Thanks.

How much does a trainer cost at your gym. Simply curious.

I hate when trainers show a bunch of machine exercises. Machines are easy to understand and in most cases, a trainer who only teaches people how to use machines is either a) lazy or b) incompetent.

Some machine work is fine but free weights are in most all cases optimal over machines.

Beyond this, there are a few general thoughts relative to what he had you do:

1) Not enough free weights from above

2) Did he explain how often you should be doing this routine or if this is the routine you should do each time that you train?

3) Not enough posterior chain (back, glutes and hamstrings) as well as core work.

Two general thoughts relative to the above:

1) Weight training isn't really good for weight loss, at least not in this context. Diet and cardio take care of providing the caloric expenditure/deficit required to trigger fat loss, right? Weight training, especially given your stats (i.e., you don't have a lot of weight to lose), serves more the function of 'persuading' where the weight comes from.... fat instead of muscle.

Put differently, the caloric deficit coming from diet and cardio triggers weight loss. Weight training in this context makes sure the weight lost is fat, not muscle.

Losing weight is easy.

Losing weight and looking good at the end is a little more complex... hence the importance of weight training.

2) Unfortunately you can't pick and choose where you lose fat from. Your belly and thighs are your problem spots. Remain consistent and eventually you'll tap into those stores.

Steve is is $65 for one session which is a hour long. The more sessions you buy the cheaper it is. I am guessing he was going to have me do that routine three times a week but I could be wrong. So for weight lose I should stick to cardio as in doing the treadmill and the bike. I have to be careful on doing the bike it bothers my left knee feels like it wants to give out. I just want some help on losing the little bit of weight that I can to lose. I usually go to the gym 5 days a week. So any advice would be really helpful.

It's not that you should stick with cardio only. A balanced approach is best.

2-3 sessions of weight training per week

3-4 sessions of cardio per week

And most importantly while trying to lose the fat is your diet. Adequate protein, good fats, fruits and veggies.

Your weight training best be full body sessions where you train all the major muscle groups using exercises that target multiple muscles and joints.

Have you read the stickie threads of this forum, beyond this one? I highly suggest reading the 'words of wisdom' thread.

Hi Steve, I would like your comments on my exercise routine. I am female and 5 ft 6 I weigh 226 pounds, having lost 33 pounds over the last 8 months. I hope to weigh 200 pounds by Christmas 2008 and 140 pounds by Christmas 2009. I have recently plateaued, and think that I need to work out a new diet and exercise program. I have spoken to a trainer at my gym. We have worked out a regimen that I hope to do 3-4 times a week. My cardio will be swimming or cycling (using a proper bike, not a stationary one). I will be using dumb bells and a bench, there are nautilus machines available, but I find that as I have some long term back and neck problems, that they restrict my movement and lead me to using my good side more than my injury prone side. The exercises he suggested are, chest presses, shoulder presses, Flys, overhead pulls, triceps extensions and single arm rows for the top half. For my lower half, he has suggested sit ups on a swiss ball, squats with a swiss ball against a wall with weights and calf raises on a step with weights. I will warm up with some salutes to the sun(yoga exercises). My instructor suggests to start off with 10 reps x2, increasing it to x4 before increasing weight. My aims are to loose maximum fat whilst maintaining my muscle and keep/increase my bone density as I am 43 years old and hope to stave off osteoporosis in my menopausal years(hopefully some years ahead). Do you think that this is a sensible training regimen given my aims. Also, I would appreciate any comments about diet to help me accomplish my aims. I am setting my self a limit of 1600-1700 cals a day, based on my BMR and exercise. Thank you in advance.

I'm replying as I read along, which is a bad habit of mine so bear with me.

First, congrats on the weight loss.

Second, I'd bet your plateau has more to do with your diet than your exercise program, but let's see.

So couple of things:

1. Are you doing cardio and strength training in the same session?

2. So you plan on doing the following 3-4 times per week, right? I know you said you'll start with 2 sets of 10 but you'll eventually work your way to 4 sets of 10.....

Chest Press 4x10
Shoulder Press 4x10
Flys 4x10
Overhead Pulls 4x10
Tricep Extensions 4x10
DB Rows 4x10
Sit ups 4x10
Squats with a swiss ball 4x10
Calf raises 4x10

Geez, I got tired typing all that... can't imagine doing it all 4 times per week!

First thing I notice, if I'm understanding it all correctly, is it's a ton of volume.

Second things, it's not balanced. Too much pressing and not enough pulling in the upper, squats but nothing for your glutes and hamstrings, and not enough variety for your core.

Third, why squats with the swiss ball.... is there a particular reason?

Fourth, if I have it all correctly, needless to say I'd be setting things up a bit differently.

This is where you should focus most of your attention.

Seems a bit low but not overly. Is this something you truly believe you can stick with on a consistent basis? Setting up something too rigid that is going to lead to more inconsistencies and binges isn't going to get you anywhere. If this isn't the case, then okay.

I'm concerned that you're giving exercise preferential attention over diet since you spoke a lot more about the former rather than the latter in this post. Make sure this isn't the case.

And what sort of foods does your 1700 calories comprise?

Lastly, how are you tracking your nutrition?

Hi Steve, thanks for the advice, sorry, that I'm not quoting your reply, but I can't work out the system on the forum. so to answer your questions,
1) yes I will be doing cardio in the same sessions, as I work 3-4 days a week from 0730 to 2100 and that doesn't leave a lot of time for anything else on those days. I will be doing the cardio after my gym session although I hope to start cycling to the gym(about 8 miles round trip) when my stamina improve.
2) the trainer suggested splitting up the routine if I get to the gym less than 3 times.
3) there is a lack of weight training equipment at this gym, there are dumb bells benches and a few machines, but I could add one of them to the mix if necessary. Is it possible to do any pulling exercise with the dumb bells.
4) I have done pilates in the past (in a proper pilates studio) so am familiar with how to approach exercises in the proper position. I also have a pair of MBTs which I find helpful for maintaining proper posture, and I often wear them and find them a benefit. y
5) trainer suggested using the ball for squats as he felt that would help keep me from further injuring my back, as it would allow better alignment.
6) I am still gathering information on diet, and haven't yet formulated a proper plan. At present, I am following weight watchers points plan, and admit to eating a lot of convenience foods, so I know that that will have to change. So any advice on protein, carb fat ratios would be appreciated. I have joined fitday which will track my diet for me. I have worked out my calories in 2 ways, first using fit day, which allows me 2400 cals a day, and secondly by using BMR and the Harris Benidict formula which allows me about 2100 cals a day after taking off about 25% to allow for weight loss. I don't know if its the old style dieting mentality, but that seems like an awful lot of cals to loose weight on, but it would be easier to stick to that number of cals over the next 18 months. By the way, I her that it is your first wedding anniversary today (7/7/08) so congratulations to you both.

You're welcome and no problem.

As of now your main concern should be energy expenditure. Weight training, if thrown into the mix (and I think it should be) should be of higher volume stuff since this, in theory, is what expends more energy. The program outlined is high volume but it's not balanced. So that's a problem.

Preserving muscle really isn't a concern for you at this stage in the game. You're still carrying enough body fat where the loss of muscle isn't probable.

All this means is, as I eluded to above, that you want energy wasting stuff. I'd put an emphasis on things such as cardio and high rep weight training using big exercises that call on multiple joints and muscles.

If you have questions about this, just ask.

I'd probably split it up regardless. How many days per week do you really think you're going to get in for weight training?

Do they have a cable machine?

If he knows his stuff I suppose you should abide by his instruction. What exactly is wrong with your back? What do the docs say in terms of contraindications?

What do you consider convenience foods?

Even when you turn to your convenience foods, do you abide by the points you are allotted?

My recommendations are pretty straightforward to be honest, in the context of blanket advice.

Before I get into specifics with someone, I like to make sure they have their calories figured out first. That is the driving factor behind all of your goals. For general purposes, maintenance caloric intake is 12-14 calories per pound of body weight in your case. From this, I like to start with a deficit of roughly 20-25%%. This number is very general... the more fat one is carrying, in theory, the greater the deficit they can afford.

I think any diet for the average person, leaving out goal dependencies, should worry about calories first and foremost, then protein requirements, then EFAs (essential fats). Once they are accounted for, it is fair game to toy around with the remaining macronutrients required to fulfill your energy requirements.

For instance, suppose you are 225 lbs. Maintenance would be between 2500-3000 calories with activity factored into that number. We'll call it 2700 here for simplicity's sake... that is the number I will use as the foundation of the creation of my diet.

From there we want to create something like a 25% deficit, which would be 2000ish calories. That's our target.

I like to have 1ish grams of protein for each pound of lean body mass. Most don't know their body fat percentage... do you? If not, you can estimate it to be something like 25-35%. It's tough to judge without seeing you, ya know? There are calculators online that can get you a ballpark but they're certainly not accurate.

225x.3=68

That's 68 lbs of fat, leaving 157 lbs of lean body mass. That might be a little high but that's no harm.

I'd be shooting for 150ish grams of protein in this case.

There are 4 calories in each gram of protein, which equals out to be 600 calories (using the above numbers). Of our original 2000 calorie goal, that leaves us with 1400 left to fill.

My proteins come from chicken breast, turkey breast, fish, pork tenderloin, eggs, milk, cottage cheese, whey protein powder, lean ground beef, top round steak, etc.

I then worry about my fats. I like to have somewhere in the neighborhood of 50-100 grams as a minimum. Of this, I keep it to the healthy side of things with monounsaturateds (olive oil), certain polyunsaturateds (omega-6/9s, stuff like flax oil, borage oil, etc), and a source of omega-3s (fish oil caps, or a serving of omega-3 rich fish like salmon). Let's say from this, I take in 60 grams of fat. I like to ballpark it so it leads to about 30% of your calories coming from fat. There are 9 calories per gram of fat, giving us a total of 540 calories from fat.

We had 1400 calories left from above and with this fat, we're left with 860.

This is where I add my carbs and I toy around with the other macronutrients too. This is where all the variability comes into play. As an average, I would say 200 grams of carbs is a good number for an active individual. However, certain people have different tolerances or intolerances. It's a matter of toying around until you find what works for you.

In this example, suppose we go with 150 grams of carbs. Each gram of carbohydrate has 4 calories, so this would total 600. We would still have 260 calories to fill which I would probably add some more fats and/or protein.

It tends to be very personal and goal dependent from this point forward. If you were going to be doing a lot of frequent cycling, I would load up on carbs, especially close to your workouts/cycles. Active people can benefit from carbs, although there is no such thing as an essential carbohydrate, there are only essential amino acids and essential fats.

I'm sure this all seems complex but it really isn't. It's just my *general* thought process in most situations.

To reiterate:

1. Determine maintenance calories
2. Determine caloric goal based on maintenance
3. Fill caloric goal with macronutrients, starting with protein first, then fats, then carbs
4. Protein intake should be close to 1 gram per pound of lbm
5. Fats should be around 30% of total calories coming predominantly from the good stuff, for most this will be somewhere around 50-75 grams.
6. From there fill in the rest with carbs and more fat/protein to bring your calories up to the target.

I'm replying as I read through this, and you can see that your numbers are very similar to the numbers I used in my example... so good.

Well you didn't get to be 220+ lbs eating low calories. Keep things in perspective. To maintain 225 lbs you have to be eating at least 2500 calories per day... most likely more.

To lose weight you simply need to go below that number of maintenance.

Thanks very much.

Hi Steve, thanks for the reply. I am not quite sure what you mean by using multiple joints and muscle groups. Is it doing exercises such as using a bar bell and pushing it above your head. What would your recommendations be for me given that
1 There is no cable machine or bar bells available at the gym (it is less state of the art and more state of the cave.)
2 Realistically I will probably be able to get to the gym 3 days a week, anything more would be a bonus. Although I could probably work in some short (30min) cycling sessions sessions after work.
3 My top half is weaker than my bottom half.
4 I have a misplaced rib and 2 herniated discs (one lumbar and one cervical). The docs say that as I have had them for so long, that I know what I can and can't do. I also have hyper-mobile joints which ache if I over stretch them.
One other question for you. I was visiting my friend, and I was discussing weight training with her son who has been working out for some years now. I was discussing the fact that my bottom half was much stronger than my top, and that my muscles seemed to get harder fairly quickly if I worked them. He put this down to the fact that I had been a riding instructor and horse trainer and cycled a lot when I was younger, and that my muscle had "memory". I had not heard this before, have you?
Thanks for the advice about my diet. You explained that very clearly and concisely. I will try that out.

Yea, compound exercises require you to bend at multiple joints and utilize multiple muscles to perform the movement.

A dumbbell curl for your biceps would be an isolation movement.

A squat would be a compound movement.

Follow me?

In most any case, compound exercises should comprise the majority of your resistance training.

In that case you're pretty limited in terms of what you can do for rowing exercises.

You are currently doing DB rows which are fine.

Is this the only gym in your area?

All you need in terms of resistance training is 2, maybe 3, full body sessions per week.

Your goal is to maintain muscle while shedding the fat... this doens't take a lot.

In addition to these 2-3 sessions you should fit cardio in as often as you can and let diet (which is by far the biggest, most important piece of the pie in terms of you being successful) take care of the rest.

Welcome to the world of being a woman.

The doc left it up to you to decide what you can and can't do?

I'd find a new doc.

Yea, I hear this sort of stuff quite often.

True, if you've placed your leg muscles under a specific amount of stress and tension, take break, then come back to it... you will get your strength back fast then had you just been starting from scratch.

But this doesn't have anything to do with muscle hardness.

And it doesn't last forever.

Cycling wouldn't overload your muscles in this way either.

I don't think he knows what he's talking about.

Thanks Steve!! I just had a BIG "OOOOOOOOH" moment right now

You're welcome and glad to hear.

Steve...just want to say that you are freakin' awesome.

I have to admit that I've been "depressed" about losing fat. I've been a weightlifter for a long time, but I simply look "big" rather than "muscular" (if that makes sense ).

I think combining the things I've learned from you today into a total fitness "program" (I know, you don't like that word) will really help me drop much needed fat.

I'm starting at about 240 lbs. at 5' 10"

My goal is 215 lbs or so. More importantly I want to reduce my body fat which is about 25% down to 15%.

Thanks bro!!

Anytime man, thanks for showing the appreciation.

pls update video links on 1 st page

They were not my videos so that's probably not going to happen. If I find the time, I'll get around to searching out some new vids on youtube.