Posts by spurlinb

On the days you do weights switch it up.  Do 5-8 minutes cardio warm-up, hit the weights and then as much cardio as you want or your body can handle. 

OMG - Keep going! I have found that very, very few people understand and appreciate how hard it is to do a palm-out pull-up.  Congrats and just silently laugh at your friends and your superiority!

If you are in deficit, forget the crunches and all that stuff.  Focus on 3 major things:

1. squats

2. lunges

3.  deadlift

the reason is these will work the largest muscle group.

good luck

Not sure if this was made clear, but don't freak out if you enter in say 500 calories of activity, but your burn meter goes up less than 500.  This is because the site will automatically calculate the number of calories you would have burned with no activity and then subtract your "added" burn. 

Congrats on getting started.

We are out here Dan.  In fact over the past year I bet I have recommended this site to at leat 10 of my buddies.  I just passed my 1 year mark on CC.com.  During this past summer I got down to 190 for about 3 days and have since leveled out in the 193-194 range weekly.  I have found that I return to CC when I feel my self gaining weight "Mentally" if that makes any sense.  So, I just got back on the site regularly about 1 week ago because I can tell mentally that I am wanting to go back to some unhealthy eating levels.  Good luck,

H-5'11"

SW - 225

CW - 195

GW - 190

You will open up a flood gate of responses on this.  I might suggest you type this in the "search" field, get comfy and remember to come up for food and water!

My personal 2 inputs are as follows:

1.  It depends on what level of fitness you are currently in ->i.e. for me it didn't matter which one was "more" correct; I could barely walk at 4.0 for 15 minutes let alone a "High" intensity.  So based on my personal fitness, I had to stay at the 65%-70% Heart Rate zone.  Now, as my body has become more efficient I can do 45 minutes in the 80% + range 4x week no problem.  Overall, calories burned are calories burned so PLEASE don't get hung up on fat burning zone vs. cardio zone - pick what you body is telling you can do as a baseline and then improve on it.

2.  I believe as important - invest TODAY in a POLAR heart rate monitor.  You can live on that treadmill, but if you are not getting your Heart Rate up into the 'zones, the scale ain't gonna budge (pardon the grammer).  The POLAR will at least allow you to know that the time spent on the treadmill is at least moving  you towards your goal.

Best of luck, and stick with it!

I'm pretty sure most of the responses you are going to get is that Weights should come before cardio.  I personally do light treadmill for 8-10 minutes to warm up then hit the weights.  If you search the topic you will find ALOT of very detailed and specific info on the benefits from a physiological standpoint.

Original Post by jasongrabon:

Good suggestions with the lat pulldown and assisted pullup machine. One last suggestion... try "negatives". Use an assist such as a chair to get you into the full pullup position. Then, SLOWLY allow yourself to descend. Resist gravity on the way down. Then, step back up and perform another... and another... and another! Performing this activity after you do your assisted pullups on the machine and lat pulldowns will help.

 Thanks - last night was my 2nd day in my pullup quest.  My schedule calls for a 1000 yd swim today but I'll try the negative tommorrow.  Really appreciate everyone's input.

Well, thanks for all the input.  It is obvious I have a loooooong way to go.  Tonight I began my pull-up quest. 

5 sets on the assised pull-up machine @ 60lbs - I alternated palms out and in.  After each set of pull-ups on the machine, I did 10 military push ups for a total of 50.

At the end of my workout I tried to do one Pullup - but no go.  just hung there.  Ouch :(

I'll keep at it - thanks for all of the input.  I have to work up to being able to do a minimum of 6 by September 6, 08.

Ditto.  Invest in a Heart Rate Monitor to ensure you are getting up into your Target Heart Range for weight loss, other wise you will enjoy the scenery, but not a smaller waist!

OMG  LOL:) 

1 WORD ->  STACY's (from Costco).

"nothing to see here folks, just keep your hands and feet away from his mouth"

Here is the daily conversation between my wife and I after I have polished off the bag.  "Please, please quit buying these"  Next day when we our out:  "Hey have you been to Costco to restock the Stacy's?"

Original Post by jackiek84:

 

Kickboards  (for focus on your lower body) and Paddles and Buoys (for focus on your upper body)

 

 That brings up another one for me:  What exactly is the benefit of the paddles?  I love the kickboards and buoys, but have always struggled with the hand paddles.  Is it for greater resistance or to improve strocke?

ERin,

I too have just returned to the pool after about 1 year away.  I have a question for you - I am transitioning from cal-deficit weight loss mode to maintaining and strengthening.   What is your experience of swimming frequency?  Is daily too much and am I not giving muscle time to recover?  Also - I've always wondered this and have seen two different answers to this on CC:  Would you consider swimming cardio or Strength/Weight training due to the resistance factor?

Congrats on getting back into it.  I found that it has been like putting on that old pair of jeans that always were comfortable.