Posts by rwnorth

Grove - I am assuming you are a guy based on your stats.  If this is true, then first off, your stats aren't that bad but you sound like you want a strength program.  Try mark rippetoes starting stregth or strong lifts 5x5 (easily searchable on the web).  The other thing you need to know is that things like abs are primarly related to a good diet so, in addition to working out, make sure you eat a clean, healthy diet.

Original Post by ruyrose18:

   A lb. of muscle is about the size of a grapefruit & a lb. of fat is about 3x that size. Which lb. do you want on your body?

 The difference is not that much.  The density of fat is about 0.9 g/cc and that of muscle is about 1.06 g/cc.  Therefore, a pound of fat will take up about 20% (17% to be precise) more space than a pound of muscle (that is the difference between a grapefruit and a little bit bigger grapefruit).

To the OP - I think Melkor's advice is dead-on.  Lift weights (heavy) and do a mix of high-intensity and regular cardio.

favorite source of exercise - sex.

Other fun exercises - mtn biking, kayaking, walking the dog in the woods

Sooji -  It seems like this discussion has been sidetracked a bit from your question which was, if I may paraphrase, "If I don't care about getting 6 pack abs, do I have to do separate ab exercises"

My answer is if you want to improve overall athletic performance and  potentially improve posture, the answer is yes, some amount of "ab" exercises are important.  By "ab" exercise, I am refering to core work in general and not only to crunches or sit-ups.  I think planks and side planks are a very good place to start along with something to strengthen your rotational muscles such as medicine ball twists or throws. 

Yes, many people experience extra or new muscle soreness when you try a new routine for the first time.  For me, the soreness is often the worst two days later rather than the first day later.  For me at least, the best thing to do is go ahead and do the workout again within that 2-3 day time frame.  Even though I am sore when I start, it goes away during the workout and then is not nearly as bad afterwards.

Well, a pound is a pound is a pound, so a pound of muscle does not weigh more than a pound of fat.  But....  muscle is denser than fat so a pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat (about 20% less, IIRC).  So you can actually be smaller and weigh more if you have less body fat and more muscle.  This is why people say muscle "weighs" more than fat.

The tough thing is that it is very hard to gain substantial amounts of muscle when you are dieting.  You need to lift pretty heavy weights and not be in too much of a defecit to gain even a pound or two of real muscle, so a lot of weight gain might just be water weight or your muscles storing more glycogen.

The important thing is that you are reducing your body fat percentage.  Focus on reducing your  %body fat and not on achieving a specific weight and you'll be better off.

As everyone has said, the actual fat will come off whereever your body decides for it to come off.  However, abdominal exercises, such as planks, sideplanks, and the side bends described above, will improve your underlying muscle tone and MAY (not definitely, but may) reduce the apparent size of your love handles.  Keep up the good work on the diet and work on improving all your muscles and you will look and feel better.

It is very normal to vary by a few pounds either day to day or even from morning to afternoon to evening.  The biggest causes of such fluctuations are retaining water (1 16 oz glass - one pound) or having food mass left somewhere in your systemFor example, I have weighed 3-4 pounds more after lunch than I did that morning.  Taint no big deal though since I know I drank a lot of coffee and ate food. 

Overall your trend is down so you have probably lost one to two pounds.  Also, you should totally ignore the decimal places.  Home scales are not accurate enough for the decimal places to have any meaning. 

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Spirochete - I feel your pain.  In general, I respect and try to give bicyclists the most room possible since I mountain bike and occasionally ride around town to run small errands.  BUT, I gotta to agree, if there is a designated bike path parallel to the road, USE IT damn it, DON'T hog up the one lane.  Also there does seem to be something about packs of bicyclists that make them behave worse than if they are alone.  They seem to want to have all the rights of using the roads but not have to obey ALL traffic laws.  How many times have you seen bicyclists routinely red lights once they see no one's coming on the cross street, or ride two or even three abreast when they are impeding traffic? (In NJ at least, the law is to stay as far right as possible and you cannot ride two abreast if you are impeding traffic).

Bicycling is a great past time, but just don't get a holier than thou attitude and obey all the rules just like you expect motorist to.

That big a difference within just a few moments is definitely unusual.  One question - Do you have your scale on a firm hard, even surface, such as a tile or wood floor, or is on carpeting.  If it is on carpeting that may be your problem.  If not, I would get a replacement.

I really don't consider protein shakes a supplement per se.  I don't see it as any different that scarfing down some lean chicken, egg whites, or whatever.  It's just a more convenient (and tasty if you like chocolate) means of getting some quick protein after a workout.

As to "true" supplements, I do take glucosamine to help with my joints since I have had some joint issues and I am 47.  I also take fish oil tablets on days that I do not eat fish to get sufficient omega-3s (I have a strong history of heart disease in my family and I might as well take every precaution).  Currently, while I am losing weight, I have been taking about 3000 mg of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) per day.  there is some documented (though probably not conclusive) that CLA helps one retain muscle mass relative to fat when dieting.  Finally, if I am going mountain biking or for a long kayaking session, I sometime take rhodiola for an energy boost, it does work above and beyond being properly fed and hydrated. 

Braodzilla - The straight anwer to your question is that running a mile in the outer lane is the same distance as it is in the inner lane (it's just not quite 4 full laps).   I am glad someone finally came up with a number for difference per lap.  Just from seeing staggers, I would have guessed 50 meters between the inner and oute lanes, which turns out to be pretty close.

Can't be sure why you hit a plateau without understanding your calorie intake versus your calorie burn.  Given the fairly low weight you are lifting, I doubt you have gained significant muscle mass, but may be retaining more water in your muscles (as part of the glycogen used by muscles as an energy source). 

I think the thing to do is keep up your exercise, strive to increase the amount you are lifting each week, and really look at what you are eating and how much you are eating compared to your estimated calorie burn.  If you are eating mainly high carb meals with low fat and protein percents, it may help to increase your protein and fat intake and decrease the carbs, particularly if they are from hihgly processed sources such white flour, table sugar, etc.

Massage guy - for your initial and current weight, 1200 calories or less is a ridiculously low calorie intake - Way, Way, Way below your BMR.  Alos your goal of losing another 7 pounds in 2 weeks is way above the recommended 1% of body weight per week.  While it is great that it seems to be working for you, I am not sure that you should promote it as an appropriate approach for others.

To the OP - I haven't checked the new activity tool yet, but what I found with the old tool was that setting my activity level to sedentary and inputting everything I did in a day for a few weeks gave me the best estimate of my actual burn (based on calorie intake and actual pounds lost).  It was really quick and easy once I tagged the things I do everyday (sleeping, showering, driving to work, etc.) and set them up a daily activities group that I just had to click on once.   What it showed was that even though based on the description I would classified myself as moderately active, my calorie burn was in the extremely active range.  Now I don't track burn as much anymore since I have a pretty good idea of how many calories I can eat and still lose, but will check every so often as I continue to lose weight.

Good Luck.

Flogginsully and Melcor - I agree with the early poster that you are being somewhat pendantic regarding the use of the word "tone" or "tone up" and jumping on people when you think they are misusing the word.  As noted by the earlier poster, the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) defines the verb "tone (up)" as "to give greater strength or firmness to (the body or a muscle)".  As a noun, it defines tone (with respect to muscles) as "the normal level of firmness or slight contraction in a resting muscle".  These are the common english usage definitions of "tone", have been around for a long time,  and did not come from the marketing departments of shape, Cosmo, or Self.

Now physiologist may use specific definitions for neurogenic or myogenic muscle tone, but this in no way negates the validity of the common english usage defintion.  Further, it is definitely possible to tone up (ie, increase the strength or firmness of a muscle) without significiantly increasing its mass.  Many body weight type exercises, cardio type exercises and even weight lifting exercises will do just that (how many times has it been mentioned here about how hard it is to gain muscle mass when eating at a calorie deficit, even when strength increases are occurring?)