Help and advice would be greatly appriciated

[Ezekiel]

Hi everyone my name is Charles im 34 and im from London. i have made a concerted but realistic effort to improve my health and some advice would be great to help me achieve my long term weight-loss goals. An injury 4 years ago left me less active and as a result i started piling on the pounds sitting behind a desk at work . I managed to pile on 6 stones ( talk about letting yourself go) smoking didn't help either. Anyway i have stopped smoking completely ( 7 months) and i have finally joined the gym. In addition to that i have addressed the fundamental issues behind my weight gain, that being ... my relationship with food and my inactivity. I'm realistic... I totally want a lifestyle change the only problem i have is a lack of direction. Im here asking for help from any experienced members. I would over the next 7 months like to loose 6 stones. The question is ... " is it achievable whilst keeping it healthy" To achieve this i know i have to burn more than i consume so i have purchased a new years pack from MY Protein to help me kick start my year.

Although the beginners section of the forum is extremely informative what i'm looking for is :

1) advice on the most affective gym equipment for fat-burning
2) how long should i spend on the proposed equipment
3) a comprehensive 5 day fat burning / weight training workout plan.

I know this has probably been covered hundreds of times but nonetheless i would truly be appreciative if there is anyone out there who can help me to get some direction.

happy new year , and thanks in advance.

[ben 21]

the best piece of equipment is your own body and a good pair of running trainers and a quiet place to run. for optimum fat loss run first thing in the morning on an empty stomach and do as much as you can and build up to a 20 min session. as far as weight training goes stick with a 3 day split of compound movements (just for now) and do things like squats, lunges, pull ups, barbell row, bench press, and dips. get your whole body used to it before spliting up body parts across the week. i would hugely recomend a channel on you tube called twinmuscleworkout. they cover correct diet and all sorts they got like 900 videos so you should find some awnsers there as well. i,ll point you in the direction of pepole on here like nu (hes like a nutritional encyclopida), martin m, zeigler, dolfhlinski and a couple of others. these are some of the guys ive come across that seem pretty clued up so find them and drop them a post on an apropiate thread. you want to lose quite alot of weight in a very short time so i would be very careful. i would aim to do it at your own pace and adapt to it because you want it to work on a long term basis and not just to get in shape now. eat clean and healthy BUT dont eat anything you dont like because again this is a life time commitment and it makes sence to enjoy it at the same time. if it starts feeling like a chore then something is wrong. i eat things like fish and porridge together in the same meal and eat pounds and pounds of lean turkey but at no point am i not enjoying it, i have fun with what i do and so should you. anyway rant over i hope ive been of some use and on behalf of every 1 here welcome to the boards.

[Ezekiel]

thanks ben really appriciate your help

[Zeigler]

Hey Ezekiel.

Im gonna go against what Ben said. If you dont like running, dont run. It isnt good for fat loss, it sucks on your joints and lets face it, no one who wants to lose weight will enjoy themselves by running!

Theres no 'best' piece of equipment for fat loss. Losing weight comes down to your diet - a matter of 'calories in vs calories out'. Simply that means you could sit at your desk all day still but if you were eating less than you need to maintain your weight, you'd lose weight.

But Im gonna guess that you want to end up lighter but, with some muscle. In which case you'll need resistance training with your diet.

I could write for a whole page on training, and I know you've read the beginners section. But re-read it - its full of quality information and its all in one place (THIS)

Oh, and no beginner ever sticks to 'comprehensive' so keep it simple!!

[Dolphinski]

Woah there, i'm not an expert on cardio but i do know that the myth about doing cardio fasted optimises fat loss was debunked a few years ago.

Quote

Horowitz et al (Horowitz JF, Mora-Rodriguez R, Byerley LO,and Coyle EF. Substrate metabolism when subjects are fed carbohydrate during exercise) found that when trained subjects exercised at 50 percent of their max heart rate, an intensity that equates to a slow walk, there was no difference in the amount of fat burned--regardless of whether the subjects had eaten. These results held true for the first 90 minutes of exercise; only after this period did fasted cardio begin producing a favorable shift in the amount of fat burned.

So unless you're willing and able to slave away on the treadmill for a couple of hours or more, fasted cardio provides no additional fat-burning benefits, irrespective of training intensity.

Fasted cardio makes even less sense when you take into account the impact of excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. EPOC, commonly referred to as the "afterburn," represents the number of calories expended after training. Guess what? Eating before exercise promotes substantial increases in EPOC.
More EPOC equals more fat burned. This favors eating prior to performing cardio.

Plus fasted cardio can also hacve a catabolic effect on lean tissue. At best, the effects on body composition won't be any better than if you trained in a fed state; at worst, you'll lose muscle and reduce total fat loss.

[Ezekiel]

what i would simply like to do is burn calories in the most effective way possible. Right now im on an average 1800 calorie restriction for the past 2 weeks ive lost near enough 6lbs and i havnt even stepped into the gym yet so i fully understand the premise to burn mor than i consume.. i dont realy fancy pounding the tredmil at my weight now , id probably only last a few seconds before the medics are called in haha, but i was thinking a combination of rowing, cross trainer and cycling combined with some weights program of some description, any thoughts??.... thanks in advance

[ben 21]

i would say the cardio should be in short bursts, a max of 20 mins short and intence even 5 mins would do, the majority of your training should be based on compound movements like i mentioned. and going by what zeigler said and what you say about you feeling to heavy to run on a treadmill i take back what i said about the running in my original post (it was just me sticking to my stuborn old school ways as i hate machines lol) all i,ll say is it can take time to find a routine that competley works for you. (im in my 4th year of training and still not completly there) as far as diet goes and this is highly debateable but im a fan of calorie cycling. you have a low cal day followed by a medium day then a high day. also use thermogenic seasonings like cayneene pepper and cinnamon they help alot. green tea with a meal will help also im talking as a strict bodybuilder type so again it may not work for you. but what ever happens never give up too many pepole get run down by it and throw in the towel but stick at it and it will be worth it trust me.

[davecpfc]

Training 5 days a week will be tough to stick to in the beginning and your body will be aching 24/7. I would start off training 3 days a week and slowly work your way up to 5days if that is your desired number of sessions, but remember its quality/intensity of exercise that counts not quantity.

Make sure you make small changes often because I find if you try to change everything at once, it is extremely hard to stick to i.e diet and training. Eat plenty of Veg, swap white bread/rice for wholemeal, eat plenty of lean meats and dont get rid of fat completely.

With training try to follow and 1 day on, 1 day off routine e.g Mon - session, tue -rest, wed - session, thur - rest, fri - session, weekend off. And like people have said stick to compound exercises and try to incorporate intervals into your cardio.
This is a rough idea of what you should be doing:

Monday
10mins Bike - 45secs steady pace/15secs flat out
10mins Row - 45secs steady pace/15secs flat out
10mins cross trainer - 1.5mins steady/30secs flat out
Bench Press - 2-3 sets x 12 reps
Bent Over Row - 2-3 sets x 12reps
Squats - 2-3sets x 12reps
Shoulder Press - 2-3 sets x 12 reps

Wednesday
same cardio
Incline Bench Press
Lunges
Lat Pulldowns

Friday
same cardio
Dips
bench Press
Squats
Deadlifts

Hope this helps mate. Good Luck!