Gym weights advice

Right I bet this is a noob question but can some one explain the best way to loose weight through Cv. The reason I'm asking as some of you have pointed out is that i'm setting my heart rate far to high. The issue I have is that I really dont feel pushed at a hate rate of 125 to 140 I have to up it to get the sweat pouring out :D. Now I could be doing this completely wrong and I really want to burn fat from cv. So please correct me if I should be taking it slower and the reasons behind this.

I'll change my work out to cv after weights now and see how I get on from there.

Cheers
 
TheCybermonkey said:
Sure I have read somewhere regarding weights burning of glycogen stores and therefore helping you burn fat, aswell.

As Benny said HIIT is very good.
I used this site to learn about it:
http://www.intervaltraining.net/hiit.html

I dont do much cardio, but when I do, I tend to stick to light 'fat burning zone' stuff or HIIT.
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Ta thats a really cool link I might have to try this the next time I'm at the gym
 
If you like to push yourself, you will enjoy it.
Note that its all about intensity.If you can do it for more than 20 minutes.....your not doing it hard enough :P

Warm up properly aswell.
I couldnt walk properly for 7 days after my first HIIT session.
I was very unfit though.

ow and if you are going to do it on a treadmill and can run quite fast, try upping the incline to make it harder rather than just upping the speed as it can get a bit doddgy when your belting it and pushing yourself close to the edge.
 
Robbie G said:
Nah, you can just drink the protein shake while you're running.
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Sarcasm?

He may not be using shakes, so eating a sandwich while running isn't advisable!

Also, not sure if this is correct, drinking a shake and then performing cardio is pointless. As you're just burning off the calories you've put in and may as well throw it down the toilet? This is what I was once told.

Where as performing cardio in the morning after a light breakfast, or several hours after eating will use fat stores. Which is why some people prefer to do cardio in the morning.

I may be wrong as having a shake and then running may well be too soon for the body to digest it and burn it off.

Cardio after eating for some reason just seems a bit illogical to me (when aiming for fat loss or lowering bodyfat). Where as if you're purely just trying to improve fitness I don't think it's an issue.
 
I see the guys have covered most things.

Max heart rate is roughly calculated as 220bpm - your age.

Fat burning zone is typically estimated as 60-70% of max.

As for training, what do you want out of it. If you are wanting to loose weight then building muscle size is very hard.

For increasing size you are better with a 3*8 program which will give the greatest gains.

For increasing strength then a 5*5 program is better but you will not get so much growth in muscle size.

The reason is that the 3*8 programs build bigger but softer muscles. The 5*5 routines build muscles which are more densely packed but smaller.

To help avoid DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) or minimise DOMS you need to help the body repair / build muscle. To do this you need to fuel the process fro muscle recovery and the best time to do this as mentione by others is within 30 minutes of the end of your routine. The body is more receptive to frreing it easily digestable protein at this time. It is also good to have some high protein food just before bed as the rebuilding process happens predominantly at night. Give the body the fuel and the work will be done as you sleep resulting in much less soreness the following day.

50Kg for the first attempt at a bench press is very good (I am guessing that is 2*15Kg discs plus the 20Kg bar). The first few days usually show pretty good results due to the stored energy you have as you are not regularly working out and so not exhausting the muscles. Once you get in to the routine the weights and reps may drop or feel more difficult than the initial couple of days. Having said that, you do need a good underlying strength to be able to do that from the start with 50Kg. I started with a clean 20Kg bar and now, 3 months on I am working on 70Kg.

Take some pictures at this starting point so you can better judge progress moving forwards.

Keep us updated on your progress. All the starting out threads that keep going only go to encourage others to take the first step if they can get the information, see others going through it and realise they are not the only ones and are not so different to all the others starting out regardless of age or size.

Cheers
RB
 
Benny06 said:
Sarcasm?
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No.

Benny06 said:
He may not be using shakes, so eating a sandwich while running isn't advisable!
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Did I really need to put 'assuming he likes protein shakes'?

Benny06 said:
Also, not sure if this is correct, drinking a shake and then performing cardio is pointless. As you're just burning off the calories you've put in and may as well throw it down the toilet? This is what I was once told.

Where as performing cardio in the morning after a light breakfast, or several hours after eating will use fat stores. Which is why some people prefer to do cardio in the morning.

I may be wrong as having a shake and then running may well be too soon for the body to digest it and burn it off.

Cardio after eating for some reason just seems a bit illogical to me (when aiming for fat loss or lowering bodyfat). Where as if you're purely just trying to improve fitness I don't think it's an issue.
Click to expand...

If you're doing cardio after your weights session, which a lot of people do, it's either that or don't take any protein in until you get home an hour later.

Regarding 'what's the point in cardio after food as you'll just be burning the calories you ingest', I personally don't do cardio for fat loss, I diet for fat loss.

I do HIIT to keep up some respectable level of fitness. Short sprints on the rower etc. help explosive strength and stamina through the legs and arms.

If you're doing steady state cardio for fat loss then potentially your argument about flushing the calories down the toilet holds some weight, but I personally don't subscribe to the theory that cardio in the morning burns more fat compared to at any other time. Your body still has reserves of carbs and protein from last night's meal at 6am, just as it does straight after a protein shake, so how can the body make a different selection as to what calories to burn at 6am after a black coffee compared to 6pm after a protein shake?
 
cheers for the replies. Some really great replies I hope this post will help others to if your reading this and thinking of starting do it now :D

Right I'll try and explain a bit more to give an understanding of what i really want. I would like to loose weight but I think i'm brain washed into thinking that you only lose fat by losing weight. Now i'm happy to convert fat into muscle if I lose inches. Now my biggest area of "epic fail" is my beer belly of doom lol. When I was at school I was big lad after leaving I got into boxing and lost all the weight which was good up until I had to have a temp bolts put into my jaw (long story) but this stopped most sport for some time. Anyway over the years i've not really pushing my self and enjoyed cider far to much :p

So really I'm happy to turn fat into muscle no issue what so ever but really I would like to lose some weight at the same time. I dont think the idea of being well built with lots of muscle and still being in the 17 stone group would be good for me. So as complicated as i've made this sound maybe I would like to lose some weight and lose iches as well (main in the belly zone lol). So i've guessing i need a good mix of both to reach my goals. If i happen to lose weight as a results of all the weight lifting I'll be happy but as i'm at the early stages i guess ill have to try a mix of things to see what works for me.

Ill get some pics up tonight when i get home to show you the bomb damage you lot have to work with :D
 
You have said you dont mind turning fat into muscle.

Just wanted to make sure you realise that fat doesnt litteraly turn into muscle.
Its an expression that gets thrown around a lot and because Body Builders tend to eat more than your average Joe, its kind of become one of those Myths that hangs around.

Here explains:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/matt2.htm

If you already know this then just disregard my comments....just wanted to make sure you understand it correctly and dont fall into the same trap as others.
 
TheCybermonkey said:
You have said you dont mind turning fat into muscle.

Just wanted to make sure you realise that fat doesnt litteraly turn into muscle.
Its an expression that gets thrown around a lot and because Body Builders tend to eat more than your average Joe, its kind of become one of those Myths that hangs around.

Here explains:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/matt2.htm

If you already know this then just disregard my comments....just wanted to make sure you understand it correctly and dont fall into the same trap as others.
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I'll be honest I didnt know that. But cheers for the link thats well helpful in explaining. Ta for pointing that out as well.
 
RimBlock said:
The reason is that the 3*8 programs build bigger but softer muscles. The 5*5 routines build muscles which are more densely packed but smaller.
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? ? Could you explain that please, i don't get it.

Also, for size own are better doing 8 to 12 reps, maybe 15 at a push.
 
Morba said:
? ? Could you explain that please, i don't get it.

Also, for size own are better doing 8 to 12 reps, maybe 15 at a push.
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Sure Morba.

Better explained from the Stonglifts Faq found here (relevent part quoted in bold below).

The trainer at the gym said that 3x8 was better if I don't want to get bulky.
2 things:

  • Many people struggle with losing their skinny look, although they're lifting weights, because they aren't eating enough. Getting bulky isn't that easy: you have to eat more than you're doing now. You won't get you there by training hard.
  • 3x8 actually gets you more bulky than 5x5. High reps build sarcoplasmic hypertrophy (fuller muscle, less strength) while low reps build myofibrillar hypertrophy (denser muscles & more strength). So if you don't want to get bulky, stick to the 5x5.
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My explanation was probably lacking a little :D.

Cheers
RB
 
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SHIELD YOUR EYES LOL.
 
Morba said:
? ? Could you explain that please, i don't get it.

Also, for size own are better doing 8 to 12 reps, maybe 15 at a push.
Click to expand...

Totally agree with that..7-8 reps I dont think is enough sometimes. Heavy weight and knocking out 12-15 reps realy hits for size!
 
Well this week i've started my gym work out a little bit different taking some of the advice thats been posted here.

I've changed doing my cv to heart rate of 127 which is meant to be my target for my weight and age etc. Problem I find with this is I feel like I'm really not working out but I understand that keeping your heart rate at 60-70% helps to burn fat more. well thats the hope at least.

On the brench I havent been counting the bars weight at all and it turns out that its a lot heavier then I thought. So when I was lifting 50kg I was lifting 65kg. Kind of happy with that in a way but we will see how I go I guess.

Yesterday started at 55kg repping 5 times then increasing by 5kg up to 70kg which I completely failed at. Lucky I had a spotting partner otherwise I would have been very stuck. Move on to seated row pull started at 88kg doing 5 reps droping the weight by 10kg each time down to 20kg which I repped about 30 times. I moved on to another machine not sure of the name but its what I guess would be called arm curling on free weights. I couldnt do much on this machine so started at 45kg and worked my way down. I think I need to get away from the machines and stay with the free weights abit more.

After this as a cool down I did 5 mins rowing. Now i'm not sure but today I feel great where as last next i felt like my arms and chest were about to explode. I'm wondering if it was the fact that i did 5 mins rowing as a cool down helped my muscle or was it the spag bow I had for dinner and the potein if any in that help my muscles to repair quicker. I had a terrible nights sleep thou not sure if that had anything to do with it. Or could it be that I've just got used to the lifting very quickly. sugggests would be good to why but I guess it could be tomorrow it hits me

Roll on tomorrow for my next pain session down the gym :D
 
Hi mate, just so you know what's working recently for me, I have a 3 day split (legs, back and shoulders, chest and arms), and on the days in between and on a Sunday I run. I run about 3 miles twice in the week (imtervals or just a good constant pace so I feel like collapsing at the end) and on Sunday I have a long run which is a lot slower at the moment about 7 miles. I run outside on the street, I hate treadmills and think they should die! I believe my weights workouts tire me and kick up my metabolism enough that I dontneed to do cardio on the same day.

My diet isn't perfect but I think quite good, high in veg and protein, and I've seen a loss in fat while gaining strength, not too bothered about size, but I think I'm making good progress that I'm happy with. I do believe bulking and cutting may give faster gains in both departments, but what I do is working for me and at fast rate IMO. Work hard, eat well and cleanly.
 
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Duggan said:
Well this week i've started my gym work out a little bit different taking some of the advice thats been posted here.

I've changed doing my cv to heart rate of 127 which is meant to be my target for my weight and age etc. Problem I find with this is I feel like I'm really not working out but I understand that keeping your heart rate at 60-70% helps to burn fat more. well thats the hope at least.
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Congrats at getting down there again. A regular routine really helps.

Duggan said:
On the brench I havent been counting the bars weight at all and it turns out that its a lot heavier then I thought. So when I was lifting 50kg I was lifting 65kg. Kind of happy with that in a way but we will see how I go I guess.
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If it is an olympic bar then it will be 20Kg. You can usually tell as the weight plates you put on it will have a big hole in the centre. Non-olympic bars have smaller holes to fit the diameter on the centre of the bar (olympic bars have thicker ends).

Duggan said:
Yesterday started at 55kg repping 5 times then increasing by 5kg up to 70kg which I completely failed at.
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Good, it has taken me 3 months to get to 70Kg ;):D.

Duggan said:
Lucky I had a spotting partner otherwise I would have been very stuck. Move on to seated row pull started at 88kg doing 5 reps droping the weight by 10kg each time down to 20kg which I repped about 30 times. I moved on to another machine not sure of the name but its what I guess would be called arm curling on free weights. I couldnt do much on this machine so started at 45kg and worked my way down. I think I need to get away from the machines and stay with the free weights abit more.
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Hmm, sounds like you are doing drop sets. Starting off high and then reducing. Any reason why you are not doing either the 5*5 or 3*8 at the same weight ?. I am starting to do the dropsets but only after a fully body workout and only to totally exhaust my muscles at the very end.

Duggan said:
After this as a cool down I did 5 mins rowing. Now i'm not sure but today I feel great where as last next i felt like my arms and chest were about to explode. I'm wondering if it was the fact that i did 5 mins rowing as a cool down helped my muscle or was it the spag bow I had for dinner and the potein if any in that help my muscles to repair quicker. I had a terrible nights sleep thou not sure if that had anything to do with it. Or could it be that I've just got used to the lifting very quickly. sugggests would be good to why but I guess it could be tomorrow it hits me

Roll on tomorrow for my next pain session down the gym :D
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Great work. The food would have helped with the repair for sure. When you are dropping the weight, are you doing 5 reps or as many as possible with the lower weight before dropping the weight again ?

Cheers
RB
 
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