Quoted message said:Hello All. I am looking for some training advice. I have three
goals I wish to accomplish this year. They are:
1. Lose about 20 pounds.
2. Improve my appearance by gaining some muscle definition.
3. Run my very first 9 mile race (Boilermaker in July in Utica, NY).
Having goals with hard deadlines is very helpful. Every time you feel
like slacking just imagine yourself blowing chunks because you didn't
get in shape in time for your race. All of a sudden another set (or
lap) won't seem like such a bad idea.
Quoted message said:I am a 35 year old male, 6.0 feet tall, about 203 pounds. My body
fat is about 25.5. I have done extensive research on dieting. After
looking at all the fad diets out there, I feel the Abs Diet from
Men's Health magazine is the best. I've tried most of these diets
and they all kind of work in the short term. However, the Abs diet
is more geared towards someone who plans on doing weight training,
and it seems like a better plan for the long term. My long term
goals are to get down to 180 pounds, and to generally live a
healthier lifestyle. I would also love to run a full marathon one
day. Most of the fad diets out there, (atkins, south beach, etc.),
do not give me the energy I need to be able to lift weights and
run. The Abs diet does. However, the one big problem I find with the
Abs Diet is that it kind of discourages you from doing "too much"
aerobic training. They claim by doing too much aerobic training, you
are burning away a lot of the muscle you are trying to build. This
is a problem because i am going to be doing a lot of aerobic
training (treadmill/running) to prepare for the race in July.
I don't know anything about the "Ab Diet," but if it revolves around
eating sensibly and lifting weights then it can't be all bad.
The reason that many weight training based diets warn of excessive
cardio is simple. Most people have a hard time gaining muscle and
losing fat at the same time. Basically, your body looks on its fat
stores as protection against lean times, and so it wants to hang onto
the fat that it has stored. In most people dieting causes the body to
lose quite a bit of lean body mass as the body tries to protect itself
from calorie deficit by burning some muscle. Your body doesn't know
that you are only going to diet "until the fat is gone," and so it
starts shedding muscle so that it can survive without a calorie
deficit on the new lower calorie intake. Your body would rather have
fat stores for an emergency than big muscles that are only useful for
moving heavy stuff. That's why it is much easier to put on muscle
when you are eating enough so that the body isn't worried about it's
fat stores.
Growing more muscular is hard work for your body, and it takes a great
deal of energy. Every calorie that you use running is one more
calorie that isn't building muscle. Diets that are based around
weight training (at least the reputable ones) take this into account
and discourage folks from too much cardio. They argue that the real
goal is to ramp up your body's metabolism by adding more lean body
mass.
Most body builders cycle between "bulking" and "cutting." They spend
a part of the year eating and getting big, and then they spend a part
of the year cutting down to the insane body fat percentages that they
compete at.
Quoted message said:I guess my dilema is, I want to be able to run that race, but I
also really want to improve my appearance by losing weight and
adding muscle. I am basically looking for ANY advice anyone might
have, to reach my goals. How much running/training do I need to do
to be ready for a 9 mile run in July? Any diet suggestions? Small
healthy meals throughout the day? How many calories should I consume
a day? Will lifting weights be useless if i'm doing a lot of
running? Are my goals even obtainable in this time frame (3-4
months)?
I am not an expert at running, but I imagine that you have enough time
to prepare for the race. You won't set any world records, but you'll
finish and you'll feel great. After all, the whole point is to do
stuff that gets you motivated. Think how good you'll feel after that
race knowing that you have done something that most people will never
even attempt.
As for the rest everyone is different. Nutrition and fitness is
really more about learning how to apply good principles to your own
life. Everyone is different, and some things that work for one person
don't work for the next. I would suggest taking extensive notes.
Write down what you eat, take notes on your workouts, weigh yourself,
measure your waist, chest, arms, and thighs, purchase fat callipers
and track your body fat percentage, etc. You will react differently
to diet, exercise, than everyone else. If you keep careful track of
your fitness and your fitness goals you can easily tweak your diet and
exercise so that you can more easily reach your goals. If you keep
track of how much you eat and how much you weigh then you can easily
add or subtract calories depending on how you are doing. I personally
would suggest eating more small meals, but there are all sorts of
competing theories. For example, google for "pulse feeding protein"
for another theory.
Not that it matters much. The real important thing is that you start.
Once you get hooked on being fit there will be plenty of times to try
different stuff.
The good news is that if you are new to weight training you will see
gains almost no matter what you do. You will definitely start seeing
results from weight training, even if you are doing "too much" cardio.
Heck, even if you are only trying to lose weight lifting forces your
body to keep more lean body mass. Whatever you do, make sure you
lift.
After you run your race and you feel like you are well on your way to
maintaining your healthy habits indefinitely then you can decide if
you want to concentrate more on lifting or running, and you can
definitely do both.
Growing my best friend's dad was exceptionally fit. He ran
triathlons, and would got to Hawaii every year to run the Ironman. He
also worked out with weights and achieved a very respectable amount of
musculature. So distance runners definitely don't have to look like
beef jerky.
Do what sounds fun. Compete, and give yourself the opportunity to
actually use the body you have been working on.
Jason
