck!

Hi Justin, I know this may sound silly but here goes....I haven't exercised in well over 20 years and now I have rheumatism in my knees. I have been running/walking on the treadmill for nearly 3 weeks now and I can feel that I am getting fitter (even though I am still very unfit) but when I exercise, my legs burn so much. I mean below the knees and the knees burn so bad it really hurts. Is this normal and what can I do to either stop the pain or run/walk through the pain. Sorry if this question is dumb and thanks very much for the help.

HRM?

I don't need any advice (yet) but wanted to say "what an nice bloke" to make such an offer.

With the amount of info floating around, the more people to give objective, knowledgeable advice, the better, I say.

This ^^^^
I agree to what this Poster says Thank You. :flowerforyou:

Sorry MFP wouldnt let me quote there! My current routine is -

-Gym (i use cross trainer mainly for 20 - 30 mins and then bike or treadmill for 10 min) and then fixed weight machienes for about 15 mins (usually do 2 sets of 15 reps) i do this about 3 times a week
- Running / jogging - i try to run about 3 times a week, at the moment it is for about 30 mins but i am working on improving this!
- walking - i also walk the dog on our usual route (about 2.5 miles) everyday.

I hope this is ok, i have tried to talk to the gym instructors about it but they are rubbish, they dont give me any advice,i even had to ask a fellow gym user how to use the machines when i started as wasn't even given an induction!

You do way too much cardio. Trim it down. And you need to lift more weights; not machines. Try kettlebells or some freeweights and cables. Research it, and apply it. The problem with machines is that its not intense enough; you sit down to do an exercise....

The key is to engage as much muscles as possible, for someone with goals like yours, because the more you engage in an exercise the higher your metabolism goes for a short period even after your workout. Follow a nutritious diet with a caloric deficit, and stick with it on a consistent basis. You will see results.

Sorry MFP wouldnt let me quote there! My current routine is -

-Gym (i use cross trainer mainly for 20 - 30 mins and then bike or treadmill for 10 min) and then fixed weight machienes for about 15 mins (usually do 2 sets of 15 reps) i do this about 3 times a week
- Running / jogging - i try to run about 3 times a week, at the moment it is for about 30 mins but i am working on improving this!
- walking - i also walk the dog on our usual route (about 2.5 miles) everyday.

I hope this is ok, i have tried to talk to the gym instructors about it but they are rubbish, they dont give me any advice,i even had to ask a fellow gym user how to use the machines when i started as wasn't even given an induction!

You do way too much cardio. Trim it down. And you need to lift more weights; not machines. Try kettlebells or some freeweights and cables. Research it, and apply it. The problem with machines is that its not intense enough; you sit down to do an exercise....

The key is to engage as much muscles as possible, for someone with goals like yours, because the more you engage in an exercise the higher your metabolism goes for a short period even after your workout. Follow a nutritious diet with a caloric deficit, and stick with it on a consistent basis. You will see results.

You told this person she does way too much cardio......what happens if ( like me) you LOVE cardio. I enjoy spending an hour on the treadmill or eliptical and take zumba 3xs a week. I dont want to give that up i like the way it makes feel. I do use the weight machines at the gym and am just starting to get into the free weights and body exercises. Is it a problem though if i want to do as much cardio as i do? I have 30 lbs left to lose.

I'm curious about this as well. I love spending time at the gym on the recumbent bike and treadmill, occasionally elliptical, go to Curves for their circuit machines and doing Zumba classes as often as possible. At the moment, working on gym weight machines and free weights haven't won my heart yet, so cardio keeps me in the exercise game.

OP, I also want to add my thanks for offering your help on this site.