Exercise and Fitness: Keep On Keepin' On

[Iskaral Pust]

4 hours ago, Kalbear said:

As announced by my wife earlier, I hit a couple milestones:

• I was able to comfortably wear my wedding tux for the first time in 10 years, and on my 11th anniversary. 
• I lost 80 lbs since February.

I am not remotely done - I need to lose at least 30 more pounds and would ideally like to lose 50-60 - but it was pretty cool to be able to get in that tux again. 

Holy shit that's a lot of weight loss.  Congratulations on incredible progress.

I'm steady at 178-182lbs.  I feel better at the lighter end of that range, but then I get complacent and eat junk until I rebound to the upper end, followed by remorse & healthier eating, then repeat.  As binge and diet cycles go, the narrow range makes it pretty benign.

[baxus]

16 hours ago, Kalbear said:

As announced by my wife earlier, I hit a couple milestones:

• I was able to comfortably wear my wedding tux for the first time in 10 years, and on my 11th anniversary. 
• I lost 80 lbs since February.

I am not remotely done - I need to lose at least 30 more pounds and would ideally like to lose 50-60 - but it was pretty cool to be able to get in that tux again. 

Great progress, man! Congrats!

I need to take a page out of your book. At the moment I'm around 84kgs and I'd like to drop down to 80-82kg range. A year or two ago, even that 80-82kgs would've been much but I've gained a fair bit of muscle (to the point of needing to buy new shirts because my old ones are tight in shoulder/chest area) over the past two years or so, so I don't think that going below 80kg would be doable.

Still, I have noticed some fat around my stomach and I'd like to lose it, if possible. Crossfit three times a week is great but it seems to me that I need at least one more workout. At the moment, I'm trying to play basketball with my colleagues or go swimming or running and I'll try to go cycling more this summer.

Either way, I feel quite fit so everything is going well. This is mostly a cosmetic issue.

[Kalbear]

Thanks all.

7 hours ago, baxus said:

Still, I have noticed some fat around my stomach and I'd like to lose it, if possible. Crossfit three times a week is great but it seems to me that I need at least one more workout. At the moment, I'm trying to play basketball with my colleagues or go swimming or running and I'll try to go cycling more this summer.

Either way, I feel quite fit so everything is going well. This is mostly a cosmetic issue.

You probably know this, but just in case - change in your diet is probably a lot more effective in removal of that than changing/adding exercise. 

 

18 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Holy shit that's a lot of weight loss.  Congratulations on incredible progress.

I'm steady at 178-182lbs.  I feel better at the lighter end of that range, but then I get complacent and eat junk until I rebound to the upper end, followed by remorse & healthier eating, then repeat.  As binge and diet cycles go, the narrow range makes it pretty benign.

FYI, the dieticians and doctors on the program I'm on say this is a perfectly good system in general - having a range of +/-5 lbs, and when you get over that go more strict until you go back. As long as you're doing regular measuring and do commit to changing when you go over your range, this is just about perfect.

[baxus]

15 hours ago, Kalbear said:

You probably know this, but just in case - change in your diet is probably a lot more effective in removal of that than changing/adding exercise. 

Yeah, I know it. It's just that I have trouble doing it. And when I say "I have trouble" I actually mean "I have no desire".  

To be honest, I'm not eating that badly. Over the week I pretty much stick with healthy choices, stay away from junk food (I sometimes grab some popcorn, but that's it). It's weekends I have problems with.  

Either way, I am trying to change my diet and it goes well most of the time but not all the time.

[aceluby]

20 hours ago, Kalbear said:

You probably know this, but just in case - change in your diet is probably a lot more effective in removal of that than changing/adding exercise. 

There's a pretty old adage about how you can't out-exercise a bad diet.  It's 100% true for me.

Still hanging in the 185-190 range, which is pretty much my ideal spot.  Might see if I can get to 180-185, just to see how my body reacts, but I'm really happy where I am.  Barre training finishes up today, so after tonight I will officially be a barre instructor, which is honestly a bit weird in a woman dominated fitness program.  Also playing some really good softball right now, which I think is a mixture of being in incredible shape right now and having a lot of confidence on the field.

Leave for a music festival right after this, which is always a mixed bag.  I know I'll eat like shit and drink a lot, but I also know I'll burn a ton of calories dancing and biking throughout the weekend

[Esmenet]

I worked a cushy job for the last 12 years, and put on near 30 lbs. I switched jobs to a more physically demanding job. Went into business with a partner and really excited about our future. Anyhow, I've lost 25 lbs in a little under 2 months. Ive ate the same and everything else. It goes to show that with a little activity, one can shed those lbs. Ibe got a gym membership this week and I feel better than I have since my mid-twenties.

[baxus]

Yesterday I finally went kayaking. I've been meaning to do it for the whole last summer but just couldn't make it. It was a an organized trip, and a whole day outing, with around 4 hours traveling either way, but we kayaked for 20-25km on a very beautiful Drina river that's the border between Serbia and Bosnia. Lovely nature (damn cold river water though) and fun times in general.

I'm looking forward to repeating it on another location in a month or so.  

[BigFatCoward]

I've put on so much weight since we had a baby, its just hard to justify f'ing off to the gym for 90 mins when your wife has the baby all day while you're at work.  Hopefully i will be starting a new job in October where i can train in my lunch break because i feel so lethargic now. 

In summer i'm normally about 10lb lighter than in winter, as i cycle about 150 miles a week, but i'm hardly doing any now.

[baxus]

In today's "baxus, you idiot!" column - I went to the swimming pool before work today, got to the pool, went into the changing rooms, put my trunks on and then figured out I forgot my goggles at home. Result - 1km of breaststroke laps (had to be able to look ahead at least at some point to avoid head-on collision with other swimmers) in 25-ish minutes and EXTREMELY red eyes afterwards.

I'll have to make this swimming a regular thing. I know I always say that, no need to point it out.  

[aceluby]

Taught my first barre class on Saturday.... man was it rough .  Good practice though and got some really good feedback on what to work on.  Also got a new cruiser bike last weekend and have been riding nearly every day.  This bike is rad.  Custom made 3 speed from an old 10 speed Raleigh with ape hanger handlebars and old school "pedal backwards to brake" brakes.  Rode about 10 miles over the weekend which will be a good warmup for all the biking my wife and I will be doing over the summer.  It even keeps up decently well with her 21 speed road bike.  Biggest surprise though was how tight my hips are now.  Must be muscles I haven't used in 15 years, lol.

[baxus]

I rode "pedal backwards to brake" bikes in Helsinki last year, after 25 years. Almost fell over a couple of times.  It reminded me of my childhood.

My schedule is a bit chaotic this week, going to the doctors appointments with my wife and having some construction work at the apartment done before the baby comes. As a result, my workout my routine's gone to hell and I did my workout last evening instead of in the morning. It was weird. It wasn't any harder on me then my usual morning workouts but it was a bit hotter and I was sweating like I haven't in quite a while. Will see how it goes for the rest of the week.

[Kalbear]

Hit 175# in squats (4x10) and 245# deadlift (3x10). Both kick my ass like no other exercise does, especially deadlifts. RDLs I can almost do the same as deadlifts (225, 3x10) and without any bend in the knees - my flexibility has improved so amazingly much. 

Another neat thing - last month I could barely do wall sits for 30 seconds, and now I'm doing them for 30 seconds without nearly as much effort and with a 35# weight on my lap. 

[Iskaral Pust]

Exercise feels a bit sporadic lately.  The return of summer has brought lots of social activity, especially at weekends, which leaves less time available for the gym.  Plus work has been very busy, including travel, which makes midweek exercise difficult too.

I'm still on a break from squats and dead lifts until this hamstring tightness abates.  That's two weeks so far and it still needs more time.  In the meantime I'm using the step climber and air squats for lighter leg exercise.  On the stair climber I do 100 floors in 21-23 minutes, which burns ~320 calories, so it seems similar in duration and energy intensity to rowing 5k.

I'm still trying to favor shoulder press & pull-ups with the prime workout times, relegating bench press & cable rows to off-peak (bench press had improved a lot already).  Last Saturday I had a new PB day on shoulder press despite feeling pretty tired and listless prior to going to the gym.  I added 1-2 reps to every heavy set.

And I've been stuck at 182lbs for the last three weeks.  Too much restaurant food compounded by some junk food when I was exhausted by travel.  I'm cleaning up my diet now but I also think I may have added a pound or two of lean mass over the last six months.  My lifts have all progressed well during that period and I look as lean now at 180lbs as I did at 178lbs at Christmas.  But I don't want to kid myself and start creating excuses to allow my weight to creep up.  It's hard to get an objective measure.  I need a way to measure body fat %.  That's what I really want to control.

 

Edit to add: the FIFA world cup squads published the height and weight of the players.  I compare pretty favorably to elite soccer players.  I'm the same height and weight as Jordan Henderson, for example, although I proportionally carry more some muscle than him in my upper torso and upper arms.  Even though he's 13 years younger than me and a professional athlete.  OTOH Phil Jones definitely doesn't look like he is 22lbs lighter than me (or Henderson for that matter) despite being the same height.  So perhaps these statistics aren't very reliable.

[baxus]

I hate the heat. That is all.

[Jordan La Cabra]

24 minutes ago, baxus said:

I hate the heat. That is all.

We are experiencing a heat-wave here in Northern Ireland. Even the duller days are still warm and clammy. Unfortunately, us Irish aren't well adapted to it, and it makes for very sticky gym sessions.

[baxus]

It's 33ºC in Belgrade today, and for some reason I feel like it's 40ºC.

Was 100% covered in sweat during warmup this morning.

The fact we have such temperatures every year for a couple of months straight still doesn't make one any more used to it.  

[Jordan La Cabra]

Northern Ireland would be in shut-down mode if we experienced temperatures of 30+ degrees Celsius for a couple of months each year, as we are only used to a handful of hot / sunny days per year. The past month has been really hot here, and even then it's only between 21-25, at best. The forecast for tomorrow is highs of 21DC, with a 'yellow warning' for heavy rain and lightning. Excellent! 

 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

I'm going to have to skip the gym today. My legs are so shot from this weekend. I guess that means two 2 hour workouts this week instead of thee 75 minute sessions. Yay!, not...

I've got a nutrition question. It's been a while since I've researched the topic, but is it still considered correct to need 1 gram per pounds you weigh to maintain your current strength levels? Because I can't keep up with 170-175 grams a day without chugging multiple protein shakes and I've read you shouldn't be doing that.

[Kalbear]

12 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

I've got a nutrition question. It's been a while since I've researched the topic, but is it still considered correct to need 1 gram per pounds you weigh to maintain your current strength levels? Because I can't keep up with 170-175 grams a day without chugging multiple protein shakes and I've read you shouldn't be doing that.

My understanding is that this isn't accurate unless you're a bodybuilder or world-class athlete working out many hours a day. In addition, there's serious risk of kidney damage for overdoing protein amounts past a certain point. 

[Iskaral Pust]

11 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

I'm going to have to skip the gym today. My legs are so shot from this weekend. I guess that means two 2 hour workouts this week instead of thee 75 minute sessions. Yay!, not...

I've got a nutrition question. It's been a while since I've researched the topic, but is it still considered correct to need 1 gram per pounds you weigh to maintain your current strength levels? Because I can't keep up with 170-175 grams a day without chugging multiple protein shakes and I've read you shouldn't be doing that.

I think that was debunked as bro science.  I know hard-core bodybuilders might still aim for that, but there are real limits on how much protein your liver can process.  The rest just gets converted into carbs.

I weigh 180lbs and probably consume ~100 grams of protein daily.  And even that feels like a lot and requires dedication to protein intake.  That's plenty for me to maintain decent lifting strength, but I'm not trying to be a power lifter or a swole body builder.  Someone who weighs the same as me but is much shorter & carrying a larger % of muscle mass, and lifting larger weights relative to body weight, might need more protein than me.  Someone who's trying to gain a lot of mass might need more too.

I bench press my body weight for 8 reps, and my squat is ~50% heavier (also 8 reps) and my deadlift is ~70% heavier (also 8 reps).  I haven't tried one-rep maximums as a % of body weight, although I know that's a common standardized measure.