[Guitarjon]

Hi guys,

A bit of background. A couple of years ago I dropped from 21.5 stone to just over 16 stone. I did this by watching what I ate and by using www.myfitnesspal.com. I never looked traditionally fat if that makes sense. Just top heavy. I am fairly broad.
Exercise wise I started up running. It was bloody hard as I'd never done it before but managed to work my way up to completing a half marathon.

At the time I couldn't afford/justify an extra monthly outgoing so got some running trainingers and some thermals for Christmas and I was set.

Now, fast forward a year and I've put some of it back on. I'm back up to around 18 stone, feel crap again.

A new gym opened for a mega cheap price. It's a no thrills gym but has loads of equipment. Offers free classes etc but its been a while since I was last in the gym. Before I was doing a full body work out twice a week and one or sometimes two HIIT training classes, one usually being a weekly boxercise class which I enjoyed.

I am on here to ask for advice on where to start again with the gym. I know cardio isn't the be all and end all but I felt more of an accomplishment when running. I wasn't really loosing overall size with the weights just reducing body fat which is really what I want to do but I was still big and still found fitting in clothes in the highstreet a chore - arms, neck, legs etc.

So I am thinking based on just 3 times a week.
Cardio session (mainly running as I enjoy it) although may mix it up and try and fit an out door running in extra in the week as running on a tredmill is no fun.
Full body work out once a week - compound movements
And one class- probably circuits or boxercise

What do you guys recon. Can you recommend any good full body work outs that give rep and sets info etc (for free). Obviously I will have to experiment with weights etc to find out when I need to be.

There are fitness instructors at the gym but there is a charge (as I said no frills).

I wanna do this as cheaply as possible - sounds tight but everyone has a limit. I would like to go running all the time but I know the importance of weights to loose weight plus going out in the harsh winter months needs a lot of positive energy! I didn't enjoy running over icey streets last year due to worrying about slipping.

 

[rob_vrs]

Which gym you joined jon? Iv joined Xcersize4Less at old b&q, only £9.99 a month.

I cant do any heavy weights any more, so sticking to cardio, going to start at 10mins of each (running, cross trainer & bike) then go do very light weights with high reps. Also needing huge discipline to not eat any more food also, which is very difficult for me as i love food.

When i was doing a lot of fairly heavy lifting i was doing the same, i went from 16st fat - 14st - back to 16st.

And then i damaged my back, i found swimming to be alright however it wasn't doing anything for weight loss was just getting easier. So now I'm at 15st, with huge muscle loss haha and at square one. We'll start it together jon.

 

[benji1205]

There are apps out there such as AlphaTrainer, Fitness Pro etc which will give you workouts etc. If you want to do weights and "tone" rather than build a huge amount of muscle hit high reps with lighter weights. A benefit to help keep your heart rate going is to reduce "recovery" time. Why not mix and match, so for example do half of your session doing cardio and half of your session doing weights. So for example, do Push and Pull sessions. Push = Chest, Tri's / Pull = back, bi's. Do 15 reps per set and take a 30 second break per set? Keep it to light weights but gradually increase. You will notice your body starting to shape up after a while and obviously the more fat you burn, the better you will look therefore increasing confidence and how happy you are with yourself

 

[Leebo310]

In addition to the good advice already given mate, my other suggestions would be to try some interval training for the cardio as it'll generally give better results than just plodding along at the same speed.
Something like 2 mins gentle jog on a treadmill, then 10 seconds of sprinting, back into another 2 mins of gentle jog, then 10 seconds of sprinting etc. Obviously you can change the times to whatever you feel comfortable with but you get the idea. Also you can do the same thing on the bike, cross trainer, rower etc.
Punch bag is an awesome workout too, and you can apply the same sort of interval training to it as above. 30 seconds of quick light punching followed by 30 seconds of power, then 30 seconds rest and repeat etc.

Kettle bells are also good for getting a sweat on and building up strength.

Weights wise stick to compound exercises that hit a lot of muscles rather than isolative ones. Plenty of body weight stuff too - pressups, pull ups, lunges coupled with squats and deadlifts will be far more useful than endless bicep curls and sit ups!

Personally I'd echo what Benji has suggested in doing half cardio and half weights twice a week rather than each one once. You can then vary the weights up and it'll be a bit more interesting too!
Other than that I think the most important bit of advice would be to find things that you like doing so you look forward to going to the gym, rather than going because you have to.
Motivation, discipline and committment are far more important than the actual workouts if you ask me.

As mentioned before, diet is also massively important so you need to be reasonably strict with that. The cleaner you eat, the more benefit you'll see. Doesn't have to be anything drastic, just cut down obvious [email protected] to start with such as sugar (outside of fruits) takeaways and alcohol. Again, it'll be a lot harder to keep going if you suddenly cut everything junk out of your diet in one go. Instead, start with cutting it back. A treat every now and again isn't going to make that much difference, but obviously just be sensible.
Again that goes back to the motivation and discipline bit. You don't want to feel like you're starving yourself otherwise you won't enjoy it and find it harder to stick with.

Good luck mate and just stick with it! :thumb:

 

[Rowe]

^^^^ +1

compound weights will be your friend. Try squats, and deadlifts. They knacker you hard and quick!

 

[smiler1207]

I go to pure gym and the classes are brilliant, I sound like a similar build to you. I do two spin classes, a pump class and sometimes boxercise. I mix this up with weights and my body shap is changing all the time and can pretty much eat what I want (yay). Good luck with it all anyway!

 

[Guitarjon]

Hey guys, sorry late to reply to this thread.

Rob, yes it's the exercise4less gym I've joined. Might see you there lol.

Yes, I will be going for compound stuff. I've done it all before a few times and got great results. The problems I've had is being sucked into life but I have a better job with less commitments outside of the office so to speak so shouldn't be as much of a problem. I was also in between gyms etc at uni and home. The one I joined at uni was pants and put me off going.

Starting back on the cutting back has been hard. I won't say diet as I don't believe in them. I've started tracking food intake and exercise now again. I've been over a couple of days this week but over the week it's averaged out under and I have started to loose weight again.

I know they say weightloss is 80% diet and 20% exercise but the overall feel exercise gives is great. Hopefully I will get to how I want to be this time using diet and exercise.

 

[rob_vrs]

Well...we should go together some time buddy, motivational partners haha. Ill drop you a text regarding Motorgeek open day

 

[Kriminal]

Guitarjon : presuming your goal is to lose some/all of the weight that you've put back on, why not try incorporating Circuits in with your Weight Training? Using the above suggestions, regarding compound exercises, you could try the following for that once a week fix :

Clean & Press (Deadlifts to Overhead Presses) - Legs & Shoulders
Dumbell Squats - Legs
Double Dumbell Rows (one in each hand) - Back
Lying Dumbell Presses - Chest
Overhead Dumbell Extensions - Triceps
Dumbell Curls - Biceps

Using the above, all you would require at the gym would be one bench, and possible two sets of dumbells (one set light for arms, and one set slightly heavier for legs, back, chest). This way you won't have to fuss about trying to get on any equipment that somebody could already be using.

Concentrating on the magic number 10, for reps, will keep it easier in your head to remember and focus on - it's a halfway number for hypertrophy (muscle building).

If you do all the above exercises back to back - that's no breaks in between - until you reach the last one, you'll THEN be able to take a break for 1 minute, and restart the circuit from the 1st exercise.

At first, just concentrate on getting the techniques correct - even if it means only being able to fit one circuit in. Aim for 3 circuits in total - that will be your future goal - and once you can do this, THEN increase the weight so that it becomes a challenge again.

You could also slot in on the end Abdominal Crunches if you wish. Just see how you get on with the above first. :thumb:

As for the exercise class you were looking to join - have you considered Spinning Classes?.....be warned - they're a killer, no matter if you're a beginner, or advanced.....but they'll definitely burn the calories mate.

 

[Guitarjon]

Sorry guys not kept up to this thread. Got an email from them today saying I can book my induction from the 9th December. It opens properly on the 15th December now which is earlier than first thought.

Bloody hated spin classes matey. I enjoy classes, especially circuit type ones without much break inbetween. I used to do a circuit type workout like the one you mentioned at the gym before.

Quite looking forward to exercising again when I want. I've been playing squash a few times in the last few weeks to help get my fitness back. I'd like to be able to run a half marathon again by spring. I did last year but since then haven't had the motivation to get back out there. I have thermals etc for running but I bloody hate it in the cold.

 

[rf860]

Join a crossfit gym.

 

[nichol4s]

Rob I'll go to the gym with ya, I need a gym buddy and to join a gym of course :lol:

 

[Guitarjon]

Nick, get your self down to xercise4 less. Mega cheap! Paid 109 for the year.

 

[rob_vrs]

Yeah do it nick, see if you can keep up .

You'll easily keep up with state of my back haha

 

[Guitarjon]

Rob, won't you strengthen it if you build up slowly again? Don't know much about back injuries to be honest but the physio I saw for my neck a while back said to keep moving and be as active obviously taking it very easy as possible to speed up recovery.

Rob, you booked the induction yet? Wife's joined as well but can't see her sticking it out.

 

[rob_vrs]

Rob, won't you strengthen it if you build up slowly again? Don't know much about back injuries to be honest but the physio I saw for my neck a while back said to keep moving and be as active obviously taking it very easy as possible to speed up recovery.

Rob, you booked the induction yet? Wife's joined as well but can't see her sticking it out.

Not really jon, starting BUPA treatment soon. Its just one of them things ill do light weight but never what I used to do, id say id be just silly to them type of weights again.

Not yet going to do it tomorrow matey. Haha well your welcome to come with me and we can push each other.

 

[Guitarjon]

Let me get into the swing of things first matey. Fitness level isn't too bad from all the previous running and squash but I'll not be on form for a couple of weeks yet. Strength- well I don't know where I am wih that lol. I do build pretty quickly but I need to trim down a little first or I'll be too big. I know I need to build muscle for quicker fat loss though.

 

[luke88]

Clean & Press (Deadlifts to Overhead Presses) - Legs & Shoulders
Dumbell Squats - Legs
Double Dumbell Rows (one in each hand) - Back
Lying Dumbell Presses - Chest
Overhead Dumbell Extensions - Triceps
Dumbell Curls - Biceps

Krim, I have a good set of dumbbells and a kettle bell at home so can do most of those, what can you recommend doing instead of deadlifts to work the shoulder muscles?

Many thanks

 

[Leebo310]

Krim, I have a good set of dumbbells and a kettle bell at home so can do most of those, what can you recommend doing instead of deadlifts to work the shoulder muscles?

Many thanks

How heavy are your kb and dumb bells mate?

 

[luke88]

How heavy are your kb and dumb bells mate?

Dumbbells start at 1kg then 2.5kg and 5kg.

KB is 7kg