Health & Fitness • Page 143

Yeah finding lower-calorie options for packaged/processed foods can make a big difference. For what it's worth, having been your weight/height, I found that regular low-impact cardio (elliptical) and resistance training allowed me to make a ~1,000 kcal deficit and still eat around 2,000, which was a lot nicer than having to drop lower. I know the whole "you can't outrun your fork" concept, but you can certainly work with things to make your dietary decisions easier to manage haha.

What's keeping you from being ready to get back to the gym?

Re: sodium, purely speaking from personal experience and not offering advice at all, I've found the 2,300 mg sodium recommendation to be pretty inconsequential for my health. I probably average 3,500+ and suffer no adverse side effects as long as I'm focusing on whole foods, staying active, and drinking lots of water. Again, not trying to suggest anything to you, but particularly when it's hot out and I'm exercising a lot, I don't worry about sodium at all.

Sounds like you've got a pretty good path forward though, keep it up dude!

 

Anyone got any protein make at home meals they make? I’m running dry on ideas. I’ve been making overnight oats with some protein powder, oat milk, cinnamon and peanut butter for extra protein in the morning with my breakfast, but I need some new meals/snacks.

 

I do a breakfast burrito with a protein tortilla, egg whites, Turkey pepperoni and some form of light cheese or cream cheese on it with a protein bar every day for breakfast. Comes out to around 40G.

 

Steak and eggs with a glass of Fairlife milk is one of my favorite breakfasts.

 

But for general meals, I find that chili/jambalaya/stew are the easiest to make and really ramp up protein, as well as eggs and tuna in all their variations. A stir fry is also great - a bunch of vegetables and chiles, beef and shrimp and tofu and whatever else, and you’re good.

 

I posted in another thread, but bagel sandwiches! I
Made another today. Bagel with light baybel cheese, spinach/arugula, in my case vegetarian deli meat, light honey mustard, cheese, and egg whites. Came out to like 35-40g of protein and was delish. I do a lot of protein bars and shakes but that doesn't rly count since i dont make them. Sometimes I'll take a chocolate protein shake and blend it with ice, banana, and pbfit tho. Sometimes I'll do a lil burrito bowl thing with lettuce, tomato, cheese, black beans, optional meat or veggie meat, sour cream, corn, and avocado. Sometimes i get lean tortillas that have less calories and decent protein ratio and make a burrito instead of a bowl. I live for the light and fit greek yogurts. Walmart also has a cheaper generic brand. they're great snacks. They have individual cups so I get those as well as a large container of vanilla flavor and I do that with fresh fruit. I also make my own lil protein bento boxes sometimes with hard boiled eggs, carrots and celery, peanut butter, some cheese, nuts, etc. I love those in summer when it's too hot to use the stove. I stole one on tiktok where you blend a protein shake (I use premier) and sugar free pudding mix and it makes yummy pudding. You can mix and match flavors.

I wish I could do protein powders but for the life of me I can't find one that's not chalky and weird

 

Anybody else use a rower/erg in their training?

My cardio's okay and my conditioning is pretty decent, relatively speaking, but I am just flat out slow at rowing. I think I just need practice (and weight loss) to improve, but still: it's humbling.

 

I sometimes row on back/shoulder days. I usually just do it for 5 minutes before the rest of my workout but it is quite exhausting. Good way to get the blood flowing before the other exercises.

 

It’s definitely a good primer. I also like it as a finisher - it lets me leave everything on the table when I’m done.

Trying to row ~6000m/week at a not awful pace and it’s a mental challenge haha

 

I used to do OTF from like 2014-2020 and I loved rowing

 

Rowing is pretty fun and I've been considering a concept 2 for a long time.

 

Dropped 20 lbs so far, been feeling good! Going from fast food basically every day, to twice a week was a big, but relatively easy change, and I've got more variety than just simply tuna sandwiches and grilled chicken as I had before when I was seriously dieting and grew to detest both (can enjoy them now in moderation!).

Been sprinkling in very light cardio (15-20 minutes on the elliptical) 3-4 times a week and that's been going well too... ideally would like to work my way up to sessions of 50-60 minutes like I was doing before, but taking it slow!

 

I've been a big runner for the past several years, but I think it's time to start with some weight training. I really liked running because I've never been a "gym" kind of athlete. Swam from middle school - high school, and started running post college. It was easy to kind of get up and go and not be too intimidated by learning how to start with weights/machines/etc.

So, new chapter starts today. I'm pretty intimidated, but ready to push myself out of my comfort zone. If anyone has any basic advice for getting started, let me know!

 

I think it's an excellent idea to get into weight training - major benefits for long-term health and capabilities, and a lot of carryover to your running as well.

I'm happy to offer some advice as someone who lifts and runs. You think you could outline your stats/equipment availability/schedule/weight goals?

 

Awesome! thanks for the offer- i'm pretty comfortable at my weight, just want to tone up and build some muscle. I'm 5'3, 120 (girl, lol). I was running about 20 miles a week, but scaled back after my last half marathon. Will probably workout 4 times a week - one of those will be a running only workout most likely.

edit: I think my biggest difficulty will be eating enough. I struggle to eat enough calories as is, usually in a deficit (on adderall, so i forget to eat often). i know hidden protein is allegedly the way to go, need to stock up on a few things.

 

Others may have more specific advice but make sure you start with low weights/resistance and focus on form above everything. Good luck!

 

Awesome. I think I can offer some suggestions that might help. This reply might run a little long but I’ll try to be succinct. (I actually typed up a much longer version of what's below, but I was clearly getting carried away, so here are just a couple basic strategies.)

Upfront: I’m male, and I have no personal experience with you, so all of this is just “what I would do if I were in your shoes” rather than trying to be prescriptive and tell you what you must do.

TL;DR: Pick a program, follow it, familiarize yourself with resistance training. Then pick a goal to focus on for a specific period of time. Rinse and repeat. Learn how to work hard and push yourself.

When you're new to resistance training, you need to spend some time learning how your body moves through different ranges of motion and with different implements. Barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, machines, bodyweight stuff—all of them have their place, all of them have great uses. At the beginning, just focus on trying hard and pushing yourself. As a runner, you're probably pretty good at that already. Most beginners don't have much experience with that at all. They'll train "to failure" but it's only like 50% of what they're really capable of; they just don't have the skill yet to actually leverage it.

There are a lot of beginner-oriented programs out there. That's because there are always a lot of beginners. The secret is that pretty much anything will work for a beginner, so the choice of program doesn't matter all that much. The other secret, which lots of people overlook, is that you should only be doing a beginner-oriented program for a couple months, say 12–16 weeks. Just enough time to familiarize yourself with different lifts and build the routines and habits for training.

After that, find yourself a good program that employs periodization and follow it. Periodization is the idea that you can't get better at everything all at once. For example, you want to get toned (I'd call that "getting lean" instead) and build some muscle—those are two fundamentally different physical processes, so it's difficult to do them simultaneously. A periodized program will have you focusing on building muscle for a while, then losing fat for a while; focusing on building a base of strength first, then working on conditioning, then bringing up weak points, then expressing strength, etc.

"Progressive overload" is a term you'll hear a lot. It basically means that you should be improving on something each session. For the first while, that just means adding pounds to the bar. Squat 95 pounds today, squat 100 pounds tomorrow, 105 the next day, that sort of thing. But it also means adding reps, adding sets, adding overall volume, reducing rest times, supersetting, improving technique and control, and so on. Lots of ways to improve, and most sessions should see you improving something.

Try what you want and see what works! Compound barbell lifts are excellent options—overhead press, bench press, squat, deadlift, row, and all their variations. Kettlebells are great. Dumbbells are great. Machines are great, especially for getting started. Bodyweight work is great. As you try different programs you'll find stuff you like and stuff you don't.

Don't skimp on conditioning. Focusing on that in addition to strength training and running will benefit both endeavors.

So, in essence: Find a beginner program that looks good, follow it for a couple months, and familiarize yourself with all different kinds of lifts. Then, when that's done, move on to a better-structured program and keep at it.

As for nutrition, kind of the same approach. Prior to getting into the weeds with things like nutrient timing or, frankly, even being in a surplus or deficit, you should just establish good habits. Eat high-quality foods. Drink lots of water. Eat vegetables and fruits. Try to get a good amount of protein, probably more than you think. Try not to drink your calories. Build good habits now, and then when you're ready to bulk, cut, whatever, you'll have a foundation to work with.

For gaining weight, yes, hidden protein can be helpful, but it's not the first thing I'd think of. Fat is more than twice as caloric per gram compared to carbs and protein, so adding fat sources to your meals can be really helpful. I like avocados, cheese, and nuts/nut butters for that. Carbs are also very easy to put down in large quantities. Protein is great, but it often makes you feel pretty full, so if you're trying to gain some weight, hit your protein goal for the day and then fill up on carbs and fat as necessary.

Most people in the gym aren't pushing themselves hard enough and aren't concerned enough with proper recovery. Recovery doesn't mean taking rest days, by the way, which I find to be very overrated. But food and active movement and sleep will help you recover from even grueling workouts.

Overall, find what works for you. You'll find exercises, programs, training styles, and so on that really work for you. Health and fitness are a long game, and the fundamental drivers are time, effort, and consistency, so just work on those and the rest will fall into place.

Last thing: I would highly recommend reading every single word of this: https://thefitness.wiki/. It is an absolutely excellent, curated source of a lot of great fitness- and lifting-related topics. Work your way through it. It'll answer pretty much every question you have at this point.

If you can believe it, this post was actually a lot longer at one point, haha. Hopefully this stuff is helpful. Please reach out if you want any clarification or further information on any of these points, and let me know if you have questions. Also, keep us posted! I definitely want to follow along and see how things go for you.

 

Agreed on starting slow—not necessarily with low weights, but more just not worrying about the rate of progress. I see a lot of people stressing that they're not lifting X amount after a couple of weeks. But lifting is a long, long game, and there's plenty of time to build a base.

As for form, personally, I'd disagree. I think there are many more important factors to focus on over form. Would you mind explaining what you mean? Maybe we're not talking about quite the same thing.

 

Form = performing the lift as intended to prevent acute or eventual injury.

 

I tend to call that technique rather than form, because the latter seems external and not necessarily representative of the biomechanics involved (an ugly lift can still be executed with appropriate technique).

But either way, I do still disagree. I find that in the vast majority of cases, injuries are a result of improper load management rather than form. I think this is worth clarifying because I do see a lot of people obsessing over what they perceive as form breakdown and limiting their progress—chasing after a 'perfect' 225 instead of recognizing how to use their leverages and strengths to hit 300 or 350 or whatever.

 

Cool

 

Ah. Thought you'd be interested in a discussion of the topic. My mistake.

 

Send me your number and I’ll give you a call

 

Thank you! I appreciate the detail here. I've done a couple workouts this week and already feel like I'm not pushing myself quite enough, so that's a good pointer. I'll check out the wiki.... will report back soon with some progress hopefully

 

Ran my first 5k yesterday with no training and it was…interesting haha. My AirPods didn’t work so I was just in the woods getting rained on alone with my thoughts lol. I think I’d definitely want to try again but do a bit of training beforehand. I didn’t finish in last though so I’ll take it lol