Training & Nutrition - recommendations and suggestions please

i've gain a lot of weight ever since high school. in college, late night snacks and weekend (or sometimes weekday) parties put me way out of shape.

wanting to go back to my old fit/form, i've just invested in a road bike. i've been sticking to a pretty strict routine of weight lifting. sunday and wednesday, i work on my triceps and biceps and monday and thursday, i do some bench presses. i plan to ride at least twice a week - tuesday and friday.

anyway, what would be the best way to lose weight? is twice a week enough? how many miles should i ride? thanks.

santaklaws: I am no expert here, but I am also trying to lose weight and gain my health back. I ride 4 days a week and walk 3-4 days. I not a weight lifter, so I do not want to do weights. Do not jump to big miles at first, build yourself a base. Start at 15-20 min rides at a moderate pace and work up from there. If you go out and ride at hard pace from day one, all you will rember is the pain and suffering, not the pleasure of the ride. Do at least 1 easy ride a week, ride slow at the lower end of your HR ~ 60% and enjoy the surroundings. I would recomend a heart rate monitor (HRM). You need the tach on your motor, so you can tell your performance. Having said all of this, add a weekend ride to your schedule and ride to recover from other workouts. Set a schedule you can attain.

Santaklaws, looks like you've got a good start, but it looks like you're only working your upper body. If you want to lose weight, ya have to increase your metabolism to burn more fat. Best way to do that is with everyone's favorite, the squat. Squats work your largest muscle groups and will boost your metabolism the most.
And when you ride, work on trying to keep your heart beat up for the entire ride. I don't think it matters much how many times a week you ride. Everyone here will just tell ya the more the better. Some folks ride everyday. I don't. I don't have time to be pumpin out 100 miles a week. I wish I did. I'd be a road junkie for sure. So what I do is concentrate on intensity. I usually work my upper body and abs on Monday, lower on Tuesday, nothing Wednesday, and biking or hill running on Thursday, and a short weight blast on Friday afternoon. Then If wifey doesn't have a big list of honeydoos, I'll go for a thirty mile ride (my favorite workout) on Saturday. Maybe another ride Sunday.
At least that's the schedule I try to keep, but doesn't always work out that way.
I started around January at 228 lbs, and right now I'm weighing in at 193. I'll be happy around 175 lbs. Do them squats man. You'll hate them, but your body will eventually appreciate it. Whatever you do, just keep doing it, and doing it hard. The magic will happen.

I not a weight lifter, so I do not want to do weights.



Weight lifting is IN in a big way, for good reasons.

It prevents osteoporosis (while bicycling does the opposite - intense and at times recreational bicycling is a big cause of osteo), it prevents the natural loss of muscle which happens with aging, helps keep your body in generally good shape.

All fitness folks are now prescribing "resistance" training - and you don't have to be a "weight lifter."

Twice a week may not be enough. I'd suggest at least 4 days a week and 25+ miles per ride.

I have to ride about 100-150 miles per week to see weight loss, and that's with intervals, hills, and long rides. HOWEVER, my body hords fat. It's definitely difficult for me to lose. The higher the intensity; the better. Start slow, increase as you go, and keep your diet in check. The diet is the most important part for weight loss.

Weight lifting is IN in a big way, for good reasons.

It prevents osteoporosis (while bicycling does the opposite - intense and at times recreational bicycling is a big cause of osteo), it prevents the natural loss of muscle which happens with aging, helps keep your body in generally good shape.

All fitness folks are now prescribing "resistance" training - and you don't have to be a "weight lifter."

Cycling does not cause Osteo!

Well, i'm not an expert but I definately have some recommendations. When weight lifting try to pair 1 major and 1 minor muscle group together each day and work on them only. Otherwise you'll simply end up overtraining yourself.

A good pairing would be something like

Day 1: Biceps and Shoulders
Day 2: Back
Day 3: Quads/Hams/Calves
Day 4: Trieceps and Pecs

Then 2 -3 other days a week do light to medium cardiovascular exercise, and try to mix up the exercise you do. A good mix of cycling/rowing/jogging has always been preferably to just doing 1 and getting bored of it.

For the first few months you work out keep your calorie intake marginally lower than you maintenance calorie level, then as your metabolism kicks in start intaking more. I'm not going to give specifics on what your diet should be because it simply varies too much for different body types, but always try and take in as much protein as you can (keeping in mind that most bodies can't process more than about 40g's of protein in 1 sitting) and spread out your meals so that you're eating small portions about every 2 hours.

Oh, and don't be afraid of the word supplement. A good multivitamin, protein supplement and BCAA never hurt anyone and can go quite a way in getting you healthier.


... and stay away from soy protein isolates and concentrates whatever you do.

Cycling does not cause Osteo!
The long intensity, low impact of cycling has been linked to bone density loss. I am not an expert
but I believe they said it had something to do with losing calcium when you sweat and the fact there
is little or no impact involved. There was an article about it in bicycling a few months ago.

I am not an expert so I won't hijack the thread any further.

Santaklawz do you plan on keeping with the lift 2x a week, ride 2x a week? If you can do more, 3 times a week is plenty. I like upper body 2x with lower 1x first week, then upper body 1x and lower 2x the 2nd week. Plenty of time to recover and each body part trained 3x every two weeks.

I think that intensity is greater then the amount of weight you lift. (your connective tissue will thank you in years to come) Remember to work largest muscle to smallest. When you do chest and shoulders you are working your triceps collaterally (pushing exercises). And when you work your back (pulling exercises) you work your biceps at the same time.

I work Chest, shoulders, back, tri's, biceps in order. Then for legs Squats, hamstrings, calves then abs.

Use proper form, stop at the top and bottom of each rep (inertia is your enemy for this type of training) To add intensity flex the muscle at the point of peak contraction during each rep. This will not only seriously increase the intensity, it will ensure you have stopped movement, and will keep your mind focused on the muscle you are training. 1 minute between sets. Longer then that and you recover too much. Your goal is to stress the muscle as efficiently as possible. Use the clock and proper form to do that rather then heavy weights.

Good luck to you and grats on getting back into shape. =)

i've gain a lot of weight ever since high school. in college, late night snacks and weekend (or sometimes weekday) parties put me way out of shape.

wanting to go back to my old fit/form, i've just invested in a road bike. i've been sticking to a pretty strict routine of weight lifting. sunday and wednesday, i work on my triceps and biceps and monday and thursday, i do some bench presses. i plan to ride at least twice a week - tuesday and friday.

anyway, what would be the best way to lose weight? is twice a week enough? how many miles should i ride? thanks.

I'm kind of surprised that nobody mentioned diet...it's a LOT more important than exercise in weight loss.

Not that exercise isn't important...it's useful for a whole host of health-related reasons. But, most forms of exercise (especially weightlifting) burn only a modest amount of calories, and you can easily subvert an entire week's worth of exercise with a single pizza and beer pig-out on Friday evening.

For instance, go to Jack-In-the-Box and get a seemingly healthy "Turkey Pannido" sandwich and a small chocolate shake. The sandwich tastes great, and it's turkey...the shake is small...so, all is good, right? Wrong...that tasty little meal contains over 1400 calories! Working off that meal would take nearly 5 hours of weightlifting, or 35 miles on the bike.

Keep up your exercise program (especially cycling, which is one of the more efficient calorie burning exercises). But, start thinking about what you eat, and how much you eat. Most of us eat too much junk, eat portions that are too large, and eat without thinking about it. If you haven't already done so, give up sodas today.

And, if you're into numbers, you might want to check out my WeightWare program (http://www.WeightWare.com ). It's a weight and health journal that you may find useful in your efforts to lose weight. You can download a free, fully functional, 45-day trial version from the website to see if it works for you.

Best of luck.

Try any or all of these:


Read the labels on the food you eat. Avoid anything with Corn Syrup, or Partially Hydrogenated Oil. This will eliminate almost all junk food. Instead try fruit, vegetables, or dairy based foods (yogurts, cheeses, etc).

Find all the salt shakers in your house and throw them away. There is plenty of salt inside the food you already eat. There is no need to add more. This requires some getting used to, but eventually you will become accustomed to tasting the food itself instead of the salt.

Drink lots of water. Carry around a liter of it and sip all day. This will keep you feeling full, dampen some of your nervous energy, and make it easier to avoid sugar loaded sodas.

Park your car. Get used to the idea of moving around under your own power. Walk, commute or run errands on your bike. This will allow you to gradually increase your calorie output over time and make you stronger and more fit.

Do something every day. It doesn't have to be much or even something physical. Lift a few weights, walk some for no reason at all, educate yourself about how vitamins work, or how execise affects your body. This will help you keep focused.

A small effort made consistently pays bigger dividends than huge efforts made occasionally. Try to concentrate on improving your level of fitness, your body weight will take care of itself over time.



As you can see health and fitness are not something than you do for an hour a day or so. They are something that you have to strive to build in.

Good Luck

Dan

thanks everyone for the comments.

Cycling does not cause Osteo!

Where have you been?

Tremendous amount of current research on the relation between osteo and biking - including Bicycling magazine having a feature article on the very subject.

Here is a recent thread:

http://64.191.20.129/showthread.php?t=44525&highlight=osteoporosis

Weight lifting is IN in a big way, for good reasons.

It prevents osteoporosis (while bicycling does the opposite - intense and at times recreational bicycling is a big cause of osteo), it prevents the natural loss of muscle which happens with aging, helps keep your body in generally good shape.

All fitness folks are now prescribing "resistance" training - and you don't have to be a "weight lifter."

Denver, should have phrased that different. "I am not a weight lifter so I do not want to offer advice on a weight program". That would have been a better choice.
I do intend to do some weights in the winter, but I will leave the selections to trainers that know what I should do. Right now I am working on the weight loss. Tried the power approach and always hit a wall as I build to much.. Trying a restricted diet, cal's and salt. Holding my intake to 2000 a day with the salt at 1600-mg. I am working with my doc so I am making changes slowly. As SSP pointed out, watch your salt intake! I was a junk and salt junkie. N ow I eat more veggies, and fruit. I actually look forward to my daily fruit vs the cracker, chips and cookies I use to eat.

Denver, should have phrased that different. "I am not a weight lifter so I do not want to offer advice on a weight program". That would have been a better choice.
I do intend to do some weights in the winter, but I will leave the selections to trainers that know what I should do. Right now I am working on the weight loss. Tried the power approach and always hit a wall as I build to much.. Trying a restricted diet, cal's and salt. Holding my intake to 2000 a day with the salt at 1600-mg. I am working with my doc so I am making changes slowly. As SSP pointed out, watch your salt intake! I was a junk and salt junkie. N ow I eat more veggies, and fruit. I actually look forward to my daily fruit vs the cracker, chips and cookies I use to eat.

Glad you are making progress.

The Body for Life program, which I attempt to follow (but not yet perfectly) prescribes a regimen of

1. Healthy diet with portion control - I eat the healthy diet, it is the portion control that is my nemesis! :D

2. Intense cardio - I do that one a lot!

3. A lot of resistance training - I do that a lot, also.

Hhmm!! 21/2 out of 3 isn't TOO bad! Guess I will pat myself on the back just a bit! :roflmao:

Santaklawz do you plan on keeping with the lift 2x a week, ride 2x a week? If you can do more, 3 times a week is plenty. I like upper body 2x with lower 1x first week, then upper body 1x and lower 2x the 2nd week. Plenty of time to recover and each body part trained 3x every two weeks.

I think that intensity is greater then the amount of weight you lift. (your connective tissue will thank you in years to come) Remember to work largest muscle to smallest. When you do chest and shoulders you are working your triceps collaterally (pushing exercises). And when you work your back (pulling exercises) you work your biceps at the same time.

I work Chest, shoulders, back, tri's, biceps in order. Then for legs Squats, hamstrings, calves then abs.

Use proper form, stop at the top and bottom of each rep (inertia is your enemy for this type of training) To add intensity flex the muscle at the point of peak contraction during each rep. This will not only seriously increase the intensity, it will ensure you have stopped movement, and will keep your mind focused on the muscle you are training. 1 minute between sets. Longer then that and you recover too much. Your goal is to stress the muscle as efficiently as possible. Use the clock and proper form to do that rather then heavy weights.

Good luck to you and grats on getting back into shape. =)

I like the way you have your workouts organized. How do you fit rides into this schedule?

Oh, and don't be afraid of the word supplement. A good multivitamin, protein supplement and BCAA never hurt anyone and can go quite a way in getting you healthier.


... and stay away from soy protein isolates and concentrates whatever you do.

What is the problem with soy? I thought it was the best thing since beer.