Post your diet and workout plans here

[MarkGrace]

I am heavier now than I have ever been. I am 5'10 and weigh 258. I weighed 165-170lbs at my lowest adult weight (3-6 mos. pre-marriage, 18 years ago). I have a gym membership but never use it (wife uses it religiously). I attempted P90X a couple years back, but quit after 5-6 weeks. I did have limited success and dropped from 240ish down to 215-220. I want to get down between 170-180lbs.

I am going to attempt Shaun T's Focus T25. It is a 10 week program with a series of 25min high intensity workouts. Not sure how it will compare to P90X or Insanity, but I'm going to give it a go.

I'm also going to try to sustain a 1000 calorie daily deficit.

My goal is to drop 1.5-2.0 lbs a week. Once I drop a little weight, I'll try to start making it to the gym to start some strength training. I'll be 40 in February and I've been making alot of changes as of late, a quasi mid-life makeover if you will. Getting in shape is just one part of the overall plan.

this is the part that I'm finally learning. When I was a younger exercise seemed to be enough to keep the weight off. The last few years, even though I was running a decent amount, it just wasn't enough anymore. Having to actually worry about calorie intake /diet these days to keep the weight down. Right now I'm focusing on eating pretty well 5 of 7 days during the week. Friday and Saturday I just kind of eat whatever.

[jay santos]

Weighed in at 192 this morning. My water weight fluctuates a ton (4-5 lbs) because I go low carb on weekdays to carbing up on weekend. I'm still going at a pace of 1-2 lbs per week. Body fat thing showed 15.4% last week but this week my best was 16.1%. I think i'm a little better than that. I don't know how much longer I can take this, but I really want to try to get a six pack. Still haven't gotten 190 on bench. Got 5,5,4 last Saturday.

[Surfah]

Weighed in at 192 this morning. My water weight fluctuates a ton (4-5 lbs) because I go low carb on weekdays to carbing up on weekend. I'm still going at a pace of 1-2 lbs per week. Body fat thing showed 15.4% last week but this week my best was 16.1%. I think i'm a little better than that. I don't know how much longer I can take this, but I really want to try to get a six pack. Still haven't gotten 190 on bench. Got 5,5,4 last Saturday.

Just so I understand, you're trying to do 190 3 sets of 5? Do you not go up until you can do that? What is your typical chest workout?

[jay santos]

Just so I understand, you're trying to do 190 3 sets of 5? Do you not go up until you can do that? What is your typical chest workout?

Yes, that's right. I do chest-shoulder-tri's twice a week. Once a week is a strength workout, sets of five reps with long rest in between. Typical workout for that would be flat barbell bench, incline dumbbell bench, seated db shoulder press, weighted dips. Then once a week I do a no rest, circuit type workout that lasts 30 minutes and I do sets of 10-15 reps, supersets or circuit style with no rest. I do some of the same exercises but mix in isolation lifts like lateral raise, cable crossovers, cable pushdown, etc.

[Surfah]

Yes, that's right. I do chest-shoulder-tri's twice a week. Once a week is a strength workout, sets of five reps with long rest in between. Typical workout for that would be flat barbell bench, incline dumbbell bench, seated db shoulder press, weighted dips. Then once a week I do a no rest, circuit type workout that lasts 30 minutes and I do sets of 10-15 reps, supersets or circuit style with no rest. I do some of the same exercises but mix in isolation lifts like lateral raise, cable crossovers, cable pushdown, etc.

I'm not sure what your goal is, but if it is getting stronger I'd mix up your reps and weight. When I hit a plateau like trying to get a certain weight up for 3 sets of 5 (I never do this generally - my weight will vary from set to set) I'll go a bit lighter and try to push out more reps. I've noticed many of my plateaus are due to muscle fatigue rather than lack of strength. This is especially true for me when starting back up after a layoff. The first set will feel good and make me think I haven't lost much, then the next set is much more difficult and consequent sets seems impossible. So it isn't the strength I am lacking because I know I can push the weight, it's an endurance issue.

If you're trying to get 190 up for x amount of times and can't get that last one, go lighter for a week or two and push out more reps. I'd also add drop sets to your workout. One of my favorite exercises is doing dropsets on incline to finish a chest workout. I'll throw 6-8 10lb plates on each side (finding more 10s is usually a challenge). I'll do reps to failure and then take 10 off each side and repeat until I am down to just the bar and I'll do that until I can't lift it off my chest.

[jay santos]

I'm not sure what your goal is, but if it is getting stronger I'd mix up your reps and weight. When I hit a plateau like trying to get a certain weight up for 3 sets of 5 (I never do this generally - my weight will vary from set to set) I'll go a bit lighter and try to push out more reps. I've noticed many of my plateaus are due to muscle fatigue rather than lack of strength. This is especially true for me when starting back up after a layoff. The first set will feel good and make me think I haven't lost much, then the next set is much more difficult and consequent sets seems impossible. So it isn't the strength I am lacking because I know I can push the weight, it's an endurance issue.

If you're trying to get 190 up for x amount of times and can't get that last one, go lighter for a week or two and push out more reps. I'd also add drop sets to your workout. One of my favorite exercises is doing dropsets on incline to finish a chest workout. I'll throw 6-8 10lb plates on each side (finding more 10s is usually a challenge). I'll do reps to failure and then take 10 off each side and repeat until I am down to just the bar and I'll do that until I can't lift it off my chest.

I agree with your suggestions. But strength is not really my goal. I'm using my 3 x 5 progress mostly as an indicator. I'm 43 years old and cutting calories at the rate of 1-2 lbs per week trying to get down to the 10-12% bf range. The goal is primarily to hang onto all the muscle I have and ensure the weight coming off is fat not muscle.

I'm a strong believer that diet is 80% of this (this meaning specifically bodybuilding for the purpose of looking fit). If you want to lose weight, you lift and cut calories. If you want to gain muscle, you lift and increase calories. I don't think it matters too much what or how you lift as long as you're hitting all muscle groups and pushing yourself.

[Jacob]

After reaching an all-time high with my weight, I've decided it's time again to make a dramatic change in the way I eat. I've been eating so much at night that I actually feel sick when I'm done eating. Gross. Anyway, I reached a peak of 246 per my scale, on Saturday. By the end of the day I was 241 (normal fluctuation after a 2 day binge). At 241, I set the goal to lose 25 lbs by Thanksgiving, which I don't feel is too aggressive and I would still be almost 20 lbs away from by goal weight. I decided to go with the tried and true low carb diet. It always works for me. This morning I weighed in at 235. Of course I'm working off the water weight and bloating so far, but it's nice to see the number go down every time I step on the scale. Yesterday I made some eggs with cheese and chorizo. It wasn't very good, but that's all I ate for lunch and dinner. My wife made some delicious stuffed peppers for dinner that were very low carb.

I haven't started exercising yet, but will try to go today. It gets so hard to break away from work, and I don't like to leave my wife at night since we have small boys and a 3-month old. Not to mention, I already coach Jr Jazz 3 days a week. But I will workout several times a week. Planned workout will be

1. 5 minute warmup on the rower
2. Lift weights, alternating days between upper and lower body, but always pullups.
3. Add in a short, high intensify workout at the end: either TABATA anything (20 sec on, 10 sec rest, any movement, 8 reps; a really short, simple crossfit workout; or a max effort row i.e. 500m row for time (1:40 last week, 1:27 is all-time best for me).
4. Recumbent bike for a cool-down.

Here goes!

[Jacob]

I agree with your suggestions. But strength is not really my goal. I'm using my 3 x 5 progress mostly as an indicator. I'm 43 years old and cutting calories at the rate of 1-2 lbs per week trying to get down to the 10-12% bf range. The goal is primarily to hang onto all the muscle I have and ensure the weight coming off is fat not muscle.

I'm a strong believer that diet is 80% of this (this meaning specifically bodybuilding for the purpose of looking fit). If you want to lose weight, you lift and cut calories. If you want to gain muscle, you lift and increase calories. I don't think it matters too much what or how you lift as long as you're hitting all muscle groups and pushing yourself.

I agree with your strategy. Of course, eating right is the only way you will get our six-pack but genetics will probably play a role in how defined it ever is, won't it?

May I ask what your body fat % range was in your prime? As a fit freshman in college, I could run a 5k in 18:30 without training and my bodyfat was 12:. I've never had a 6-pack and have always eaten too much. But I played sports all the time (and was young), so I was always thin. A year and a half ago, I lost 40 lbs over a year and got back down to my college weight, but with more muscle, and about 12%, maybe dropped to 11%. I looked great, but no six pack. I pretty much gave up on that dream.

[Jacob]

165.8 at my weigh in yesterday. Never really thought I'd ever be able to get in this range again. Thanks, Cafe Rio salad!

Wow. What salad do you eat at cafe rio (or was that just a joke)? Their salad has more calories than their ridiculously large burrito. I suppose you'd pass on the dressing, chips, and tortilla.

[ERCougar]

I'll chip in my two cents...
I was looking to get back into strength training a few months ago and about a month ago, finally settled to a program that worked really well for me a few years ago. I've found that I never really stick to a program unless it's relatively short and I can do it any day, anywhere--otherwise, I find excuses to skip and then I get out of the routine. This is why running has worked so well for me. I can't remember the source for this, but I've varied it up a little to the following:
3 days a week
Day 1: 6 sets total, with 3 minutes rest between each. Each of the first three sets is a circuit of pullupsushups:body weight squats in a ratio of 1:3:5. Determine level by how many pullups (generally the limiting exercise, although as I've progressed, it has switched to pushups before) you can complete 3 sets of that number of reps. So if I can get 3 sets of five pullups/15 pushups/25 squats, I'm a level 5. The final three sets are whatever variant I want to do, but push/pull/leg workouts. I have a knock-off TRX strap that I use for Let Me Ups for pulling. Pushing is either pike pushups or dips between two chairs. Legs are pistols or one-legged standups from a chair.
Day 2: 20 minute timed how many half sets of the above you can do in twenty minutes. Level 5 would be sets of 3 pullups/9 pushups/15 squats. This is exhausting but pretty fun
Day 3: Time how long it takes to complete 5x your level. Level 5 would be 25 pullups/75 pushups/125 squats. This gives a good progress stick to see how many pullups you can do in a row. Say it's 10. Then you do 30 pushups and 50 squats. Rest a bit and work on knocking off more pullups. Keep going through cycles until you finish 25.

Workouts never take longer than 20 minutes and all I need is a pull up bar (I have one in my house, but I also have this one for the road that works on about any door) and a couple of chairs for dips. I stuck to this for about a year a couple of years ago, which is a record for me. It's nice if you're not a total gym rat but still want good functional strength. Yes, the body weight squats are easy, but studies show that doing these as you age is the best thing you can do for balance and functional mobility. Plus, pistols are not easy and once a week, I push myself with these.

As for running, I'm coming off of a couple of injury issues (ITB last summer, Achilles last month) for the first time in years, so I'm trying to change something up there. There's a guy in St George that runs a running blog that swears by a program of running x miles a day, easy, every day, then double it on the weekend. When you feel good through the whole week, add a mile on your daily run. Continue until you're at 10 daily miles and 20 on the weekend. Then you're ready to run a marathon, and you'll run it fast. I know a few guys who have gone in the very low 3's with this program when they were barely breaking 4 hours before. I don't care all that much about time any more (that's what caused my ITB issues, I'm convinced), and I'm also pretty done with marathons for a while, but I did commit already to one more June marathon, so I thought I'll try a variation of this until June. I'm starting at 5 daily miles, every other day, with half that followed by my strength routine, on the alternating days. Running easy every day. I'm only doing long runs every other week. I'll add when my body feels really good on everything. I figure I should be up to 10/5/10/5/20/5 by June and that would be a respectable 55 mile week. Here goes...

EDIT: If you can't do pullups (a couple of years ago, I could barely knock off two), do negatives--stand up on a chair to the bar and let yourself down slowly.

[Jacob]

Gong from 20 minute workouts to 10 miles runs sure would be a change in how much time you spend exercising. Unless you really want to run a marathon, for some reason that I can't grasp, I'd stick with your 20 minute routine, but maybe try and add some weight to it if you want to push yourself more.

[jay santos]

I agree with your strategy. Of course, eating right is the only way you will get our six-pack but genetics will probably play a role in how defined it ever is, won't it?

May I ask what your body fat % range was in your prime? As a fit freshman in college, I could run a 5k in 18:30 without training and my bodyfat was 12:. I've never had a 6-pack and have always eaten too much. But I played sports all the time (and was young), so I was always thin. A year and a half ago, I lost 40 lbs over a year and got back down to my college weight, but with more muscle, and about 12%, maybe dropped to 11%. I looked great, but no six pack. I pretty much gave up on that dream.

I don't know what my bf was. I was very fit before my mission. Tall, thin basketball player type. I don't ever remember looking super ripped or having a six pack, but I don't think I had much extra fat.

I'm sure genetics will play a role in my quest for abs. I'll just have to see. I just bought a pair of 32 jeans. I can see the outline of abs when I flex now. When I started about four years ago, my 38's were getting too tight, so I was going to buy 40's or lose weight.

[ERCougar]

Gong from 20 minute workouts to 10 miles runs sure would be a change in how much time you spend exercising. Unless you really want to run a marathon, for some reason that I can't grasp, I'd stick with your 20 minute routine, but maybe try and add some weight to it if you want to push yourself more.

I'm not starting this again with you.

Yeah, the only reason I'll up it to ten is because I have to do this dumb marathon. I've toyed with the idea of weights, which undoubtedly would add strength more efficiently, but that would require me buying a bench and weights, and it's tougher to do when I travel. Also, I really like pushups for the core work aspect (I don't do situps because I hate them). I still may end up purchasing some weights, and I'm also considering getting a weighted vest to do pullups/pushups in. Or, I'll just stick with this.

From my experience, long aerobic (plus diet control, obviously) is the best way to lose weight. When I hurt my Achilles, I switched to Tabata type workouts, and ended up the heaviest I've been in 10 years. Also, not even close to the same aerobic shape. I know theory suggests that anaerobic bursts work just as well, but not for me.

[Surfah]

I agree with your suggestions. But strength is not really my goal. I'm using my 3 x 5 progress mostly as an indicator. I'm 43 years old and cutting calories at the rate of 1-2 lbs per week trying to get down to the 10-12% bf range. The goal is primarily to hang onto all the muscle I have and ensure the weight coming off is fat not muscle.

I'm a strong believer that diet is 80% of this (this meaning specifically bodybuilding for the purpose of looking fit). If you want to lose weight, you lift and cut calories. If you want to gain muscle, you lift and increase calories. I don't think it matters too much what or how you lift as long as you're hitting all muscle groups and pushing yourself.

Curious, but what is your 3 x 5 of 190 an indicator of if you're not lifting to build strength?

Also, what are you doing for diet? If you're running too big of a calorie deficit you could be doing exactly what you're trying not to do and that is lose the muscle you're building. This is a compounding issue too, because if you're losing muscle then your metabolic rate will dip. If your goal is to simply look fit, then you should probably be eating more than you think you should and lifting more.

[jay santos]

Curious, but what is your 3 x 5 of 190 an indicator of if you're not lifting to build strength?

Also, what are you doing for diet? If you're running too big of a calorie deficit you could be doing exactly what you're trying not to do and that is lose the muscle you're building. This is a compounding issue too, because if you're losing muscle then your metabolic rate will dip. If your goal is to simply look fit, then you should probably be eating more than you think you should and lifting more.

My primary goal is to lose fat while preserving muscle. If possible, I'd like to gain a little muscle, but I know that might not be realistic when I'm cutting calories and getting down to relatively low bf levels.

I use many things as an indicator. Weight, my body fat measuring tool, how I fit into clothes, how I look in the mirror, how my lifts are doing. By all measures, I'm feeling very good about my progress. My lifts are not going up super fast, but they're going up not down. As far as I know, most 43 year old men aren't blasting through 5 lb increases on their bench every week, even when they're not cutting calories.