fatoldmanworkout

Workout #1

Today I went to the gym on my lunch break. I did interval training… 3 minute warm up, 6 intervals of running on the treadmill from 7.0mph to 8.5mph with rest periods at 5mph.

Workout #2

When I came home I did a quick biceps workout. I stayed pretty light because of my hand injury and I did 9 sets of standing curls and alternate hammer curls.

Weights:

Biceps

Back

Abs - 4 sets of 30 crunches

Cardio:
30 minutes in the exercise bike

Weight loss:
My experiment on Sunday with Starving myself has backfired. I shot up a couple
of pounds. It appears that consistency with my 2000 calorie plan (with the
occasional cheat meal), works great. Starving myself instantly sends my
metabolism into defense mode.

I went t the gym first thing today. I was too sore to do weights, and besides, I don’t want to weights every day.

Today was cardio only. Yesterday I said that my goal was 45 minutes of cardio. Today I did 48 minutes, so I met my goal.

Max heart rate was a little lower today (at 182), and my average heart rate was 152 (lower than the first couple of days). Hmmm, could I be getting fitter already?
I did some research and this is what my max heart rate should be:

Basic:

MHR = 220 - Age which puts me at (220 - 41) = 179

or According to

Miller et al (1993) from Indiana University

MHR = 217 - (0.85 x Age) so I am (217 - 34.85) = 182.15

or According to

Londeree and Moeschberger

MHR = 206.3 - (0.711 × Age) so (206.3 - 29.151) = 177.149

or According to

USA Researchers

MHR = 206.9 - (0.67 x age) or (206.9 - 27.47) = 179.43

and finally According to

UK Researchers:

Male athletes - MHR = 202 - (0.55 x age) so (202 - 22.55) = 179.45

If all of these formulas are confusing to you, you are not alone. The one thing to take away from all this is that I all of them are between 177 and 182, so my MHR of 182 is right where is is supposed to be.

Here is a pretty cool online calculator if you want to check your own MHR: http://www.brianmac.co.uk/maxhr.htm

Anyhow, the breakdown of today’s workout was as follows:

10 minutes stationary bike

20 minutes eliptical

7 minutes treadmill - from 3.5 to 6.5 mph

11 minutes on the stationary bike

One thing at the gym yesterday peaked my interest, I saw a few kettle bells on the floor and I thought about Terry’s blog at http://kettlebellguy.com

The kettle bells looked really cool, although the ones at the gym were a little whimpy. I am definitely going to add the kettle bell to my arsenal.

Oh, I almost forgot this, but it is worth mentioning. A really ripped guy (personal trainer) was lifting weights at the country club. He was either with his wife, girlfriend, or a trainee. He did a couple of stretches on the bench when I hear this gym bully yell, “Hey, this is for weights. Don’t do your god-damned stretching here.” To which the trainer replied, “sir, I was just warming up….” and he was cut off by the gym bully shouting, “STAY THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY. THIS ISN’T FOR PANSIES DOING STRETCHING, THIS IS FOR WEIGHTS”. The funniest thing was that this big bad gym bully was a silver-haired guy that had to be at least 85 years old. I almost burst out laughing. Of the 25 or so years that I’ve been around the gym, that was, by far, the biggest act of aggression that I’ve seen in the weight room. I don’t think that I’ll ever forget that one. I didn’t know that old men could still have that much testosterone.

Well, that was it for today’s workout. This week I am going to start to eat healthier and in much smaller quantities. I am going to start the dreaded counting of calories to see how effective that is.

The diet and exercise (short-term) plan

Diet Plan

Previously, as a sedentary guy with a desk job, it would take 2846 calories to maintain 250 lbs. If I hit my goal weight of 215, i would only need 2155 calories to maintain that weight without exercising. So here is my short term plan. Keep in mind, this is just an experiment. There is no right way that works for everyone. I just want to see if this is going to work for me in the short run.

I plan on keeping my calories to around 2000 a day while exercising vigorously. The reduction in calories alone should help me lose a little over 1.5 lbs per week (cutting the extra 846 calories a day from my diet is a reduction of 5922 calories per week. Dividing that by 3500 calories is 1.692, so that is how I am getting the little over 1.5lb loss). The vigorous exercise will burn even more calories. In an hour of moderate stationary bike riding, I can burn up to 620 calories per hour. Add in 2 hour-long sessions per week and there is another 1/3 pound. Then there is the muscle building factor. If you have more muscle, you will burn more fat at rest. The big muscles will help the most, so squats, bench, deadlifts, and presses will help build the most muscle the fastest. Although the muscle factor isn’t that significant, every little bit helps.

I went back to the gym today, but not until late in the afternoon. I am totally sore from yesterday, but I like it. I slept good last night too.

Weights:

No, this is not me

Today was tris and bis right away. I only did around 6 sets of each so as not to overdo it.

Cardio:

Cardio is hell

I started with 5 minutes of running, varying the intensity. One minute at 4.5mph, 30 seconds of 3mph, 60 seconds of 5.5mph… you get the idea. I want to be careful of my knees at this point because of the added stress that my bodyweight puts on my joints, so I stopped running after 5 minutes.

Then it was 10 minutes on the eliptical. My Max heart rate was only 184 today (an improvement), but my average was a lot lower too (around 170).

Lastly I did 25 minutes on that cool expresso fitness bike. I did hills this time and I pushed myself a bit, which was probably not a good idea. But I was in the zone and I couldn’t help myself.

So 40 minutes of cardio today is even better. I made some better food choices today, but not good enough. I’m on a mini-vacation, which is really no excuse. If I don’t lose weight as fast as I should it will be my fault and I’ll be letting myself down, which will be pretty difficult for me.

I’m going back to the gym tomorrow morning. My goal is to do at least 45 minutes of cardio (interval training).

I finished up with some hot/cold pools and spent some time in the blazing hot steam room. My body feels a bit thrashed today and it’s hard to get up out of a chair, but I feel so much better now that I am working out again.