First post and frustrated with results

rmiller · April 25th, 2005, 04:24 PM

I am 38, 5'9" and weight 214 lbs. I have been hitting the weights for a year now and I work out bet. 3-4 days a week. I eat a semi clean diet, and have a decent shape, but, the midsection. I cannot stress how much I hate cardio. What other options are available to me? Desperate.

**Old_Fart2** · April 25th, 2005, 04:59 PM

What you've got is a storage of fat around your mid-section. To get rid of fat you essentially have to burn more calories than you bring in.

IMO the most effective way to accomplish this is to build more lean muscle mass, thereby raising your basal metabolic rate. What this means is that even when your body is at rest you'll be burning more calories because muscle burns more calories than fat.

SO by itself, more muscle mass will help you burn more calories.

Realizing that sometimes that's not enough, some cardio may need to be added. Personally, I think cardio is most effective after your weight workout when your metabolism is already raised. Then by doing the cardio, you'll be cranking it up even higher. But your main energy stores should be used in building lean muscle mass.

I'm not too fond of cardio, either, so I use a form of HITT (High Intensity Interval Training). An example of this would be on the stationary bike: Do a 1-1/2 minute warmup at, say, Level 3, then go up to level 8 for 30 sec., back to level 3 for 30 sec., etc. If your not worn out after 10-12 minutes your not taking it high enough. You can use this type of training on basically any type of cardio: Sprints, Stationary Bikes, Elliptical, Stair Climber, etc. Vary the length of time, intensity, etc.

Realize, also, that it probably took you several years to accumulate the extra fat. You can't expect to take it off in a year. You've got the rest of your life ahead of you, take it slow and smart, and eventually it'll pay off and make a lsating difference.

**bbabb22** · April 25th, 2005, 07:13 PM

what he said^...you may hate cardio but it is very important for you. try to build your way up with it. start small and build you way up just like you do with weights. old farts HITT is very effective also i do routine very similar to that in track. good luck

**Sasaku** · April 25th, 2005, 07:58 PM

HITT can incorporate weights too, run around a track then do some weight set and repeat.

**Manfred_Man** · April 26th, 2005, 08:02 AM

hey, rmiller, thanks for your post, and welcome to the community!

if you say you're desperate, then you can't avoid cardio anymore! i don't love cardio any more than most, but i know the benefits, and i've seen the results! i just turned 39, and i'm in the best shape i've been in since my early 20's! (actually, i don't even think i was really that healthy back then, even though i was lean and buff!) cardio doesn't need to be long to be effective. i approach it using HITT, and i don't go longer than 15-20 minutes (stationary bike, elliptical, rowing). if you like, try skipping rope for 2-4 minutes at first until you can for 15 minutes (5 3-minute sets with 30-second rest intervals)

listen to oldfart... his counsel is solid, and you'd be doing yourself a favour by heeding his words.

in addition to what he says, you'll need to rev up your eating habits, too. check the posts in the nutrition section. basically, you'll need to alter your diet (it's all diet!!!)
- eat three healthy, balanced meals with healthy snacks in between the meals (at least 2 hours prior to meals) and a snack 2 hours prior to bedtime
- drink plenty of water (especially first thing in the morning, with meals & snacks, and right before bed)
- get lots of rest (7-8 hours of sleep)
- generally, your exercise regimen shouldn't last longer than 1 hour, and should be intentional (have a plan, goals, objectives) and intelligent (watch your form, be safe, and have a spotter where necessary)

by the way, could you post your exercise regimen and your eating habits?
thanks.

let us know how things are going!

**ntnfdvd** · April 26th, 2005, 12:29 PM

Try to find a form of cardio that you like...swimming, mountain biking, even a good brisk walk.

**acutekitten** · April 26th, 2005, 01:06 PM

Old_fart's blog and Adonis's blog both offer great info on how and what they train.

**bouncer** · April 26th, 2005, 01:24 PM

I hate cardio too. I needed to lose 120 lbs a few years ago. I I was succesfull, and here's a sample of the circuit I did after hitting the weights. Use the weight training time to deplete your glycogen stores (blood sugar) then when you do cardio, you are attacking fat stores.

Stationary bike.
Stair climber
Eliptical
Treadmill, or brisk walking

When I started doing this, I managed about 5 minutes on each one, then I changed it up.

Bike
Treadmill/walk
Stair climber
Treadmill/walk
Eliptical
Treamill/walk

I kept my heart rate up during the walking, but the big intensity was on the machines. This way I was able to sustain cardio for a decent amount of time as a 380 pounder. This kinda fits the HITT description, but I was doing this with great results before I heard of HITT. The best thing for me was that it kept it interesting from a mental aspect. It took me a 10 months, but I lost it all. Even with a low fat/high carb diet ( Yeah I know...but that was the rage then.)

10 years have passed since then, but I'm once again needing to drop weight. When my diet plateaus, rather than making it more severe, I'm going back to the above routine.

Good Luck!

**exnatural123** · April 26th, 2005, 02:03 PM

These guys seemed to sum it up for you.. Def post your workout.. Without an extreme workout,a semi clean diet will not cut it. Read up on some things and tell us what your plan is.

**Adonis** · April 26th, 2005, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rmiller

I am 38, 5'9" and weight 214 lbs. I have been hitting the weights for a year now and I work out bet. 3-4 days a week. I eat a semi clean diet, and have a decent shape, but, the midsection. I cannot stress how much I hate cardio. What other options are available to me? Desperate.

Simply, make sure your at the gym four times each week, eat a very clean diet, and try some sprint intervals. Find somewhere 100 feet or so long. Sprint as fast as you can, walk back to the start, repeat. Do 4-10 of those for a very quick effective cardio workout....could also be done on the treadmill, allthough it is summer

**Old_Fart2** · April 26th, 2005, 03:55 PM

Adonis

Summer in Texas means you stay inside, not out!

**acutekitten** · April 26th, 2005, 03:58 PM

HAHAHAH i know what you mean Old_Fart2, oklahoma gets almost as hot as texas but really windy. and alwayse windy too.

**bouncer** · April 26th, 2005, 04:14 PM

You guys make me miss Kansas-lol

rmiller · April 26th, 2005, 04:40 PM

Mondays

6 x 10 preacher curls
3 x 15 hammer curls
3 x 10 incline dumbell curls
3 x 20 widegrip curls
4 x 10 shoulder shrugs
4 x 10 donkey calf
3 x 20 incline crunches (weighted)

Wednesday

5 x 10 flat bench
3 x 10 incline bench
3 x 10 decline bench
3 x 10 dumbell butterflies
4 x 8 tricep press downs
3 x 10 stiff legged deadlifts

Friday

3 x 10 squats
4 x 10 seated hamstrings curls
3 x 10 dips
3 x 10 pullups
4 x 10 seated leg extensions

Really want some other options.

Will post diet later... Thanks for all the help Adonis, OldFart2, Bouncer and Manfred_Man (One of my favorite bands I might add).

**Adonis** · April 26th, 2005, 04:55 PM

no prob, well summer in Canada is incredible

**exnatural123** · April 26th, 2005, 05:50 PM

Drop all the bis except incline dumbell I've always liked this one... and add more for back Try raising your reps 15-20 on the large muscle groups for your cardio. Also throw in some burnout sets, like tri pushdown, calf raises, and pullups.. Get your diet in check and you'll do some good..

**Old_Fart2** · April 27th, 2005, 07:18 AM

I was also going to say that it looked like way too much bicep work.

I usually start the week working the larger muscle groups. I also start my workouts with the larger muscle groups and conpound exercises. Before moving to a different muscle group, I usually finish the one that I started unless I'm supersetting.

Try to aim for a little more balance; I wouldn't go more than 12 sets per larger muscle group, 9 sets per smaller groups. I'd also keep the reps between 6 and 10; remember you're trying to build lean muscle mass. If you're going to group muscles together, try to pair a large group with a small group.

One way that I add a little cardio during my workout is, after doing chest, I jump rope between sets of triceps. I've also done that with biceps after doing back.