Two months ago (roughly) I hurt my back doing reverse crunches - I continued as normal until my gym membership ran out in the middle of September.
Over time I realized I had a potentially serious back injury on my hands.
So I went to see my mother - who evaluated my condition and said my issues were most likely related to tightness/muscular problems in my hips.
So for the past month or so I've been doing a small hips/abs/back routine that she gave me to pull everything back into alignment.
I've been feeling considerably better through doing this and taking Aleve as she recommended - and I'm finally coming up to her second evaluation here this Sunday.
I can't wait to start lifting again, my muscles feel like jello - and even if I haven't gained much weight back, I feel awful.
So hopefully I've got a positive Tuesday post this coming week, if not I may have to wait another couple of weeks to start back up again.
Two months ago (roughly) I hurt my back doing reverse crunches - I continued as normal until my gym membership ran out in the middle of September.
Over time I realized I had a potentially serious back injury on my hands.
So I went to see my mother - who evaluated my condition and said my issues were most likely related to tightness/muscular problems in my hips.
So for the past month or so I've been doing a small hips/abs/back routine that she gave me to pull everything back into alignment.
I've been feeling considerably better through doing this and taking Aleve as she recommended - and I'm finally coming up to her second evaluation here this Sunday.
I can't wait to start lifting again, my muscles feel like jello - and even if I haven't gained much weight back, I feel awful.
So hopefully I've got a positive Tuesday post this coming week, if not I may have to wait another couple of weeks to start back up again.
I know it has been killing you to not goto the gym, but you need to get better first and when you do, you will do amazing again. I believe in you. And thanks for helping me with my meal plan and work out routine, I am excited for it
So I got approval to go back to the gym, provided I do no work that will stress my lower back (as I still have muscular issues there). Thankfully, my injury ended up being entirely muscular and should have no long-term effect on me provided I continue to train my back/abs to regain strength I lost during the onset/duration of the injury.
So long story short: Back to the gym tonight, I'll have to substitute machines for certain exercises, but overall I should be able to get back on track.
But seriously. haha. Been trying to jump rope sometimes in the basement, and I've also been considering getting a hula hoop, because that is an awesome and fun workout!
I've seen what Jess is feeding you... too many potatoes and no more Red Robin. (We ate there a few weeks ago... and immediately regretted it after looking at their nutrition facts.)
You guys should work on a diet plan together. I used to be a bad influence on Andrew, and never wanted to follow his diet guidelines, and we ate out a lot. Last week we started a diet plan, went grocery shopping together, and planned out our meals and snacks for the week. We are helping each other, and having that support system will make a difference. We are both motivated now to make a change.
So I've decided to set goals in a similar way to what I did when I first started lifting - I feel that (in addition to updating this thread regularly and generally spending time planning/thinking about fitness) really helped me succeed. So here goes:
I'm going to lay a baseline and fill it out more tomorrow.
I'm going to jog/elliptical 4-5 days per week (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday), 5 days if/when I feel physically capable of it, 4 as a starting goal.
I'm going to start tomorrow at what I would consider an undercon - 1.5 miles without stopping.
I'm going to add .1 miles per day (on days that I exercise) until I reach my goal of 5 miles.
Once I have reached that goal, I'm going to focus on going that distance in under 45 minutes - which means I'll be jogging/running a 9 minute mile.
Beyond that I'm not sure what sort of goals to set - maybe adding weight to my body while I run or something, any input from you cardio people would be great
I'm going to weigh in/measure tomorrow and take pictures - going forward I'll do that every week on Wednesday.
If your goal is weight loss, I would focus more on your heart rate and trying to keep it at appropriate ranges than just trying to go for a distance or speed.
Didn't backtrack too much - but its clear that I haven't been consistently exercising/eating crap at random (though not at a huge calorie excess, just the wrong macronutrient proportions).
If your goal is weight loss, I would focus more on your heart rate and trying to keep it at appropriate ranges than just trying to go for a distance or speed.
HIIT!
So get a HR monitor and just track it throughout the workout? Should I not just be doing one exercise?
Your goal should be to do cardio for no more than 30 minutes per day. Anything more combined with lifting will actually compromise your muscle mass and your metabolism. The effectiveness of the routine also tapers off after that point; the body goes into a state of low level metabolic shock. Many people looking to lose fat think that more time = more loss, but it's not really true.
As a result of your 30 minute limitation, you should aspire to maximize your exertion within that 30 minutes. For example, maybe you can only run 2 miles in 30 minutes. Your next goal should be to run 2.1 miles in 30 minutes. Then 2.2 and so on. By limiting your distance through time, you will naturally increase the intensity of your exercise over time. This is much better for fat loss than setting a mile goal with no time limit.
As a personal example, I prefer cycling for cardio. My goal is to increase my average MPH over 30 minutes every session. I started at 16 MPH, and slowly pushed it up to 21. The amount of calories I burn per session has increased 35-40% with that small jump.
I enjoy using the elliptical. I can add resistance, change the angle of the machine, etc. I prefer the elliptical because jogging hurts my knees, and I can keep a more steady pace on the elliptical (I can never jog steady...constantly breaking for walking). I usually go for about a half hour or so, and get about 2.5 miles in or so... while breaking a sweat the entire time, and my legs feel like jello when changing the resistance.
Your goal should be to do cardio for no more than 30 minutes per day. Anything more combined with lifting will actually compromise your muscle mass and your metabolism. The effectiveness of the routine also tapers off after that point; the body goes into a state of low level metabolic shock. Many people looking to lose fat think that more time = more loss, but it's not really true.
As a result of your 30 minute limitation, you should aspire to maximize your exertion within that 30 minutes. For example, maybe you can only run 2 miles in 30 minutes. Your next goal should be to run 2.1 miles in 30 minutes. Then 2.2 and so on. By limiting your distance through time, you will naturally increase the intensity of your exercise over time. This is much better for fat loss than setting a mile goal with no time limit.
I'm actually unable to lift - my back started feeling strange again when I was going back consistently, so until I'm able to see someone proficient in sports medicine, I'm doing cardio as a replacement.
However, I'm taking this week off to maximize the WoW/Friend/Life time I've got. I can squeeze that in during my work routine no problem - I want to have a relaxing week this week.
First week of this whole cardio business - finished my 1.5 miles in about 16 minutes (I had to walk briefly in the middle as my left calf kept seizing up for some reason), ended up doing 2 miles with the warmup/cooldown walk at the beginning/end.
Comments
Body Fat %: 19.93%
Waist Size: 38"
Drinking beer and eating tons of delicious but unhealthy food makes you fat?!?
Who knew?
Over time I realized I had a potentially serious back injury on my hands.
So I went to see my mother - who evaluated my condition and said my issues were most likely related to tightness/muscular problems in my hips.
So for the past month or so I've been doing a small hips/abs/back routine that she gave me to pull everything back into alignment.
I've been feeling considerably better through doing this and taking Aleve as she recommended - and I'm finally coming up to her second evaluation here this Sunday.
I can't wait to start lifting again, my muscles feel like jello - and even if I haven't gained much weight back, I feel awful.
So hopefully I've got a positive Tuesday post this coming week, if not I may have to wait another couple of weeks to start back up again.
I know it has been killing you to not goto the gym, but you need to get better first and when you do, you will do amazing again. I believe in you. And thanks for helping me with my meal plan and work out routine, I am excited for it
So long story short: Back to the gym tonight, I'll have to substitute machines for certain exercises, but overall I should be able to get back on track.
So I took fresh measurements this morning:
Weight: 225
Body Fat %: 25.52%
Waist Size: 42"
I'll post pictures later tonight.
Weight: 225
Body Fat %: Didn't have time to calculate it - will do this later
Waist Size: 40"
But seriously. haha. Been trying to jump rope sometimes in the basement, and I've also been considering getting a hula hoop, because that is an awesome and fun workout!
Oh you know, handstand fucking.
For really real though - I actually started jogging 30 minutes a day, with 15 minutes of walking at the start/finish (so an hour of cardio total).
Seems to be helping, I've been feeling better daily since I started - similar but not exactly the same as when I had a full lifting schedule.
Hopefully the results are similar, I've had to adjust my diet a bit as well with the change.
I'll have to do more I guess.
You guys should work on a diet plan together. I used to be a bad influence on Andrew, and never wanted to follow his diet guidelines, and we ate out a lot. Last week we started a diet plan, went grocery shopping together, and planned out our meals and snacks for the week. We are helping each other, and having that support system will make a difference. We are both motivated now to make a change.
I'm going to lay a baseline and fill it out more tomorrow.
I'm going to jog/elliptical 4-5 days per week (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday), 5 days if/when I feel physically capable of it, 4 as a starting goal.
I'm going to start tomorrow at what I would consider an undercon - 1.5 miles without stopping.
I'm going to add .1 miles per day (on days that I exercise) until I reach my goal of 5 miles.
Once I have reached that goal, I'm going to focus on going that distance in under 45 minutes - which means I'll be jogging/running a 9 minute mile.
Beyond that I'm not sure what sort of goals to set - maybe adding weight to my body while I run or something, any input from you cardio people would be great
I'm going to weigh in/measure tomorrow and take pictures - going forward I'll do that every week on Wednesday.
HIIT!
Waist Size: 42"
Body fat %: 25%
Didn't backtrack too much - but its clear that I haven't been consistently exercising/eating crap at random (though not at a huge calorie excess, just the wrong macronutrient proportions).
So get a HR monitor and just track it throughout the workout? Should I not just be doing one exercise?
Wouldn't I be increasing the intensity by pushing myself harder (IE faster)? Or do you mean adding resistance or changing the angle of approach?
As a result of your 30 minute limitation, you should aspire to maximize your exertion within that 30 minutes. For example, maybe you can only run 2 miles in 30 minutes. Your next goal should be to run 2.1 miles in 30 minutes. Then 2.2 and so on. By limiting your distance through time, you will naturally increase the intensity of your exercise over time. This is much better for fat loss than setting a mile goal with no time limit.
I try to keep my heart rate in that range and go for 30 mins to 45 mins. Anything more isn't going to be as beneficial.
I'm actually unable to lift - my back started feeling strange again when I was going back consistently, so until I'm able to see someone proficient in sports medicine, I'm doing cardio as a replacement.
However, I'm taking this week off to maximize the WoW/Friend/Life time I've got. I can squeeze that in during my work routine no problem - I want to have a relaxing week this week.
Waist Size: 41"
Body fat %: 23.12%
First week of this whole cardio business - finished my 1.5 miles in about 16 minutes (I had to walk briefly in the middle as my left calf kept seizing up for some reason), ended up doing 2 miles with the warmup/cooldown walk at the beginning/end.
Pics inc tomorrow~
Will resume after the holiday no-boundries on eating madness is finished.