fitness gurus - quick question

[AJI]

ok...first attempt turned out not to be a 'quick' question...
so I'll try again.

What type and how much of work out is generally required to achive both muscle gain and also weight loss.
I'm looking for typical combination of how much weights to do and for how long, and also how much running/biking type of activity to do.

Edited by AJI on Wednesday 28th October 10:17

[bales]

(In reply to your first question!!)

But are you getting any stronger?

You can do weights, get stronger, and not put on muscle mass, thats what I actually aim for in my training.

It sounds like your body has just got used to what you are doing, are you one of the people who has a set routine on the weight machines. Do you just have set exercises at a set weight and just do say 3x10 on each thing?

Obviously after an intial period your muscles will get used to the exercise and you will see no gains unless you add a progression element.

In relation to the fat around your middle all I can say is cardio, cardio, cardio....

But that doesn't mean just sat on a bike pedalling for 40 mins or on a treadmill.

Get outdoors and do some running, do some fartlek, do some interval type training, cycle, row, just try and mix it up.

Put it this way I am sprinter and we have a group of about 20 people of all ages and abilities and both men and women and we do a good mix of training. None of it includes steady state exercise i.e cycling or running for a period of time at a set pace. None of our athletes have any excess fat on their stomachs and they are all toned, but some of them are at a pretty low level so you don't need to be an elite athlete or anything. Just do a good mix of training and eat sensibly.

In regards to protein unless you have a specific goal i.e weight targets and you have stopped progressing and you are at the limit of your strength from a balanced diet I wouldn't bother.

Edited by bales on Wednesday 28th October 10:28

[AJI]

Thanks for that reply.
Yeah, I guess I have fallen into a routine of doing the same thing every week.

And more work in the cardio zone as opposed to those 'weight loss' zones on various machines should be more useful yes?

Cheers.

[Animal]

AJI said:

Thanks for that reply.
Yeah, I guess I have fallen into a routine of doing the same thing every week.

And more work in the cardio zone as opposed to those 'weight loss' zones on various machines should be more useful yes?

Cheers.

Interval cardio training may help (relatively short bursts of hard cardio followed by a slower, recovery period, say 1 min fast, 2 min slow). The intervals themselves will depend on your fitness, but you can have a much more intense workout in a shorter time.

Best,

Animal

[AJI]

Yep, me thinks I need to vary things up much more.

I think I got into a repetition of keeping to the 'weight loss' work out zones on the cycle/running machines...and forgetting that cardio zones are probably much better for me.

Same thing for weights, I have now started to do vary up the weight work out a lot more.



Cheers.

[anonymous-user]

I've started doing interval work on a rowing machine - it's amazing the difference it makes to fat loss over steady rowing.

[ascayman]

garyhun said:

I've started doing interval work on a rowing machine - it's amazing the difference it makes to fat loss over steady rowing.

that sounds interesting what do you do? / how do you do it?

[bales]

Interval training just means varying your pace and times that you run/cycle/row for, but in a more regimented way than fartlek.

For example in rowing you would set a pace to row at for a specific time and then change to a different pace for another set time and repeat. It is just varying the intensity that you train at so your body doesn't get used to steady state exercise.

I.e in terms of running it might be run 1km at say 20s per 100m then as a rest period jog for 400m then back to another 1km at the same pace etc..

[anonymous-user]

ascayman said:

garyhun said:

I've started doing interval work on a rowing machine - it's amazing the difference it makes to fat loss over steady rowing.

that sounds interesting what do you do? / how do you do it?

2 mins of decent rowing followed by a 30 second sprint.... do that for 20 mins.

[bales]

garyhun said:

ascayman said:

garyhun said:

I've started doing interval work on a rowing machine - it's amazing the difference it makes to fat loss over steady rowing.

that sounds interesting what do you do? / how do you do it?

2 mins of decent rowing followed by a 30 second sprint.... do that for 20 mins.

Yes that might be simpler way of putting it...

[ascayman]

garyhun said:

ascayman said:

garyhun said:

I've started doing interval work on a rowing machine - it's amazing the difference it makes to fat loss over steady rowing.

that sounds interesting what do you do? / how do you do it?

2 mins of decent rowing followed by a 30 second sprint.... do that for 20 mins.

[anonymous-user]

bales said:

garyhun said:

ascayman said:

garyhun said:

I've started doing interval work on a rowing machine - it's amazing the difference it makes to fat loss over steady rowing.

that sounds interesting what do you do? / how do you do it?

2 mins of decent rowing followed by a 30 second sprint.... do that for 20 mins.

Yes that might be simpler way of putting it...

Hey no worries, after all this is Pistoheads "Overcomplicating Matters"

[996 sps]

AJI said:

Yep, me thinks I need to vary things up much more.

I think I got into a repetition of keeping to the 'weight loss' work out zones on the cycle/running machines...and forgetting that cardio zones are probably much better for me.

Same thing for weights, I have now started to do vary up the weight work out a lot more.



Cheers.

Have a look at www.worldgymchallenge.com its same as old Ultra Fit Competitions good fun short and sharp ensure strength gains and weight loss, hopefully see you at one of the comps

[AJI]

996 sps said:

AJI said:

Yep, me thinks I need to vary things up much more.

I think I got into a repetition of keeping to the 'weight loss' work out zones on the cycle/running machines...and forgetting that cardio zones are probably much better for me.

Same thing for weights, I have now started to do vary up the weight work out a lot more.



Cheers.

Have a look at www.worldgymchallenge.com its same as old Ultra Fit Competitions good fun short and sharp ensure strength gains and weight loss, hopefully see you at one of the comps

That looks interesting.
I've been looking for some form of competition since I gave up rugby and MMA.
Thanks for the link.

[996 sps]

bales said:

Interval training just means varying your pace and times that you run/cycle/row for, but in a more regimented way than fartlek.

For example in rowing you would set a pace to row at for a specific time and then change to a different pace for another set time and repeat. It is just varying the intensity that you train at so your body doesn't get used to steady state exercise.

I.e in terms of running it might be run 1km at say 20s per 100m then as a rest period jog for 400m then back to another 1km at the same pace etc..

The interval in interval training is purely the rest inbetween the exercise/sets..

[Stevenj214]

AJI said:

What type and how much of work out is generally required to achive both muscle gain and also weight loss.
I'm looking for typical combination of how much weights to do and for how long, and also how much running/biking type of activity to do.

Weight loss comes from calories in < calories out
Muscle mass comes from heavy weight, low reps (3 sets x 8 reps) and providing your body with protein.

The last time I was seriously into the gym I did a 5/10min warmup on a treadmill, stretches, 30mins weights - focusing on compound movements, 5min cooldown on treadmill. Keeping rests between sets and exercises to a minimum also makes it a cardio workout. 45mins in total, 3 times per week.