Diet/Training Plan

[Lonz]

Here we gan then. I've been sticking to this quite easily over the past few weeks and seeing some results, which I suppose is the whole point.

4 days of training a week, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. Realistically I can't get to the gym at a weekend. I might be able to some weeks but I can't plan it into a schedule that I'll stick to - so it's been written off.

I've always been pretty good at getting myself to the gym, only to let myself down by eating crap and not getting anywhere enough protein and carbs in my diet. This is what I think a lot of my friends who I train with get wrong. Not that they're not doing it my way, but they're not actually seeing what works for them properly and adapting to it. They seem to think that "dieting" means not being able to eat what they want, which simply isn't the case.

Here's a rough run-down on what I'm doing at the moment:

Training
Monday - Upper Body
Tuesday - HIIT and abs
Wednesday - REST
Thursday - Lower Body
Friday - HIIT and abs

Rest at the weekend.

Diet

This is kept pretty simple to be honest.

At the moment I'm not really concerned with when I have my meals and not dabbling in any alternate day fasting just yet. Just to get the right amount of nutrients in per day.

As a general rule though, before training I keep my meals to protein and fats (with carbs as low as possible) and after training to protein and carbs (with fats as low as possible). As I said before though, I'm not overly concerned if I don't stick to it properly over the day, as long as I've got right amounts of each in in total.

Training days this usually amounts to:

~ 200g protein
~ 200g carbs
~ 80g fat

On rest days I keep my carbs down as low as possible, but on Sunday for example, this amounted to around:

~ 200g protein
~ 30g carbs
~ 100g fat

Bear in mind, this is what's working for me, but I do recommend that you try the diet split if you're looking to lose some fat as well as keeping/gaining muscle for that summer holiday.

 

[oROSSo]

what you doing for these upper/lower/HIIT sessions mate?

 

[Lonz]

I'll go usually on how I'm feeling that day but an example would probably be:

Upper
- Wide grip chin-ups (assisted)
- Incline or flat bench (bar or DB depending which is available at the time, or whether I've got someone to spot the bar)
- Weighted dips (triceps)
- Seated DB shoulder press
- Seated row

Lower

- SQUATS!!! (front and back)
- Leg press machine
- Hamstring curls
- Standing calf raises

I'm going to give deadlifts another go. I did my back in when I was younger and have a bit of a psychological block on them at the moment, but once I've got my form sorted I'll be a bit more confident with them.

HIIT and Abs

From propanefitness.com:

Pick a suitable machine: a stationary bike, spinning bike, or rower, for example. Warm up for 3-5mins. Perform 4-6 rounds of intervals: 30secs of sprinting followed by 2-4mins of active recovery. Cool down for 3-5mins. Now perform the following superset:

A. Hanging leg raises - 3 x 12-15
B. Crunches or reverse crunches - 3 x max reps

 

[Deleted member 26533]

What's your goal mate?

 

[Lonz]

What's your goal mate?

I'm trying to get a bit leaner. I should have probably added my maintenance calories to compare to (just read your thread), otherwise it's a bit pointless.

I've never been the leanest person in the world so I'd like to see how well I can do. Single figure bodyfat % should easily be achievable if I stick to it.

 

[peachy]

Genuine question Lonz, are you just doing what suits you or do you have some knowledge behind your choices - especially regarding protein/carbs, protein/fats; and when you eat in relationship to exercise. Edit: Also I thought athletes ate carbs before exercise (for the energy).

 

[Lonz]

Genuine question Lonz, are you just doing what suits you or do you have some knowledge behind your choices - especially regarding protein/carbs, protein/fats; and when you eat in relationship to exercise. Edit: Also I thought athletes ate carbs before exercise (for the energy).

I've tried a few things in the past based on certain things I've read in articles and magazines (more fool me to believe everything I read in Men's Fitness). This is largely based on something called "carb backloading" which a lot of my friends have used to great effect to gain size whilst keeping fat gain to minimum.

I'm just using this coupled with a calorie deficit to achieve some fat loss but still keep as much muscle as possible.

 

[sksk3021]

Genuine question Lonz, are you just doing what suits you or do you have some knowledge behind your choices - especially regarding protein/carbs, protein/fats; and when you eat in relationship to exercise. Edit: Also I thought athletes ate carbs before exercise (for the energy).

Don't need carbs for energy. Your body can use fats or protein.

 

[peachy]

I've tried a few things in the past based on certain things I've read in articles and magazines (more fool me to believe everything I read in Men's Fitness). This is largely based on something called "carb backloading" which a lot of my friends have used to great effect to gain size whilst keeping fat gain to minimum.

I'm just using this coupled with a calorie deficit to achieve some fat loss but still keep as much muscle as possible.

There seems to be so much information out there, and so much of it contradicts each other; hard to know what is best.

I have two aims currently; one is to get fitter, I'm going travelling soon and want to be fit enough to enjoy the activities - currently don't do much apart from two short cycle rides a day, so am upping the length of time I exercise for - this is just for heart health and fitness.

2nd aim is to lose some weight - say half a stone > one stone; I am seeming to store weight around my midriff which is bad for the heart (I understand), not sure about the best way of going about this. I doubt my increase in exercise duration (which will mostly be walking and swimming) will do much about target 2.

 

[Scott1CG]

There seems to be so much information out there, and so much of it contradicts each other; hard to know what is best.

I have two aims currently; one is to get fitter, I'm going travelling soon and want to be fit enough to enjoy the activities - currently don't do much apart from two short cycle rides a day, so am upping the length of time I exercise for - this is just for heart health and fitness.

2nd aim is to lose some weight - say half a stone > one stone; I am seeming to store weight around my midriff which is bad for the heart (I understand), not sure about the best way of going about this. I doubt my increase in exercise duration (which will mostly be walking and swimming) will do much about target 2.

Depending how much of them you done, you would be surprised how good they are for you.

 

[sksk3021]

There seems to be so much information out there, and so much of it contradicts each other; hard to know what is best.

I have two aims currently; one is to get fitter, I'm going travelling soon and want to be fit enough to enjoy the activities - currently don't do much apart from two short cycle rides a day, so am upping the length of time I exercise for - this is just for heart health and fitness.

2nd aim is to lose some weight - say half a stone > one stone; I am seeming to store weight around my midriff which is bad for the heart (I understand), not sure about the best way of going about this. I doubt my increase in exercise duration (which will mostly be walking and swimming) will do much about target 2.

Increase the intensity rather than the duration.

 

[Lonz]

There seems to be so much information out there, and so much of it contradicts each other; hard to know what is best.

This is what I've been battling with for quite a while. I'd try one thing for say a couple of weeks, not see any drastic improvements (unrealistically) and then assume I'm doing something wrong. The truth is, they probably all work to some extent, it's just finding one that suits you.

I have two aims currently; one is to get fitter, I'm going travelling soon and want to be fit enough to enjoy the activities - currently don't do much apart from two short cycle rides a day, so am upping the length of time I exercise for - this is just for heart health and fitness.

This shouldn't be a problem at all. Swimming is a great way of exercising because it doesn't fuck with your joints and it's a full body work out. Having said that, you're a woman and it'll fuck with your hair . If you're going travelling, I'd suggest training on what you're actually going to be doing out there.

For example, if you're planning on doing a lot of a hiking, pack a backpack and do some hill walks. Nothing to drastic to start with but build it up for a few weeks.

2nd aim is to lose some weight - say half a stone > one stone; I am seeming to store weight around my midriff which is bad for the heart (I understand), not sure about the best way of going about this. I doubt my increase in exercise duration (which will mostly be walking and swimming) will do much about target 2.

As for this.. well.. it's been touched on already. You're going to lose fat by consuming less calories than you use during the day. There's a thread that Titus posted to estimate your maintenance consumption. Knock 10-15% off that, and do some light exercise. Or keep it the same and do some of that hiking.

I'm too plagued with that "spare-tyre". It always seems to be the last place to go and the first place to be put on. There is literature out there to suggest it's down to stress (cortisol puts it on there apparently), but don't take that as gospel. My advice would be to stick to what I've suggested above and monitor your progress once a week.

Losing weight is incredibly simple and straight forward if you're not bothered about muscle loss as well. Most females don't seem to have this fixation on muscle retention, rightly or wrongly, but that's for another thread probably.

 

[Deleted member 26533]

Intake timing is largely irrelevant in regards to body composition, I will make a thread later smashing the relevance of the glycemic index, since I know a few people off here have been watching Tony Jeffries recent diet videos where he started bashing about it's importance.

 

[peachy]

Increase the intensity rather than the duration.

That is how hard and fast I swim then? I can swim breast stroke for ages (say 1000m and stop though I could swim for longer, but I can't swim much faster - never was a real sprinter [swimming or running]). I can swim front crawl but only a length or two at a time, then I feel a bit exhausted, should I work on swimming front crawl for longer for intensity.

Thanks for replies all.

 

[Lonz]

That is how hard and fast I swim then? I can swim breast stroke for ages (say 1000m and stop though I could swim for longer, but I can't swim much faster - never was a real sprinter [swimming or running]). I can swim front crawl but only a length or two at a time, then I feel a bit exhausted, should I work on swimming front crawl for longer for intensity.

Thanks for replies all.

My HIIT (High intensity interval training) is simply going full whack for about 30 seconds, then catching my breath for a few minutes and doing it again. You'll find your stamina will increase with time. Just stick with it.

That relates to me using a bike at the gym. I'd guess that swimming uses a lot more energy just trying to stay afloat so your 3-5 minutes of "recovery" is actually using more energy than you realise.

 

[sksk3021]

That is how hard and fast I swim then? I can swim breast stroke for ages (say 1000m and stop though I could swim for longer, but I can't swim much faster - never was a real sprinter [swimming or running]). I can swim front crawl but only a length or two at a time, then I feel a bit exhausted, should I work on swimming front crawl for longer for intensity.

Thanks for replies all.

Yes I'd go for front crawl as fast as you can. Ten maybe do two lengths breaststroke and then another length front crawl. Gradually try to bring the amount of breaststroke down so you are getting less rest.