~The Plan~

[dry the rain]

i am by no means an expert in health/fitness, but i've done this sort of thing before (dropping a lot of weight fast, that is). honestly, it's all input and output. just get yourself a decent calorie deficit and you'll start losing weight (and fast at 280).

I went from 240 to 170 over my freshman year of college. i did this by taking really long walks and eating very little (around 1000 calories a day). i wouldn't recommend it. i put back on 15 lbs after i stopped being insane about calorie counting. i wasn't toned either.

just do a good bit of cardio, simple weight training, and you'll get in better shape. if you're 280 at 18, though, the key thing really is DIET. pay careful attention to what you eat, don't kid yourself into thinking your eating less than you really are. if you're honest about your calorie intake, it's a whole lot easier to get on a good diet.

oh, and two miracle foods in my opinion: tuna and boca burgers. **** tons of protein, tasty, and easy to make.

**this is all just my rambling thoughts filtered through having shared a similar experience to what tec-elf is trying to do. please keep in mind that there are much more informed people with better workout advice. mostly i just wanted to emphasize that you don't have to be a genius about this stuff to slim down. just move more and eat less**

 

[Noesis]

Well, I would recommend he counts calories for a week and see's what his average intake is, and then subtract 500 from it. So if he takes in 4,000 calories a day, then his diet would start with 3,500 calories. He could stick to that until he stalls, and then lower the calories another 500. Maybe eventually he would get down to 2,000 calories a day, but that's about as low as I'd go. 1000-1500 calories is the amount an emaciated model eats in a day.

 

[Baron]

This thread inspired me to get organized about a program in the gym. For the last year I've been spending about 45 minutes running on the treadmill then stretching and doing some half-hearted push-ups, dips, assisted pull-ups and sit-ups with the occassional disorganized leg-press or machine bench-press. The excersize feels good but I have very little muscle mass or strength. I'd really just like some tone and and some balanced strength without a lot of bulk.

Anyways, today I started with the Noesis program:

5x5 squat (I used the v-squat machine because I was alone and was a little sketchy on starting out without a spotter) - these killed me by the way.

5x5 bench (free weights, so probably a little light to avoid getting pinned)

5x5 pull-ups to failure (40 lb assist on a machine)

I have a buddy that will join me in the future so I can hopefully get more serious about this and stay with it for a while.

 

[Noesis]

Originally Posted by Baron

Anyways, today I started with the Noesis program:

5x5 squat (I used the v-squat machine because I was alone and was a little sketchy on starting out without a spotter) - these killed me by the way.

5x5 bench (free weights, so probably a little light to avoid getting pinned)

5x5 pull-ups to failure (40 lb assist on a machine)

I have a buddy that will join me in the future so I can hopefully get more serious about this and stay with it for a while.

Great!

You should avoid machines for squatting. The powerrack(s) in your gym should have adjustable safety bars. Squats can be kind of scary, but just start light and practice your form (even if you just start with the bar, 45-lbs). Once you get the form down, you'll feel more comfortable and start putting on more weight. Once you have the form down, your strength will shoot up pretty quick, but don't over do it. Just add 5-lbs a week. Just make sure you are going deep (below parallel) - this is a property of your form.

Also, these compound movements are generally not trained to actual muscular failure. You stop if you can't do another rep. Going to failure is very hard to recover from, and therefore should really be done with care. Science and practice has found that stopping right before failure is ideal, and not actually reaching it. Failure will happen though, you'll think you can finish a rep and you wont, but it's not something to aim for. Basically, if you can get 4.5 reps, you should only do 4 and then try for 5 next week. Progressive overload is how you get stronger. For example, if someone did 5x200 last week for the final set, then this week they should try for 5x205 for the final set.

Bench pressing can be done in a powerrack too, that way you can set the catches just below your chest. If you should fail a lift, the weight will rest on your chest, but the majority will be supported by the catches. Bruised but not crushed.

Also, a lot of benches have lower rest points where you can place the weight if you can't get it back up. Spots are always best though.

The pullups and dips I would actually do 3 sets to failure (opposite of what I said for the squats, bench and deadlifts). To start it might be 8, 6, 5 or whatever. As you get stronger, if caloric excess is present, you'll gain muscle mass. This will make you heavier and you might actually be able to do less pull-ups and dips. If caloric excess is not present, you'll get stronger but probably won't gain very much muscle mass.

 

[DeSica]

Originally Posted by Techno-Elf

My heart is fine I dont go to the doctor unless Im sick. I dont like physcials and havent had one since I was in 2ng grade and I dont plan on haveing one ever again, I just dont like them. Plus Im 18 my hearts fine.

Anyways I have a fdst motablism (sp) I have lost 15 lbs in a week and a half before but I wasnt eating hardly anyhting, but the point is that I can lose weight fast if I try.

So if I did this would I lose a good amount of weight:

If I get up and do this routine every weekday morning upon waking up 630 to 730 will I see notice able gains like from 280 to 220 by May 25th? Also with eating right and staying real active also in the afternoon?

10 mins Elliptical
10 mins Treadmill
10 mins Stationary Bike

5 x 5 Squat
5 x 5 Deadlift
5 x 5 Bench Press
5 x 5 Incline Bench
5 x 5 Decline Bench
5 x 5 Assisted Pullup

Why so little cardio? If you want to burn fat, you need to take in less calories than you burn. Find out what your daily caloric needs are, and how much you burn during the day naturally (google some sites for this), then adjust. Lessening your calories by 500 a day adds up to a pound a week.

Throw in excercise, and it's even more. You can find sites that tell you what a person your weight burns per hour/per excercise. At your weight, doing a moderate work rate, you might be able to burn (for example) 450 calories/hr on a stationary bike, or walking.

They say the best times to burn fat while doing cardio are when you wake up, and after lifting weights. From what I understand, after you lift weights, your body has tapped one type of quick energy reserve, so your body is forced to burn fat when you do cardio (this is a very simple version of the explanation).

Eating more meals, but smaller, during the day will increase your metabolism. Eat less garbage, and more whole foods.

Adding muscle was once thought to burn alot of fat, but now they say it isn't true. Muscle burns a bit more than fat, but won't make huge difference. still building muscle is good. Losing weight will mean losing lean muscle, so it's good to build some.

If you're trying to lose weight, lose fat, this is basically what most advice out there dictates.

 

[Noesis]

Originally Posted by DeSica

From what I understand, after you lift weights, your body has tapped one type of quick energy reserve, so your body is forced to burn fat when you do cardio (this is a very simple version of the explanation).

...and it also catabolizes muscle. Cardio is best done on non-lifting days. If finish lifting, and are able to go for a run, then you didn't lift hard enough. You should leave the gym like you just got hit by a train and go down a protein and carb shake (my preference being a mixture of ion-exchange protein and wazy maize starch).

Originally Posted by DeSica

Adding muscle was once thought to burn alot of fat, but now they say it isn't true.

Yeah, we gotta use what we know... and that's that caloric deficit is how we loose weight. Conservation of energy at it's best.

But, just because muscle doesn't have a significant impact on fat, doesn't mean that weight training shouldn't be one of the keys of a weight loss program. There are a lot of easily researchable reasons for this, but the superficial "style" one is when the fat sheds off, the dieter doesn't look like a toothpick... he/she looks healthy and strong.

 

[Techno-Elf]

Ok thanks for all the replys guys below I will outline my modified diet and exercise for this past Monday and Tuesday.

Monday:

Morning:
Elliptical 25 mins
Stationary Bike 5 mins

(This morning was my first time at they gym except for when I signed up and they werent even open when I did that)

(From 145 to 245 I played Basketball)

Breakfast: 1 Apple
Snack: 1 pack of Peanut Crackers
Lunch: 1 Measured Cup of Ceral
Snack: 1 piece Fruit
Dinner: BBQ Chicken
Snack: 1 Sm. Cup of Strawberries

I Also made sure I had atleast 8 bottles of water but Im sure I had more.


Tueday

(Didnt workout this morning, I was to tired from yesterday)

(From 145 to 245 I played Basketball)

5 x 5 Situps

Breakfast: 1 Sm. Cup of Strawberries
Snack: 1 pack of Peanut Crackers
Lunch: 2 Chicken Sandwiches
Snack: 1 piece Fruit
Dinner: Grilled Cheese
Snack: 1 Sm. Cup of Strawberries

I Also made sure I had atleast 8 bottles of water but Im sure I had more.

So what do yall think?

Also heres my new routine:

20 mins Elliptical
20 mins Treadmill
20 mins Stationary Bike
5 x 5 Situps
1 hour of Basketball or Football or Golf or Running

Think my goal will be reached if I keep this up or not? Be honest but helpful thanks.

 

[drizzt3117]

Originally Posted by Techno-Elf

(Didnt workout this morning, I was to tired from yesterday)

Well that's not good, you shouldn't skip workouts.

20 mins Elliptical
20 mins Treadmill
20 mins Stationary Bike
5 x 5 Situps
1 hour of Basketball or Football or Golf or Running

Think my goal will be reached if I keep this up or not? Be honest but helpful thanks.

Why three different kinds of cardio, just for variety? Between switching back and forth and setting up the machines you're going to waste a lot of time, I'd just pick one and stay with it.

I think it sounds OK. What's with the 2 chicken sandwiches for lunch? Are those like 2 chicken sandwiches on a burger bun, or one that's cut in half? How is it prepared?

 

[Techno-Elf]

I just bought 2 and put the two pieces on chicken on one bun, Ill do better and just get one next time.

Also I thought of doing cardio in the mornings every other day, is that ok or should I do it 5 days?

But todo with the machines all I have to do is push the weight loss button and it starts the restience out slow then builds up then goes back down and its timed for 20 mins, its really cool.

 

[drizzt3117]

Originally Posted by Techno-Elf

I just bought 2 and put the two pieces on chicken on one bun, Ill do better and just get one next time.

Also I thought of doing cardio in the mornings every other day, is that ok or should I do it 5 days?

But todo with the machines all I have to do is push the weight loss button and it starts the restience out slow then builds up then goes back down and its timed for 20 mins, its really cool.

I suppose that is less boring, and would give a varied routine. I think you could get away with doing an hour of cardio every other day. If you stick to the routine that you mentioned, you should definitely lose weight. You can calculate what your caloric intake and estimated caloric deficit is, and that should tell you how your weight loss should be proceeding. Track that with how it is actually proceeding and you should know if the program is working.

 

[whacked]

A few quick comments on your diet:

Breakfast: 1 Apple
Snack: 1 pack of Peanut Crackers
Lunch: 1 Measured Cup of Ceral
Snack: 1 piece Fruit
Dinner: BBQ Chicken
Snack: 1 Sm. Cup of Strawberries

Breakfast: 1 Sm. Cup of Strawberries
Snack: 1 pack of Peanut Crackers
Lunch: 2 Chicken Sandwiches
Snack: 1 piece Fruit
Dinner: Grilled Cheese
Snack: 1 Sm. Cup of Strawberries

- Not enough protein. To minimize the loss in muscle weight, you'd need a steady daily protein intake (1g for every lb of body weight). The easiest way to accomplish this is to have a high protein, fat free or low fat dish every main meal(tuna, chicken breast, turkey breast for lunch/dinner, skim milk or fat free cottage/ricotta cheese for breakfast).
- Also, nutrients (not just protein) timing. Your body metabolizes carbs best earlier during the day, and fat later on. If I were you, I wouldn't have fruits for my last meal.
- Too many cheat/unhealthy food. Peanut cracker? Grilled cheese? (unless it's low fat/skim) BBQ Chicken? (hope you didn't eat the skin and pretty much everything other than breast meat) Cereal? (glorified candies are what they're, try regular oatmeal).

 

[Ott]

are you reading the posts in this thread? Noesis made some great ones but it seems that you've shyed away from weight training (and everything else he suggested) so that you could do cardio and situps

also, you're completely starving yourself. At your weight you probably need something like 3200+ calories/day just to maintain your weight, and this is ignoring all the cardio you're doing. Go here and track your calories: www.fitday.com I'm going to put this in caps so maybe you'll read it this time: YOU CANNOT STARVE YOUR BODY INTO SUBMISSION, SO DON'T TRY. Scale your calories back SLOWLY, just like Noesis said earlier. And eat better foods like whacked said above. this thread is turning into most other fitness forums on the internet. A person asks a question and then ignores most of the subsequent advice.

 

[Techno-Elf]

Ott Im not starving my body at all. I usually eat less than this I have no clue why Im fat, I dont eat much and and dont have big protions..... What do you think about that? How many calories would u say that was. Also i dont care if I loose muscle as long as Im thin then Ill lean up..

 

[drizzt3117]

Originally Posted by Ott

are you reading the posts in this thread? Noesis made some great ones but it seems that you've shyed away from weight training (and everything else he suggested) so that you could do cardio and situps

also, you're completely starving yourself. At your weight you probably need something like 3200+ calories/day just to maintain your weight. Go here and track your calories:

www.fitday.com

scale them back SLOWLY, just like Noesis said earlier. And eat better foods like whacked said above.

Well, I do think with that diet and exercise routine (assuming he could maintain it) he would lose the weight he wants.

 

[whacked]

Originally Posted by Techno-Elf

Ott Im not starving my body at all. I usually eat less than this I have no clue why Im fat, I dont eat much and and dont have big protions..... What do you think about that?

Exactly. Drop the unhealthy items, make good food choices and you can actually lose weight/get lean while eating more. How do you like that?