Slow loser requesting exercise review

[Kapoorvilla 117]

Hello

I began my journey in 2006 @ 386lbs. I have lost 172 lbs throught mostly diet with inconsistent spruts of excercise consisting of mostly walking and small amounts of strength training on the line of life fitness machines at the local Y ( they have a line of machines set up to give the whole body a work out) . I lost the first 100 pre gastric sleeve and have been disappointed 13 months after the sleeve I am still over 200.

In the last few days of October I reentered the gym. I want to get under that 200 mark and it just seems like I am going to have to fight for it! October thru December I built myself up to doing more than I have ever been able to do before and consistently going six days a week.

I have a slower than average metabolism according to my Bariatric center so I am keeping my calories around 1200 and have found raising them means I gain.

Here is what I have worked up to and held at since end of December. I would like to know how this ranks with others work out as I have no one I can really compare to here.

5 days A week I do:

5 sets of 24 reps on machines

2000 meters on indoor rower (14 min)

3 Miles Pro bike crosstrainer (15 mins)

30 min elliptical

1 day a week I do: (I walk a lot at work this day step meter says 3 miles so I have to cut my time short. I only work this job one day a week)

3 sets of 24 reps

2000 meters on indoor rower (14 min)

3 Miles Pro bike crosstrainer (15 mins)

30 min elliptical

The machines I do the sets of 24 reps on:

Triceps extension 40lb

Lat pull down 70lbs

Shoulder Press 25lbs

Chess Press 50lbs

Vertical Row 70lbs

Bicep curls 40lbs

Leg Press 85lbs

Leg extension 40lbs

Leg curl 70lbs

Abductor (inner thigh) 70 lbs

Adductor (outer thigh) 80lbs ( I actually do 5 reps of 36 on this machine instead of the 24 reps I do on all the others)

Rotary Torso 40lbs (this gets double the sets because I work each side)

I also do on all 6 days Ab Cruncher 80 lbs 21 sets of 12 broke up through out the work out.

The work out takes me 3 hours to complete but I am feeling stronger. I wonder is this going to burn fat? Is it the best mix of cardio and strength training? The calculators say I am burning 900 calories doing this, could that be true? I think It would definitely be lower due to having a slower metabolism anyway.

I have been a size 18 pants for six months and I think I am finally starting to move toward 16 pants although still a way to go. I hate the scale, but yes it too has started to inch down. Just wanting to hear other opinions ( other than eat more calories because that will not work for me it has been tested and proven I eat/ I gain)

[swizzly 901]

I hope this doesn't offend you, cos WOW you are a beast on the exercise!! But I think you're doing wayyyyy too much of it, if I'm honest. For reals.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-evidence-continues-to-mount-against-chronic-cardio/#axzz2sdd0mk8p

ETA: 1-3 days a week, max, and mostly some swift strength moves and some sprints, supplemented by daily walking. Bada bing!

Edited February 7, 2014 by swizzly

[Bronco0605 135]

I started at 282 back in July. may main exercise then was walking. I worked up to walking about 3 miles a day over the summer/fall. I lost 43 pounds before my surgery in November. Now, I can't walk outside because of the weather so I am going to the Y also. I walk a few miles on the treadmill 30- 3.5 miles per hour 30 or 40 minutes, then I ride the stationary bike for about 30 minutes. I usually burn about 1000 calories or more doing that. I also do some strength training /lifting reps on the nautilus machines but I am not sure how to count the calories burnt by those yet. I work out 4-5 days a week. I am still afraid fo the eliptical machine I feel so awkward on there!

[Teachamy 1,042]

3 hours a day seems like a lot to me too. It's good that you are doing so much cardio (good for the heart, good for fat burning) but it's hard to believe that only 1200 calories is enough-even though you said more than that makes you gain. What were you doing/eating pre-surgery that helped you lose the 100 pounds? How long have you tried a 1500-1600 calorie diet while working out for 3 hours/day?

I am just beginning to get back into working out. (Not sure I can even call it that right now...) I used to have a personal trainer before I realized that CRAZY amounts of exercise weren't working for me, and I needed this surgery. Now as I work my way back up to a good rate of exercise, I am doing 20 min./day on my elliptical machine. I have Afib at the moment, so until I have a heart procedure in 2 weeks, I am not pushing it too far. After they zap my heart back into proper rhythm, I will try to do at least 30 min. 3 days a week/20 min 4 days a week for a while until I start strength training and toning again.

I know you must be very, very frustrated. Good luck to you. Keep us posted!

[Fiddleman 4,376]

Clearly you are not short of dedication, drive and willingness to succeed. Your exercise program is impressive.

I am no expert when it comes to the fine anatomical details that contribute to a highly functional metabolism. However, I can succinctly enumerate some ideas that might help you as they have worked for me in achieving and maintaining an athletic build at my ideal weight.

1. Nutrition and diet: They say 80% or more success of weight loss comes from the kitchen, outside of the gym. Eating at the right time, the right types of food in the right quantities to match your body type are going to make a difference.

Let us break those items down:

1. The right time: The body needs a constant source of the macros every 2-3 hours to keep the insulin response consistent in the blood stream. Ideally, one should eat a small meal of 200-300 calories when waking up, every 3 hours, until going to bed. This is especially important if you are very active to prevent the body from going into starvation mode due to a net negative of calories from working out the amount you do. The first meal at rise will " wake up your metabolism" and the last meal at bedtime will keep the metabolism burning throughout the night. However, it is important that these two meals be of the right food.< /p>

I do not fast. Period. I have read a lot of good things about IF and 5:2, but it is just something I have no practical experience with for maintaining a healthy body weight with an athletic body fat percentage. For this reason, I cannot offer any advice on it.

2. The right food: the first meal should.be a fast digesting Protein such as whey because your body has gone all night without food. The last meal should be a slow digesting Protein such as casein (shake, pudding, etc). The casein molecule are larger than whey molecules and take longer to absorb. This will keep your metabolism burning during the night. The meals during the day should be protein first. Try and target about 30 g of protein every meal. All meals should be low carbohydrate except for before and after working out. Before working out, your meal should target a 2:1 ratio of carbohydrate to protein. Keep the carbohydrate one that is low on the glycemic index so it does not burn up too quickly. The carbohydrates consumed after a workout should be the faster burning variety in order to assist in transporting nutrients to your muscles faster.

3. The right quantities: each meal should be about 200-300 calories. It is enough to satisfy hunger and fill you up, but not too much. We want to prevent insulin spikes that result in storage of fat.

4. Body type: Each body type is going to respond differently to food types. This is true if you are a pear, an apple or a box body type. Look up what foods are best for your body type.

Now that we have stressed the importance of nutrition, let us look at exercise.

2: Exercise: you have quite a comprehensive exercise program, but I cannot help but wonder if your body has become too efficient at it. Your body needs a constantly changing set of intensity in order to respond. For me, cross fit workouts fit the bill because every workout is different and very intense. They are short too. Most workouts fall between 10-20 minutes with some on the shorter side and some on the longer side. However, I am not in a workout for longer than 30 minutes. All the lifts are compound (both power and Olympic lifts) and all the cardio falls under what is called metabolic conditioning. Metabolic conditioning is designed to push you every single time.

Here are some example workouts I did this last week:

95/65 lb Thrusters x 20 reps

5 Muscle-Ups

Thrusters x 15 reps

4 Muscle-Ups

Thrusters x 10 reps

3 Muscle-Ups

Thrusters x 5 reps

2 Muscle-Ups

Thursday February 6th, 2014:

(Compare Results to January 3rd WOD)

EMOM for 12 Minutes:

Full Squat Snatch x 1 with 3 second hold at bottom of OH squat

then

Seven sets of (total of 28 minutes):

30 seconds of Rowing (for max meters)

Rest 30 seconds

30 seconds of Handstand Push-Ups

Rest 30 seconds

30 seconds of 24″/20″ Box Jump

Rest 30 seconds

30 seconds of Push-ups

Rest 30 seconds

Wednesday February 5th, 2014:

EMOM for 8 minutes:

3 Front Squats @ 75-80%

then

For Time:

1000m Row

50 Wall Balls 20#/14#

30 Thrusters 95#/65#

Tuesday February 3rd, 2014:

"Open WOD 11.1"

10 min AMRAP:

30 Double Unders

15 Power Snatches 75#/55#

The Power snatch loads are as follows:

Men and Masters Men 45-49, 50-54: 75lbs/35kg

Women and Masters Women 45-54: 55lbs/25kg

Masters Men 55-59, 60+: 65lbs/30kg

Masters Women 55-59, 60+: 45lbs/20kg

Rest Exactly 5 Minutes then...

"Open WOD 12.1"

7 min AMRAP of:

Burpees

This workout begins from the standing position. The Athlete will move from flat on the ground to touching an object with both hands that is 6 inches above their max reach. Score is total reps completed in 7 minutes.

Monday February 2nd, 2014:

15 minutes to find heavy Push Press

then

7 Minute AMRAP:

10 Chest to Bar Pull-Ups

10 Alternating Pistols

10 Handstand Push-Ups

Rest exactly 2 minutes, and then…

7 Minute AMRAP:

10 Burpee Box Jumps 24"/20"

10 Shoulder to Overhead 115#/75#

The lifting portions of the workouts are done at a weight that makes sense for me.

Consider moving away from the machines for your weight lifting and into free weights where more emphasis uis placed on correct for and correct muscle activation. Free weights also require a bigger emphasis on balance and agility then machines. I know this is a big step and may not be right for you at this time, but I offer it for your consideration.

[CowgirlJane 14,261]

Lots of different opinions but I am late 40s woman and I have heard this from other women too that too much exercise does not help with weight management. I do much better with mostly high intensity type workouts, no more than an hour maybe 4-5days a week. That is supplemented with generally being active, walks, hikes, horse stuff,house and farm work.

I did not make good fitness progress doing workout machines at the gym. Long duration elliptical etc probably helped me get fitter but it was quitting that and switching to high intensity shorter duration that got me to goal...combined with low carb eating.

[Kapoorvilla 117]

Fiddleman I have had an instructor invite me to a body pump class that sounds a lot like what you are describing. Trying to get myself to take that big leap of joining group workout!

Thank you all for your responses, you have given me a lot to think on!