Getting trim again

[Maxf]

6ft, 14st and 33 years old. Formerly pretty fit, but years of work, injury and general apathy have swapped muscle for fat - although I still seem to be pretty strong.

So, I'm wanting to trim down my waist, while adding a little more to my shoulders/back/arms - but defined, lean, muscle rather than just 'size'. I've purposly left my legs out, as I'm seeing a physio twice a week who is solely tasked with sorting them out, so I need to follow her lead.

At the moment I am going to the gym 1 day on, 1 day off and doing CV for 30 mins, followed by either a 'chest and triceps', 'shoulders' or 'back and biceps' focused weights session.

At the moment I am working the weights as hard as I can and aiming to 'fail' after 6 or 7 reps, aside from some of the shoulder exercises where (worried about old injuries) I'm working towards 10 reps with a lighter weight to ensure proper movement/no cheating.

I want to start doing some spinning classes, but need to wait until the physio says I can (a month she says).

I'm getting some core exercises in as well.

I can't deadlift or squat yet and some standing exercises are a no-no.

Eating wise, I'm cutting out bread and booze as much as possible - trying to eat more fruit and drink more water. I struggle with breakfast (I train in the morning before work) and am thinking of trying protein shakes as a quasi-breakfast once I get to work.

So...
Any tips or does any of the above sound rubbish? Anything I should add?

What % body fat should I aim for?

[Maxf]

Any comments? I watched 'pumping iron' last night in preparation!

[bales]

I think you have it right to be honest, if you already are quite strong and of a decent size I would just stick with a 'maintenance' type gym routine and hit the cardio hard.

By maintenance I mean don't aim for maximum weight all the time, just maybe 3x6-8 reps on each exercise and progess up with the weight when you can comfortably complete that.

Also lots of bodyweight exercises, chins, dips, press-ups, planks etc etc I find are great for definition.

I find it funny at my gym the amount of lads/blokes who bench press a lot but can't do 10 chin ups!

[E21_Ross]

i wouldn't worry about aiming for a % body fat. thing which doesn't quite add up you talk about losing some around the waist but then talk about weights work. what CV work are you doing, and for trying to burn some fat, 30 mins is not really long enough. you've done well to cut the booze down. if you keep doing as you are you will see improvements.

[Maxf]

E21_Ross said:

i wouldn't worry about aiming for a % body fat. thing which doesn't quite add up you talk about losing some around the waist but then talk about weights work. what CV work are you doing, and for trying to burn some fat, 30 mins is not really long enough. you've done well to cut the booze down. if you keep doing as you are you will see improvements.

I'm a little limited with CV as I can only cycle and use the cross trainer (for short periods) until I am a bit further on with my recovery (ACL graft). At the moment I'm limited to 30 mins, but that will increase each week, as will the range of equipment I can use. Sadly, due to an old injury (another one) I can't run though, so everything has to be lower impact.

[samdale]

all sounds pretty good apart from not being able to train legs

Maxf said:

am thinking of trying protein shakes as a quasi-breakfast once I get to work.

as for this you could try a meal replacement powder
this is what i use, it's got ground oats in as well as the usual protein so will help keep you a bit fuller

[Maxf]

samdale said:

all sounds pretty good apart from not being able to train legs

Believe me, I definitely don't want to be one of the muscle mary's with huge chests and sparrow legs. It's circumstance - although I made my physio laugh (a little too heartily) when I said at the end of my recovery I want legs like Arnie in 1975.

Once I'm recovered I'll hit the squats and deadlifts like there's no tomorrow!