Less Is More: The Official Becker Fitness Thread

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Guyon

Guyon

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There was some interest in the resolutions thread about a fitness log in the Becker subforum. So here it is.
Don't know what the ground rules are going to be, but I think it's about keeping track of exertion and ridiculing those who slack off.
Sound about right? We can work it out as it goes.

Me personally? I'm tipping the scales at about 225, and I need to be more in the 185 to 195 range.
That means 30 pounds minimum needs to come off so that I'll feel better when I hike, bike, paddle, play with my kids, etc.
I also need to work more on flexibility because I've noticed some loss there in the past couple of years.

What about y'all? Who's interested in being ridiculed if they don't hit the trail, gym, bike, whatever?

.
 
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I'm down with this completely. I've been ok at working out this last semester (been about twice a week for most of the semester), which is way better than a year ago where school started and I stopped going to the gym completely. This year I've actually been trying to work in other work outs in different activities. For instance, (you'll all laugh at this), I started doing squats in the shower while rinsing off or things like that. I think that has been helping, especially when I've been super busy that day.

I'm by no means in terrible shape, but I think I could refine about 10lbs away.

I'm at about 195 right now, but I think my ideal weight is about 185. On the upside at least, I was also lifting more than I have ever done, but I've not been to the gym in just about a month because of finals and vacation.

And good call on the flexibility. I have noticed that as well, and have been working on that bit by bit.
 
Annual goal: To reach a higher overall level of fitness. Reduce body-fat to get down to 155. Increase overall strength and cardiovascular endurance

Current weight 165.7 (5'10")

Below is my daily log and I plan to do a weekly goal and weight check in (a re-cap of what I did in the week, what was good, what I need to improve, how I'm feeling etc.)
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Daily Food Log:

Breakfast
-2 cups Oatmeal
-2 eggs
-4 strips of bacon
-16 oz. OJ

Lunch
-2 slices marble rye
-2 slices american cheese
-4 slices turkey
-2 leafs of romaine lettuce

Snack
1/2 cup trail mix (mixed nuts and dried fruit)

Dinner
-boneless chicken breast
-4 cups mixed vegetables
-1 Saranac Pale Ale

Exercise

Push-ups: 10 sets of 25 reps
Sit-ups: 10 sets of 40 reps
Pull-ups: 10 sets of 5 reps
Squats: 10 sets of 15 reps with 40 lbs
Barbell Curls: 10 sets of 20 reps at 45 lbs
Cadrio: 1 mile run

Did all of this at (or around in the case of the running) my house with only contractor buckets, weighed out bags of sand, and a piece of steel pipe.
 
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Ok im at about 148 pounds and my idea weight is over 145 but under 160......

So im here to help the rest of you, simply send me all that bacon and other yummy stuff you guys tear down daily and id almost guarantee you will loose some weight, and ill gain it so the universe will still be balanaced!

Email me for my shipping address :) cheaper than jenny craig or weight watchers. Im here for YOU!
 
I'm at 170lbs right now. I want to get up to 185. I'm 6ft tall.

I mainly want to get a little bit more muscle in the chest, shoulder and upper arm area. Yes, I admit, mainly for looks, but with all the parkour training I plan to put in this year, it will come pretty naturally, I think. I will train at least once a week until the end of March, and at least twice a week after that.
 
maethor said:
I'm at 170lbs right now. I want to get up to 185. I'm 6ft tall.

I mainly want to get a little bit more muscle in the chest, shoulder and upper arm area. Yes, I admit, mainly for looks, but with all the parkour training I plan to put in this year, it will come pretty naturally, I think. I will train at least once a week until the end of March, and at least twice a week after that.
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Parkour is so much fun! and a great workout.
 
Leangains. My wife and I follow leangains. We've been doing it for over a year now. We've been on it for over a year now.

She's done a figure competition on it and we both stay low on body fat all year round with good drops in the summer when we stop bulking. Last summer, we were 6% and 10% respectively. I believe she is still in the high tens now, maybe low elevens. I am probably about 8% (might be a high estimate).

We do this all year while drinking booze and eating awesome food. You guys should check it out.
 
I'm down from 280 to 230. Caveman diet. That is all! :D

Seriously!!


Up next is some p90x!!!! Yeah buddy! Get some!
 
Survivormind said:
Leangains. My wife and I follow leangains. We've been doing it for over a year now. We've been on it for over a year now.

She's done a figure competition on it and we both stay low on body fat all year round with good drops in the summer when we stop bulking. Last summer, we were 6% and 10% respectively. I believe she is still in the high tens now, maybe low elevens. I am probably about 8% (might be a high estimate).

We do this all year while drinking booze and eating awesome food. You guys should check it out.
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Every time I have tried to fast in the past it has completely fk'd my metabolism for at least a few weeks sure I drop a lot of lbs over the fast period but something about my body chemistry make me pile on weight like no tomorrow after I stop fasting (maybe my intervals are too long or two short, my understanding of IF is shaky at best). that being said I know that this method has and does work for a few guys I know.

What I do is sort of similar in spirit. 3 weeks of high intensity training (strength training and high intensity cardio) combined with a very clean diet, followed with a week of moderate intensity training (endurance training, plyometrics, low intensity cardio) with a more relaxed diet. Not a nutritionist or personal trainer by any means, but this has worked for me pretty well over the past year and a half I've been doing it. I started at 215 lbs after my senior year of high school (summer 2011), I was down to 150 over the summer (2012) but I was pretty low on muscle mass too. Right now I'm hovering around 165 and feeling a lot fitter. My lifting IRM's have roughly doubled since I started: Bench 180, Deadlift 300, Squat 210; I'm working on breaking out of a plateau right now but other than the past month I've seen slow steady increases in strength, endurance (cardiovascular and muscular), increase in muscle mass, and visual decrease in body fat (haven't had it accurately measured but I'm around 12%, at a conservative estimate).

When you boil it all down the bare bones of getting in better shape are irrefutably a decent diet and physical activity. No matter what approach you take It's going to take a lot of hard work and dedication, but the end result is well worth it in my opinion. Your biggest obstacle is your own mind.
 
TheWambo said:
Every time I have tried to fast in the past it has completely fk'd my metabolism for at least a few weeks sure I drop a lot of lbs over the fast period but something about my body chemistry make me pile on weight like no tomorrow after I stop fasting (maybe my intervals are too long or two short, my understanding of IF is shaky at best). that being said I know that this method has and does work for a few guys I know.

What I do is sort of similar in spirit. 3 weeks of high intensity training (strength training and high intensity cardio) combined with a very clean diet, followed with a week of moderate intensity training (endurance training, plyometrics, low intensity cardio) with a more relaxed diet. Not a nutritionist or personal trainer by any means, but this has worked for me pretty well over the past year and a half I've been doing it. I started at 215 lbs after my senior year of high school (summer 2011), I was down to 150 over the summer (2012) but I was pretty low on muscle mass too. Right now I'm hovering around 165 and feeling a lot fitter. My lifting IRM's have roughly doubled since I started: Bench 180, Deadlift 300, Squat 210; I'm working on breaking out of a plateau right now but other than the past month I've seen slow steady increases in strength, endurance (cardiovascular and muscular), increase in muscle mass, and visual decrease in body fat (haven't had it accurately measured but I'm around 12%, at a conservative estimate).

When you boil it all down the bare bones of getting in better shape are irrefutably a decent diet and physical activity. No matter what approach you take It's going to take a lot of hard work and dedication, but the end result is well worth it in my opinion. Your biggest obstacle is your own mind.
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I say stick with whatever works for you. It's not a matter of physiology. We are all physiologically the same or modern medicine wouldn't work but for some people, certain things work more because they play more off of attributes that person can successfully follow.

I have been training friends and family for close to 17 years so I've got a decent understanding of the principals involved. For my wife and I, the basics of leangains are easy to follow as a LIFESTYLE. And this is probably the biggest attribute that any program someone uses has to have. If it doesn't fit into your lifestyle, you will fail. If you can't do it forever, you either have to change it when it stops working or you will fail.

We do leangains because it allows us to eat the things we love and keeps us hardcore. I get to eat meat like it's going out of style. We cycle carbs every other day just about and we're either stuffing my face with grilled shrimp and sweet potatoes with brown sugar on them or we're eating ribeyes and giant, awesome salads. With both meals, we are drinking and alcoholic beverage. What kind depends on the day. And then on our one cheat day, we go ballistic. Sometimes we eat an entire pizza each, a blender of margaritas each, some beers, 40 Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, a ton of ribs, and cheesecake. On the hardcore end, there is nothing like starving for 16 hours a day EVERY DAY to make your food taste good and keep you lean and mean.

I am much more loose on the rules at the moment because we are bulking but I am still at what is most likely just under 8% body fat.
 
I'm down for joining in some Becker fitness. I'm 5'10", 185#, and will likely stay there no matter how much I work out. So I'll mainly be working on my upper body fitness more. Maybe some running, although I don't care as much about that. My father-in-law is a high altitude Olympic weight trainer, so I stay fairly fit as is. Need more shoulder fitness because my arms get tired after a while firing my M4 standing unsupported.
 
My daily 5 mile hike and weight training came to a screeching halt this fall because of too much going on. I'm ten pounds too heavy and not in the kind of shape I like to be in, so I could use a good nudge in the right direction. I'm in, thanks for the chance. Beckerhead #65.
 
I'm in.

Goal this year: Run 5k consistently.

Starting this year with the ability to run 2ish miles.

lets do this!
 
I guess I could stand to gain a few pounds:

c1990.jpg


In all seriousness though, I need to start hitting it again. I did good for a few months, then went back to my old ways = not good. I'm tipping the scales at 270 now. Better than the 286 I was, but still not the 225-235 I'd like to be.
 
Well, the gym tonight was closed (campus gym, and school hasn't started yet), so I went running instead.

I'm pretty out of shape right now, I did 3 miles, but that was pretty painful.

Good luck all :)
 
I've been trying to work out or run several days a week since around September. I'm down from about 285 to 245ish and need to replace another 20 or 30 pounds of fat with muscle. I did a slow 5k today on the treadmill at 36 minutes but it was a consistent 5.2 speed. I know that isn't fast at all but it was all I could do at the moment.
 
As a career fitness professional and fitness facility owner I hear these conversations every day. The best bit of advice that can be given to anyone who wants to get in shape or back in shape is to take it slowly. The physiological processes that take place for healing and regeneration are vital and if you violate the bodies protective mechanisms inflammatory processes occur. This is something that you don't want to take place because you will end up quitting and that is not the goal! Take it slowly---> we call it MICRO-PROGRESSION. This is a journey, not a destination. Take your time. IF you are serious and have questions let me know.

Cheers,
 
Lakanen7 said:
This is a journey, not a destination. Take your time.
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Good advice there and in the rest of your post. :thumbup:

Make sure you create realistic goals for yourself. I find it helpful to break it down into three categories

1. Daily objectives
things you want to make sure you do that day to help you reach your other goals. Breaking down what exercises I should do and what kind of meals I should eat as well as what I actually did that day or week. helps me keep on track. Also If you record this data (personally or publicly here) it can help show you what areas you are doing good in and where you are lacking.

2. Monthly Goals
I see these as short term attainable goals that can help boost your moral and gauge your progress. It could have something to do with your daily routine you want to see changed or setting a small measure of improvement in a particular exercise or activity you are not seeing the progress you would like in.

3. Annual or long term goals
These are your big objectives, the things you are ultimately working towards. I like to set a date that I would like a long term goal to be achieved by. This helps me realize the goal and make better use of the time I have to complete it. If you meet or exceed your goal on time or early, take pride in that; if you do not, don't get discouraged, just examine why you didn't meet your goal, and what you could have done or need to do to meet it as soon as you can.

I personally don't like to obsess about my scale weight or appearance too much, because that image and those numbers don't accurately portray the subtle progress you are likely making; at least not in real time. I usually only weigh myself once a week just to keep track of where I'm at. I find it more helpful to notice changes in how you feel, physically and emotionally and to use natural indicators like how your clothes fit or the change of effort taken to do normal day to day tasks.

If you are getting discouraged or not seeing the change you want to as fast as you would like, remember that stopping isn't going to help you reach your goal. (however if you are overworking yourself, or being unrealistic with your goals it may be time to take a step back and really evaluate what you want and how you plan to get there)

*sigh* okay [/rant]
 
What the heck, I'll check in too. I'm 5'7", 200 lbs. I was 225 at the beginning of 2012 and I'd like to be down around 170 at the end of this year. I need to build upper body strength back up again, so a secondary goal is to build up to being able to do 100 consecutive push-ups on a daily basis. Heck, just dropping the 25lbs allowed me to do 20 something instead of 5-10 before I started to lose it.
 
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