langurmonkey

:-) that's not a machine program though. Plus it assumes that you are eating a calorie surplus, which most of us on here aren't. Nothing against the program, but it's not for everyone!

To get going I would just have a bit of a play with the machines. A rule of thumb is that 3 sets of 8 repetitions (reps) is good for building muscle mass, 5 sets of 5 (of a heavier weight) is good for strength training. In terms of good "value", choosing a machine that works large muscles and/or muscle groups is good. If 8…

549 running since May. 146 of those were just in December!

I love running! It's exercise that's useful in the real world as well (running for a bus etc.) plus it's a great mass participation sport so you can enter races to get you motivated to train (no races for elliptical trainer). I have lost 35kg since March, mainly running and cycling as exercise, with some weight training to…

I believe it is a heart rate zone that athletes can train in to increase their ability to burn fat during endurance events. As far as burning calories goes, the faster the better, and as everyone else says it's all about the total deficit, it doesn't matter what energy store the calories come from, as the body balances…

I would say if you are asking the question, then you do not want to do that. You will probably just want to do the "cut" part (fat loss). Lifting weights and eating protein will help stop too much muscle loss. This is what I am doing at the moment. Once you are down to <20% body fat, then worry about body builder stuff…

This link tells you a lot about the zones. http://www.3-fitness.com/tarticles/zones.htm I think zone 2 (130 - 145 BPM for me) is good for doing lots of time running. It's a nice comfy speed, you have to slow right down on hills though. It's the zone for building a good base for doing other stuff, so is the most useful in…

Just for a data point, I drink litres of diet coke and coke zero and am happily losing weight. Giving up chips and bread rolls is probably a better move :-)

I think weighing in every day and using a tool like the hacker diet online of physics diet online to see trends is more motivating. It gets you used to fluctuations up and down and as long as you have more points below the line than above you are losing weight!

Also check out Fitocracy - earn points and levels for doing workouts. It is surprisingly addictive!

I am not an expert lifter by any means, but I have a bit of experience. If I am doing a dumbbell exercise (like a bent over row for example), I do my left arm first then match that with the right to prevent imbalances. Same with dumbbell bench press or any exercise where you are doing both arms together, use the…

There is a local Yorkshire beer I love called Golden Pippin by Copper Dragon. Also I like Old Empire IPA for a less hard to find brand. On a hot day I love a bottle of Bud though!

Totally destroyed my target :-) 12 pounds lost in May!

Still going fine.

Essex man in Yorkshire checking in!

I won't have chance to weigh tomorrow so I am updating today.

Eye of the Tiger Gonna Fly Now (both from Rocky :-) ) Warriors of the World (Manowar) (or basically any cheesy metal about Vikings ;-) )

I did it starting late last October, and felt pretty horrible on the first session. Don't let that put you off - follow it as it says (three times a week) and you will be surprised at how easy it is. I did the first three weeks twice each, then I was good to go from then on. I was pretty unfit to start off with though. You…

Going ok so far langurmonkey/ Greg R: Goal weight on May 31st : 256 5/01: 261 5/07: 256.4 5/14: 253 5/21: 5/28: 5/31:

Fantastic work. In a few months I think I will be trying to do what you are doing now, as I am running 5k in 35 min and want to get it sub 30. Still doing the first big cut though. Pics like this are an inspiration!

When I did it I did each of the early weeks (1-3) twice just to make sure I could make it through without hurting myself. The muscle pain does stop happening after a while :-)

Bump for later.

I found that the shin pain is something you just have to put up with for a month or so of running (unless it's really bad like a torn muscle). I am sure you know the difference between discomfort and that though! Something to be aware of is your knees, if you feel pain across your kneecap or along the side of it I would…

langurmonkey/ Greg R: Goal weight on May 31st : 256 5/01: 261 5/07: 5/14: 5/21: 5/28: 5/31:

The Verve - The Drugs Don't Work Dangerous to listen to while driving it's so sad.

I would just chalk it up to experience and move on - it's only putting you one day behind your weight loss schedule, which in the context of your whole life isn't that big a deal.

Congratulations - I started the program last October (at 132kg) and finished it a few weeks ago. I am now training to enter a 10k race in August, and my weight is 118kg (still a way to go). It's such a good feeling isn't it :-)