Robbo
Member
Registered: 6th Aug 02
Location: London
User status: Offline
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OK guys, so I need some help and advice from you gym hounds regarding fitness, weight training, eating etc. etc.. There is a pretty decent gym in the basement of the building I live in which I have started using over the last few months, initially just to get some fitness back again and to also start sorting out my diet and I am now in a place where I'm fairly comfortable and am ready to up things and also start weight training etc. My objective is to lose some weight and also build some muscle as I've always been fairly under-developed in that sense. I don't expect to get a six pack and mahoosive guns but would be good to have a nice body with some good tone and muscles etc. As you'll see, I'm really not very clued up on working out...
Running
For the last few months I've been running most mornings in the week and am now able to run 4 miles in approx 30 mins at an average of 12.5k (pretty decent I think?) and have achieved that by slowly upping distance and speed of the treadmill using the approx 30 mins I have before work. Hoping to get to 5 miles in my 30-40 mins in time.
Is my distance reasonable, or pretty shit still?
I've been finding lately however that I'm only able to run small amounts before having to stop briefly to rest my legs - it's as though I'm losing stamina  I did initially start adding an average 2% gradient and it was around then that I found the issue, so I've now removed the gradient. Any ideas on why I would start to lose stamina despite having been able to increase all the way to 4 miles (from a very slow and stop start 2 miles)?
Also I have to slow down/stop to burp a lot - I find this a real issue when I'm running (not to mention fun embarrassing lol) as I need to take in some water as the gym is really hot but I find it then makes me very bloated and I'm constantly needing to stop to burp - any ideas?? PT had no idea!
Cycling
Additionally I've now added some cycling into the routine to build a bit more leg muscle and also add some variety as running gets a bit boring after a while. For the cycling, following most logic I've found, I've tripled the distance I run, so am aiming for 12 miles each time (takes about 45-50 mins at present)… I have it set to 6 of 25 for effort atm as I get very very sore knees, which worries me - I usually rest every 2k or so for 30s just to let my knees get some respite! When continuing, my knees sort of click a lot and just get very sore - any ideas what could be causing this? I find the same issue even when walking up a few flights of stairs tbh
Weights
The gym is not staffed (lots of places in Canary Wharf weirdly have gyms in the basement) but as part of the induction you have to do for H&S, a PT gave me a weights routine that she thought would work.
The training she set out for me is:
Shoulder and chest press (free weights) 3x 12 @ 8 (is that lb or kg?? lol)
Chest press (free weights) 3 x 12 @ 8
Tricep press (free weights) 3 x 12 @ 6
Bicep curls (free weights) 3 x 10 @ 8
Cable chest flys (machine) 3 x 10 @ 6.25
Back flys (machine) 3 x 10 @ 6.25
Medicine ball raises on swiss ball 2 x 15 @ 5 (ball marked no. 5 of 5, don't know what that represents)
Full planks 1min
Side planks 1min each side (lol - can only manage about 20-30s before my back hurts)
Sumo squats with medicine ball 20 @ 5
In general I find it OK, my arms, shoulders and pecs feel strained afterwards, which I assume is a good thing lol. I severely struggle with the chest and back flys though, I find my elbows ache a lot and find it very hard to actually complete those
One thing I'm not feeling at all though is my stomach… I have a bit of a belly that I'd like to tone a lot! The running has helped a lot but I'd like to feel some strains in my stomach after working out to know that I'm working that - what could I add in to help?
In general, does it look like a reasonable and varied work out? I usually start with 5 mins (2.5k or so) on the rowing machine (@ 7 of 10) or 5 mins (4-5k roughly) on the cycle machine as my warm up. Takes between 35-45 mins depending on how busy the gym is. I don't do my long running/cycling on the same days, as I was advised against that
Diet
So as some of you may remember, I used to literally eat shit all day long (6 choc bars a day etc.) but have started to make some good progress on diet:
Breakfast - bowl of porridge with bit of sugar and jam mixed in for flavour, 2 slices of toast with name (no butter)
Mid morning snack - belvita breakfast biscuit things (only occasionally have these)
Lunch - occasionally a baguette thing from pret but most days I have a warm pot of low gi chinese chicken noodle thing from a healthy eating place called Tossed, along with a packet of their crisps (usually ready salted)
Afternoon snack - slices of apple and a few grapes or occasionally a fruit salad pot
Evening - this is where I have the problems still. I live on my own and don't usually get in til 7 so time is tight, esp if I'm going to the gym! I generally have big ready meals, such as a lasagne (would be a 2 person one though  ), some kind of pasta dish (like spag bol, tagliatelle etc.) or a 10" pizza followed by choc pot or something like a fruit pastille lolly, and then usually some toast when i get hungry in the evening :S
In general, prior to dinner, does that look reasonable? Bear in mind I won't eat bananas, oranges or actual apples etc. - I'm limited to fruit pots etc. or pre-cut up apples from Sainsburys (cos I'm weird like that) so think I've done well so far. Don't usually get too hungry during the day but I know that evenings are letting me down big time - what do people usually do? I'm happy to cook myself some chicken and rice etc. if I think it will help but as I say, can be a bit limited in the evenings… also don't have time to continually go to shops hence usually doing one shop a week but again, flexible if it's important.
You'll have noticed that I eat far too many carbs and that I don't get a lot of protein into my diet - what can I actually do to change that? What about things like protein shakes and protein bars etc.? Should I be eating shortly after I work out?
Plan going forward
So I've been mixing and matching the last few weeks but going forward I now want to put in place a proper regime, and I've so far come up with this:
Monday - weights as above (evening before dinner - only have c.30-40 mins in the morning which probs won't be enough if I add in stomach exercises and proper warm up etc. too)
Tuesday - 4 mile run (morning before breakfast)
Wednesday - weights
Thursday - run
Friday - weights
Saturday - day off
Sunday - 12 mile cycle (afternoon before dinner)
How does that look? Should I be looking to do more cardio and/or more weights? Should I do cardio in the morning and weights in the evening to give myself more days off? Should I look to do the cardio then do the weights straight after? Should I mix it up more or should I be doing more consecutive training (i.e. run one day, run the next then 2 days of weights etc.?
One final question - I don't have a double chin exactly but I do have a bit of flabby skin under my chin like that I feel very self-conscious about - what the fuck can i do to get rid of that, as running etc. doesn't seem to have had much of an affect??
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noshua
Member
Registered: 19th Nov 08
User status: Offline
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Why don't you just to on BodyBuilding.com and look at some general fitness routines?
Edit: and diets.
[Edited on 28-12-2011 by noshua]
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Robbo
Member
Registered: 6th Aug 02
Location: London
User status: Offline
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any external links appreciated mate 
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Nismo
Member
Registered: 12th Sep 02
User status: Offline
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Your quite big'ish built so just try to lean up and shape what you have.
http://www.myprotein.com/uk/pages/goals/lean-muscle
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Russ
Member
Registered: 14th Mar 04
Location: Armchair
User status: Offline
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you get tossed for dinner?
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Robbo
Member
Registered: 6th Aug 02
Location: London
User status: Offline
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yep, served to me by a tosser with a name tag saying 'I'm a tosser, my name is...'
theres also a door marked tossers only :/
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Robbo
Member
Registered: 6th Aug 02
Location: London
User status: Offline
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http://www.tosseduk.com/
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Marc
Member
Registered: 11th Aug 02
Location: York
User status: Offline
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You need roids, 6 egg whites and protein shakes every 15 minutes.
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Robbo
Member
Registered: 6th Aug 02
Location: London
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Nismo
Your quite big'ish built so just try to lean up and shape what you have.
http://www.myprotein.com/uk/pages/goals/lean-muscle
that's really good, cheers bud
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Tom G
Member
Registered: 4th Aug 08
Location: Cheshire
User status: Offline
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What do you weigh Robbo? Usally bigger guys are slightly stronger from the off...
Hope it isn't 8lb 
Generally the low weight you have is really light, but will be good for technique.
Regarding stomach excersises do them really slow, atleast count 2 or 3 on the decline
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jacko198
Member
Registered: 1st Mar 07
Location: Buckinghamshire
User status: Offline
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Tbh, get a copy of P90x and get doing that, thats got to be the best thing to do.
Pick a weight that works for you, if you want to tone up pick a weight that you can really feel the burn on the last 2 reps.
Tone - 8-10 reps
Build - 10-12
On the bike, it could have something to do with the height of the saddle. Could be a little too high. Try to have a slight bend in your knee.
Bike machines are impossible to get your position right!
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noshua
Member
Registered: 19th Nov 08
User status: Offline
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Bike, I was told to align the seat with your hip
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richardworrall
Premium Member
Registered: 20th Sep 05
Location: Derby
User status: Offline
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on the bike the seat should be at the height where when your forefoot is on the pedal at the bottom the knee has only a slight bend. The front of the seat if it can be moved back to front should be fingertip to elbow distance from the nearest part of the handlebars.
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jacko198
Member
Registered: 1st Mar 07
Location: Buckinghamshire
User status: Offline
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Seat with hip is just an estimate, as is the fingertip to elbow thing.
If you want to get it right, move the seat forward or backwards so that there is a straight line between your knee and the axle on the pedal when your foot is at the quarter too position. This is once you have set the saddle height for a slight bend in the knee. This will sort out your arm length at the same time as making sure you are not putting too much pressure on the hips.
As with the legs, to sort out the arm length, there should be a slight bend in the elbow (to absorb the shock) Your back should be straight as you cycle, with no bend at all.
[Edited on 03-01-2012 by jacko198]
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