Weight and fitness
Discussion
I have suffered for years with my weight and eventually I had my Thyroid treated with radiation and am now on tablets for the rest of my life.
I was up to 21st and now since February have dropped three stone, eating very sensibly and going to the gym. It is a council run gym who offers a personal training service, which having seen them in action is not filling me with good feelings to use them.
My problem is I am 56 years old suffer with bad knees from years of lardiness, so I go three times a week and do half an hour on the bike, half an hour on a cross trainer type machine and 15 mins walking at 6.5 kph up a 3.5 degree incline. The machines allege that I have burnt 750-800 calories per workout, but this leaves me wrecked and heart beat is frequently 130-135 bpm. My weight is now sticking and getting it to move is proving very hard to do.
I could probably squeeze another session in but would I be better doing weights, although I am pretty strong already.
Any advice welcomed.
I was up to 21st and now since February have dropped three stone, eating very sensibly and going to the gym. It is a council run gym who offers a personal training service, which having seen them in action is not filling me with good feelings to use them.
My problem is I am 56 years old suffer with bad knees from years of lardiness, so I go three times a week and do half an hour on the bike, half an hour on a cross trainer type machine and 15 mins walking at 6.5 kph up a 3.5 degree incline. The machines allege that I have burnt 750-800 calories per workout, but this leaves me wrecked and heart beat is frequently 130-135 bpm. My weight is now sticking and getting it to move is proving very hard to do.
I could probably squeeze another session in but would I be better doing weights, although I am pretty strong already.
Any advice welcomed.
If you're a novice strength trainer, you might think you're pretty strong but a year of strength training and you'll laugh as you realise how weak you are currently. 
SS will help as it builds muscle which requires calories to maintain itself.
As for plateauing, you could either do a lot more cardio or monitor your eating. Don't just guess, don't just try to make a mental note. Actually write everything down. Weigh everything. Then calculate the calories. Aim for 2000 a day (which at your weight is under your TDEE). Use myfitnesspal.com.
SS will help as it builds muscle which requires calories to maintain itself.As for plateauing, you could either do a lot more cardio or monitor your eating. Don't just guess, don't just try to make a mental note. Actually write everything down. Weigh everything. Then calculate the calories. Aim for 2000 a day (which at your weight is under your TDEE). Use myfitnesspal.com.
what's your carb intake like? No point having loads of fat which your body can and should use for energy but be giving it carbs to use instead.
I would suggest low carb / low GI type diet with a good healthy fats.
Can you walk in a swimming pool? Pacing up and down a pool will give you a good cardio workout and should take away pressure on the joints.
I would suggest low carb / low GI type diet with a good healthy fats.
Can you walk in a swimming pool? Pacing up and down a pool will give you a good cardio workout and should take away pressure on the joints.
First off congratulations on dropping 3 stone - no mean feat and definitely something to be proud of. Also, it's common to plateau, so don't lose confidence.
Diet is the be all and end all of weight loss, so start there, and accept there's no shortcuts. Log everything you put in your face - myfitnesspal app is brilliant for this, but there's plenty of alternatives. It's a small inconvenience but it pays dividends to track everything. Work out what you need to maintain your current weight, and lop a bit off, to put it simply.
Avoid any fad diets, don't cut out any major food groups and concentrate on giving your body what it needs in balance with a calorie deficit.
It's worked brilliantly for me (so far), and I've no reason to believe it won't continue to do so. I went and did the maths using this thread over on bodybuilding.com. After working out how many calories this tub of guts needs to stay the same I reduced my calorie intake by 20% and went for a 40/35/25 split of protein, carb and fat respectively.
Exercise wise, yes, weights are a godsend. As Hoofy says, you'll consider yourself piss-weak in your current state after a year of slinging irons around the gym (and the rights of passage like crying when you try and walk down the stairs, googling DOMS etc). When you see how fast your ability goes up in the squat rack you'll be amazed (noob gains are bloody brilliant, make the most of them!).
Some people are big advocates of post weight-training cardio, some dead against it. I use cardio to create a deeper calorie deficit (so I can eat more, basically
) and because I just enjoy it. Some days I do HIIT, some days I hit the cross trainer for half an hour. I also walk for an hour every morning irrespective of whether it's a rest day in the weights room or not. No need to go for crazy heart rates, just enjoy it, listen to a podcast, whatever. Or not at all. Whatever works for you.
Weights wise, I do 3 or 4 days a week, heavy weights and fewer reps for the large part, and a mixture of compounds and isolation stuff. I'd suggest you just start doing what you enjoy (or hate the least), and look at getting on a program like 5x5s or whatever once you've got the hang of the various lifts using proper form. Bodybuilding.com and youtube are your freinds here (just beware of the massive amounts of bullsh*t broscience on the former).
Then it's just a case of making sure you're giving your body enough time to recover between sessions, getting enough sleep etc.
Try it for 8 weeks, if you don't see any positive results I'll eat my own face with a spork.
Diet is the be all and end all of weight loss, so start there, and accept there's no shortcuts. Log everything you put in your face - myfitnesspal app is brilliant for this, but there's plenty of alternatives. It's a small inconvenience but it pays dividends to track everything. Work out what you need to maintain your current weight, and lop a bit off, to put it simply.
Avoid any fad diets, don't cut out any major food groups and concentrate on giving your body what it needs in balance with a calorie deficit.
It's worked brilliantly for me (so far), and I've no reason to believe it won't continue to do so. I went and did the maths using this thread over on bodybuilding.com. After working out how many calories this tub of guts needs to stay the same I reduced my calorie intake by 20% and went for a 40/35/25 split of protein, carb and fat respectively.
Exercise wise, yes, weights are a godsend. As Hoofy says, you'll consider yourself piss-weak in your current state after a year of slinging irons around the gym (and the rights of passage like crying when you try and walk down the stairs, googling DOMS etc). When you see how fast your ability goes up in the squat rack you'll be amazed (noob gains are bloody brilliant, make the most of them!).
Some people are big advocates of post weight-training cardio, some dead against it. I use cardio to create a deeper calorie deficit (so I can eat more, basically
) and because I just enjoy it. Some days I do HIIT, some days I hit the cross trainer for half an hour. I also walk for an hour every morning irrespective of whether it's a rest day in the weights room or not. No need to go for crazy heart rates, just enjoy it, listen to a podcast, whatever. Or not at all. Whatever works for you.Weights wise, I do 3 or 4 days a week, heavy weights and fewer reps for the large part, and a mixture of compounds and isolation stuff. I'd suggest you just start doing what you enjoy (or hate the least), and look at getting on a program like 5x5s or whatever once you've got the hang of the various lifts using proper form. Bodybuilding.com and youtube are your freinds here (just beware of the massive amounts of bullsh*t broscience on the former).
Then it's just a case of making sure you're giving your body enough time to recover between sessions, getting enough sleep etc.
Try it for 8 weeks, if you don't see any positive results I'll eat my own face with a spork.
Stu R said:
the rights of passage like crying when you try and walk down the stairs
I still remember the first time I tried to go up a flight of stairs whilst carrying a mug of coffee after training legs. The seasoned PH lifters who recommended I train legs never warned me about that. Nearly dropped my mug when my legs gave way.
Hoofy said:
Stu R said:
the rights of passage like crying when you try and walk down the stairs
I still remember the first time I tried to go up a flight of stairs whilst carrying a mug of coffee after training legs. The seasoned PH lifters who recommended I train legs never warned me about that. Nearly dropped my mug when my legs gave way.
Then I started doing squats and expected to be able to do similar weight on the bar. I've never cried in public in my adult life, but the next day I missed a train because it took me 10 minutes to get down to the platform, and every step felt like someone was knifing me in the hamstrings. I must admit I nearly had a little weep while I was doing the crapped pants shuffle
Thanks for the help so far. As I said I had the problem for years and have seen several different dieticians where I have had to keep a diary. I do not take sugar, drink alcohol regularly, do not have butter or margarine and eat plenty of veg, not fast food. On each time they have said that the diet is very good which is why they eventually found a problem with my thyroid. This is now sorted after a couple of years and I have been able to start the process of reducing my weight and getting fit, which is starting to work. I have reduced the portion sizes down and have got used to that now although I eat less than most people expect when they see my size.
I will not give in but I suspected I needed to do some weights to get things moving a bit as well which the gym has not mentioned.
I will look at the links that have been given.
Thanks again
I will not give in but I suspected I needed to do some weights to get things moving a bit as well which the gym has not mentioned.
I will look at the links that have been given.
Thanks again
spaximus said:
I do not take sugar, drink alcohol regularly, do not have butter or margarine and eat plenty of veg, not fast food.
As this thread is purely about weight, then the above is irrelephant. If you're plateauing, you can eat all the healthy, "clean" food in the world and you won't lose weight (well, if you eat all of it, you'll gain weight).Definitely look into progressive strength training. Plenty of online guides. Could ask a PTer for coaching. If they get you doing one-legged barbell squats on a swiss ball, punch them in the face.
Little off the wall but.... if you have dodgy knee's why not try wheelchair basketball?
We have several 'able' bodied people doing it because of dodgy legs, back etc. It's a fantastic team sport, very quick and good workout.
Yes you'll be slow to start with but like anything over time and working at it you'll be amazed.
I'm a below knee amputee with arthritis in the other leg and been on thyroid meds for about 6 years as it stopped working. I eat well, am 70kg and 12% body fat. try it, you'll love it
Have a look here for a club near you or give me a yell http://www.gbwba.org.uk/gbwba/welcome.htm
We have several 'able' bodied people doing it because of dodgy legs, back etc. It's a fantastic team sport, very quick and good workout.
Yes you'll be slow to start with but like anything over time and working at it you'll be amazed.
I'm a below knee amputee with arthritis in the other leg and been on thyroid meds for about 6 years as it stopped working. I eat well, am 70kg and 12% body fat. try it, you'll love it
Have a look here for a club near you or give me a yell http://www.gbwba.org.uk/gbwba/welcome.htm
spaximus said:
I have suffered for years with my weight and eventually I had my Thyroid treated with radiation and am now on tablets for the rest of my life.
I was up to 21st and now since February have dropped three stone, eating very sensibly and going to the gym. It is a council run gym who offers a personal training service, which having seen them in action is not filling me with good feelings to use them.
My problem is I am 56 years old suffer with bad knees from years of lardiness, so I go three times a week and do half an hour on the bike, half an hour on a cross trainer type machine and 15 mins walking at 6.5 kph up a 3.5 degree incline. The machines allege that I have burnt 750-800 calories per workout, but this leaves me wrecked and heart beat is frequently 130-135 bpm. My weight is now sticking and getting it to move is proving very hard to do.
I could probably squeeze another session in but would I be better doing weights, although I am pretty strong already.
Any advice welcomed.
130bpm isn't very high...I was up to 21st and now since February have dropped three stone, eating very sensibly and going to the gym. It is a council run gym who offers a personal training service, which having seen them in action is not filling me with good feelings to use them.
My problem is I am 56 years old suffer with bad knees from years of lardiness, so I go three times a week and do half an hour on the bike, half an hour on a cross trainer type machine and 15 mins walking at 6.5 kph up a 3.5 degree incline. The machines allege that I have burnt 750-800 calories per workout, but this leaves me wrecked and heart beat is frequently 130-135 bpm. My weight is now sticking and getting it to move is proving very hard to do.
I could probably squeeze another session in but would I be better doing weights, although I am pretty strong already.
Any advice welcomed.
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