Super Fatty Gym Thread

[peter12]

Do we have one of these? I didn't check, but with all of the chat about fat aging bodies (mainly UCB's), and heart problems, and struggles to get through a pathetic 2000m on the rowing machine while Corsi is gliding through a properly paced 10,000m, I thought it would be a great idea to start a catch-all gym thread where posters can share their work-outs, trials, tribulations, and successes?

Yeah?

[Tyler]

My biggest learning in 20+ years of consistently going to the gym - you can't out-exercise a bad diet. Unless you're a marathon runner, the math just don't work.

So now I just exercise for fun and try to put more good stuff into my gut than bad stuff.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Tyler

My biggest learning in 20+ years of consistently going to the gym - you can't out-exercise a bad diet. Unless you're a marathon runner, the math just don't work.

So now I just exercise for fun and try to put more good stuff into my gut than bad stuff.

I just had this revelation this last year.

For the first 45 years of my life I ate and drank anything and everything I wanted.

My biggest concern was trying to put on weight.

That all changed with a degenerative neck injury.

I still go to the gym, but I find regulating my eating and drinking so much harder. Although I haven't had an alcoholic drink in 2020.

[OMG!WTF!]

I get frustrated trying to keep up on exercise science only to read contrary articles every couple months. LISS, SMIT HIIT? Anyone care to explain? Don't even start on nutrition. That's always changing. Weightlifters are downing hard candies and gummi worms by the bagful now. I don't get it.

[peter12]

Yeah exercise science has a lot of woo in it and you can only get a general sense of what you should be doing from it.

I just do HIIT and weightlifting 3-4 times a week. I avoid all endurance cardio as my joints just cant take it besides it is boring as ####.

Then I think IF has worked for me plus cutting out as much junk food as possible even though I did have pizza and beer last night.

I also find that joining a cross-fit type gym helps as there is a lot of community and accountability that gives me increased motivation to go.

Last night I did 3 rounds of as many pushups I could do and two sled pulls and pushes of my bodyweight, then 8 minutes of alternating 50 skips and 10 sit-ups, and finally a 2000m row.

Dead.

[Slava]

I started with F45 in August and it's been amazing for me. I worked out at home before and did my own thing. I was incredibly skeptical and thought I'd likely hate it and quit a month in. Instead, some huge changes took place for me!

- I thought that I would absolutely hate the structured nature. They have "classes" and you show up, the have it all set for you and you run through a circuit in 45 minutes. I didn't like that aspect...but frankly it's fantastic. Some days are more cardio and some days are strength, and the workouts are excellent.

- Part of what I didn't want to do was interact with other people. I just want to get my workout done and move along with my day...or so I thought. One of my absolute favourite things is the community. Maybe it's that we're all suffering together? Maybe it's the endorphins, but I really love this aspect and for it made something I was dreading to be a pure positive!

- I NEVER worked out as hard as this on my own. I would workout and take too long to rest, or do 3/4 of my workout and decide "that's pretty solid. Most people are doing nothing, so good job just doing this much today Slava!" When I went to the first workout I thought I might die. I realised that I'd need to workout in order to do the full workout! (It's a go at your own pace sort of thing, so you can still take extra breaks or catch your breath)

Anyway, for me it's been an enormous impact. I'm totally not connected in anyway, and don't get any benefit telling people about it aside from the fact that I think people would benefit from it. In the past 6 months or so I've dropped about 25-30 lbs of fat and added a few pounds of muscle. My cardio is miles better than where it was before and most importantly, I feel great. I've seen the same changes for other people there as well, and I really just can't recommend them enough!

[peter12]

Hell yes, Slava.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!

I get frustrated trying to keep up on exercise science only to read contrary articles every couple months. LISS, SMIT HIIT? Anyone care to explain? Don't even start on nutrition. That's always changing. Weightlifters are downing hard candies and gummi worms by the bagful now. I don't get it.

The problem with a lot of "exercise science" is that it's so heavily influenced by marketers: supplement companies, magazines, youtubers, influencers etc....Even the actual science part is very poorly misunderstood. We have a very poor understanding of how human digestion and metabolism works.

My advice is always this, you'd be surprised at how subtle changes can have dramatic impacts. Start with portion control and reeplacing obviously high calorie foods with lower calorie ones. Find something that works for you. Some people need the regimented diets, and others get frustrated by them and give up.

As far as exercise goes, if you do it right, three 30 minutes sessions a week can get the average person to where they need to be.

[indes]

I've tried and failed at working out with friends several times in the past couple of years due to a bad back, bad knees and bad shoulders. I just started DDPY a week ago and have been staying under 1500 calories a day and feel fantastic! I don't have a scale but I already notice a difference. Gonna keep going on this for a few months and see if I'm able to properly lift weights without destroying myself.

[troutman]

I was able to lose 20 pounds and keep it off - it started with some basic math:

Losing one pound of body fat is equivalent to 3,500 calories. To lose two pounds per week, you must drop 1,000 calories per day. That means cutting the calories you eat, increasing the amount of calories burned during your workout—or, most likely, doing some combination of both.

An average man needs 2500 calories to maintain, and 2000 to lose one pound of weight per week

So by monitoring my calories, and trying to burn at least 700 calories a day with exercise, I was losing 1-2 pounds per week. I play hockey 2-3 times per week, go to gym 1-2 times per week, run and bike. I reduced calories from beverages - no pop or beer. Diet is varied, close to "Mediterranean" style. Rarely have desserts or junk food.

Chicken wings are nasty calorie bombs.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by Tyler

you can't out-exercise a bad diet. Unless you're a marathon runner, the math just don't work.

I would say marathon running is one of the hardest ways to out-exercise a bad diet. It takes forever to recuperate after a run and you need to 'binge' before the run so you have the energy. Just forms a bad cycle, especially with getting the runner's appetite after a run (runger...).

At least biking, rowing, and other lower impact cardio can allow you to continuously exercise day-in and day-out. Point stands though, if you're looking at weight loss, work on calories first.

https://www.runnersworld.com/nutriti...thon-training/

Seasoned runners reading this will likely shake their heads in agreement when I say that many, many runners are surprised to find that a marathon-training program involving months and months of high mileage and intense workouts won't necessarily lead to weight loss. On the contrary. For some runners it actually leads to weight gain.

[troutman]

I'm often shocked to see that my recommended weight range at 6'0" is 136-183. That seems very light for my build - broad shoulders, fairly muscular. I think 190 would be ok for me? Any less, I think I would look gaunt.

https://www.healthline.com/health/me...ght-and-weight

[peter12]

Yes, we focus a lot on weight loss but we leave aside how good it feels to have a body that can move, hinge, lift, and endure at a healthy level of activity.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by indes

I've tried and failed at working out with friends several times in the past couple of years due to a bad back, bad knees and bad shoulders. I just started DDPY a week ago and have been staying under 1500 calories a day and feel fantastic! I don't have a scale but I already notice a difference. Gonna keep going on this for a few months and see if I'm able to properly lift weights without destroying myself.

Yoga is great! I really enjoy it, but I have serious issues with staying disciplined with it. I do floor hockey approx once a week, that's it.

With renos andI guess lately though with packing a house and moving, it's been a crazy ton of walking and lifting of weights with tons of reps.... The lies I tell myself because I'm sore and the fact I've dropped 12 pounds in the last month... The weight loss looks good, but my get health has been horrendous because I'm shedding weight in very unhealthy ways (When stressed, I straight up skip meals and TBH, I'm quite concerned that if I keep this up, I'll get an ulcer). Just another week though and I'll be in the clear, so that's positive.


I also have a little one so I chase that little bugger around for hours a day... that's cardio, right?

I even tried to set a basic target of 5 push ups a day and I always forget. I should program it as an alert or something. It's actually crazy the difference in strength that nothing vs 35 push ups a week can make. Within a week, lifting a 20 lb item suddenly seems effortless vs being able to feel the weight.

I could really use the strength improvement because lifting a 30lb toddler is starting to wreak havoc on my body. Hell, I freaking use a power lifting belt because my lifting technique for my kid is horrendous (wearing one seriously helps a ton in saving my back/recovery of the back).

[DuffMan]

I've never been to a gym, but I have been dumbbells/stationary bike/stretches in basement during winter about 6 days/week for years.

would like to do something at work though, since I more or less sit on my ass all day long.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by DuffMan

would like to do something at work though, since I more or less sit on my ass all day long.

Same.

I was actually wondering if anyone has tried one of those small office-treadmills.



I'm assuming it would be fine for watching, maybe a bit annoying for reading, but actually typing and stuff could be problematic unless you're walking at a snails pace?

[GGG]

Originally Posted by troutman

I'm often shocked to see that my recommended weight range at 6'0" is 136-183. That seems very light for my build - broad shoulders, fairly muscular. I think 190 would be ok for me? Any less, I think I would look gaunt.

https://www.healthline.com/health/me...ght-and-weight

I think BMI doesn’t work at taller heights. The squared height doesn’t seem to add enough wait. 136 at 6’ would have to be unhealthy.

[Robo]

I'm a stay at home dad I stay extremely active about 13000 to 17000 steps a day. My schedule allows me to do weight training in the mornings for about an hour right when I wake up my days are chest/ arms, next day is back/ shoulder and last day is legs each workout is dumbell only except leg day I wear a weighted vest for those followed by 10 minutes of ab workout with a rest day on monday. After workouts I make a very high protien shake with low carbs but the rest of the day I dont really watch my carbs as close I just try to get the recommended amount of protien and keep my calories between 2000-2300 which isn't hard. Before supper I do 14 mins of hiit training on my bowflex max trainer. I also intermintent fast starting at 6:30 pm I don't eat again until 1030am. I haven't seen a huge difference until I started intermittent fasting about 2 months ago now and the results have been huge. I know being at home alot I have time to do this which is great. I'm 5'9 and 2 years ago I was 190 pounds I weigh 150 pounds right now with a body fat percentage of 13.5. It is slow some days I get so frustrated with how slow it is to change your body I wonder why I do it but it is for my longevity @ 34 I realize I need to start thinking about long term

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by troutman

I'm often shocked to see that my recommended weight range at 6'0" is 136-183. That seems very light for my build - broad shoulders, fairly muscular. I think 190 would be ok for me? Any less, I think I would look gaunt.

https://www.healthline.com/health/me...ght-and-weight

It doesn't work, imo. I'm 6'1" and have been that height since I was 15. I was dead skinny, and grew so fast I couldnt keep up eating. Then I got a weird ulcer thing and was on IV minimum nutrition (no foods by mouth) for a month. I honestly looked like someone from a world vision refugee commercial after that. Ribs sticking out, etc. And I weighed 160 lbs. I needed 27 waist -34 length jeans, which isn't really something you can buy (at least then, I haven't checked since this isnt currently a problem for me...)

There is no way the healthy range of weights for me includes that weight, much less losing 20 lbs from it. And that was prior to filling out shoulders etc, so I had less muscle mass then.

140-189 lbs is the BMI recommended weight range for my height, which is absolute nonsense at the bottom of that range. It's almost like human health can't be curve fit into a quadratic equation.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by GGG

I think BMI doesn’t work at taller heights. The squared height doesn’t seem to add enough wait. 136 at 6’ would have to be unhealthy.

Technically 137 puts you on the right side of "normal". This guy is 6'0'' and 140:
https://height-weight-chart.com/600-140.html

You're certainly going to look skinny, especially dudes due to muscle, but I don't think you would necessarily be unhealthy.