"Cam" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:Sorry the topic is so vague, but the question is that way too.
First a bit about me. I'm not out of shape. In fact, I would guess
that people would think me in shape (they don't get to see me in the
shower though). I'm carrying about 2-3 kg's of fat around my waist
which I can't seem to loose.My goal is to loose the weight and gain muscle definition/tone. I'm not
interested in looking like Arnie.I swim 1km three times a week for fitness. While I know that cardio
work isn't good for building muscle, I'm not prepared to give it up. I
figure my heart comes first, then the rest of my muscles.For weights, I use only dumbbells at home after the kids are in bed. I
do them three times a week. I swim at lunch time, then weights in the
evenings. My routine is 2 sets of 12 for each of the following.
- Bicep curls
- Bench press (shoulders supported by a swiss ball)
- Single arm row
- Seated shoulder press (sitting on a swiss ball)
- Sit-ups with weight on my chest for extra resistance.Any comment on my routine would be welcomed. Be aware that I'm limited
to dumbbells and other common household implements as training aides. I
would like to keep the workout under 30 minutes.
Try to find something you can use to do deadlifts or similar; you're not
doing anything for your legs right now. You might be OK doing squats with a
rucksack full of books / stones / whatever, although you'll probably fairly
soon get to the point where this isn't heavy enough. If you don't have time
to fit them in, dump bicep curls and / or one of the pressing movements. If
you can't do that, do sets of 50 bodyweight squats, going as deep as you
can - this is cardio more than strength work, but swimming won't do much for
your legs.
If you either swim faster, or for longer, and don't eat more, or you just
eat less, then you'll lose the fat. You're not doing a huge amount of cardio
work right now; so if you're not feeling pretty tired and out of breath
towards the end of your swims, take the pace up and it'll do more for your
heart.
Don't expect all the fat to go instantly, it'll take about 2 weeks to lose a
kilo of fat, and it won't all come off your waist; so maybe 10-12 weeks to
get where you want. If you're worried about keeping track of progress with
numbers, don't use the scales (if you gain a pound of muscle and lose a
pound of fat you are probably doing fine, but the scales will tell you
nothing happened), get some calipers and measure skin-folds, or if you
already have an electric body-fat guesser then use that, but you'll have to
make sure you're always well hydrated if you want consistent results.
Peter