Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with health and workout

Help me peak as an athlete.

vito90 — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:24:43 -0800

I'm looking for tips on how to peak for an athletic performance. I'm 38 years old and soon to go head-to-head against more talented and athletic foes. I've been playing recreational baseball for the last 9 years every summer, and for the last two years at a highly competitive level.

I've mostly performed as our backup catcher but was just informed that our starter is taking the year off and I'll go into the season as the first-string catcher. In other words, I've been called up to the show.

I'm very motivated to take my game to its highest level this year, and want to start preparing now to be completely at my best by mid-season, which will be around July. I want to take a comprehensive approach to my training, in fact I'm looking a little bit less for advice on workouts than other aspects of improvement. I would especially love to hear tips on how to improve my vision, hand-eye coordination, reflexes, ability to recover, mental approaches, leadership tips, diet and supplements, anything you can think of. Anything that can help a slightly older, yet still pretty durable body to withstand some punishment this season.

I would love to hear old crafty baseball tips too...most of my opponents will be in their twenties and I know that just knowing a few things the kids don't will give me an advantage.

Really any kind of advice is welcome. How did you prepare for the competition of YOUR life?

Left biceps hurts on weightlifting noob. Now what?

nomadicink — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:08:08 -0800

Recently started lifting weights a few months ago. Now arm hurts, wtf? In the bid to get in shape, got a trainer, worked with him, did a lot of crossfit stuff, some weightlifting lessons. Have since left "class" and am lifting on my own for about 6 months.

Over the past few weeks I've noticed a dull ache in my left upper arm, in my biceps I think. It's not a fierce or sharp pain, just a dull ache that feels worse if I lift. I tried shifting down to a lower weights, say going from 195 on a seated press to 130 and that helps a lot but the ache is still there.

What should I do? Should I totally stop lifting with my left arm? If so, can I still do weights with my right? Do I visit a doctor? Like I said it's not sharp pain at all, mostly unnoticed as I go through a normal day, so it seems odd to visit a doctor. Is there some time frame about long I should lay off?

Mostly, I'm really kinda freaking out over starting to develop nice definition and form and losing that. Is there anything I can do to prevent that, while attending to the pain/ache?

Joint pain after treadmill usage

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:46:43 -0800

YANMD (or my personal trainer) but I need advice on a cardio workout that will help me lose weight and also not kill my joints. Difficulty: I am quite overweight...my BMI is just shy of 60 I have lost 50 lbs (yay me!) but still have a ways to go. To keep the momentum on my weight loss, my wife and I joined a gym this past weekend.

Living in a small town our gym options were limited and we settled for a Snap Fitness which has no 2 year contracts, is reasonably priced, and consists of a number of bikes, ellipticals, treadmills, and some nautilus-type weight equipment.

I am gunning for an hour workout a day, and as my goal is to build endurance and lose weight I'm focusing on cardio. My plan for these early days was 30 minutes on the bike and 30 minutes on the treadmill.

On Sunday, our first day working out, I did a bit over 30 minutes on the tradmill, my heart rate held around 140, and my average was just under 3MPH. I was happy with that result...it was a well paced walk, which is what I could handle at this point.

I quit after the treadmill, not moving on to the bike, because after stopping I realized I was in a lot of pain. It wasn't muscle pain, which is what I anticipated, but instead it was severe joint pain, focused in my ankle and my knee. My feet also ached.

I took some Advil and resolved to go back the next day, but the pain actually worsened the more time passed. It's now been over 48 hours and I'm still on a heavy Advil rotation and have not returned to work out as standard walking is quite painful at the moment.

(background: despite my weight I have no history of joint problems, and my feet do normally bother me if I walk a good distance of a couple miles, but never my ankles and knees like this).

I'm not sure if I should "push through the pain" and hop back on the treadmill, if I should just focus on the stationary bike for a while and do 60 minutes on the bike completely foregoing the treadmill, or if there is a better option.

Suggestions would be most appreciated.

I need to start working out, but other than my lack of motivation, not having a workout plan is keeping me from starting. How can I solve this? Personal trainer? Websites?

decrescendo — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:31:13 -0800

I need to start working out, but other than my lack of motivation, not having a workout plan is keeping me from starting. How can I solve this? Personal trainer? Websites? I feel like having no direction and structure is keeping me from working out. Yes, I realize working out without a plan is better than not working out at all, but I think I'm the type of guy that needs a plan for this.

I'm trying to bulk up. I want to gain weight and gain muscle. I'm 6'3" 185 lbs. How should I go about this? I need some structure.

FUNNY HEALTH TITLE

Team of Scientists — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:16:05 -0800

I'd like to lose the bit of fat that has been with me for as long as I can remember. What should I include in my diet/workout regimen? Some background: I am male, 6'0", 25 years old, and I weigh about 180 lbs. I am in decent shape right now, and I feel pretty good about myself, but I think I'm ready to experiment with a highly disciplined lifestyle to see what kind of results I can get.

I have a bit of belly fat that seems as if it won't ever go away. My goal is to drop my body fat percentage to a point at which this pudge finally disappears.

For the first 6 months of this year, I had been eating relatively healthy and lifting weights regularly with no cardio. In June, I dropped the weights and began swimming 5 days a week for 50-60 minutes each session.

I really enjoy the swimming, and I'd like to continue it, but I'm not sure if I should be supplementing my cardio workout with some more strength training. I was thinking of simply adding about 20 minutes of calisthenics to the beginning of each swim workout (think pushups, pullups, dips, etc.) to maintain some muscle mass. Does this sound like it would be more effective than simply swimming every weekday? What kind of workout regimen would/did you adhere to in order to lower your body fat?

Now to perhaps the most important part: my diet. I have recently been eating well (lean proteins, veggies, fruit for the most part), but I have no set routine. This results in me occasionally settling on some Panera or Qdoba for meals. I'd like to structure my diet so that I know what I am eating at what time each and every day. One caveat: I don't want to drive myself insane by eating the same bland crap every day. Is there any way to do this? I think I'd be satisfied with the same lunch/breakfast/snacks every day, and if I could just have a different dinner each day of the week, that would be just fine. Also, in the interest of saving some time, I'd like to stick with the three main meals of the day with snacks in between instead of, say, 7 small meals throughout the day.

How many calories should I be consuming, factoring in my workout regimen? What kind of foods should I include in my diet? High protein? High/low carbs? Any healthy and delicious entree suggestions?

I enjoy omelettes for breakfast as a cheap source of protein. I think I could go on a spinach and feta omelette or something similar every day for a while. I love asparagus, broccoli, sweet potatoes, apples, cheese, cottage cheese (these are many of the staples of my current diet). I'm sure I can work most of this into my diet, but how? Also, I currently drink a smoothie consisting of a banana, 5 strawberries, 3 spoonfuls vanilla yogurt, a scoop of whey, and some milk after every workout. Should I keep this?

Is there any other advice AskMeFi can offer that I might have overlooked? Apologies for the long post, but I know you MeFites are a generous source of health information.

Are there any safe workout supplements?

ascetic — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:01:47 -0800

Are there any *safe* supplements I can take for added muscle gain/weight loss/etc? I'm only 20 years old... Perhaps I don't "need" supplements but I sure would like to get more out of my workouts without comprimising my health and wellbeing.

I eat clean 90% of the time - fresh fruits, veggies, home cooked meals, etc. I RARELY eat McDonalds or any other kinds of junk food. Currently I make a protein shake after working out... Two scoops protein powder, nonfat milk, and 1 tbps of flax seed oil... Sometimes some berries and banana.

Help me build an exercise routine.

so_gracefully — Fri, 08 May 2009 00:22:29 -0800

General advice in the area of finding my exercise/fitness niche? Good, structured DVDs or programs to try? I am a female in my mid-twenties, and I have never been too "sporty" or all that excited about exercising in general. I want to become excited about it, but I have not yet been able to find something that I really like or something that feels like it's working well for me. I also have no idea how to structure it so that I'm doing something that is definitely worthwhile, so I guess that's my main question--what can I add in to create more structure so that it's effective and simple to stick with?

Goals:
- Improve heart health, lose a little bit of weight, feel more connected to my body, strengthen my muscles and make myself less vulnerable to aches/pains in my largely sedentary job.

Limitations:
- Can't afford a gym membership or even yoga classes right now
- Don't really have any equipment, or access to any

Things I already know/like:
- I am working on the nutrition part, and that is going well.
- I like to try to challenge myself a little bit throughout the day, like taking the stairs instead of elevators whenever possible, parking at the back of a parking lot to give myself more of a walk, etc.
- I have really loved yoga classes in the past, but the DVDs I currently own are very meditation-focused, and I want something more strength- and challenge-focused.
- I like walking and sometimes hiking; how can I incorporate them in a way that maximizes their benefits?
- I would love to be able to swim, but don't have access to a pool!
- I have been having fun playing Dance Dance Revolution. Dance-focused workout videos make me feel very defeated because I have some problems with coordination.
- I like to follow along with DVDs, and currently I have: some basic yoga videos, some basic pilates, cardio pilates (this is the one I enjoy the most). I am definitely looking for recommendations on good videos that are meant to increase overall strength and encourage weight loss, while being fairly simple and not complicated with a lot of intense dance moves!

Machine Workout Plan

Citizen Premier — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:19:40 -0800

Please provide me with a twice-weekly gym machine workout so I can fill out this form (pdf). I had a great workout schedule last year when I took weight training classes at college, but I don't have the sheet any more, and I'm looking for a replacement.

Don't worry about cardio, I've got that figured out.
Thanks!

How does a 19 year old couch potato lose 50 pounds?

BoldStepDesign — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 22:07:24 -0800

Ok I’m an overweight college student here. I’m a male coming in at 6’2” weighing 275 pounds. I want to lose 30 in 30. Ideally I want to shed 50 pounds and get down to 225 lbs, which is what I was back in highschool. According to my BMI I need to lose 70-100 pounds.
I’m allergic to all nuts, fish, turkey and oranges.

What I eat:
3 Scrambled eggs; cheese and or Katchup, or 3 Over easy eggs; 2 pieces of toast
Lunch, Sandwich (usually grilled cheese, or ham/turkey sandwich) or soup with pringles chips
Usually Pasta for dinner, maybe a cheese burger, soup or a steak, salad always with ranch, a veggie maybe jello
Two days a week I get anything from pasta, donuts, chocolate, basically leftovers at work
2-5 starbucks style coffee’s a week have cut down sizes to mediums, some times smalls
Fridays:
Friday night’s are Pizza and a bottled soda with friends, I’m not giving that up. Pizza is home made, usually IBC root beer or cream soda. One thing I refuse to give up.

Exercise:
I work out 3 days a week, usually 30 minutes on the treadmill, 2 miles, then some ab/chest workouts
Realizing how badly I do eat. I need to cut out what I eat, or atleast down 50%, increase my work outs.

That being said, to get where I want to be, what would you recommend for me?
I need diet ideas and work out ideas, plans etc...
Any helpful suggestions would be apprenticed!

I'm a 23-year-old male, 6'4", and 175 lbs. I'm too thin. What's the best way I can gain weight and muscle? I'd like to start working out in my own apartment.

decrescendo — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:35:41 -0800

I'm a 23-year-old male, 6'4", and 175 lbs. I'm too thin. What's the best way I can gain weight and muscle? I'd like to start working out in my own apartment. I have played sports all my life and played ice hockey in high school, so I'm not totally out of shape or nonathletic by any means. I just really want to turn over a new leaf by moving into my new apartment and making a new me by gaining some weight/muscle. I still feel like I'm a skinny little shit like I was in high school.

Any tips for gaining weight and/or muscle? Anyone know of any good exercises I can do in my apartment? I plan on starting the 100 Pushups plan but I want to do other exercises, as well.

I'd rather start working out in my apartment and then maybe move to a gym a few months down the road. I feel too skinny/weak to be in a gym, I suppose. I guess that doesn't help the situation.

I should probably also change my eating habits to gain some muscle/weight. Any tips for that, as well?

Thanks MeFi.

Help a weakling achieve her first push-up!

geekgirl397 — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 08:25:15 -0800

I'm a 35 yr old female, 5'6", 120lbs, in good general shape (walk loads, work out) who has never been able to achieve a single-push up. It's a key move to many of the workouts I want to do, but most strength-building programs assume that even the weakest can do at least one. What should I do? I want to include yoga and pilates in my routine, but the yoga "chaturanga" pose escapes me, making it hard to do "sun salutations" which are the core of many routines. Part of my routine is the interactive game "Yourself Fitness" on the PS/2 - this features fitness tests every 10 workouts, which include pushups as a measure. I just sit them out and enter fake info, which is frustrating.

I am in good general health. I walk between 15 and 20 miles a week and do yoga/pilates/weight routines for 30 mins about 3 times a week (hoping to ramp up to more). In the past, I've devoted a lot of time to staying fit, and for several years worked out six days a week for at least 45 mins, once a week with a trainer for an hour. Even at my fittest, I was unable to do a single push-up. I could/can do chest presses, flys, etc. with lightish weights. I can hold the yoga "plank" position and "side plank" for a decent amount of time.

I am thinking of finding a yoga teacher and getting an individual lesson to see if that helps me finally get chaturanga, but I don't have a lot of time/money and I don't currently know of a teacher I trust. (Also, gym trainers and yoga/pilates class teachers in the past have not been able to teach me to do a push up or achieve chaturanga.)

Has anybody else out here had this problem? I feel like a freak. Has anyone been able to overcome it? How? Are there any "tricks" or tips that might help me to do my very first push up, and work up from there?

What's recommended to consume right after a work-out ?

hboogz — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 13:31:10 -0800

What should i consume immediately after a work-out ? If i'm not a fan of powdered protein ? I've heard that consuming a high-glycemic carbohydrate after a workout is idea -- could anyone give me feasible ideas of this ?

Need a new workout to get my hockey legs (and lungs) back!

liquado — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 13:53:39 -0800

I'm (stupidly) starting playing ice hockey after 20 years off the ice (I'm 33). After the first game last weekend, I'm apparently in far worse shape than I thought -- and need some ideas for new workouts to get my game on. I'm 5'11", 225, and run 5k/life weights 4-5 times a week. I'm also an occasional 10k runner, so I've got some legs, but I was just about dead after playing == not sore, but waaay out of breath, wheezy, etc.

Obviously, the extra weight I'm carrying isn't helping, and I have a touch of exercise-induced asthma (the phlegmy cough for the last three days has been unpleasant, to say the least), but I need some ideas for a new workout regime that will help me get some of the jump back -- sprints, ????? Thanks MeFiers!

Help me change my exercise routine.

2or3whiskeysodas — Tue, 29 May 2007 05:27:59 -0800

While I'm still super enthusiastic about exercise, both my motivation and fitness level have plateaued. Suggestions? I've been running for 30 minutes at a time fairly consistently for years and still enjoy it greatly. I moved from weight training at home with a bench and some cheap dumbbells to a wonderful gym last year. Since then, I've mostly been doing variations of the 3 Day Split Workouts found here. While I haven't seen any huge muscle gains, I'm fairly happy with the results. But the amount of weight I can lift hasn't increased in I don't know how long, and I'm starting to feel just a little burned-out.

So obviously, a change is needed, and I'm open to just about anything. Ideally, it would be something that would build some muscle and/or help me break through the walls I've hit when I return to the sort of weight training I've been doing. A friend has recommended the Bodypump classes offered at my gym, but I'm not much of a believer in low-weight/high-rep stuff, which is what this sounds like. And I've meant to take swimming lessons for a long time.

Lets get Physical, physical, I wanna get Physical!!!

hadjiboy — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 18:40:46 -0800

Bodybuilding and Weight-losing filter: I’m planning to lose some weight around the hips, and at the same time work on my upperbody. The only catch is that I can’t afford to go to the gym right now, and was wondering if there are any exercises that I can do at home. Someone suggested that I try Push-ups, and skipping. Would that work? I’m interested to know what exactly I should be doing, and how much of it should I do.

Thanks a lot to anyone who can help!

Back to the gym with a bad back

stavrosthewonderchicken — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 20:49:22 -0800

Can anyone offer advice for going back to the gym after a back injury and six months of downtime? I hurt my back at the gym more than six months ago. It turns out I had some long-term damage to three discs in my lower back due to compression, and that contributed to the eventual blowout. There is no rupture, but there is some disc compression.

Unfortunately none of the doctors or therapists I was seeing for a while after I blew my back out speaks any English, and so I have nobody to ask about advice for getting back into shape now that I'm itching to do so. I've gained back a fair bit of weight in the last six months (from my more-or-less optimal weight of about 95kg back up to about 110kg -- I'm not obese, but I am a large lad all 'round), and I want to get back into fighting trim, and strengthen my back and core muscles. I'll be heading back to the gym in a few weeks -- planning for three sessions a week, 90 minutes or so, probably, with some walking/hiking on the weekends.

I had been going to the gym regularly for a couple of years before the injury and had gotten into the best shape of my life, so I'm reasonably familiar with the equipment and gear.

Advice for things to do, and things to avoid, in terms of equipment or exercises, as I get back into it? I'll take all advice with a grain of salt of course, since I know most of you aren't doctors, but will take all advice with thanks.

Effexor and Iron

Tbola — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 18:50:55 -0800

I was on Effexor for about a year to treat my depression, during which time (for the first time in 7+ years) my weight training came screeching to an abrupt halt. (My energy level just wasn't there anymore, nor was I able to focus enough to be able to have a satisfying workout.) Anyways - I've been off that stuff since late September, and for the last few months I've been attempting to make lifting weights part of my regular lifestyle once more.
Problem is - even after a few months, my strength just doesn't seem to want to come back.
Coming back off of a layoff, I expected to start out weak, gain strength fairly quickly, then plateau. My plateau seems to be at the "weak" level, however.
I'm keeping my workouts very bare-bones with just the basic moves (presses, deadlifts, etc.) and six days of rest before working the same muscle group, to avoid over-training.

So, I guess I have two distinct questions. (I hope that's not cheating.)

1) To any past Effexor users: has anyone else had a similar experience, either in the initial drop in energy level, or the difficulty in getting back in shape?
2) To everyone: any ideas for "kick-starting" my failing attempts to regain my strength?

(I'm 34 years old - in case that matters.)

How can an extremely obese and underconditioned man begin exercising?

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 08:27:08 -0800

Is walking at your normal walking rate, but increasing the distance you walk, sufficient enough to be considered exercise? Can anyone recommend exercises for people who are very underconditioned and extremely obese, but not in poor cardiac health? And, finally, is there a medical professional who is the equivalent of a gym's personal trainer? (More inside.) I'm an extremely obese man; my weight now borders on 350 pounds. I do understand that this is an unhealthy situation for me, and as both a longstanding project and a New Year's resolution, I am trying to get myself down to a manageable weight. (I am posting this anonymously because I don't wish to acknowledge the extent of my obesity or my underconditioning publicly, where it could be Googled, and I also discuss a bit of my medical history below.)

Weight loss, at its most essential element, is burning more calories than you take in; for a long time, I have only attacked that problem from the perspective of reducing intake, instead of adding exercise to my routine. I wish to do the latter now. The problem is that thanks to my weight, exercise is extremely difficult. Even walking up one flight of stairs is enough to take the wind out of my sails. I tried swimming, as I heard that this was a kinder exercise process to obese people, but found it to be extremely difficult as well. When I say "difficult," please know I am aware that exercise is not supposed to be an easy process, but at the same time, you obviously need to be able to sustain a level of exercise for a period of time in order for it to be any good. I cannot walk stairs continuously, and I don't think I can swim continuously, either.

My thoughts about how I might best improve the situation is by increasing the amount of walking I do per day: I have already been walking approximately 0.5 miles each way to and from work, which means I'm walking a mile already. My thought was that by getting off at earlier stops on the subway, I could increase the amount of distance I walk each day. However, if my memory serves me correctly, exercise isn't "exercise" unless you are not able to sing, but still can talk, when you are exercising. I'm concerned that merely increasing the distance I walk will not be sufficient to be "exercise," and yet I'm not sure where to go from here in terms of getting myself from an underconditioned, extremely unhealthy situation to one where I can begin exercising routinely. Would it be sufficient to just start walking longer distances at a normal rate, and then eventually segue into walking those distances more quickly?

As a side note, my heart, as far as I know, is fine. I conducted both a stress test and an echocardiogram in the fall of 2006, and both indicated that there were no blockages in my heart or reasons to be concerned about it. I'm 32 years old, and that works in my favor.

So, to boil down this post to its basics: is walking at your normal walking rate, but increasing the distance you walk, sufficient enough to be considered exercise? Can anyone recommend exercises for people who are very underconditioned and extremely obese, but not in poor cardiac health?

And, finally, is there a medical professional who is the equivalent of a gym's personal trainer? I'm entirely unwilling to shell out mercenary rates to a personal trainer, nor has any personal trainer I've ever interacted with been interested in doing anything more for me than trying to sell me on an extended lesson plan; that having been said, I would like to turn to a medical professional to assist me in designing a workout that could assist me in getting back in better shape. I, however, have no idea what field that professional would be in.

Health / Sports Injury Filter: How can my girlfriend reduce/remove her hip pain?

Anonymous — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 20:29:18 -0800

My girlfriend did ballet from early childhood up until the middle of high school. She was very much into it, doing everything she could to improve. Through doing so, she severely injured both of her hips (I believe it was due to "turn outs"). She still suffers from hip pain today, 1 semester away from her graduating college. What can she do to remove/reduce pain in her hips? I ask this question for two reasons:
1) I want her to not have pain any more.
2) I want her to be able to be more active in our love life.

Her hip pain flares up quite often, especially during long car rides (as driver or passenger), whenever she works out (elliptical machine mostly), and during intimacy.

She has of course seen her doctor several times over the past few years about this. The doctor generally sends her to physical therapy.

Physical therapy helps relieve the pain, but it is not doing anything to heal her - that is, it does not reduce flare ups.

She has tried ibuprofen prior to working out, taken extended breaks from working out to remove stress on the hips, etc.

Nothing seems to help. She expresses interest all the time in wanting to be able to be more active in our physical relationship and also wants to lose weight (even though I find her very attractive and tell her so daily). The hip pain prevents her from doing both. It is just so hard for her to go work out whenever her hips hurt, which is a lot.

Please help me find ways to help her!

Why does my heart rate vary drastically day-to-day during cardio?

wolfkult — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 09:10:48 -0800

Why does my heart rate vary drastically day-to-day during cardio? 120 one day then 160 the next under same conditions. I go to the gym around 3 days a week and always use the elliptical machine for 25-40 minutes. It has one of the usual hand heart rate monitors. I typically use the same resistance/incline/strides-per-min, but some days my heart rate is much higher. For example, it is usually around 110-120/min, however, today it was 150-160/min. I'm not really complaining, on days like this it is a lot easier to break a sweat, but why does heart rate vary so much day to day?

I can think of a few reasons like diet (but what?) or drugs (nothing illegal, caffeine or ephedrine, but I'm not sure those would make it so drastic).

Just for the record, I'm a 25 year old male.

Join the war against genetics!

synecdoche — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 10:51:04 -0800

I want to maintain my weight, but continue to lower my body fat percentage. Should I lower caloric intake or just increase my exercise, or both? I am a male, 24, 5'10" and 173 lbs. I've lost a lot of weight through eating right and exercising, and I am happy with where I am, weight-wise. However, I've still got a pear-shape, which i seem to have inherited from my mother's side of the family, as all of her brothers are the same shape. Right now, I'm extremely happy with the shape of my legs, satisfied with my arms and shoulders (and up), but not so happy with my belly and rear end.

Basically, I'd like to get rid of that gut. I know the best way to do this is to reduce my body fat percentage, but I am wondering about the best way to go about this. Should I decrease my caloric intake, or continue that at a maintenance level and just continue to exercise? Or should I increase my exercise (which could be difficult as I cram in as much as I can to begin with), or something else?

Right now for working out I run 5km 3 times a week (I am working on increasing my distance here), use the elliptical trainer for 30 minutes a week, ride my bike for 30 minutes a week, and do resistance training (full body) two of those days. On the days I don't work out, I walk for about 45 minutes. As far as food goes, I'm eating the right amount to maintain my current weight with that level of activity.

So, I know that there's no such thing as spot training, but it is frustrating to me that my extremeties are doing so well but my mid-section seems to be slacking off. What's the best way to go about this while maintaining my weight?

Are Precor EFX Machines really as effective as the calorie readout tells me?

mule — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 17:44:26 -0800

Are Precor EFX Machines really as effective as the calorie readout tells me? I regularly use a precor EFX machine at the gym and am constantly amazed at the amount of calories it says I'm burning. (eg. 450 kCal in 30minutes). From what I understand this is equivalent to running at a very decent pace for an hour. The reason I question this is because there's no way I could work of that amount of cals/min on any other machine or method without falling over in about 5 minutes. On the EFX my heart-rate and breathing are increased but not to the equivalent of even running on a treadmill for 5 mins at 5mph (I'm a crap runner btw).

At the begining of my workout I always put in my correct age and weight.

Is the EFX telling me the truth? If not, what would be a more accurate way to measure energy expenditure?

Help me get my booty into shape, without killing my knees!

barnone — Sun, 12 Feb 2006 12:18:37 -0800

What qualifications should I look for in a personal trainer? What do the ACE certifications actually mean? I'd like to hire a trainer for a few sessions, but I really don't want to hurt myself or hire a nut. Please help me sort through the options! I've had some substantial health issues in the past few years. I'm now in a place where my apartment has a gym, I'm healthy enough to exercise on a regular basis, I'd like to lose some (fat) weight and build muscle, lower my BMI, increase cardio capacity and generally not hurt myself doing it. I know that I can do some of this on my own, and I have, but I'd like someone to kick it up a notch and show me some safe ways of working out without aggrevating my problem areas (knees, mostly).

So, I've started looking into local personal trainers - but they have a bewildering amount of acronyms, bogish-looking qualifications and fitness mumbo-jumbo on their sites and ads. I don't know anyone who uses one in the area, so I can't ask for personal recommendations; even then, I'd like to know what *I* should be looking for in a trainer. What kinds of questions should I ask them? What is a good qualifying degree or program, if there is such a thing? I've seen people hire trainers who push them too far too fast, resulting in an injury, and then physical/mental set backs as they recuperate. I'd like to avoid that -- how do I find a well-trained trainer?

More specifically, if I may, I found someone that looks relatively decent with the following qualifications: "Three certifications from the American Council on Exercise (ACE): Personal Trainer, Lifestyle & Weight Management Consultant, Clinical Exercise Specialist. Also certified by the American Academy of Health, Fitness & Rehabilitation Professionals (AAHFRP) as a Medical Exercise Specialist." Does that mean anything?

I'm in Durham, NC if anyone wants to recommend a local trainer, but I'd really like to learn how to differentiate among the options for the future, as well. My left knee and my back thanks you in advance, dear MeFites!

Building muscle

Blue Buddha — Fri, 24 Jun 2005 10:28:42 -0800

How much should I increase my workout weight when lowering rep ranges? How much should I increase my workout weight when lowering rep ranges?

In this example, I lift 100lbs for 12 reps. If I want to decrease my rep range to 10 reps, how much weight should I add? Going from 10 reps to 8?

I've been adding roughly 20% of the weight, but have also read that to more effectively build muscle, you should multiply weight X reps X sets, and keep increasing that number each workout. All else being equal, adding 20% will keep that number the same when dropping from 12 to 10, and actually lower it if decreasing from 10 to 8 reps.

100 lbs X 12 reps X 3 sets = 3600 total lbs
Add 20%
120 lbs X 10 reps X 3 sets = 3600 total lbs
Add 20%
144 lbs X 8 reps X 3 sets = 3456 total lbs

I guess I could try adding 25% when dropping from 12 to 10, then 30% from 10 to 8, but I fear that may be too much to handle.

I'm banking more on the HST (Hypertrophy Specific Training) method that by increasing weight while dropping rep ranges, the body will grow due to the stress imposed by the additional weight.

So which school of thought do you fall under: increasing overall weight with each workout will lead to muscle growth, or increasing weight and dropping sets to stress the body into growing? Again, all else being equal (routine, consistency of workouts, diet, rest, supplementation, etc.).

Please note that I work out during lunch and may not have much time to increase sets to get the overall weight higher (scenario 1).

Creating a working regimen and sticking to it.

mhaw — Mon, 02 Aug 2004 06:50:19 -0800

Looking to get in shape… absolutely no idea where to start. [mi] I’m not overweight, or even close… probably underweight for my height but I would like to increase my strength and my overall physical health. I have access to a gym, and wouldn’t object to going regularly, but whenever I do go I end up feel like an idiot because I’m never really sure what to do or how to do it. So if anyone can provide suggestions about how to get motivated, how to create a workout regiment, and how to stick to it, and how one learns the proper way to get started and other overall resources in this area, I would greatly appreciate it.