PT Recommended too much Cardio

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Replies

  • Muscleflex79
    Muscleflex79 Posts: 1,917 Member
    still unclear why such a focus on abs....why are you doing abs everyday???
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    Sorry it took so long. Lots of stuff going on in my personal life. To everyone suggesting I walk my dog, I would love to do that but am not really allowed to as per vet's orders. My dog has a luxating patella and some early signs of arthritis. If she gets any exercise outside of short potty walks, she's limited to swimming. Currently she's on joint supplements and canine-specific pain medication for when she throws out her knee due to the luxating patella. I feel awful for her, but I try to get her swimming at a river that's about 20-30 miles from where I live every weekend. (I get a bit of swimming in too, though it's only leisure swimming.)

    I did have that meeting with the trainer, and she had fixed the schedule to ease me in. It gave me a lot of mobility so that I can leave the gym on my terms. She told me to do some cardio every day and choose a 1-2 from each section and alternate which workouts I do. She said she wanted me to try and do abs every day because they would help with balance and posture? This is how the schedule looked as she gave it to me:

    Workout Name
    (3 sets of 10 reps for all except the abs. Abs are 3 sets of 15)

    Overhead Press
    Arm Curl
    Lat Pull Down
    Arm Extension
    Rear/Fly Delt
    Row
    Chest Press
    Back Extension

    Leg Extension
    Leg Curl
    Calf Extension
    Leg Press
    Hip Abductor
    Hip Adductor

    Abdominal
    Ab Crunch
    Torso Rotation

    (These only after a few weeks when you're ready to implement them)
    Plank - 1 Min Total
    Side Plank Dips
    Hanging Leg Raise
    Toe Ups
    Reverse Crunch

    ___________________________________________

    Sit Down Bicycle -
    Zone 1- 124 to 134 2 to 3 mins
    Zone 2- 143 to 153 0 to 90 Secs
    Zone 3- 162 to 172 0 to 30 secs
    Alternate between these zones for 20-30 Minutes

    OR

    Select a workout option on machine for 20 minutes


    So using this chart she gave me, I worked out a plan for myself that uses at least 20 minutes cardio every day (maybe 10-15 if my legs get too sore), and a few workouts from each category. This is how mine looks (it's a screenshot from my spreadsheet). I may remove the abductors on Tuesday and Thursdays depending on how I feel after doing a full week's workouts next week.

    0v5IVu2.png


    Most of those exercises should be chunked.

    Keep

    Overhead Press
    Lat Pull Down
    Row
    Chest Press


    Leg Press
    Back Extension
    Reverse Crunch And if this is on the hanging chair, It goes here.



    Ab Crunch
    Torso Rotation
    Plank - 1 Min Total
    Hanging Leg Raise
    Toe Ups--I don't know what this is.



  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    That is awful. She should under no circumstance tell you to just pick something and do it. IMO, you'd be better off following Lyle McDonald's Basic Machine program, progressing as you can.
  • firef1y72
    firef1y72 Posts: 1,579 Member
    Personally I'd find a new PT, just the thought of trying to do hanging leg raises at 240lb with no training is making my eyes water. To give you a clue, I'm 160lb and am learning to do them, so far I do leg raises on the floor and am learning to actually hang from the bar, which really is the difficult bit. First few tries it felt like my shoulders were going to dislocate, I couldn't imagine how it would have felt 60lb ago (and I've been lifting heavy for me for the last year).
  • everher
    everher Posts: 909 Member
    firef1y72 wrote: »
    Personally I'd find a new PT, just the thought of trying to do hanging leg raises at 240lb with no training is making my eyes water. To give you a clue, I'm 160lb and am learning to do them, so far I do leg raises on the floor and am learning to actually hang from the bar, which really is the difficult bit. First few tries it felt like my shoulders were going to dislocate, I couldn't imagine how it would have felt 60lb ago (and I've been lifting heavy for me for the last year).

    I agree with this.

    The routine this trainer has outlined for you isn't a good one even despite the fact you are 240 lbs and 5'4. But keeping that in mind this seems like too much. Way too much and not efficient either as far as the strength training exercises she has you doing.

    If you are determined to go with this OP, don't get frustrated/upset if this turns out to be too much for you.
  • Rusty740
    Rusty740 Posts: 749 Member
    erickirb wrote: »
    I suggest you don't need a training.... run the program strong curves or starting strength (3 days/week strength training) and do cardio on off days if you want. use the trainer to help with form on the lifts, but no reason to run a program as they laid out. a beginner is much better off doing a 3 day full body routine as opposed to splits.

    Yes, this^

    1. You already know you can lose weight with your calories in/out. That's awesome.
    2. At 243 lbs you already have all the muscle you need to look fantastic at a lower body fat.
    3. What you want is to keep (not gain) the muscle, and lose fat. You've got the lose fat part handled.
    4. You need two things to keep muscle on a calorie deficit, sufficient protein and strength training (lifting heavy things) Strong Curves or Starting Strength are excellent suggestions for what you need. Check them out and spend the money on these instead of your personal trainer. They should only cost you about 45 mins, 3 times per week. Plus travel time.

    The amount of protein you need to keep muscle (in addition to your strength training) is tough to say. I normally say 1g/lb of protein per lb of bodyweight, but that's far too much for you since it should really be based on your actual muscle mass. Shoot for 1-1.5 g/lb of actual muscle.

    If you have 40% body fat (I'm just guessin'), your muscle will be 243 - (243 * 0.4) = 146 lbs or so. So you'll be eating a lot of protein if you want to keep all your muscle.

    What you could do is figure out what you're ideal body is. Maybe it's 150 lbs and 25% body fat. That would mean you'll need to retain 112 lbs of muscle, so you could just eat 120 grams of protein per day and call it good.
  • Rammer123
    Rammer123 Posts: 679 Member
    Rusty740 wrote: »
    erickirb wrote: »
    I suggest you don't need a training.... run the program strong curves or starting strength (3 days/week strength training) and do cardio on off days if you want. use the trainer to help with form on the lifts, but no reason to run a program as they laid out. a beginner is much better off doing a 3 day full body routine as opposed to splits.

    Yes, this^

    1. You already know you can lose weight with your calories in/out. That's awesome.
    2. At 243 lbs you already have all the muscle you need to look fantastic at a lower body fat.
    3. What you want is to keep (not gain) the muscle, and lose fat. You've got the lose fat part handled.
    4. You need two things to keep muscle on a calorie deficit, sufficient protein and strength training (lifting heavy things) Strong Curves or Starting Strength are excellent suggestions for what you need. Check them out and spend the money on these instead of your personal trainer. They should only cost you about 45 mins, 3 times per week. Plus travel time.

    The amount of protein you need to keep muscle (in addition to your strength training) is tough to say. I normally say 1g/lb of protein per lb of bodyweight, but that's far too much for you since it should really be based on your actual muscle mass. Shoot for 1-1.5 g/lb of actual muscle.

    If you have 40% body fat (I'm just guessin'), your muscle will be 243 - (243 * 0.4) = 146 lbs or so. So you'll be eating a lot of protein if you want to keep all your muscle.

    What you could do is figure out what you're ideal body is. Maybe it's 150 lbs and 25% body fat. That would mean you'll need to retain 112 lbs of muscle, so you could just eat 120 grams of protein per day and call it good.

    146 pounds of lean mass at 5'4", shes SWOLEEEEEE
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Rusty740 wrote: »
    erickirb wrote: »
    I suggest you don't need a training.... run the program strong curves or starting strength (3 days/week strength training) and do cardio on off days if you want. use the trainer to help with form on the lifts, but no reason to run a program as they laid out. a beginner is much better off doing a 3 day full body routine as opposed to splits.

    Yes, this^

    1. You already know you can lose weight with your calories in/out. That's awesome.
    2. At 243 lbs you already have all the muscle you need to look fantastic at a lower body fat.
    3. What you want is to keep (not gain) the muscle, and lose fat. You've got the lose fat part handled.
    4. You need two things to keep muscle on a calorie deficit, sufficient protein and strength training (lifting heavy things) Strong Curves or Starting Strength are excellent suggestions for what you need. Check them out and spend the money on these instead of your personal trainer. They should only cost you about 45 mins, 3 times per week. Plus travel time.

    The amount of protein you need to keep muscle (in addition to your strength training) is tough to say. I normally say 1g/lb of protein per lb of bodyweight, but that's far too much for you since it should really be based on your actual muscle mass. Shoot for 1-1.5 g/lb of actual muscle.

    If you have 40% body fat (I'm just guessin'), your muscle will be 243 - (243 * 0.4) = 146 lbs or so. So you'll be eating a lot of protein if you want to keep all your muscle.

    What you could do is figure out what you're ideal body is. Maybe it's 150 lbs and 25% body fat. That would mean you'll need to retain 112 lbs of muscle, so you could just eat 120 grams of protein per day and call it good.

    146 pounds of lean mass at 5'4", shes SWOLEEEEEE

    Another option for protein is to aim for 0.8 grams of protein per lb of goal weight. so if your goal weight is 130 lbs, you should aim for 104 grams of protein
  • RhapsodyWinters
    RhapsodyWinters Posts: 128 Member
    edited June 2017
    Rusty740 wrote: »
    erickirb wrote: »
    I suggest you don't need a training.... run the program strong curves or starting strength (3 days/week strength training) and do cardio on off days if you want. use the trainer to help with form on the lifts, but no reason to run a program as they laid out. a beginner is much better off doing a 3 day full body routine as opposed to splits.

    Yes, this^

    1. You already know you can lose weight with your calories in/out. That's awesome.
    2. At 243 lbs you already have all the muscle you need to look fantastic at a lower body fat.
    3. What you want is to keep (not gain) the muscle, and lose fat. You've got the lose fat part handled.
    4. You need two things to keep muscle on a calorie deficit, sufficient protein and strength training (lifting heavy things) Strong Curves or Starting Strength are excellent suggestions for what you need. Check them out and spend the money on these instead of your personal trainer. They should only cost you about 45 mins, 3 times per week. Plus travel time.

    The amount of protein you need to keep muscle (in addition to your strength training) is tough to say. I normally say 1g/lb of protein per lb of bodyweight, but that's far too much for you since it should really be based on your actual muscle mass. Shoot for 1-1.5 g/lb of actual muscle.

    If you have 40% body fat (I'm just guessin'), your muscle will be 243 - (243 * 0.4) = 146 lbs or so. So you'll be eating a lot of protein if you want to keep all your muscle.

    What you could do is figure out what you're ideal body is. Maybe it's 150 lbs and 25% body fat. That would mean you'll need to retain 112 lbs of muscle, so you could just eat 120 grams of protein per day and call it good.

    See this is the info I need. That's exactly what I'm wanting. Keep muscle burn fat. My body fat as per a calculator available on spotebi, using weight, waist, hip, wrist, and forearm, is 28.8% (weird because I feel like I have more body fat than muscle).

    Which I'm sure it's calculating incorrectly bit I front know accurate/reputable sources

    And dear lord that is a LOT of protein needed. I'm struggling really hard to get as much as possible and try to get protein in every meal. I even have protein bars but I can't eat them every day because I'm on an extremely strict budget since I had to get a new used car when mine practically blew up. I'm able to spend like $50 a month and meat is so expensive here.
  • Penthesilea514
    Penthesilea514 Posts: 1,189 Member
    Rusty740 wrote: »
    erickirb wrote: »
    I suggest you don't need a training.... run the program strong curves or starting strength (3 days/week strength training) and do cardio on off days if you want. use the trainer to help with form on the lifts, but no reason to run a program as they laid out. a beginner is much better off doing a 3 day full body routine as opposed to splits.

    Yes, this^

    1. You already know you can lose weight with your calories in/out. That's awesome.
    2. At 243 lbs you already have all the muscle you need to look fantastic at a lower body fat.
    3. What you want is to keep (not gain) the muscle, and lose fat. You've got the lose fat part handled.
    4. You need two things to keep muscle on a calorie deficit, sufficient protein and strength training (lifting heavy things) Strong Curves or Starting Strength are excellent suggestions for what you need. Check them out and spend the money on these instead of your personal trainer. They should only cost you about 45 mins, 3 times per week. Plus travel time.

    The amount of protein you need to keep muscle (in addition to your strength training) is tough to say. I normally say 1g/lb of protein per lb of bodyweight, but that's far too much for you since it should really be based on your actual muscle mass. Shoot for 1-1.5 g/lb of actual muscle.

    If you have 40% body fat (I'm just guessin'), your muscle will be 243 - (243 * 0.4) = 146 lbs or so. So you'll be eating a lot of protein if you want to keep all your muscle.

    What you could do is figure out what you're ideal body is. Maybe it's 150 lbs and 25% body fat. That would mean you'll need to retain 112 lbs of muscle, so you could just eat 120 grams of protein per day and call it good.

    See this is the info I need. That's exactly what I'm wanting. Keep muscle burn fat. My body fat as per a calculator available on spotebi, using weight, waist, hip, wrist, and forearm, is 28.8% (weird because I feel like I have more body fat than muscle).

    Which I'm sure it's calculating incorrectly bit I front know accurate/reputable sources

    And dear lord that is a LOT of protein needed. I'm struggling really hard to get as much as possible and try to get protein in every meal. I even have protein bars but I can't eat them every day because I'm on an extremely strict budget since I had to get a new used car when mine practically blew up. I'm able to spend like $50 a month and meat is so expensive here.

    Eggs are great sources of protein and pretty cheap and versatile to use in different types of cooking. Tuna cans are pretty cheap as well.
  • RhapsodyWinters
    RhapsodyWinters Posts: 128 Member
    Rusty740 wrote: »
    erickirb wrote: »
    I suggest you don't need a training.... run the program strong curves or starting strength (3 days/week strength training) and do cardio on off days if you want. use the trainer to help with form on the lifts, but no reason to run a program as they laid out. a beginner is much better off doing a 3 day full body routine as opposed to splits.

    Yes, this^

    1. You already know you can lose weight with your calories in/out. That's awesome.
    2. At 243 lbs you already have all the muscle you need to look fantastic at a lower body fat.
    3. What you want is to keep (not gain) the muscle, and lose fat. You've got the lose fat part handled.
    4. You need two things to keep muscle on a calorie deficit, sufficient protein and strength training (lifting heavy things) Strong Curves or Starting Strength are excellent suggestions for what you need. Check them out and spend the money on these instead of your personal trainer. They should only cost you about 45 mins, 3 times per week. Plus travel time.

    The amount of protein you need to keep muscle (in addition to your strength training) is tough to say. I normally say 1g/lb of protein per lb of bodyweight, but that's far too much for you since it should really be based on your actual muscle mass. Shoot for 1-1.5 g/lb of actual muscle.

    If you have 40% body fat (I'm just guessin'), your muscle will be 243 - (243 * 0.4) = 146 lbs or so. So you'll be eating a lot of protein if you want to keep all your muscle.

    What you could do is figure out what you're ideal body is. Maybe it's 150 lbs and 25% body fat. That would mean you'll need to retain 112 lbs of muscle, so you could just eat 120 grams of protein per day and call it good.

    See this is the info I need. That's exactly what I'm wanting. Keep muscle burn fat. My body fat as per a calculator available on spotebi, using weight, waist, hip, wrist, and forearm, is 28.8% (weird because I feel like I have more body fat than muscle).

    Which I'm sure it's calculating incorrectly bit I front know accurate/reputable sources

    And dear lord that is a LOT of protein needed. I'm struggling really hard to get as much as possible and try to get protein in every meal. I even have protein bars but I can't eat them every day because I'm on an extremely strict budget since I had to get a new used car when mine practically blew up. I'm able to spend like $50 a month and meat is so expensive here.

    Eggs are great sources of protein and pretty cheap and versatile to use in different types of cooking. Tuna cans are pretty cheap as well.

    I just bought a dozen eggs with that in mind, and I did have tuna. The problem is I get nauseas if I eat tuna plain or prolonged. I was doing a tuna sandwich for work lunch, but that ended up being only like 10 grams of protein. I was better off just eating the protein bar (pure protein).

    I try to find high protein recipes but they all seem to include a lot of ingredients. I'm more of a 3-4 ingredient kind of person. E.g. I have a chicken enchilada recipe that takes tortilla, chicken, enchilada sauce, and cheese. I can limit fat in cheese selection and increase flavor in sauce selection (I tend to go hot/spicy on the sauce). It comes out to around 400 cal with around 36-40g protein
  • Penthesilea514
    Penthesilea514 Posts: 1,189 Member
    edited June 2017
    Rusty740 wrote: »
    erickirb wrote: »
    I suggest you don't need a training.... run the program strong curves or starting strength (3 days/week strength training) and do cardio on off days if you want. use the trainer to help with form on the lifts, but no reason to run a program as they laid out. a beginner is much better off doing a 3 day full body routine as opposed to splits.

    Yes, this^

    1. You already know you can lose weight with your calories in/out. That's awesome.
    2. At 243 lbs you already have all the muscle you need to look fantastic at a lower body fat.
    3. What you want is to keep (not gain) the muscle, and lose fat. You've got the lose fat part handled.
    4. You need two things to keep muscle on a calorie deficit, sufficient protein and strength training (lifting heavy things) Strong Curves or Starting Strength are excellent suggestions for what you need. Check them out and spend the money on these instead of your personal trainer. They should only cost you about 45 mins, 3 times per week. Plus travel time.

    The amount of protein you need to keep muscle (in addition to your strength training) is tough to say. I normally say 1g/lb of protein per lb of bodyweight, but that's far too much for you since it should really be based on your actual muscle mass. Shoot for 1-1.5 g/lb of actual muscle.

    If you have 40% body fat (I'm just guessin'), your muscle will be 243 - (243 * 0.4) = 146 lbs or so. So you'll be eating a lot of protein if you want to keep all your muscle.

    What you could do is figure out what you're ideal body is. Maybe it's 150 lbs and 25% body fat. That would mean you'll need to retain 112 lbs of muscle, so you could just eat 120 grams of protein per day and call it good.

    See this is the info I need. That's exactly what I'm wanting. Keep muscle burn fat. My body fat as per a calculator available on spotebi, using weight, waist, hip, wrist, and forearm, is 28.8% (weird because I feel like I have more body fat than muscle).

    Which I'm sure it's calculating incorrectly bit I front know accurate/reputable sources

    And dear lord that is a LOT of protein needed. I'm struggling really hard to get as much as possible and try to get protein in every meal. I even have protein bars but I can't eat them every day because I'm on an extremely strict budget since I had to get a new used car when mine practically blew up. I'm able to spend like $50 a month and meat is so expensive here.

    Eggs are great sources of protein and pretty cheap and versatile to use in different types of cooking. Tuna cans are pretty cheap as well.

    I just bought a dozen eggs with that in mind, and I did have tuna. The problem is I get nauseas if I eat tuna plain or prolonged. I was doing a tuna sandwich for work lunch, but that ended up being only like 10 grams of protein. I was better off just eating the protein bar (pure protein).

    I try to find high protein recipes but they all seem to include a lot of ingredients. I'm more of a 3-4 ingredient kind of person. E.g. I have a chicken enchilada recipe that takes tortilla, chicken, enchilada sauce, and cheese. I can limit fat in cheese selection and increase flavor in sauce selection (I tend to go hot/spicy on the sauce). It comes out to around 400 cal with around 36-40g protein

    Fair enough- I was offering a few options I know beyond your comment that meat was expensive where you are. I struggle with tuna too TBH. I do use protein powder/protein bars in addition to my diet to hit between 100-120g of protein a day but I do spend more than $50 a month to make that happen. But with a budget limitation, just try to hit your protein goals as best you can and do what you are doing- looking up recipes to make with them with the ingredients you have. The Recipe section of the Forums here have great suggestions too.

    Here is one I just google for a different spin on your canned tuna: http://www.food.com/recipe/super-healthy-tuna-burgers-with-lemon-garlic-mayonnaise-453661#activity-feed

    Now I didn't look at the macros and I would modify based on ingredients you have at home (I love different spice mixes like Mrs. Dash for this). But tuna + some mayo + some binder/eggs + seasoning seems like a solid start on the recipe.
  • Rusty740
    Rusty740 Posts: 749 Member
    edited June 2017
    Rusty740 wrote: »
    erickirb wrote: »
    I suggest you don't need a training.... run the program strong curves or starting strength (3 days/week strength training) and do cardio on off days if you want. use the trainer to help with form on the lifts, but no reason to run a program as they laid out. a beginner is much better off doing a 3 day full body routine as opposed to splits.

    Yes, this^

    1. You already know you can lose weight with your calories in/out. That's awesome.
    2. At 243 lbs you already have all the muscle you need to look fantastic at a lower body fat.
    3. What you want is to keep (not gain) the muscle, and lose fat. You've got the lose fat part handled.
    4. You need two things to keep muscle on a calorie deficit, sufficient protein and strength training (lifting heavy things) Strong Curves or Starting Strength are excellent suggestions for what you need. Check them out and spend the money on these instead of your personal trainer. They should only cost you about 45 mins, 3 times per week. Plus travel time.

    The amount of protein you need to keep muscle (in addition to your strength training) is tough to say. I normally say 1g/lb of protein per lb of bodyweight, but that's far too much for you since it should really be based on your actual muscle mass. Shoot for 1-1.5 g/lb of actual muscle.

    If you have 40% body fat (I'm just guessin'), your muscle will be 243 - (243 * 0.4) = 146 lbs or so. So you'll be eating a lot of protein if you want to keep all your muscle.

    What you could do is figure out what you're ideal body is. Maybe it's 150 lbs and 25% body fat. That would mean you'll need to retain 112 lbs of muscle, so you could just eat 120 grams of protein per day and call it good.

    See this is the info I need. That's exactly what I'm wanting. Keep muscle burn fat. My body fat as per a calculator available on spotebi, using weight, waist, hip, wrist, and forearm, is 28.8% (weird because I feel like I have more body fat than muscle).

    Which I'm sure it's calculating incorrectly bit I front know accurate/reputable sources

    And dear lord that is a LOT of protein needed. I'm struggling really hard to get as much as possible and try to get protein in every meal. I even have protein bars but I can't eat them every day because I'm on an extremely strict budget since I had to get a new used car when mine practically blew up. I'm able to spend like $50 a month and meat is so expensive here.


    Thanks very much,

    If you can't get enough protein, that's ok. You just get what you can get in you and do your best. If it ends up being 80 grams or something, that's ok. I know protein can be expensive and to be sure, your primary goal is to lose fat so focus on that and eat however you can manage as well as you can and you'll be fine.

    One of the reasons for higher than normal protein during weight loss is because protein is more satiating then other macros, so if you are doing ok on that front, don't worry as much. You are still planning on losing muscle so I don't think it's a big deal to not get all that protein if it's affecting your budget.

    My favourite source of high protein is cottage cheese. Some people don't like it, but especially the dry curd, if you need some protein, that's super high.

    Other really great low cost source is beans (Edamame, black beans, navy beans, chick peas), grab some at the bulk section and use them in a meal once or twice per week and it will help with both your protein and fibre at the same time. Don't worry about the high calories of most beans, many are so high in fibre that the net calories are much lower. Lentils are similar to beans in this way as well.
  • DamieBird
    DamieBird Posts: 651 Member
    Rusty740 wrote: »
    Rusty740 wrote: »
    erickirb wrote: »
    I suggest you don't need a training.... run the program strong curves or starting strength (3 days/week strength training) and do cardio on off days if you want. use the trainer to help with form on the lifts, but no reason to run a program as they laid out. a beginner is much better off doing a 3 day full body routine as opposed to splits.

    Yes, this^

    1. You already know you can lose weight with your calories in/out. That's awesome.
    2. At 243 lbs you already have all the muscle you need to look fantastic at a lower body fat.
    3. What you want is to keep (not gain) the muscle, and lose fat. You've got the lose fat part handled.
    4. You need two things to keep muscle on a calorie deficit, sufficient protein and strength training (lifting heavy things) Strong Curves or Starting Strength are excellent suggestions for what you need. Check them out and spend the money on these instead of your personal trainer. They should only cost you about 45 mins, 3 times per week. Plus travel time.

    The amount of protein you need to keep muscle (in addition to your strength training) is tough to say. I normally say 1g/lb of protein per lb of bodyweight, but that's far too much for you since it should really be based on your actual muscle mass. Shoot for 1-1.5 g/lb of actual muscle.

    If you have 40% body fat (I'm just guessin'), your muscle will be 243 - (243 * 0.4) = 146 lbs or so. So you'll be eating a lot of protein if you want to keep all your muscle.

    What you could do is figure out what you're ideal body is. Maybe it's 150 lbs and 25% body fat. That would mean you'll need to retain 112 lbs of muscle, so you could just eat 120 grams of protein per day and call it good.

    See this is the info I need. That's exactly what I'm wanting. Keep muscle burn fat. My body fat as per a calculator available on spotebi, using weight, waist, hip, wrist, and forearm, is 28.8% (weird because I feel like I have more body fat than muscle).

    Which I'm sure it's calculating incorrectly bit I front know accurate/reputable sources

    And dear lord that is a LOT of protein needed. I'm struggling really hard to get as much as possible and try to get protein in every meal. I even have protein bars but I can't eat them every day because I'm on an extremely strict budget since I had to get a new used car when mine practically blew up. I'm able to spend like $50 a month and meat is so expensive here.


    Thanks very much,

    If you can't get enough protein, that's ok. You just get what you can get in you and do your best. If it ends up being 80 grams or something, that's ok. I know protein can be expensive and to be sure, your primary goal is to lose fat so focus on that and eat however you can manage as well as you can and you'll be fine.

    One of the reasons for higher than normal protein during weight loss is because protein is more satiating then other macros, so if you are doing ok on that front, don't worry as much. You are still planning on losing muscle so I don't think it's a big deal to not get all that protein if it's affecting your budget.

    My favourite source of high protein is cottage cheese. Some people don't like it, but especially the dry curd, if you need some protein, that's super high.

    Other really great low cost source is beans (Edamame, black beans, navy beans, chick peas), grab some at the bulk section and use them in a meal once or twice per week and it will help with both your protein and fibre at the same time. Don't worry about the high calories of most beans, many are so high in fibre that the net calories are much lower. Lentils are similar to beans in this way as well.

    I've never understood net calories. What does this mean and how do you log them (if you even need to!)?

    To change it up from tuna, try other canned fish. Canned Salmon is usually pretty cheap and tasty. One of my favorite brunch meals is a Salmon patty (I use Nom Nom Paleo's recipe) topped with an over medium egg and some veggies. Cheap, filling, delicious, and decent protein.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    Just tell the trainer you have no interest in the hampster wheels - most trainers that I've met don't use them either. A lot of people go to the gym just for strength training.

  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    still unclear why such a focus on abs....why are you doing abs everyday???

    I don't get that either.
  • Rusty740
    Rusty740 Posts: 749 Member
    edited June 2017
    DamieBird wrote: »
    Rusty740 wrote: »
    Rusty740 wrote: »
    erickirb wrote: »
    I suggest you don't need a training.... run the program strong curves or starting strength (3 days/week strength training) and do cardio on off days if you want. use the trainer to help with form on the lifts, but no reason to run a program as they laid out. a beginner is much better off doing a 3 day full body routine as opposed to splits.

    Yes, this^

    1. You already know you can lose weight with your calories in/out. That's awesome.
    2. At 243 lbs you already have all the muscle you need to look fantastic at a lower body fat.
    3. What you want is to keep (not gain) the muscle, and lose fat. You've got the lose fat part handled.
    4. You need two things to keep muscle on a calorie deficit, sufficient protein and strength training (lifting heavy things) Strong Curves or Starting Strength are excellent suggestions for what you need. Check them out and spend the money on these instead of your personal trainer. They should only cost you about 45 mins, 3 times per week. Plus travel time.

    The amount of protein you need to keep muscle (in addition to your strength training) is tough to say. I normally say 1g/lb of protein per lb of bodyweight, but that's far too much for you since it should really be based on your actual muscle mass. Shoot for 1-1.5 g/lb of actual muscle.

    If you have 40% body fat (I'm just guessin'), your muscle will be 243 - (243 * 0.4) = 146 lbs or so. So you'll be eating a lot of protein if you want to keep all your muscle.

    What you could do is figure out what you're ideal body is. Maybe it's 150 lbs and 25% body fat. That would mean you'll need to retain 112 lbs of muscle, so you could just eat 120 grams of protein per day and call it good.

    See this is the info I need. That's exactly what I'm wanting. Keep muscle burn fat. My body fat as per a calculator available on spotebi, using weight, waist, hip, wrist, and forearm, is 28.8% (weird because I feel like I have more body fat than muscle).

    Which I'm sure it's calculating incorrectly bit I front know accurate/reputable sources

    And dear lord that is a LOT of protein needed. I'm struggling really hard to get as much as possible and try to get protein in every meal. I even have protein bars but I can't eat them every day because I'm on an extremely strict budget since I had to get a new used car when mine practically blew up. I'm able to spend like $50 a month and meat is so expensive here.


    Thanks very much,

    If you can't get enough protein, that's ok. You just get what you can get in you and do your best. If it ends up being 80 grams or something, that's ok. I know protein can be expensive and to be sure, your primary goal is to lose fat so focus on that and eat however you can manage as well as you can and you'll be fine.

    One of the reasons for higher than normal protein during weight loss is because protein is more satiating then other macros, so if you are doing ok on that front, don't worry as much. You are still planning on losing muscle so I don't think it's a big deal to not get all that protein if it's affecting your budget.

    My favourite source of high protein is cottage cheese. Some people don't like it, but especially the dry curd, if you need some protein, that's super high.

    Other really great low cost source is beans (Edamame, black beans, navy beans, chick peas), grab some at the bulk section and use them in a meal once or twice per week and it will help with both your protein and fibre at the same time. Don't worry about the high calories of most beans, many are so high in fibre that the net calories are much lower. Lentils are similar to beans in this way as well.

    I've never understood net calories. What does this mean and how do you log them (if you even need to!)?

    To change it up from tuna, try other canned fish. Canned Salmon is usually pretty cheap and tasty. One of my favorite brunch meals is a Salmon patty (I use Nom Nom Paleo's recipe) topped with an over medium egg and some veggies. Cheap, filling, delicious, and decent protein.

    Sure thing, so one of the things our body needs is fibre. Fibre is a carbohydrate. There is soluble and insoluble fibre. Insoluble fibre doesn't get digested so it doesn't count. Soluble fibre sort of half counts because it is digested well down the system by microbes, the process isn't super efficient. Both types of fibre are very good for us.

    While some people might subtract fibre from the calorie count, I don't do this because it's a pain. I just don't feel as bad if I go over my calorie goal for the day if I had plenty of fibre. That's where beans are great.

    For example, in the lentils below, you might subtract 8g x 4 calories per gram = 24 calories from the total 116 calories. While this doesn't account for soluble vs insoluble it's just something to consider when you are going for some high carb foods that have high fiber.

    Sort answer, don't bother logging net carbs, but good to know that if you get 30-40 grams of fibre each day it's basically 100-150 calories you ate and got full from, but didn't contribute to your calories, and are good for you.

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  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,030 Member
    Here is the typical workout I give to a beginner who's new to the gym who's looking to get fitter and lose some weight at the same time.

    TRX squats
    Lying or seated leg curls
    Seated cable row
    Incline bench flyes
    Side lateral raises
    Barbell or dumbell curl
    One arm overhead tricep extension
    Seated knee ins
    Ball plank with small rollout

    All are 3x10 reps with as much resistance as you can handle with good form

    Cardio ISN'T necessary, but doing a little each day helps to create a bigger deficit.

    Eat 500 calories less than your TDEE.

    That's it.

    I have them do it 3 times a week. 7 of my clients who are 2 months in have all at least lost 15lbs doing this.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

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