I do feel better and certain parts of my body feel stronger but overall nothing. I'm 38 and trying to get in great shape. I know I can do it but I am concerned what I can do to improve my chances. As of right now, I am seeing no real results. I pretty much have the same measurements I had when I started.
Let me start by saying that I do have a hyperthyroid problem and that I take medicine to keep it under control. Today, I rolled into my 9th week of working out and after doing my measurements, I only gained a inch on my chest. Everything else is the same. Being told by so many people not to weight myself, I have no idea if I have lost weight. Although, based on my lack of measurement gains or losses, I think its fair to say I have lost nothing.
Here is my routine roughly.
I was weight training 4 to 5 times a week. I'll admit, I did very little cardio but a 5 minute sprint session, spread out into 1 min runs with a min break in between. My weight training included mostly free weights, exercises against my own weight, and using my bowflex. I've been working at 10 rep goals. Once I hit 10, I move up a weight. Currently I am up to 95 pound one arm lawnmowers as my big feat. Although I have a hard time doing just one pull up. After my workout of close to an hour, I take a protein drink.
I work a office job and during the work week, I do the following.
Breakfast: I usually eat a bowl of kashi maybe once a week getting a omelet.
Lunch: I almost always eat a healthy choice meal. Once a week I might eat out.
Dinner: Usually some form of meat and rice(yea I know its bad).
Weekends, I'll admit I probably eat things I should not.
Supplements: I take CLA but not the amount I should take daily not to mention, I don't think it contains tonalin. I take one animal pak in the mornings but I usually suck at taking them on weekends. Also taking 5 grams of fish oil but I usually skip this during the weekends.
That's it.
I'm planning on adding at least 30 mins of cardio after each weight training session and maybe trying to get up a bit early to hit the treadmill, bike, or elliptical for 20 mins. I'm also going to drop all the junk food out of my diet completely. No more white rice and I'm going to drop the protein drinks since I'm trying to lose weight and get tone. I've been told to stop eating my healthy choice but they have fairly good ingredients and overall stats so Id probably ask someone to look them up before knocking them. I also am trying to drink more water but since I have one kidney, as soon as I drink two 16 ounce bottles of water, I'm rushing to the bathroom. So I have a limit on that.
That's it. Any advice? Tips? Idea's? I'm up for anything.
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04-12-2011, 07:41 PM #1
- Join Date: Jul 2008
- Location: Saint Louis, Missouri, United States
- Age: 51
- Posts: 281
- Rep Power: 230
Help.. Im not getting hardly any results.
Dedicated Iron lover who one day will hit his goals :)
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04-12-2011, 07:57 PM #2
Shamefully concise answer:
Skip the bowflex and bodyweight stuff and do a simple free weight routine only. Compound movements, barbells and dumbbells. Reps in the 6 to 12 range. Do about 5 to 8 sets for abs, tris, bis,shoulders, (calves optional, haha) and 8 to 12 sets for legs, chest, back. One or two exercises for small bodyparts, 2 or 3 for big ones. Use a notebook and keep track of all sets reps and pounds. Work very hard in the gym but leave just a tiny bit in the tank for next time. Go to failure on lifts occasionally, but not too too often. Do a split routine and hit each muscle group once every 3 to 5 days, depending on your volume, intensity, and ability to recover. Make sure you pull as much as you push, in terms of volume. Do a google on prehab shoulder moves and do em a couple times a week at the very end of your workout.
Keep the cardio at about 3 to 4 sessions per week- 2 sessions of hard interval stuff of around 20 total minutes, 1 easy long session of around 60 minutes, and maybe one more easy round of 30 to 40 minutes. Weightlifting is the fire, cardio is the wind.
Keep the nutrition simple. Whole foods mainly. Fruits, veggies, lean meats, eggs, dairy, limited grains, no garbage. Cheat on a meal once or twice a week though and don't be perfect. Have fun and persevere friend. Good luckLast edited by ZazenZone; 04-12-2011 at 08:01 PM. Reason: add
Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.
"My workouts are on a slow simmer. Should I raise the heat and seek a
boil, I invariably get scorched. Cold is intolerable, room temperature
makes me sick, and comfy-warm puts me to sleep."
"The bench press took a permanent leave of absence when I grew up 20
years ago. I do not miss the overrated lopsided painster one bit.
Dumbbells are where it's at."
-Dave Draper
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04-12-2011, 07:59 PM #3
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04-12-2011, 11:09 PM #4
- Join Date: Nov 2004
- Location: California, United States
- Age: 75
- Posts: 4,873
- Rep Power: 14836
There are several issues. You appear to be taking advice without questioning or researching on your own as indicated by “I been told”. You diet has no structure for the goals you plan. You gave very little details about your training. If you approach your weight training the same way as your diet, I’m not surprise you have not experienced the results you desire. If you want advice you should first give more details of your weight training. What exercises are you doing with the free weights, with body weight and your bowflex? Once your weight training is analyzed, then you can move to your diet. Your diet plan should be a seven day a week plan, not just for the end days. Once the weight training and diet is established it boils down to you executing the plans without a sometimes doing it approach.
How can you visualize training a muscle if you don't know its structure?
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04-13-2011, 05:42 AM #5
- Join Date: Nov 2010
- Location: Brampton, Ontario, Canada
- Age: 51
- Posts: 53
- Rep Power: 164
Since you are the same age and height as me, I will give you my thoughts on your post. As a hard gainer, I have tried everything that I could to gain muscle and lose fat. Nothing I tried worked, I was hovering at 173lbs and getting mad at the fact that I was not maintaining a proper body weight, it would fluctuate from 155lbs to 173lbs. I realized by being on this site, that both my workouts and my diet was a major culprit in my non existing gains. I have changed my workout routine, and majorly changed my diet. I have consistently maintained a body weight of 152lbs due to eating properly, and now that I have changed my workout plan, I am now bulking up and I have gained 5lbs of muscle withing 6 weeks of the new routine. I have kept my body fat % dropping. (I use a crappy body fat scale, I don't look at the numbers, just if I gain or drop). So I suggest to you is to give us more information on what exercises you are doing, and what you are eating. You don't need any supplements at all, not until you get your routine corrected and your diet in check. Eat clean and eat a ton, you will see the muscle increase and the fat will melt away.
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04-13-2011, 05:57 AM #6
An inch on your chest in 9 weeks is awesome. Sounds like you're trying to recomp, which is the hardest to do (lose weight, gain muscle at same time). Recomp IMO takes longer than simply bulking, then cutting.
For your diet, I'm not sure about your portions, but they'd need to be pretty large for you to get enough calories to make much progress. For recomp, you need to be very close to your maintenance calories. The other thing, stick with it. Gaining mass doesn't happen in 90 days. It happens over the course of years. You're doing the right thing by asking questions, tweaking your routine, and working your butt off.B: 285
S: 375
D: 555
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04-13-2011, 06:11 AM #7
I'm sort of in the same boat to a certain extent. I'm 38. I need to lose fat and gain muscle. I was trying all sorts of things at home because I can't afford a gym membership right now. I got p90x and decided to give that a try. I'm in week 4 right now and have lost 10 lbs. I'm not gaining any muscle right now but the weight that I am losing is fat. Its a good trade off in my mind.
Just keep at it. You don't need to go balls to the wall all the time. If you are trying to transform your body it will take awhile. It wasn't 90 days that got you out of shape, you won't reach your goal in 90 either. You are creating a base off of which to work right now and you can build from there. Stick with it.
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04-13-2011, 06:30 AM #8
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04-13-2011, 07:40 AM #9
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04-13-2011, 07:54 AM #10
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04-13-2011, 09:09 AM #11
- Join Date: Jul 2008
- Location: Saint Louis, Missouri, United States
- Age: 51
- Posts: 281
- Rep Power: 230
Thanks for all the replies and encouragement. It helps.
I am doing a modified p90x workout routine for those that were curious. I decided after reading this to get on board with the p90x nutrition guide and make my diet 100% identical as recommended. That seems to be my missing link.Dedicated Iron lover who one day will hit his goals :)
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04-13-2011, 09:14 AM #12
- Join Date: Aug 2006
- Location: San Diego, California, United States
- Posts: 34,788
- Rep Power: 232215
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04-13-2011, 11:00 AM #13
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04-13-2011, 06:57 PM #14
- Join Date: Jul 2007
- Location: Madison, Wisconsin, United States
- Age: 49
- Posts: 1,953
- Rep Power: 497
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04-13-2011, 07:08 PM #15
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04-13-2011, 07:16 PM #16
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04-13-2011, 07:19 PM #17
- Join Date: Jul 2008
- Location: Saint Louis, Missouri, United States
- Age: 51
- Posts: 281
- Rep Power: 230
I get what you are saying and I'm not arguing. I plan on sticking to my diet with my nutrition guide now. But here is an example of what I was eating for lunch while at work. Its really not that bad.
http://www.healthychoice.com/product...teak_2195.htmlDedicated Iron lover who one day will hit his goals :)
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04-13-2011, 07:30 PM #18
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04-13-2011, 07:41 PM #19
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04-13-2011, 07:47 PM #20
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04-13-2011, 08:04 PM #21
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04-13-2011, 10:56 PM #22
- Join Date: Feb 2010
- Location: New York, United States
- Age: 59
- Posts: 743
- Rep Power: 547
Agreed....
Lowering calories will of course help anyone loose weight but nutrition is paramount for good health. Fast food and TV dinners are quick and convenient buy are mostly processed crap.
OP: you'd be better off buying a bunch of chicken breasts or some lean steak, cooking them all together in the oven on Sunday night, freezing them and chowing down on them during the week. Add in some fresh veggies and not only will it be just as quick and easy but you'll have far more nutritional value and it will be cheaper too.Taught by Dr. Squat himself back in the late 90s
ISSA Certified Fitness Trainer
ISSA Certified Sports Nutritionist
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