Q&A Thread 1/7/2015
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Lilly_the_Hillbilly wrote: »OK. So I've lost just about all my weight that I should probably lose. I'm pretty lean right now but I am not certain what next to do with my fitness. I figure lifting should be part of it and I don't know where to start or how to compensate from doing 7 days of cardio to adding lifting in there.
I intend to keep doing the cardio (I feel good from it and I like getting out) . So.. it's sort of a "what now?". Key points- I am a stay at home mom without the husband to rely on for watching the kids so I have to do things at home. I have a few weights now I can work with (some plates for the bar- cage wont be set up yet and some waaay too heavy kettle bells of my husbands {16kilos and 24 kilos})
I have Sarauk on my FL and she'll be able to see my last pic in my photos which is the most recent pic of me. I feel lean, but still weirdly flabby in areas.
Thank you for any advice or direction.
Given your circumstances you might want to entertain the idea of body-weight training.
A few programs that I would suggest googling would be
You Are Your Own Gym
Convict Conditioning
Since you're presumably new to resistance training you will likely make decent progress with body-weight programming and additionally it seems to be a good fit given your circumstances. You could also add in some traditional weight training exercises with some of the equipment you have.
Thanks
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Hi... Looking for help on the amount of calories and exercise needed as I am struggling to lose 12 pounds and had a frustrating last several weeks.
Age: 54
Height: 65.5 inches
Weight: 149
RMR per recent test is low: 1182
Exercise: zumba two or 3 times weekly at high impact, high cardio
Yoga 2x weekly (just started)
Calories 1200 to 1300 per day with careful logging last 3 weeks
RMR test print out suggested I eat only 1000 to 1100 to be 'in the weight loss zone' which seems way too low. Especially given that per the scale I went from 147.4 to 148.8 the last two weeks which was very disapointing.
Previously in the summer I was doing NRol4w 3x weekly and zumba 2x weekly and eating 1450 on non lifting days and1600 on lifting days. Probably more due to not careful counting. My weight was stable for several months with that routine.
Any advice will help.... Thanks!
This is a volatile topic because if I tell you to eat 1100 calories I'll have half the internet sending me PM's telling me that I'm putting you in danger of metabolic damage or a number of other conditions.
I would rather position it like this:
If you are certain you are tracking accurately and at a given level of intake and activity, you are not losing weight, then you should either make a reduction in intake, an increase in activity, or both.
And you should consider your CURRENT intake and your CURRENT level of activity when making those decisions. So for example when someone is exercising a few times per week and on an already low calorie intake (by low I'd say < 9 cals/lb) you might be in a position where you can't really afford to reduce intake much further so you may need to increase activity rather significantly to attempt to get into a deficit.
Conversely, if I have someone who already does a high volume of activity but they are on a high-ish calorie intake (12+ cals/lb) I'll tend to look at making a caloric reduction as the primary means of getting them into a deficit again.
And of course personal preference definitely plays a huge role in this as well.
In your particular case, I'd probably look at a combination of adding in additional activity probably as a combination of increasing non exercise activity (I'd assess your activity when NOT in the gym and look to increase it) and possibly adding in some additional formal cardio.
Depending on your goals you may want to add in resistance training as it's highly benefial.0 -
After many years of ignorance, I see diet and exercise as an investment in my overall health and longevity. Outside of any specific athletic goals (I.e.. Recreational lifter only and not looking to compete), is there a specific lifting modality (bodybuilding, powerlifting, or circuit training) one should concentrate on more that has been shown to help "play catch-up" better for those getting to the iron "later in the game" as it relates to health and longevity?
The short answer is "I don't know".
The long opinionated piece full of random bits of info that won't actually answer your question but might make me look like slightly less of a dumbass is as follows:
I think you HAVE to consider personal preference as it pertains to this IN PRACTICE. For example if someone told me that I had to do moderate intensity steady state cardio in order to grow my biceps I'd just rather have crappy biceps because I HATE that form of exercise.
Getting that out of the way, I think you'd have to establish which markers of health you would be using in order to try and make a statement about one particular form of exercise being superior for health and/or longevity.
My personal philosophy about this is that SOME FORM of resistance training done at high enough intensity such that you're breathing hard and blood is pumping, is probably going to get you a great deal of "general health benefit". Being relatively lean will also tend to improve a number of health markers if you go from overweight or obese to lean.
Eric Helms makes a statement in one of his videos (might be one that I linked earlier in the thread in fact) comparing the adaptations that occur in resistance training vs HIIT. In both examples you are performing bouts of very high intensity work (think of a set of bench press taken to failure or near failure) followed by a short rest, followed by another burst of activity.
So to make a useless answer even uselesser, I have no factual information on this and I'm basically giving you pure speculation.
I'm not convinced that I am missing any significant health benefits by not doing hours of endurance training. What I'm missing is the ability to run marathons and such, but I'd speculate that the nature of very high intensity resistance training probably gives me a good chunk of the cardiometabolic benefit.0 -
Tat2dDude_0105 wrote: »How much is too much cardio? When i lift (I do an upper/lower body split M,T, Th, F) i do a 5 minute warmup on the eliptical, and after my session, i do 20 minutes on the dreadmill. If i do an hour cardio session on my day off from lifting, would that deplete muscle growth? I'm looking to lean out ( i know being in a calorie deficit helps with that) but don't want to muscle either.
What type of cardio?
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Steady state cardio. Treadmill on 3.4 mph w/7 degree incline.0
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Tat2dDude_0105 wrote: »How much is too much cardio? When i lift (I do an upper/lower body split M,T, Th, F) i do a 5 minute warmup on the eliptical, and after my session, i do 20 minutes on the dreadmill. If i do an hour cardio session on my day off from lifting, would that deplete muscle growth? I'm looking to lean out ( i know being in a calorie deficit helps with that) but don't want to muscle either.
In my opinion you're fine and you probably aren't going to start losing muscle. I think some things to consider are how lean you are, the size of the energy deficit you're in, and to a lesser extent when we consider the training as a whole, are you training like a marathon runner who happens to lift a couple of times or are you training like a bodybuilder who does some cardio, or is it somewhere in between?
To my knowledge, the interference effect demonstrated in the literature was done on endurance athletes. So I don't know how much we can conclude on that, other than it might not be a good idea to structure your training primarily around moderate intensity steady state cardio with lifting as an afterthought/secondary aspect to training.
To wrap this up, take all of the above as my current understanding and philosophy on it, and not a statement of fact or science.
Take a look at these videos by Eric Helms as well, and consider context when watching them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmEJGR1_sZc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQRv1CIpjn8
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Thanks for the reply. I'll definitely check out those videos.0
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"Are you training like a marathon runner who happens to lift a couple of times or are you training like a bodybuilder who does some cardio, or is it somewhere in between?"
It's somewhere in between.0 -
Hi all,
another question!
I seem to be having difficulty with my shoulder press (on a machine), my left shoulder has always clicked and had a sort of 'grinding' feeling when I roll my shoulders, yet it is my right arm that tends to struggle?
I am keeping it lightweight (3 sets of 10 @ 10kg) for now in the hope that it is just a matter of strengthening the muscle, but just wondered if anyone else had/has this problem and what else I can do to help?
Lee.0 -
littleleebrinkworth wrote: »Hi all,
another question!
I seem to be having difficulty with my shoulder press (on a machine), my left shoulder has always clicked and had a sort of 'grinding' feeling when I roll my shoulders, yet it is my right arm that tends to struggle?
I am keeping it lightweight (3 sets of 10 @ 10kg) for now in the hope that it is just a matter of strengthening the muscle, but just wondered if anyone else had/has this problem and what else I can do to help?
Lee.
If you're experiencing pain I'd consider getting it looked (by a physical therapist) and I'd also consider not doing that exercise.
Also, consider that machines restrict your plane of movement. You could consider attempting a seated press with dumbbells to see if that feels better.0 -
If you're experiencing pain I'd consider getting it looked (by a physical therapist) and I'd also consider not doing that exercise.
Also, consider that machines restrict your plane of movement. You could consider attempting a seated press with dumbbells to see if that feels better.
Thanks, I'll give the dumbbells a try this evening and see how they feel.
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When transitioning from a cut to a bulk, are there any advantages or disadvantages between slowly increasing calories over the course of a few weeks vs jumping straight into a surplus?
Edit: Also same question for transitioning from bulking to cutting: straight into a deficit or gradually lower calories?
Good question. I have always done it slowly, both ways. Curious if I'm just wasting my time.
This is actually a great topic for a video as, while there are 'rule of thumb' recommendations its a bit nuanced (as well as needs to be caveated and put into perspective) and would be a good one to discuss.
Agreed. Outside of any scientific standpoint, I found that slowly lowering calories for a cut is insanity when it comes to the mental aspect. Last cut I tried dropping calories in intervals of 250. It sounds good except what actually happens is that you just get used to your new calorie level and then you cut them again. So basically you're always starving. If you just cut them to your intended level from the get-go, you feel like crap for a week or two and then you get used to it and can soldier on for the long term.
Going the other way (bulk) is definitely easier and perhaps smarter.0 -
When transitioning from a cut to a bulk, are there any advantages or disadvantages between slowly increasing calories over the course of a few weeks vs jumping straight into a surplus?
Edit: Also same question for transitioning from bulking to cutting: straight into a deficit or gradually lower calories?
Good question. I have always done it slowly, both ways. Curious if I'm just wasting my time.
This is actually a great topic for a video as, while there are 'rule of thumb' recommendations its a bit nuanced (as well as needs to be caveated and put into perspective) and would be a good one to discuss.
Agreed. Outside of any scientific standpoint, I found that slowly lowering calories for a cut is insanity when it comes to the mental aspect. Last cut I tried dropping calories in intervals of 250. It sounds good except what actually happens is that you just get used to your new calorie level and then you cut them again. So basically you're always starving. If you just cut them to your intended level from the get-go, you feel like crap for a week or two and then you get used to it and can soldier on for the long term.
Going the other way (bulk) is definitely easier and perhaps smarter.
So while we might still make a video if Sara ever does her hair and makeup to a level she is happy with to be seen on video, I'll reply here in case that day never happens.
I'm going to give you opinion and my personal stance/experience with this but before I do I should add that I've seen Lyle mention that taking two weeks at maintenance in between can be beneficial. And as a matter of fairness Lyle is pretty freakin brilliant when it comes to things like this.
My personal experience has been that it's best to just go into a damn deficit and get in and out and over with. I also tend to start out my cut aggressive.
So for example I may lower calories all the way down to 2000 instead of 2400-2500 for just 1 week followed by adding in a couple hundred once or twice over the next two weeks.
When you start out a cut, you are fatter by definition (otherwise why would you be starting a cut) so the likelihood of losing lean mass is lower. Gym performance is likely excellent, satiety/hunger is excellent (since you've presumably been eating in a surplus, hunger should be low), and initially diet adherence is not likely to be much of an issue at least in the short term since you're coming off of a stretch of weeks/months of being satiated.
So basically all of these factors point to a large/aggressive cut potentially being okay. I say potentially because I'm not recommending that everybody do this for the impact it could have on simply completing the diet to begin with.
For experienced people who have done some cutting phases before with some success, who also have a good idea as to their energy needs, I think it can be a reasonable plan. This tends to allow me to be done dieting faster and back into maintenance or slightly above maintenance earlier which means more time on the gain train.
So if it were ME, I would just get into it and get done with it.
But I do think reading Lyle's material on it (if you've not already) would be a good idea, since he's Lyle, and anytime someone smarter than I am says something different than I do it would be a good idea to seriously consider it.
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See a Dr. Willing to be he/she will prescribe physical therapy and then MRI and then surgery. Sorry. My shoulder popped and clicked, eventually was weak and then a dull pain wouldn't quit. I had surgery 6 weeks ago.littleleebrinkworth wrote: »Hi all,
... my left shoulder has always clicked and had a sort of 'grinding' feeling when I roll my shoulders, yet it is my right arm that tends to struggle?
... what else I can do to help?
Lee.
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Hello,
I use the iifym plan and I was curious to know how often I should adjust my numbers. Example, I weight myself once a week, same day, and same time. Lets say I lose 2 pounds, is it worth me going in and re-entering my numbers for a small calorie change or should I wait every 5-10 lbs before I re-adjust them? I would like to know your thoughts please.
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Hello,
I use the iifym plan and I was curious to know how often I should adjust my numbers. Example, I weight myself once a week, same day, and same time. Lets say I lose 2 pounds, is it worth me going in and re-entering my numbers for a small calorie change or should I wait every 5-10 lbs before I re-adjust them? I would like to know your thoughts please.
I wouldn't adjust your numbers by re-calculating.
I would instead suggest that you monitor trends in your weight (I look at rolling average of 7 day weigh ins). When you stop losing at a reasonable pace, just make a slight reduction in calories.
You don't ever have to go back to a calculator to do this.0 -
Hey there, it's been over 48 hours and I was wondering if I'm that specialized a case or if I was just skipped. Not in a hurry since I haven't gotten my gym membership yet, it's in the works for this week.0
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When transitioning from a cut to a bulk, are there any advantages or disadvantages between slowly increasing calories over the course of a few weeks vs jumping straight into a surplus?
Edit: Also same question for transitioning from bulking to cutting: straight into a deficit or gradually lower calories?
Good question. I have always done it slowly, both ways. Curious if I'm just wasting my time.
This is actually a great topic for a video as, while there are 'rule of thumb' recommendations its a bit nuanced (as well as needs to be caveated and put into perspective) and would be a good one to discuss.
Agreed. Outside of any scientific standpoint, I found that slowly lowering calories for a cut is insanity when it comes to the mental aspect. Last cut I tried dropping calories in intervals of 250. It sounds good except what actually happens is that you just get used to your new calorie level and then you cut them again. So basically you're always starving. If you just cut them to your intended level from the get-go, you feel like crap for a week or two and then you get used to it and can soldier on for the long term.
Going the other way (bulk) is definitely easier and perhaps smarter.
So while we might still make a video if Sara ever does her hair and makeup to a level she is happy with to be seen on video, I'll reply here in case that day never happens.
I'm going to give you opinion and my personal stance/experience with this but before I do I should add that I've seen Lyle mention that taking two weeks at maintenance in between can be beneficial. And as a matter of fairness Lyle is pretty freakin brilliant when it comes to things like this.
My personal experience has been that it's best to just go into a damn deficit and get in and out and over with. I also tend to start out my cut aggressive.
So for example I may lower calories all the way down to 2000 instead of 2400-2500 for just 1 week followed by adding in a couple hundred once or twice over the next two weeks.
When you start out a cut, you are fatter by definition (otherwise why would you be starting a cut) so the likelihood of losing lean mass is lower. Gym performance is likely excellent, satiety/hunger is excellent (since you've presumably been eating in a surplus, hunger should be low), and initially diet adherence is not likely to be much of an issue at least in the short term since you're coming off of a stretch of weeks/months of being satiated.
So basically all of these factors point to a large/aggressive cut potentially being okay. I say potentially because I'm not recommending that everybody do this for the impact it could have on simply completing the diet to begin with.
For experienced people who have done some cutting phases before with some success, who also have a good idea as to their energy needs, I think it can be a reasonable plan. This tends to allow me to be done dieting faster and back into maintenance or slightly above maintenance earlier which means more time on the gain train.
So if it were ME, I would just get into it and get done with it.
But I do think reading Lyle's material on it (if you've not already) would be a good idea, since he's Lyle, and anytime someone smarter than I am says something different than I do it would be a good idea to seriously consider it.
<Iaintreadingallthat.gif>
Just kidding, good info. I'm actually at maintenance right now, preparing for a cut so obviously we've read similar things. I'm curious how it'll work. And I plan on going big on my deficit initially, for all the reasons you mentioned. Another reason is that it seems like it takes time for the "effects" of a deficit to kick in. So why not just crush it from the beginning and get a "head start"?
Hell, using that logic I may start off with some PSMF action (I bought the RFL handbook for giggles). As you said, the faster I can get back on that gravy train of maintenance+ calories, the faster I can recoup any losses.0 -
MaggieMuggle wrote: »I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's (autoimmune, attacks thyroid) last Spring and was unable to lose weight on 1300-1600 calories per day. I am currently going gluten free (recommended for Hashi's) very low carb at 1400 and have seen a modest loss over the past month. I'm on medication but hesitant to increase it because of the bowel problems it can cause.
I finally have access to a gym to begin with weights again (had a brief love affair with them a more than a year ago and then we moved) I want to do a recomp, with approx. 30lb to lose, and was wondering if I should eat at tdee or if I should eat at 1400 and add calories on lifting days?
5'3", 166.5 lb, My tdee is calculated at an average of 2000 using different calculators. I read in a thyroid forum that I should try eating at tdee -200 -20% for weight loss but this did not take an actual recomp into consideration. Cannot find anything about hypothyroid patients and weightlifting, recomp, etc. I'm beginning to think we don't exist. Haha sigh.
So first off regarding Hashimotos I'm not qualified to give any advice on that condition as that's out of my scope of practice and additionally beyond my knowledge base as far as what I'm comfortable commenting on.
Having said that, my reply in general might not be applicable if there's anything about that condition that I'm not aware of that could effect variables that would normally be present in someone without that condition.
In people without that condition, I would recommend using personal preference and performance as primary variables in determining whether to cycle your intake such that you eat more on training days and less on rest days, or to keep your intake consistent from day to day.
If you had zero difference in preference, recovery, and performance (which is not the case with most people), AND you were aiming to eat at maintenance to recomp, I would probably lean slightly in favor of a cyclical intake largely for theoretical reasons that may not make a significant difference anyway.0 -
MaggieMuggle wrote: »I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's (autoimmune, attacks thyroid) last Spring and was unable to lose weight on 1300-1600 calories per day. I am currently going gluten free (recommended for Hashi's) very low carb at 1400 and have seen a modest loss over the past month. I'm on medication but hesitant to increase it because of the bowel problems it can cause.
I finally have access to a gym to begin with weights again (had a brief love affair with them a more than a year ago and then we moved) I want to do a recomp, with approx. 30lb to lose, and was wondering if I should eat at tdee or if I should eat at 1400 and add calories on lifting days?
5'3", 166.5 lb, My tdee is calculated at an average of 2000 using different calculators. I read in a thyroid forum that I should try eating at tdee -200 -20% for weight loss but this did not take an actual recomp into consideration. Cannot find anything about hypothyroid patients and weightlifting, recomp, etc. I'm beginning to think we don't exist. Haha sigh.
So first off regarding Hashimotos I'm not qualified to give any advice on that condition as that's out of my scope of practice and additionally beyond my knowledge base as far as what I'm comfortable commenting on.
Having said that, my reply in general might not be applicable if there's anything about that condition that I'm not aware of that could effect variables that would normally be present in someone without that condition.
In people without that condition, I would recommend using personal preference and performance as primary variables in determining whether to cycle your intake such that you eat more on training days and less on rest days, or to keep your intake consistent from day to day.
If you had zero difference in preference, recovery, and performance (which is not the case with most people), AND you were aiming to eat at maintenance to recomp, I would probably lean slightly in favor of a cyclical intake largely for theoretical reasons that may not make a significant difference anyway.
Thank you for the reply. Feel like a bit of an *kitten* to bump it. I was hoping you might have run across someone with a similar story, but it seems a bit of a rarity. Basically it's easy to gain fat and ridiculously difficult to lose it, and we maintain at significantly lower calories.
I've read up on your posts regarding recomps, and I'll have the noob advantage in simultaneously losing fat and gaining muscle, and wondering whether a steady calorie intake or cycling is generally preferable? I would have a lower amount to work with, regardless.
(ETA... reading comprehension. Saw you would favor cycling. Thanks again!)0
