And so I have finally decided to get fit...

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After an approximate 10 years of general self abuse I have decided that I really need to get fit and go beyond my usual exercise regime of smoke inhalation, pint lifting, and the obligatory mouse click/remote control browsing...

This life changing decision being brought on by the fact that the wife is heavily pregnant and I feel that I should really try and be active if only so that my child doesnt also get the idea that being a fat slob is the way to be in life...

I have joined a gym and recently took up Kung Fu in order to try and sort this all out. So please do help me out a bit here and rate the following which is will either kill or cure me...

gym exercises:-
10mins cycling
15mins xtrainer
10mins rowing machine
various weight machines doing 8reps of highweights, 3 sets of each
back on xtrainer for 10mins
(overall about a 2hour workout)

The Kung Fu lessons are 1.5hrs each and involve quite a bit of light hand sparring which I have found to be rather good for cardio and when up against the much higher grades rather good for adrenaline too :D

My current aim is to be at the gym Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and doing Kung Fu on the Tuesdays and Thursdays

I have been doing the Kung Fu now for about 1year and have got to 2nd cup (Blue Sash) and have been at the gym for about a month. I seem to have lost about 1.5stone already but my diet and smoking is my weakness at the moment (why oh why does the work canteen have to keep assailing my nostrils with the glories of the bacon butty in a morning!).

Thanks to other threads here I have ordered some Sina Cordifolia to try and help me shift off some of the final flab (I am still at about 22% body fat) help me out a bit please, is there anything else I can be doing to get rid of the extra flab and get some good muscle definition? Any improvements that could be made on this programme?
 
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basically you will want to be doing more cardio than you are at the moment. Have you got a bike, if so then try and cycle every day or as much as you can. That will burn the fat. Also try and cut down on the calorie intake as when you get a little older the matabolism slows down quite a lot.

At the moment i can eat all i want and drink, smoke etc and it doesnt bother me because i have a fast matabolism and play a load of sport. If you have a slow matabolism however then the food you eat needs to be watched.

By the way, if you want to get strong but not lose speed for the martial arts then you should try climbing. Gets you very strong but you muscles are really lean and fast at the same time. I find that lifting too heavy weights bulks me up too much and you lost some speed and flexibility.

Good luck, main thing is the cardio tho, running and cycling etc.
 
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My metabolism has definatly slowed down over time (I used to be able to eat/drink/smoke however much I liked and retain a six pack now I just have to look at a snickers and my belly burts the belt), not just my age but also the extreme laziness. The xtrainer seems to give me a better overall cardio workout than the bike so I may just up my gym time on that from the current 15mins then 10mins after the weights to a 30mins then 15mins.

Not too sure on the climbing though, its not a fear of heights or falling, its the landing that gives me the jitters :p
 
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mctrials23 said:
basically you will want to be doing more cardio than you are at the moment. Have you got a bike, if so then try and cycle every day or as much as you can. That will burn the fat. Also try and cut down on the calorie intake as when you get a little older the matabolism slows down quite a lot.

At the moment i can eat all i want and drink, smoke etc and it doesnt bother me because i have a fast matabolism and play a load of sport. If you have a slow matabolism however then the food you eat needs to be watched.

By the way, if you want to get strong but not lose speed for the martial arts then you should try climbing. Gets you very strong but you muscles are really lean and fast at the same time. I find that lifting too heavy weights bulks me up too much and you lost some speed and flexibility.

Good luck, main thing is the cardio tho, running and cycling etc.

More cardio? Why does he wanna do more cardio?

Forget the cardio, get thee to the free weights section of the gym...Heavy weights will lose your fat and gain you muscle...Doing so much cardio will just get rid of what muscle you already have....Unless you wanna be skinnyfat of course.
 
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chrisd said:
Mind saying where you got it from? :)

its currently in transit (hopefully at my house now) from www.affordablesupplements.co.uk

although from that other thread it appears that www.myprotein.co.uk should also be a good place to purchase it..

(many thanks to those other posters in that thread, hope you get your referral fees ;) )

Balddog said:
Unless you wanna be skinnyfat of course

hmm, dont wanna end up looking like a stick with a central bulge - thats for sure, at least at the moment the moob overhang matches up with the belly size :p
 
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If you read gordyR's sticky at the top of the page it clearly says that you cannot turn fat into muscle and that to lose weight you will need to do cardio. Bulking up too much will find u anable to run very far or be very fit and ** muscles will tire quickly if they are always just doing large weights. Not good for an active lifestyle or the martial arts.
 
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Ive read through GordyR's sticky, its very informative. I agree I am taking a bit of a mixed approach hence the reason I have been asking for a bit of assistance in trying to find my way.

From the looks of things if I up my cardio and retain a certain amount of the heavy weight training then I should be losing the weight a bit faster (so it seemed to me anyway). tbh Im one of those people who has tried and failed miserably in the past but now thanks to circumstances I have more patience and drive in order to meet my goals and will work very hard to achieve them.
 
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I've just been given a new workout routine by one of the instructors at my gym, and it looks almost identical to what you have planned (minus the Kung Fu though ). I guess they know what they are doing :)
 
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mctrials23 said:
If you read gordyR's sticky at the top of the page it clearly says that you cannot turn fat into muscle and that to lose weight you will need to do cardio. Bulking up too much will find u anable to run very far or be very fit and ** muscles will tire quickly if they are always just doing large weights. Not good for an active lifestyle or the martial arts.

No you cant turn fat into muscle...but you can lose fat and maintain muscle at the same time...Doing a ton of cardio will burn muscle, and lots of it...

He wont bulk up by simply doing weights, he would have to eat an awful lot in order to do that..

and you are talking rubbish at the end of your post.
 
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are u saying that having huge muscles will be fast for martial arts. And that doing a load of weights will get him fit? I do a lot of cycling and hockey and climbing and im pretty strong. I dont lose muscle when i cycle a lot, my legs get stronger and my muscles get stronger.

Of course if he just starts to do cardio and no weights he will burn the muscle not used but thats common sense. He needs to do more cardio to burn the fat and needs to do the weights to keep up the strength. Cardio will burn fat faster than weights.
 
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mctrials23 said:
are u saying that having huge muscles will be fast for martial arts. And that doing a load of weights will get him fit? I do a lot of cycling and hockey and climbing and im pretty strong. I dont lose muscle when i cycle a lot, my legs get stronger and my muscles get stronger.

Of course if he just starts to do cardio and no weights he will burn the muscle not used but thats common sense. He needs to do more cardio to burn the fat and needs to do the weights to keep up the strength. Cardio will burn fat faster than weights.

Nobody here has mentioned 'huge muscles'...If you think hes suddenly gonna turn into ronnie coleman overnight, then I doubt youve ever been in a gym in your life..

Doing lots of weights will make him strong and will make him lose a lot of fat...and yes, weights can also be great for his cardio fitness as well..It just depends how you use them...

More cardio? He already does cardio for 45-90 mins every single day..Long periods of cardio are about as catabolic as you can get...This isnt the 1970s anymore, we can move forward..You dont have to go jogging for 5 hours a day...

Id recommend he stops doing the cardio in the gym entirely...that he takes up some kind of HITT program maybe 3 times a week....That along with his kungfu is enough cardio...then hit the weights hard, 3+ times a week...

Of course, sorting his diet out should be the first priority.

PS, please explain to me how cardio will burn fat faster than weights..Id be interested to hear your reasoning.
 
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im guessing he has read how many calories can be burnt while doing cardio but not thought about the active nature of doing weights and the calories burnt there.

i sweat just as much doing weights as i do doing cardio and my heart rate is still nice and high while doing weights.
 
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Morba said:
im guessing he has read how many calories can be burnt while doing cardio but not thought about the active nature of doing weights and the calories burnt there.

i sweat just as much doing weights as i do doing cardio and my heart rate is still nice and high while doing weights.
Having just finished my 5th week of Bill Starrs 5x5 program I can honestly say I would rather run for 30 minutes or spend 30 minutes rowing than attempt 5 sets of heavy deadlifts in a short space of time again. I don't think I've ever sweat so much or felt my heart beat so fast.
 
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mctrials23 said:
sorry been revising for exam tomorrow. I know weights will help lose weight however i do not believe that it is as effective as cardio for weight loss. A combination of weights and cardio is needed .

So tell us why you believe that? Is it because thats what youve been told your whole life? Have you actually done any reading on this?

I guarentee that a tabata weights workout will be WAY more effective at fat loss than a couple of hours on a treadmill..
 
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Hi Turkey, Good for you and well done on the weight loss!! you, your wife and unborn should be proud.
if you want to do weights work outs and mainatain and all over fitness regime,then the answer is lots of mid weight repetitions for all muscle groups. Pushing a small number of heavy heavy weights will not add to your over all fitness.
maintain your current regime it sounds excellent and good luck!!

If the power of the bacon butty is too much have one, i said one!! :) Avoiding things as treats is not healthy, leads to craving and then binging which can undo a weeks works in one session.

To maintain weight loss and fitness you should be aiming to workout in the fat burning zone which is around 65% of your max heart rate minus your age.
eg i am 35;so 220 (max heart rate dont try to reach it!) minus 35 is 185 beats per minute (bpm) and 65% of that is around 120 bpm. so i should do longer sessions on xtrainer and bikes,and maybe jog to try and achieve a heartrate of 120bpm. Get a cheap heartrate monitor to find your workout level and see where you are, they may have them at the gym and use it one a week to see your fitness improve. you will know what level to train at soon without the monitor. Maybe once a month test yourself and you will find that the level you are training at will result in a lower hear rate as yo get fitter then you can increase the intensity to find your optimum training level of eg 120bpm again.

try climbing on an indoor wall if there is one near you,my girlfriend and i started a few years ago and its great and the kids go now too!!

Balddog is wrong! sry :(
short fast workouts, or hard intensity workouts like pushing v heavy weights, sprints etc builds muscle mass using shorter energy sugars which are quickly replaced in the muscles. Long slow exercise burns more calories as the energy required uses the shorter energy first and then starts on the long chain slow release energy eg your fat reserves, carbohydrates etc
no finer point! :) it also works the heart which is a muscle and develops the lungs too. Over time the body will automatically use the longerchain carbs during exercise and the body will use use them during rest to fuel recovery so u almost get a double whammy of burning carbs whilst resting! It is important to rest too.

Finally!! :) always stay hydrated, sip water all day if you can, 2 ltrs! electrolytes drink supplements are good, but do not make too concentrated follow the instructions, if anything over dilute for a longer recovery period especially in the hot weather ,where is the summer? Those are the only supplements i would think about. steer clear of processed foods especially sugars they are the worst! processed sugars give a massive boost followed by an everest sized drop off!! Long chain sugar like unprocessed sugars or unrefined eg honey, organic sugar demerera or one called rapadura has a great toffee taste,makes fab flapjacks, sorry wondered off post :) are the best, the body takes longer to use and break down therefore better use of energy
for really good pick me ups, get a juicer; carrots and any fruit plus ginger and honey WOW!!
If you feel tired take a day off the body will continue to improve and then get back on but rest is as important as exercise, BUT ENJOY IT!

Hope that is helpful
 
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Balddog said:
So tell us why you believe that? Is it because thats what youve been told your whole life? Have you actually done any reading on this?

I guarentee that a tabata weights workout will be WAY more effective at fat loss than a couple of hours on a treadmill..

Thats because jogging on a treadmill is a pile of crap when it comes to conditioning. If he takes part in Martial arts he should be doing some pretty intense running and hill sprinting to imrpove his leg power and Anaerobic fitness.

A lot better than jogging on a treadmill and hawling yourself along for the last part of the run.

Excessive weights would be bad... excessive they have a place in martial arts but you have to make sure you don't over contract them and that you stretch them as much as you use them.

Make sure you keep everything in balance, eg: its no good having a giant bicep compared to your tricep, especialy if the bicep is too tense and understretched. It means the tricep has to work against the resistance of the bicep just to straigten the eblow joint.

Stretching also helps to keep the filaments in your muscles long which leeds to increased strength in contractions.

Something you neglecting aswell is a heavy bag, I know your not a boxing but if you use it properly not only is it an incrdibly good Aerobic and Anaerobic work out but it will use virtually every muscle in your body in some way.

I agree Balddog, you don't need to train for hours to get a good cardio work out and yes, his cardio is over an hour but its what you do in that hour which is important.
 
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mctrials23 said:
sorry been revising for exam tomorrow. I know weights will help lose weight however i do not believe that it is as effective as cardio for weight loss. A combination of weights and cardio is needed .

adding muscle to your body frame causes your body to speed up its metabolism. for every pound of lean muscle you add, count on losing an extra 35-50 calories per day. that can work out to be a lot of calories each day just by having more lean mass!

depending on a couple of things, a weights session can burn around 400-600 calories. add the 45 mins or so cardio and your easily burning 1000 calories per session. add the lean mass calories burnt in addition and its well worth doing.

resistance training also burns more calories after the exercise, studies have found that after a 30 min full body workout, resting metabolic rate is elevated for the next 2 days by 20%.

by doing weights that are putting you in the 6-8RM range, you can burn upto an extra 600 calories in the following 2 days.

and im sure we all know the benefit of having a low rest period between sets, 30secs compared to 3 mins (rest between sets) can burn 50% more calories, aswell as the added muscle boost.

im not saying that the same cant be achieved by cardio alone, but its worth realising and utilising :]
 
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