More gym goodness - 8 week update

[ski girl]

Ovie does your gym have personal trainers? If so, you should consider doing a couple sessions with one and telling them you want a routine. You'll need to define your goals - the weights required to build muscle vs tone muscle are quite different. If you want to increase your stamina and lose weight, you'll need to incorporate some cardio also. Interval training is ideal for this. Google it!

As for diet, again it depends on your goal. If you want to build muscle you'll need to eat more than you burn off. If you want to lose weight, burn more than you eat. The internet is full of info on diets, calorie counts etc. My general rule is that 90% of what I eat (give or take!) doesn't come with a label - it's all fresh fruit and veg, fresh meat, whole wheat grains - absolutely no fast food or highly-processed food. Food is my fuel!

I think protein bars and shakes are just expensive ways to eat more calories than you need, and anyway I prefer to get my nutrients from actual FOOD. Unless you're working out HARD for HOURS a day, you don't need to supplement. And don't get dragged into the 'you need gatorade' hogwash - research shows you don't need to consume anything other than water unless you're going hard for over an hour.

Hope that helps, GymGuy will have a different perspective to mine - I'm an endurance-type athlete so my nutritional needs will be different to his!

 

[kodi]

I agree with ski girl. It all makes good sense and I somewhat follow what she does for food. I occasionally eat fast food but am picky what I order. I never eat red meat, except pepperoni on pizza and recently quit the sodas. I pick at french fries and usually leave most of them. I do drink gatorade when I run, regardless of the distance, never leave home without water too.

 

[Ovie]

There's trainers, and thought about it. But I'd rather try before I overpay someone for something. I guess I'm looking for weight loss for now, and stamina. I look online, I just don't know what exercise I should do, and then after that, etc. I'm just lost. My goal is to lose weight. I'm not a good cook but I try to get fruit and vegetables. I don't know how to tell if its fresh meat or not, I eat chicken over hamburger, this is just one of those things I'm lost in, when I was younger I was in shape due to being more active, walking more, HOCKEY, off ice training, etc. now I work all day, 90% at a desk, do. Y 2 hour workout 3 days a week and then am just sitting around gaming the rest of the time. Gym knowledge and proper nutrition just isn't my thing. If I could turn the mass I have now into tone and some weight loss with a routine..I'd be happy, just don't know how. I'm more a visual step by step guy as opposed to reading and try and understand what they want me to do.

 

[ski girl]

Hmmm . . . you're a perfect candidate for a personal trainer! If you don't know what you're doing, you're risking injury and then you will have to watch gym membership fees go to waste while you're sidelined . . . However another idea is to buy some magazines such as Mens Health and Mens Fitness (or non-Aussie equivalent) which are loaded with good info. Realistically ANY exercise is better than none at all!

Also try for more incidental exercise - take stairs instead of elevators, park at the far end of the car park, get up once an hour at work and walk around for a minute or so . . . . Also consider setting yourself a goal and training for it - e.g. a 5km fun run.

If you want to lose weight it's a combination of cardio and weights but eating less is vital. When I say 'fresh meat' I mean stuff that looks like it may have come from an animal as opposed to a processing plant - lean steak, chicken breast, fish - not hot dogs, chicken nuggets, fish sticks. Watch liquid calories too, like juices, soda, etc as you can accidentally consume a heap of calories that way!

 

[Ovie]

Yeah I always take stairs and park far away in parking lot. I only drink water and sprite zero, and also apple/orange juice and of course milk.

Ill look into the magazines, I really hadn't thought of that. I have lost 7lbs though in about 2 weeks so I'm doing something right, keep grinding and I'm going to ask about trainer on Friday.

Thanks for the responses Ski Girl you daredevil you!! :thumbup:

 

[Mom2izzy]

More gym goodness - 8 week update

I see that you've gotten good suggestions and Already seem to have a plan, so maybe this will be redundant....

It sounds like you had an "off ice" training routine when you played hockey. Could you re-institute your "off-ice" training routine?

 

[Ovie]

I had coaches yelling at me and making me do it, I feel like I wouldn't be able to do it without the same harassment

It also was some serious cardio and a ton of running, which I'm still trying to find a starting point on running, I'm still a bit nervous on how to dive into that.

 

[TheGymGuy]

I am back from vacation and wanted to add that I 100% agree with everything Ski Girl advised. Most of your food should be made at home if at all possible. Leaning out is about what goes into your mouth and belly. Something simple like walking can have you trim up if you do it consistently. Here is an article my coach wrote for leaning out by simply walking: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/get_ripped_get_walking

When I cut, I would just add 30-60 minutes of walking (speed-walking or interval walking with inclines, etc.) 1-2 times a day in addition to my lifting, and this caloric deficit alone makes huge difference over time.

EDITED TO ADD: Any good personal trainer will give a consultation which is 60 minutes for free of charge. During that time you can explain your goals, they will tell you what they can do, and you can see if that's a good match. You can do this with multiple trainers, but same questions from them over and over will get boring really fast.

 

[ski girl]

Ovie - for a starting running program, google 'couch to 5K'. As soon as I get the all clear from my podiatrist I'll be doing that!!

 

[Ovie]

I jogged on the treadmill today for 30 mins on and off with no issues, hope to make it a regular thing.

Ill look at that Ski girl!

As far as meals, I just don't know what's what, is red meat good for you? Should I stick to chicken? Anyone have links they use on nutrient and easy meals to make?

 

[TheGymGuy]

Here is some lifts right at 11 month and 2 weeks after surgery or 2 weeks short of 1 year anniversary.

Vadim - SQ - 445x3, 470x1, 490x1 PR - 2013-03-11 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjgfSKciTE0
Vadim - DL - 405x2, 495x1, 545x1, 580x1 - 2013-03-11 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww3W2UVI3rk


Also, some Kettlebells work for when I was getting some endurance back

Vadim - KB Swings - 100lbs x 20 last set - 2013-01-31 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMXB2NRbSr4

 

[escargome]

Thanks Vadim for the inspiration. I have finally become consistent in my aerobic walking and light weight training. I figure that if you can lift all that weight I surely can walk and lift a little dumbell a few times. Thank you.

 

[canon4me]

GymGuy, I am assuming and correct me if I'm wrong, that during your lifting you never invoke the valsalva maneuver? My surgeon told me to never hold my breath under exertion or I might be flirting with disaster.

I was looking at your post surgery poundages and you are nothing short of phenomenal!

 

[TheGymGuy]

Canon4me, I invoke valsalva maneuver all the time. Matter of fact, this is the most important skill to learn to keep things safe for me. When AA (Aortic Aneurysm) is repaired and all the stitching fully heals, your parts are better than new or very very close to new. With that information, after complete healing period, live your life, lift heavy, or just lift, train/run, enjoy!

FYI: It has alost been 15 months since surgery and I have had 3 Cardiac MRIs and 1 Chest CT Scan. All showed aorta, valves and heart looking pretty nice. This is amidst competing, training heavy and even super heavy sometimes.

 

[ski girl]

Wise words Vadim! We should all keep this in mind - this is a surgery that FIXES us and enables us to lead the same life as someone with a perfectly normal heart. Actually I think we are better off in some ways, as a surgeon has had a good look at our hearts so we know we're not going to die a sudden death from an undiagnosed cardiac anomaly!

Keep smashing it gymguy

 

[TheGymGuy]

It's been over a month since I updated this thread. The training continues in the GymGuy universe. Some notable mentions.

I competed at a 100% RAW American Open on June 8th, 2013 (almost 14 months since surgery). This is a competition which has many states hosting it at the same time and then at the end all results get combined and winners gets announced. The idea is that not all athletes wantor are able to travel to one location and so each state can host a competition for athletes to compete. Why this is very competitive is that you might not even see the people that you are competing against and you want to make sure to do your best, as all results are combined in the end. OK, so the competition took place on June 8th, 2013 and there was close to 300 competitors. I took a respectable second place in the 198lb class in the OPEN which means across all age groups of all competitors that were in 198lb weight class.

My total was 1351lbs which comprised of:
SQuat: 468 lbs
Bench Press: 320 lbs and
Deadlift: 563 lbs

Updating this thread to hopefully motivate others to exercise more and stay active. You do not need to complete in a sport, but perhaps partaking in one even if recreationally would be a fun thing to do. After all it's those new abilities which drive us to do better and improve us.

 

[Rachel]

WOW - WOW - WOW!!!

Congratulations - your results are amazing!

Updating this thread to hopefully motivate others to exercise more and stay active. You do not need to complete in a sport, but perhaps partaking in one even if recreationally would be a fun thing to do. After all it's those new abilities which drive us to do better and improve us.

I couldn't agree more - thanks for posting GymGuy and for being such a positive influence!

 

[Terry45]

Great job GymGuy and congrats on placing 2nd in your weight class!! I also believe that our aortas and hearts are better and stronger than ever. Yes it takes a while to get over the surgery but we are healed. I also think the more you excercise and strengthen the heart muscle the better off you are. I did a five mile run the other day and had a medic check my blood pressure and HR 30 minutes after completing the run. 120 over 78 and HR was down to 80. Not bad. And I had'nt taken any BP medications. I hit my 1 year mark on 8 August and plan to celebrate by starting a 16 week half marathon training plan. If everything goes well and the legs cooperate it may end up being a full marathon training plan. The goal is to complete a half or full marathon by the end of October.

Thanks for the inspiration and for posting your results. We all need to hear and read about the posative things! Excercise makes the heart grow stronger!

 

[spartangator]

Wow, congratulations. That's fantastic. These updates are always great to read.

Terry45, all the best with your training for the half. It sounds like you're making a smart move by easing into things and being in touch with care providers. You'll find lots of running support around here.

 

[Rachel]

I hit my 1 year mark on 8 August and plan to celebrate by starting a 16 week half marathon training plan. If everything goes well and the legs cooperate it may end up being a full marathon training plan. The goal is to complete a half or full marathon by the end of October.

Excercise makes the heart grow stronger!

GREAT way to celebrate Terry!!!!