Weight/resistance training programs
 

After quite a long time at a plateau, as of November I have begun to lose weight (unknown as to how or why so I have not even mentally acknowledged it) In an effort to keep this trend going, one of my goals for this year is to add some sort of weight/resistance training to my normal routine of riding 3-4 days per week. It needs to be easy to integrate into life or I will not stick to it. Being perfectly honest, It is highly unlikely that anything to do with a gym will last. I have a co-worker who suggested P90X and said that all of the extremes also present a modified version using bands. Anyone here have experience and been successful with something like this.

I supplement my cycling with a program called pump. It's a workout with weights that focuses for about 5 mins on a particular muscle. It is high repetition with low weights. It also incorporates an abs workout and a yoga workout. Workouts vary from 15 mins to 55 mins. I enjoy it and it has helped me work out all my muscles and improve my flexibility.

This is a FUN butt kicker I've done to break up plateaus and simple equipment that you might already have or get fairly cheap. I did splurge on a nice kettle bell that cost about $40 for squats and Dbell swings. Weights at walmart are cheap and get the Hex ended versions. Easier to stabilize when doing butterfly push ups....I hate those.

http://my.menshealth.com/workout/The...-2.0/workout-a


The trick is to pick dumb bell weight that you can finish the circuit with. Sounds easy right? But don't let it fool you until you try it. 40s on, 20s break (which is used to grab another weight), 10 different work outs, 2min break between completed circuits and repeat 3 sets.

Like anything new, first few cracks at it SUCKS, stick with it and you will see that you're getting stronger, and you can actually get to the 3rd set w/o wanting to pass out on the floor. For me at least :roflmao2: The 10 drills are not set in stone, so pick different ones but don't target the same muscle groups to close to each other in the circuit......otherwise you might have some noodle arms later on.

There are SO many reasons to resistance train.

Reverse Insulin resistance and diabetes, blood sugar control, longevity(many mechanisms), Hormonal restoration...

But I see so many people quit for many reasons. The deck is so stacked, even the trainers at the gyms sabotage people (with the best intents of course)...

Funny, it takes less to succeed then to fail. Yet people choose failure so much more often then success.

I'll write more later...

I would steer clear of P90X and it's near buddy, insanity. It seems like people injure themselves all the time with stuff like that. My wife briefly tried P90X.

Congrats on your mystery weight loss... figure out how to package it and I'll buy some of that. :D

90X! and by that agree 90 times!...

Profoundly inappropriate for almost everybody.

Read his website, designed for extremely fit physical specimens. It's something like 3rd or more in the progression of his programs. Besides it is not really a resistance training program, more an energy system work out that happens to use resistance...

Hey Aaron. I do the gym thing but find what works for you. I hear you on sticking with it. I bought memberships for myself, my wife, and her daughter. It is a challenge for me to stick with it, but so far have been pretty good, Stepdaughter goes very regularly and has lost a lot with that and WW. (Haven't been able to get either of them on a bike though)

Try getting some good free weights, an exercise ball and hitting Youtube. I have recently come off a plateau by giving up alcohol at the first of the year, and tracking my intake fanatically. I use Training Peaks, since it allows you to download your Garmin data to get your calories burned, rather than the weak guestimates the other diet trackers use..

Back when I was young I started lifting weights because body building was cool and I wanted to be big. Well now that I am older and the muscle turned to flab one could say I met my 'BIG' goal. Now I focus on cardio with a little weight training in between. Because of my skeleton I think it would be very difficult to get much below the 200lbs mark which is why my goal is to drop 60lbs to get back to the 200lbs mark. 15 to 20 years I felt I was at my peak health at 220lbs and still had a 32" waist (had that in high school).

When I do weight training now I focus on high rep low weight workouts. This allows me to keep my muscles tone while not increasing in size. During the winter months I do some weight training 3-4 times a week as a warm up before I hit the spinner bike. Usually pick one muscle group and work on it for about 15 minutes. Then I do 1 hour on the spinner. In the summer I back off my weight training to one day a week and the rest of my time is focused on putting miles on my bike.

I also noticed that it is difficult to lose weight on excersize alone. One must also accompany that with calorie counting or simply portion size monitoring. I can work out all day long, but if I go home and unhinge my jaw at the refrigerator (which happens from time to time), the work out will amount to a zero weight lose. I continue to take it one day at a time stepping on the scale every day to see if I am making my goals.


Thanks,

John S

I just started resistance training after the holiday layoff, getting fat again, etc ....

Did a lot of research, a lot recommended the Strong Lifts 5X5 program, or the Starting Strength program by Rippetoe. Both say they'll result in weight loss, even though they're low rep, high weight. I have my doubts, and I also have no workout partner so I tend to shy away from free weight programs without a spotter.

Found another program that was sort of in between both of those, higher reps with lower weight ... "The Beginner Weight Training Workout Routine." Three days a week, two different workouts that are based on compound lifts (squats, bench press, etc). I modified them to use primarily machines at least to start with (except for the deadlift).

It's a quick workout, I usually warm up with 10 minutes on the bike, then do my workout, then do another 20-30 minutes of cardio (bike, elliptical, etc) before I call it a day.

Just starting, and I'm monitoring my calories better too ... hoping to see results fairly quickly.

Bowflex for me. After using free weights off and on since I was 12 (59 now) I switched to a Bowflex and like it a lot. No need for spotters and you're not limited by gravity, well yes gravity still applies but I mean you can push/pull in any direction, not just up and down. :thumb:

5x5, Starting Strength... 5/3/1...
All are very good ways to increase strength and improve body composition. Of those Starting Strength is the most limited. It is really only meant as a start point for people who haven't lifted. It yields a lot of progress for them for a short time. But tops out quickly.

I do 5x5 as my "normal" program and 5/3/1 variants for brief periods. Using variants the "big 6 lifts"...


The program you adopted is a marvelous program! It is well supported by studies to be very effective at improving strength, body comp, and energy systems. It is a program that will work long term for many people.

There are some people (very few) who do not respond well to full body work outs. Very few advanced lifters benefit from full body workouts, but it takes years of high intensity work to get that advanced. These two populations of non-responders gives rise to a lot of internet arguments. If you are one of those that it does work for, it will serve you extremely well for a long time (think several years!).

Please understand that "high rep" definition varies by the lift. There are different tolerances based upon your personal range of fiber types in each muscle system. Different people have different ranges of fiber types they can develop determined by genetics. Different muscles also have patterns in fiber type distribution across people: such as calve muscles in particular like VERY high rep.

Some lifts are very hard systemically, such as Deads and Squats. High reps for deads are in the ~8-10 range. Squats are a little higher but not much ~10-12... Form breaks down too fast. If your form breaks down, you're done. I see a lot of people in the gym doing workouts from "Muscular Fiction" with absurd set/rep counts on deads in particular. They are begging for injuries, and they get them. Last thing you want to hurt is your spine!

The main concern is managing your recoverability. The key to this is ensuring proper nutrition (1 to 1.5 grams protein per lb of lean body mass), and proper sleep hygiene. Listen to your body and your feelings (including motivation). If you feel burnt out, the same weights get heavier, and heavier feeling, or you just can't stand the thought of lifting... Then it is time to take a break for a couple days. Review your recovery factors. Don't worry about it, congratulate yourself. Proper rest is key to progress. It is likely you'll need additional rest in the beginning. It's ok and in service of your goals. What matters is that you return to the program. There are other signs that rest is even more critical like: not being able to sleep well, or just can't eat, cold or flu like symptoms... You don't want it to get that bad.

1 suggestion: if you're not doing the pull-ups, pull overs are more effective then lat pull downs.

What's a pullover?

Good points about recovery. While I'm watching what I eat, I'm doing so with an eye toward making sure I'm getting plenty of protein. And I've added a whey protein shake after my lifting days (one serving, because I'm still getting lots of protein throughout my day and don't want to overdo it, especially with calories). I lift after work, and before dinner, so the shake is to tide me over on the car ride home after working out and to prevent me from splurging too much at dinner.

And I'm definitely sleeping well most nights. Funny, I sleep better on the day "off" after a good workout. Like last night, I didn't lift, and I crashed at bedtime. Like that deep, restful sleep that feels amazing.

So far I feel good, and I can "feel" the results but I don't feel spent. Just a good "tired."

My main concern is I don't want to bulk up ... so I'm trying to find that balance of using weights to lose weight, while still not getting too bulky for the bike.

I love my kettle bells; I have a pair of good (but moderately light) 20kg cast iron ones. Ideally, I'd have a 16kg, 20kg, and maybe a 24kg, but the 20 works for renegade rows, swings (especially if I double) and so on. Lighter would be good for snatches, I think, based on my shoulder damage.

pull over is like a french press w/o the arm extension... Like that helps... let me do some googling...

work restricted so can't see this..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_3TJ_x-kzg

I can testify for this site.
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_...rsial_exercise


I usually use a curling bar and keep my hands apart palms up.

My dead lift is 500lb, but I use 50-65lb on this and that's rather heavy! I'm obsessive about form on this, as everyone should be. I have a 10-2 tare on my right shoulder, so NO PULLUPs for me! It hits from obliques and abs in front up to ears... and hips through ears on on your back. Closest to pullups as you can get. Pullups have third largest hormonal response. Squats and Deads are first and second... I also have access to a Hammer Strength Pullover machine (quite rare) so this is how I got the weights that high.

The old true-ism is:

SQUATS AND MILK!

But what was the real statement was:

SQUATS, MILK AND PULLOVERS!

I'm going to readopt a plyometric based resistance band program that we used to use in high school for baseball. It's something that I'll have to gradually work into, as it requires quick, large bursts of energy to really be effective, and at my age and current level of fitness I don't want to risk further injuring my back.

I believe P90X and Insanity work on a similar principle, except for the idea that there is little to no rest in between sets. Even if the video instructors encourage home users to take a breather if they need it, the concept behind the way those videos are made is to push and challenge the viewer to keep up. The way most of our minds are programed, depending on how competitive you are in nature, is to accept and try to meet a challenge when one is presented to us. With that said, I have known a few people who have great success with these types of programs. I would suggest that if you do go with P90X to really listen to what your body is telling you. This was my downfall this past August when I had gotten back into heavy weight training. I was trying to bulk up my muscle mass, and mentally was prepared to increase the amount of weight I used for each set but my body (joints in particular) was not. I ended up developing inflammation in a ligament in my right elbow. The result was no more weight training. Six month later and I still have a slight discomfort there from time to time.

Watch the protein shakes, most have a lot of simple carbs as the usual goal is muscle growth... <edit> tide you over is a good practice <end edit> So they intentionally spike insulin to help get protein into the muscles. I use just a casein and whey protein as I'm big enough.

Also true bulking up is hard, and takes a long time of dedicated work. Adding significant muscle under a calorie deficit is, well the stuff of dreams...

Most use the muscle weighs more then fat to feel better.
But the truth is it is hard to put on 5 lbs of actual muscle unless you're: ahem, augmented, a totally untrained teen to 20's male, or emaciated...

2 years of consistent heavy assed lifting 5x5 and 5/3/1, Squats and Milk program. Blessed with few injuries during that time and a very high pain tolerance. I went from 240 to 285... Of which at least 25 of that was fat, more likely 30-ish. But strength went through the roof!

don't know if this will help you but there was a book put out by Arnold:

http://www.amazon.com/Arnolds-Bodybu...schwarzenegger

use dumbbells as they seem to require more stabilizer muscles making the workout harder, pick a fixed weight that you can handle for the smaller exercises, if you have a couple you can vary it...

Where could I find more info on this workout?

This is a link to more info on the workouts. http://www.beachbody.com/product/fit...ump-workout.do
I like it because it mixes yoga stretches, ab workout and weights. I have a long way to get back in shape and this really helped me on all areas of my body. I used to do this when I was in New Zealand 15 years ago.
If you want additional information pm me and I can get it from my trainer.
Allan

Thanks! I'll check it out.

The better defined the goal... the easier it is to accomplish.

I had been doing some video exercises this past year.... but often would forget to do them (or simply not be in the mood or whatever). This year I decided to add actual weight training. I bought some cheap weights and searched the Internet (mostly YouTube) for weight exercises. Then I built a routine of eight different upper-body and core exercises (Including push ups and sit ups).

Anything... good or bad done everyday at the same time can become a habit. For the first 30 days... I exercised everyday... always starting right after my first cup of coffee. I do the sit ups and push ups then refill my coffee cup and take it downstairs with me to do 5 more exercises. I drink coffee during the few seconds of breaks between exercises. When I return upstairs I turn the computer on and do spring resistance hand exercises.

The entire routine only takes about 20 minutes..... but NOT additional minutes as most or even all of that time was normally used just drinking coffee. I now exercise Monday through Friday and take Saturday and Sunday off. And... BTW yes... I can both see and feel a real improvement/difference.