Toning up, but not losing too much ‘bulk’
Discussion
Hi folks,
I’ve always been skinny… however over the last couple of years I’ve developed some excess weight around all of the usual middle aged places. Blame 4yrs in a traffic car sitting around a lot.
Currently 45, 6ft/183cm, 97kg (15.5 stone ish)
I need to get fitter, that’s for sure. And lose some of this midriff, although I look a lot better with a bit of weight, if that makes sense? Converting the fat to muscle would be an ideal scenario. Don’t want to be too skinny!
I think my primary issue is exercise. Diet is generally pretty healthy, although I do need to keep an eye on portions.
Any tips for a good programme? Have just joined a mixed gym so am going in every couple of days for a mix of weights and cardio.
Cheers!
I’ve always been skinny… however over the last couple of years I’ve developed some excess weight around all of the usual middle aged places. Blame 4yrs in a traffic car sitting around a lot.
Currently 45, 6ft/183cm, 97kg (15.5 stone ish)
I need to get fitter, that’s for sure. And lose some of this midriff, although I look a lot better with a bit of weight, if that makes sense? Converting the fat to muscle would be an ideal scenario. Don’t want to be too skinny!
I think my primary issue is exercise. Diet is generally pretty healthy, although I do need to keep an eye on portions.
Any tips for a good programme? Have just joined a mixed gym so am going in every couple of days for a mix of weights and cardio.
Cheers!
I swear by the Concept 2 rower. Can be a bit boring but 30 mins every other day will sort your fitness out in no time. It uses a lot of muscles so there's an element of upper body resistance training to it compared to say running.
Press ups, bodyweight squats and burpees too.
Obvs main stuff is sort out diet etc, maybe worth paying for a consultation with a PT and get a plan?
Press ups, bodyweight squats and burpees too.
Obvs main stuff is sort out diet etc, maybe worth paying for a consultation with a PT and get a plan?
Edited by MBVitoria on Thursday 3rd October 17:45
Track how many calories you burn and eat 500 calories less than this a day. Will take 3 months to lose about 5kg but better to be slower than a crash diet
Lift weights. If you're new to weight training you might put some muscle mass on in a deficit. If I started again I'd train in a deficit while the weights are lighter and get my BF levels down to 13-15% before training on a surplus.
Eat 1-2g of protein per kg LEAN body mass (ie minus your fat) and 1g of fat per kg of weight. Rest of you calories as carbs
Mainly walk 10k steps a day or burn the 500 calories through zone 2 CV on one or two days you aren't lifting. Zone 2 is the important bit
Someone will be along to say that you can't accurately do all this. And they are right and there is some margin of error on each step from estimating the calories that your meals will have down to your 10k step tracking. However it gave me better results than just spinning my wheels doing the zone 3-4 CV while eating what I thought was good but ultimately was a carb heavy diet that was either too much or too little calories.
Lift weights. If you're new to weight training you might put some muscle mass on in a deficit. If I started again I'd train in a deficit while the weights are lighter and get my BF levels down to 13-15% before training on a surplus.
Eat 1-2g of protein per kg LEAN body mass (ie minus your fat) and 1g of fat per kg of weight. Rest of you calories as carbs
Mainly walk 10k steps a day or burn the 500 calories through zone 2 CV on one or two days you aren't lifting. Zone 2 is the important bit
Someone will be along to say that you can't accurately do all this. And they are right and there is some margin of error on each step from estimating the calories that your meals will have down to your 10k step tracking. However it gave me better results than just spinning my wheels doing the zone 3-4 CV while eating what I thought was good but ultimately was a carb heavy diet that was either too much or too little calories.
Program wise id say start on stronglifts 5x5 to get you used to doing the big compounds but definitely add pull ups on deadlift days and some sort of tricep exercise on bench days. Do weighted abs and calf raises on the first and last sessions per week. Do some variation of pull ups regardless of what you do.
When squatting 3 times a week starts to suck big time change to a hypertrophy program. Will probably take about 6 months. At 45 I'd suggest weights 4 times a week for an hour as I'm 41 and get burned out if I do more than that for a while
When squatting 3 times a week starts to suck big time change to a hypertrophy program. Will probably take about 6 months. At 45 I'd suggest weights 4 times a week for an hour as I'm 41 and get burned out if I do more than that for a while
Diet, you haven't got much lean mass to lose so don't worry about extra protein. Easiest way to lose a couple of stone is - as another poster has suggested - a deficit of about 500 cals a day, then when you've got over the hunger pangs start doing some kind of exercise as well. Be disciplined.
For what you've described, you need to gain some muscle.
If you drink like a typical British 45 year old, stopping that would possibly sort most of the middle aged blobbing.
Would suggest a simple program like Starting Strength, goes in to exhaustive detail on form for squats, deadlifts, bench press and overhead press. I'd personally say as above make sure you're doing pull ups too.
Do the movements slowly and with control, and focus on getting strong over 12 months, not 12 weeks. You can get away with the dumb s
t in your 20s, you need to play it a bit smarter now.
Once you've built a good strong foundation, something more hypertrophy focused to perhaps sculpt some more bulk where you want may be of interest, but to be honest you may find just general 'strength' gives you enough of the not skinny appearance that you're happy.
Be prepared for half of your youtube suggestions to involve topless men
If you drink like a typical British 45 year old, stopping that would possibly sort most of the middle aged blobbing.
Would suggest a simple program like Starting Strength, goes in to exhaustive detail on form for squats, deadlifts, bench press and overhead press. I'd personally say as above make sure you're doing pull ups too.
Do the movements slowly and with control, and focus on getting strong over 12 months, not 12 weeks. You can get away with the dumb s
t in your 20s, you need to play it a bit smarter now. Once you've built a good strong foundation, something more hypertrophy focused to perhaps sculpt some more bulk where you want may be of interest, but to be honest you may find just general 'strength' gives you enough of the not skinny appearance that you're happy.
Be prepared for half of your youtube suggestions to involve topless men
Edited by SturdyHSV on Sunday 6th October 11:02
carreauchompeur said:
I think my primary issue is exercise. Diet is generally pretty healthy, although I do need to keep an eye on portions. !
You loss fat in the kitchen not the gym. Join the weight loss thread, loads of great advice on that thread.I'm 182cm, currently 74kg, having put on weight in the summer from eating too much. The key is to get the elephant in room recognised, eating too much is the main issue for most of us, not the amount of exercise you do. I think I can probably do with losing about 2-3kg of weight before the inevitable Xmas weight gain.
Get a Swiss ball and do 3 sets of 6, working up to 8.
Try and keep your knees going up and down the centre line to maximise the twist and trie and keep your hips high. You won’t believe how much it pulls your middle in and only 10 mins a day.
https://youtu.be/YU4T70R6XXw?si=CfNC3Ki4doCUUSQL
Try and keep your knees going up and down the centre line to maximise the twist and trie and keep your hips high. You won’t believe how much it pulls your middle in and only 10 mins a day.
https://youtu.be/YU4T70R6XXw?si=CfNC3Ki4doCUUSQL
gangzoom said:
You loss fat in the kitchen not the gym. Join the weight loss thread, loads of great advice on that thread.
That's not great advice. Fat loss is a simple exchange of cals out being greater than cals in. Easier with food, but proper exercise can be just as effective and when you combine the two as a lifestyle change you get the best results. popeyewhite said:
That's not great advice. Fat loss is a simple exchange of cals out being greater than cals in. Easier with food, but proper exercise can be just as effective and when you combine the two as a lifestyle change you get the best results.
OP wants to loss weight, excercise vs diet to loss weight has been discussed countless times, 6 packs are made in the kitchen not the gym. You might one of the few people who can achieve weight loss through excercise, the reality if for most of us it's food that's the issue.Hi all,
The primary issue is definitely lack of exercise. It dwindled to the point where most days I just didn’t do anything.
My diet is generally pretty good. I do need to keep an eye on portion size a bit.
Likewise, really don’t drink much any more. Shift work helps here as I am hardly home in the evenings!
Really good tips so far and I’m adopting a mix of them
The primary issue is definitely lack of exercise. It dwindled to the point where most days I just didn’t do anything.
My diet is generally pretty good. I do need to keep an eye on portion size a bit.
Likewise, really don’t drink much any more. Shift work helps here as I am hardly home in the evenings!
Really good tips so far and I’m adopting a mix of them
gangzoom said:
popeyewhite said:
That's not great advice. Fat loss is a simple exchange of cals out being greater than cals in. Easier with food, but proper exercise can be just as effective and when you combine the two as a lifestyle change you get the best results.
OP wants to loss weight, excercise vs diet to loss weight has been discussed countless times, 6 packs are made in the kitchen not the gym. You might one of the few people who can achieve weight loss through excercise, the reality if for most of us it's food that's the issue.Calories is just absolute nonsense, a calorie is just the amount of energy to raise 1 gram of water by one degree, food stuffs are “burnt” to calculate this, it’s probably the most unscientific useless measurement in history. However yes, there’s some element to more in less out equals gain. But it’s all about the material, as your body will store and release the things it can or cannot or do.
So, concentrate on the right foods for your body and move more. Fast. You do not need to eat anywhere near as much as you think you do. You could easily go without food for days, it’s a fallacy. Eat at 5/6 in the evening, eat again at 10am. Repeat.
Concentrate on body weight exercises and flexibility.
So, concentrate on the right foods for your body and move more. Fast. You do not need to eat anywhere near as much as you think you do. You could easily go without food for days, it’s a fallacy. Eat at 5/6 in the evening, eat again at 10am. Repeat.
Concentrate on body weight exercises and flexibility.
Glad it's going well. In the early stages you will see a lot of relatively easy progress. Enjoy this and make the most of it, but accept that it will taper off and then it gets hard.
In 6 - 9 months time when you're not seeing much progress, be aware that it's not that it's not working anymore, it's just that you've gone through your newbie gains phase and now the real work begins, don't lose hope
In 6 - 9 months time when you're not seeing much progress, be aware that it's not that it's not working anymore, it's just that you've gone through your newbie gains phase and now the real work begins, don't lose hope
Do circuit training in a class (or on your own if you can push yourself) a couple of times per week.
Run/cycle/swim/hilly walks with a rucksack a few times a week, include some hard intervals.
Do a bit of strength training a couple of times a week.
Eat sensibly.
Don't snack.
Ps. Don't snack.
Pps. Don't snack.
Run/cycle/swim/hilly walks with a rucksack a few times a week, include some hard intervals.
Do a bit of strength training a couple of times a week.
Eat sensibly.
Don't snack.
Ps. Don't snack.
Pps. Don't snack.
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