Need help setting up an excercise program.

Iron City

Iron City

Joined
Jan 15, 2005
Messages
1,806
I wanted to get some input on an exercise program I am trying to put together.

I am 36 years old, 6’2 and am currently sitting at about 220 pounds these days…(yep I’m a fat bastard). I have a job that has me about 50 hours in the office and I have a wife and four kids at home that I have the usual dad commitments to until about 9:00 pm (dinner with the fam, homework with the kids, etc…).

My goals are to get down to about 195 lbs and drop about 4 inches (at least) off the old waistline. I will need to keep my workouts during the week to about 30 to 45 minutes and about an hour on the weekends. I had my knee scoped back in 2001 and am down about 40% of the cartilage, so I am trying to keep to the low impact side of the equation (tried running a few times since and it swells up before long). I have a mountain bike that I plan on using as well as a few sets of dumbbells. Living in Georgia our pool will be opening May 1st and I hope to take advantage of it on the weekends.

I don’t have the luxury these days to join a gym, or going on any extreme diets. What I am looking for is suggestions (or websites) on how to structure a basic/begineer workout that that utilizes the resources I have.


Thanks in advance for any input.
 
In 1994 I had bypass surgery, at an obese 6'8", 300 pounds, and subsquently shed 65 pounds. I literally started my new life by shuffling around the den for 5 minutes daily, the week after surgery. Following are some guiidelines that have helped me tremendously.

1. Just do it! Get started. Don't suffer paralysis through analysis.The fact that you get started is much more important than the small details of what you do. You will fine-tune as you go. I started out with walking shoes and later, my wife's 5 pound, plastic coated barbells. You are already way ahead of where I was.

2. You must schedule your exercise, just as you would an important business meeting. Then give it the same high priority. If you let them, people will endlessly find things they want you to do during that time. My schedule was much as you describe yours. The only way to fit an exercise program into a busy schedule is to plan for it and then stick by the plan.

3. Exercise alone is not enough. Diet alone is not enough. If you exercise heavily, it will make you hungry, and you must control it. If you diet alone, you will lose muscle along with the fat. This is very bad, as muscle is your ally in burning fat. Bottom line, you must burn more calories than you take in, and exercise and eating right are both necessary.

4. This one is crucial. DO NOT DIET! By that, I mean don't think in terms of dieting. Think in terms of permanently changing your eating habits, what you can live with for the rest of your life. Think in terms of achieving fitness, not just losing weight. I did mine by eating heart-healthy, low fat. Now the diet gurus say that low fat is not effective. I'm glad they didn't tell me this before I lost 65 pounds at it. If you must buy a diet book, then buy Body for Life. I don't use it's exercise routines, but the advice on eating is almost perfect.

5. Include weights in your program. I came to the weights late, at age 52, after I broke a foot running. Train to add muscle, not just to "tone" as many people do. Muscle burns fat 24/7, just by being there. You can find ways to work around the knees. I have had two back surgeries in my early adult years, and for years was instructed by doctors to never lift more than 20 pounds. I now do deadlifts, but it took a long time to work into them.

6. This one goes hand in hand with the weight training. Eat at least 6 times a day! Don't pig out at any meal, the new meals can be a high protein snack
or low glycemic carbs. Keep the fire fueled and it will burn hotter. Don't let your body ever think the famine has come and go into energy-conserving, muscle-burning, survival mode. Eating six times is not difficult, with a little planning.

7. You will learn and fill in the details as you go. Don't wait to develop a perfect plan. Get started, and let the plan evolve.
 
Mike is right, just do it.


MAKE TIME TO EXCERCISE, NOT EXCUSES

You have a mountain bike, just get out there and ride, or go for a simple brisk walk. Take the family along, or if thats too much hassle, go to the local trail and just go for a ride. I would advise against biking or walking on the road, you'll probably get hit.
 
Huh, how specific do you want us to be? If in your shoes, I'd start with 4 higher-intensity exercise sessions per week, making 2 of them biking and 2 of them weight lifting/resistance training. I'd also add 2 days of light walking. You can always add on from there; when starting out a new routine, it's prudent to begin slowly.

A sample routine that I'd suggest could look like this:
Monday - biking for 30-40 minutes. Start with easy "spinning" for the first 5 minutes, then stop and stretch your calves, quadriceps, and hamstrings. After that, hit the trail/road for half an hour and keep the intensity in the medium range.After the half hour is up, spin easily for another 5 minutes as a cool-down. Plan your route so that you end up back home by the end of the 40 minute session. Finally, do 2-3 sets of abdominal exercises directly after biking.
Tuesday - upper body lifting. I don't know what you have by way of weights, so I'll suggest some exercises. Do a set of push-ups for a warm up, then stretch your chest and back. After stretching, do 2 sets of push-ups. I have no idea what sort of shape your chest is in, so the number of reps is up to you. Aim for 2 sets of 15-20. Follow this with 2 sets of chin-ups/pull-ups. All you need for this is a strong tree branch :) Even if you can barely get one repetition, do it! This is one of the best upper-body exercises around. After these, do 2 sets of curls with the dumbells, 2 sets of shoulder press, and 2 sets of bent-over rows. If you don't know what these exercises are, you can easily find pictures and descriptions of them on the 'net. At the end, do 2-3 sets of ab exercises. For the first 2-3 weeks, keep your resistance exercises at 2 sets per exercise, in order to allow your body to adjust at a healthy rate.
Wednesday - take a walk at a comfortable pace.
Thursday - repeat Monday's biking session.
Friday - repeat Tuesday's lifting session.
Sat/Sun - take a walk one day and take the other day off.

I hope this was of some help to you; if you have any other questions, need help with specific exercises, or anything else, just post again :) If you could be more descriptive about your available equipment, that would also help. Namely, do you have both dumbells and barbells? What weight gradations? Are they adjustable?
 
TT:
Sorry, didn't expect any updates to this post and just noticend just saw your response.

Thanks, this is exactly what I was looking for. I have done some lifting in the past and am familar with the excercises. I have access to pairs of 25 and 45 dumbells and will utilize those.

Like the others said I need to "Just do it".
 
Iron City:

No worries :) have you started a program yet? What are you doing and how is it going? 25 and 45 pound dumbells are pretty different in weight; when you're worked into it, you can intersperse lighter and heavier days. For instance, on the lighter day, you could aim for 3 sets of 10 curls; on the heavier day, go for 8 sets of 1 or 2 curls. Do this for all of the exercises. With those heavier dumbells, you could also start dumbell dead lifts, so long as you know the proper form. With the lighter dumbells, you could start dumbell clean and press; again, this is if you can do the correct form. For any exercise that involves the lower back directly; if you don't know proper lifting technique, DON'T DO IT!!

I hope you're starting well in your new exercise pursuit.

-Trout
 
I'm a competitive triathlete, not that that gives me any special expertise. But it does put me in the company of a lot of fit people of all ages. I will say the following: I have never, ever, in my 25 years of athletic competition, met anyone who rides a bike at a high intensity (keep your heart rate above 150, preferably about 160 beats per minute -- check with your doctor first, obviously) for 45 minutes per day, six days per week -- and is fat. Not one. Not of any age.

The key is high intensity, six days per week. Most people who exercise every day do not exercise intensely enough. Since you're not running, you don't have to worry about impact injuries. Just keep your heartrate high for 45 minutes, 6 days per week. IMO, it's the surest, simplest way to do it. Tack on weights when you feel like it, but don't let the weights drive the workout.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top