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Need workout suggestions

post #1 of 12
5/11/08 at 4:38pm
Thread Starter 
I am hitting a bit of a wall with my fitness regime.

My story

I am hitting 40 later this year, and I am finding I am hitting a bit of a wall with my workout regime as it stands presently. I am 5'10" tall, 200 lbs with a 36" waist. Eight years ago I started working out again going down from 238 lbs to 195lbs in pretty short order, for a while I was down to 170lbs. I packed it back on during and after my dad's terminal illness (lung cancer) and passing in 2005 so I am roughly 200 lbs today courtesy what one friend called bereavement weight gain. I have come to terms with my dad's passing, I just want to get rid of the pounds
(15-20 of them would be nice).

I currently go to the gym four days a week with mostly a freeweight regime with 30 min of cardio usually on the treadmill or bike. On top of that I bike, hike, walk and ski (in season).

My diet is pretty straight forward: omnivore with three meals a day, no store bought processed foods and I eat my fruits and greens. I am a very light drinker (maybe one or two pints of Guinness or a glass or red wine per month) and I drink two coffees a day with a tiny bit of cream, no sugar and no pop.

Aside from the fact I know my metabolism is getting sluggish, any suggestions to kick start things a bit? I want to get back to 34" waist by age 41.
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post #2 of 12
5/11/08 at 5:28pm
I understand completely Bill. We are in the same boat. I am also turning 40 later this year and have never worked so hard for so little gain in the gym. This is the first year I had to back off for a few months and really re-think my strategy. I don't have much advice to give since your goals and your body are unique. But when faced with a similar choice I upped my cardio considerably and reduced my lifting to 3x a week. Good luck!
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post #3 of 12
5/11/08 at 5:39pm
Thread Starter 
I had that suggestion too from another friend. I am in the process of doing some research on wether to take up running or to invest $1500 in a new road bike. For now, it's more cardio on the machines and with the weather warming up, I am riding my bike to the gym as well.

I know I am not going to get my early twentysomething body back (without say adapting a regime used by US Navy Seals, Canada's JTF2 or the British SAS to stay in shape but my schedule does not allow for that).

The frustrating thing is I focus a fair bit of my workout on my core and back.
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post #4 of 12
5/12/08 at 9:30am
I recommend Crossfit, www.crossfit.com , others will have their gripes about it, but at this stage in your life it seems like you would be looking for a more broad based program than what BB.com typically suggests. Read up, take it slow at first and learn the basics before jumping head first.
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post #5 of 12
5/12/08 at 3:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by adversity04 View Post
I recommend Crossfit, www.crossfit.com , others will have their gripes about it, but at this stage in your life it seems like you would be looking for a more broad based program than what BB.com typically suggests. Read up, take it slow at first and learn the basics before jumping head first.

I'm going to start with Crossfit soon.

Out of curiosity what gripes do people have with it?
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post #6 of 12
5/12/08 at 3:50pm
Thread Starter 
Crossfit is in my research as well. It's a fitness regime that was developed so anyone from Special Forces operators to senior citizens can do the exercises (just alter the intensity).

I have heard really good things about it but also some people have been known to take trips to the local ER from pushing themselves too hard.

As far as my body goes, I am pretty much happy with shoulders, biceps, chest, I do a lot of dead lifts as well. As mentioned earlier I focus a lot on the core and doing around 200 ab crunches on the stablity ball. My battle is with the flab around the middle that won't go away.

With spring in full swing, I am riding my bike to my gym and doing my usual cardio regime in my workout. I am taking advantage of the "opportunity" cardio that presents itself in Spring Summer and Fall.
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post #7 of 12
5/12/08 at 4:19pm
nm
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post #8 of 12
5/12/08 at 5:17pm
Go on a diet and count calories. Biking instead of running or doing cable rows instead of T-bar rows won't make the scale change. 'I eat vegetables and fruits' is not any kind of information -- pigs eat them too.
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post #9 of 12
5/12/08 at 6:08pm
Thread Starter 
Personally I am not a fan of diets as traditionally pushed, I will however up the fruits and veggies and trim portion size.

I am riding my bike a lot more considering where the price of gas is headed this Summer and I am using it for all my short trips now.

Another thing I am looking at is my sleep patterns. I know late nights sleep deprivation are a killer on the metabolism (and cause weight gain). I am being very careful in getting seven to eight hours a night.
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post #10 of 12
5/12/08 at 8:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by william View Post
Out of curiosity what gripes do people have with it?

A discussion we had last year.

A handful of well-written, somewhat related posts by Philosoph a few days back.
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post #11 of 12
5/12/08 at 8:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by william View Post
I'm going to start with Crossfit soon.

Out of curiosity what gripes do people have with it?

It's mostly about the complexity of some of the olympic lifts with people just throwing themselves into the program. Start slow, learn everything you can and you'll do just fine. Sleep + nutrition is important so make sure both are in check when doing anything. There were points where I wasn't right if I didn't get 9 hours a night just because I was doing so much on top of just Crossfit.
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post #12 of 12
5/12/08 at 10:24pm
Thread Starter 
I think proper sleep is a very under appreciated part of the equation, North America is a seriously sleep deprived society. I am being very carefull to have a routine 8 hours of sleep and I try and crash roughly the same time every night. Hopefully that makes up for my earlier,"let's try and squeeze another hour", and on that note a good night.
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