Official Dids Gym Thread

[kerowo]

Congrats and keep it up! I started off at Christmas at where you are now. Since then I've averaged about 2 lbs a week of steady loss by doing around 4 to 5 hours a week of cardio. Started with 45 minutes on my road bike on a trainer or between 1 and 2 hour Dance Dance Revolution sessions and getting rid of a lot of junk in my diet. I bought a heart rate monitor in Jan and have been seeing the calories per workout go up as I've dropped weight, which is nice, means my intensity is getting better, I'm now averaging around 700 calories an hour of cardio, more with the cycling less with the DDR.

My typical meals look like this:
breakfast: During the week a packet of instant oatmeal and some coffee.
snacks at work: This is what killed me before, too much crap. I now bring a yogart and yogart smoothie to work for snacking. They are organic and don't have HFCS.
Lunch: Can of the Healthy Chunky soup. A couple times a month I'll go out for lunch, but this is down from several times a week.
Dinner: It's usually been ground chicken based for the last couple weeks. Sometimes some pasta or a healthy Choice frozen dinner.
After work snack: Usually a yogart smoothy or maybe a cheese casedea.
On the weekends I usually just have more coffee for breakfast then do the cardio then have something for lunch, usually something from above, and something small for dinner, I don't eat much on the weekends.

My goal is 230 by my 40th b-day in June (which I'm about 2 weeks ahead of) then 200 by the end of the year. Sometime after June I'll worry about doing something besides the bike riding for muscle. At the moment I want to be smaller and am not worried about being stronger.

[Dids]

[ QUOTE ]
Congrats and keep it up! I started off at Christmas at where you are now. Since then I've averaged about 2 lbs a week of steady loss by doing around 4 to 5 hours a week of cardio. Started with 45 minutes on my road bike on a trainer or between 1 and 2 hour Dance Dance Revolution sessions and getting rid of a lot of junk in my diet. I bought a heart rate monitor in Jan and have been seeing the calories per workout go up as I've dropped weight, which is nice, means my intensity is getting better, I'm now averaging around 700 calories an hour of cardio, more with the cycling less with the DDR.

My typical meals look like this:
breakfast: During the week a packet of instant oatmeal and some coffee.
snacks at work: This is what killed me before, too much crap. I now bring a yogart and yogart smoothie to work for snacking. They are organic and don't have HFCS.
Lunch: Can of the Healthy Chunky soup. A couple times a month I'll go out for lunch, but this is down from several times a week.
Dinner: It's usually been ground chicken based for the last couple weeks. Sometimes some pasta or a healthy Choice frozen dinner.
After work snack: Usually a yogart smoothy or maybe a cheese casedea.
On the weekends I usually just have more coffee for breakfast then do the cardio then have something for lunch, usually something from above, and something small for dinner, I don't eat much on the weekends.

My goal is 230 by my 40th b-day in June (which I'm about 2 weeks ahead of) then 200 by the end of the year. Sometime after June I'll worry about doing something besides the bike riding for muscle. At the moment I want to be smaller and am not worried about being stronger.

[/ QUOTE ]

Unless kyle suggests other, I'd think this woudl be better served in your own thread.

[kerowo]

Not trying to hijack just showing another way down.

[kidcolin]

Dids,

Cool thread. Look forward to some of the responses.

What about working in a couple days of something along the lines of high intensity interval training (maybe at the expense of less of the cardio you're currently doing)? I'm not sure how feasible that is at your weight, but something like some wind sprints could be beneficial.

[Shadowrun]

is that right that for bicep curl you are doing 75 pds on each dumbbell?

[Doug Funnie II]

[ QUOTE ]
is that right that for bicep curl you are doing 75 pds on each dumbbell?

[/ QUOTE ]


no hes using machines

[leehrat]

[ QUOTE ]
is that right that for bicep curl you are doing 75 pds on each dumbbell?

[/ QUOTE ]

he'd be pretty goddamn swole up if he were doing bicep curls with 75 lb dumbbells, wouldn't he?

[slickpoppa]

[ QUOTE ]

3- People are going to suggest squats, I hate squats. In high school I was doing them bad and ended up emptying both sides of the bar on the floor and it freaked me out. I’m not very comfortable doing them, so I like to avoid. Also, I strongly prefer to stick with machines over free weights.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dids, free weights are far superior to machines, but I can understand your reluctance to do more intimidating exercises like bench press or squat where you need a spotter/there is a perceived risk of injury.

I'd suggest trying out free weights for easier exercises and see how you like it. If you try them, I think you will find that they are more enjoyable, and then you might be willing to try more intimidating free weight exercises like the squat and bench press.

One exercise that I would highly reccomend is the standing overhead press using a barbell:



This is a great shoulder exercise and also hits the triceps. But it also improves your balance and requires you to stabilize your core. Moreover, it will give you some experience pushing free weights (ie bench press) and standing with weight (ie squats). And since you will probably be using pretty light weight (just start out with the 45 lb bar and see how it feels), you shouldn't feel too intimidated.

Hell, even do bicep curls with free weights. That's pretty much the easiest free weight exercise there is. There's many other great free weight exercises that you can do that are not too challenging if you want more suggestions.

[ QUOTE ]

4- So what do we think of my plan? Is anything painfully misplaced? What should I add, what should I drop? My gym is pretty damn nice (LA Fitness) so if there's something you suggest, they've probably got it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd turn your "chest and arms" day into chest and triceps day, and your back day into back biceps day, and do abs on your leg day. The philosophy behind doing triceps on your chest day is that most chest exercises also hit your triceps to some extent, so if you also do triceps that day you will hit them fully and give them a full week to recover before working them again. Same reasoning for doing back the same day as biceps.


Oh, and as far as diet goes, from glancing at your cooking threads it seems you eat a lot of fish and vegetables, which is fantastic. As far as breakfast goes, I highly recommend oatmeal. It's a much better source of fiber than wheat bread, which is probably processed and enriched with bad stuff.

[DarkForceRising]

Dids,

Way to kick ass on your diet. One possible solution for your distaste for free weights/squats and deadlifts could be dumbell lunges. Sometimes I will walk up and down the stairs at my gym while holding the dumbells. It is great for the forearms and grip as well as the legs and lungs. Plus your not messing with anything too heavy involving barbells.

Charles Poloquin (highly sought after NHL trainer) has a book called "Manly Weight Loss". I've never actually read it but I was at one time somewhat familiar with his German Body Comp program. Basically, he advocates weight training as opposed to cardio to burn fat.

You should look into more movements/routines with weights that can create a calorie burning environment. The right program will offer you faster progress and eliminate the muscle-wasting indignity of the traditional mind-numbingly dull cardio.

Save your energy for the iron and I think you will like the results. If you feel the need to do some type of strictly aerobic activity try and incorporate it with something fun like roller-blading.

[DarkForceRising]

A few more thoughts after more carefully reading the thread...



You should definitely be doing this movement. Using a shorter bar (maybe your gym has the type with the weights permanently attatched) will eliminate the awkward nature of the a traditional barbell. Also, if your gym has a trapezius machine that goes to the floor, you should be able to perform deadlifts without going through the hassle of the usual method.

As one who has always 'dieted on the run', I found an empty water jug to be a clutch tool. Either in the morning or the night before I would blend up a mix of protein powder, water and oatmeal with the amount of protein being in line with the goal of 1 gram per pound of body-weight. Chocolate doesn't need any help but vanilla benefits nicely from bananas and strawberries. You can sip on this throughout the day, keeping your appetite and positive-nitrogen balance in check.

Most protein preparations mix well with water these days and by not using milk it can get warm without getting gross. Throwing some ice cubes into the blender will keep it even colder, obv.

The shake before bedtime is a good idea as you want protein to be active in your system while sleeping. You should keep the carbs low before retiring. In fact, a small steak or chicken breast (or cottage chese as nutsflopper suggested)may be a better choice as these won't make you want to piss in the middle of the night.

Again, congrats and good luck. I hope you understand any guff I have given you in the past was never meant to be anything more than good-natured internet ribbing. Your progress is awesome and I am rooting for you to really take this thing into the end zone.