^^ Definitely trying to get stronger.

^ eh, it's acceptable, but still shitty

10/3/2012 9:00:07 AM

Oh boy, lets do an update!
Numbers in parentheses are changes since last update in july.

Bicep: 13 (+0.5")
Forearm: 11.5 (+0.5")
Chest: 42 (-0.25")
Neck: 16 (+0.75")
Waist: 37.75 (-0.25")
Hip: 40.5 (-0.5")
Thigh: 24.5 (+1.25")
Calf: 15 (+0.5")
Weight: 205.6 (-1.4lbs)

Lost some weight with being sick, but also cleaned up eating more. Was able to notice some significant improvements since september. Although i suspect that there has been some variance in measurements on arms.

[Edited on October 3, 2012 at 10:42 AM. Reason : measurements from september, in comparison to july]

10/3/2012 10:42:14 AM

Good lord @ the thigh increase

10/3/2012 11:52:16 AM

Someone's been squatting.

10/3/2012 1:35:29 PM

dude, he's not homeless if that's what you're saying

10/3/2012 1:41:35 PM

Yeah, I had been neglecting legs almost completely when I started hitting weights.

The last couple months I've been able to do deadlifts and squats with Matt/Randy and seen awesome progress.

[Edited on October 3, 2012 at 1:43 PM. Reason : kelly lets me sleep on her couch ]

10/3/2012 1:42:51 PM

deadlifts are where its at

10/5/2012 12:24:05 PM

Definitely puked after doing legs today

10/6/2012 9:00:59 PM

You need to hire a trainer.

10/7/2012 11:50:35 AM

I know

10/7/2012 1:47:51 PM

been making progress with increasing weight so hopefully will get to see some gains in squatting again soon.

10/7/2012 8:37:36 PM

so I'm a huge fatass, not really, just out of shape. I haven't exercised in a few years so I'm taking it slow and starting with how much I eat and walking. I've lost a little weight the past month, but I'm starting to get shin splints. When I was younger I would get them with any decent amount of jogging or walking.

I'm stretching now before walking, it helps some. I'm keeping a couple of ice packs here at work for when I get done walking the halls during my break. Those help after walking with the pain. I know my shoes are wore out so I've got some new shoes coming in this the first part of the week. I think that will help some.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I've heard compression sleeves help. While I was out the running store they had me try some on and to be honest they felt nice. They also showed a shin splint wrap. I didn't try that on though.

Since I walk at work, would a compression sleeve or maybe the wrap be better. Do you guys have any ideas? The compression sleeve was a pain to get on and off.

The other thing is since I work 3rd shift my gym at the apartment is closed at 12am. Sometimes I've gone at 11 and they've all ready got the door sealed up. Through work I have access to the Rush with a discounted membership and no contract would that be worth it? Here at work I can use the on site gym since it's the off hours, but I want to work out on my off days too.

10/8/2012 1:16:07 AM

did a 2k row today... 8:28

not super fast but not bad for someone who isn't a rower

10/8/2012 8:37:39 AM

Quote :

"so I'm a huge fatass, not really, just out of shape. I haven't exercised in a few years so I'm taking it slow and starting with how much I eat and walking. I've lost a little weight the past month, but I'm starting to get shin splints. When I was younger I would get them with any decent amount of jogging or walking. I'm stretching now before walking, it helps some. I'm keeping a couple of ice packs here at work for when I get done walking the halls during my break. Those help after walking with the pain. I know my shoes are wore out so I've got some new shoes coming in this the first part of the week. I think that will help some. Does anyone have any suggestions? I've heard compression sleeves help. While I was out the running store they had me try some on and to be honest they felt nice. They also showed a shin splint wrap. I didn't try that on though. Since I walk at work, would a compression sleeve or maybe the wrap be better. Do you guys have any ideas? The compression sleeve was a pain to get on and off. "

Shin splints are going to pop up if you're walking/jogging/running a lot. Even though walking isn't typically a high impact activity, it becomes high impact when you're carrying around extra weight.

I have a few recommendations. One idea is to start doing cardio on a stationary bike, or even better, swimming. These are low impact forms of cardio that will burn calories without causing any pain. As you get lighter, walking will get easier and it'll become a great low intensity cardio exercise.

The second recommendation is to really get dialed in with your diet. Losing fat is going to be 90% diet, 10% cardio. Most people starting out believe they have an idea of what it means to "eat right", but almost everyone will underestimate what they are actually eating. Buy a kitchen scale, look at nutrition facts, and record what you're eating. I use http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ because they have almost every food that you can buy in a restaurant or a store in their database.

I'm not sure where you're at right now. Feel free to PM me weight/height or post it here. If you are significantly overweight like I was once (I was 6'3", 303 lbs at my max and it wasn't muscle, lol), the best option for you in my opinion is a ketogenic diet. This basically means a very low carb diet where the majority of your calories come from protein and fat, with an emphasis on protein. The idea is that your body prefers energy from carbs over energy from stored fat. By taking out the carbs, you force your body into fat stores.

You also need to be in a calorie deficit, which means first knowing what your "maintenance" level of calorie intake is. For most people that aren't very active, 12-14 calories per pound of body weight per day is a good estimate. So, if you're 200 lbs, the lower end of that is something like 2400 calories/day. I'd aim for something like 1800-2000 calories per day if you really want to see the weight come off fast.

An example of the kind of diet I'd like to eat on a 2000 calorie budget while on keto:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/reports/printable_diary/d357r0y3r?from=2012-10-08&to=2012-10-08

The third recommendation is to lift weights. When you do lose what fat you're carrying, you don't just want to be skinny, you want to have some muscle so you look good. 3x/week strength training is a good start, 3x/week light-moderate intensity cardio, 1x/week rest day.

10/8/2012 10:51:28 AM

I'm going to second MyFitnessPal.

I've been working with a personal trainer since May. I've made a lot of progress in strength and endurance. My mood and energy level is up and I'm just feeling great. I didn't pay a lot of attention to my diet in the beginning and as a result, I didn't see significant changes in my body after the first month or so of working out. In the last month, I've started to buckle down on my diet and track my diet using MyFitnessPal. It's really helped me be more thoughtful about the choices that I make and be aware of where I need to make changes.

I also like that I have a few other friends using it because it helps to have support and feel that you're held somewhat accountable by someone other than yourself. The same goes for having a personal trainer.

10/8/2012 11:06:39 AM

i looked back at some of my pics from 2 years ago and realized that i have made some damn good progress.

10/8/2012 11:21:02 AM

heh I've fallen off the myfitnesspal wagon, but you guys have inspired me to give it a go again

10/8/2012 11:21:52 AM

October 2011:


October 2012:

10/8/2012 2:20:09 PM

nice, your beard lost some weight too

10/8/2012 2:29:24 PM

way to go smath!

10/8/2012 2:30:51 PM

heres mine...

these are two years apart and i weigh about the same in each



concentrated mostly on powerlifting

[Edited on October 8, 2012 at 2:36 PM. Reason : cant believe that first one is me]

10/8/2012 2:36:12 PM

Nice work! Strength training for the win

10/8/2012 5:20:23 PM

hoping to break a 500lb deadlift within the next 6 months

10/8/2012 5:25:03 PM

Damn! GG

10/8/2012 5:34:22 PM

Thanks D3 for the advice.

I've had shin splints most of my life. My wife thinks it's because of my calf muscles are too big and my shin muscles are too weak. In school we had a leg press and a seating calf machine that I may have spent too much time on.

I've worked on my calorie intake and on average I've cut 150-200 per day. I know that's not much of a cut, but it's something I'm working on. Trying to figure out healthier meals and working odd schedules has it challenges. It's sad, but I have cut out some carbs and yes I miss pasta. Though tomorrow we are having eggplant parm with spaghetti squash. I've dropped 10 pounds in little over a month so it's slow but sure. 240 now at 5'7.

I plan on getting back into weight lifting. First I want to make sure I've got good habits going into that a long with higher endurance. I know myself and if I can't develop a good habit for a solid base I'll get annoyed with myself.


If anyone else has used compression sleeves or anything of the like for shin splints let me know.

10/8/2012 11:24:28 PM

To fix shin splints, work on your dorsiflexion. You were on track about your "shin muscles" being too weak. Losing weight will help too. You also may want to examine your gait, standing posture, and foot wear.

I'd start lifting weights ASAP. Excluding anabolic steroids, it is the best thing to partition your weight loss to fat loss.

10/9/2012 6:09:33 AM

So, after 2 months of doing weighted exercise at least 3 times a week I've noticed a decent improvement in legs...very very slight improvement everywhere else. My tiny/weak wrists are killing my upper body, but I'm trying to throw in exercises that focus on them.

10/12/2012 8:58:31 PM

ugh, had a completely unfulfilling leg workout tonight. Now I know how all the women I've been with felt

10/15/2012 9:04:29 PM

lol wtf

10/15/2012 11:28:21 PM

ok, i broke down and bought a pizza - 20lb fat gain incoming

[Edited on October 21, 2012 at 8:13 PM. Reason : ]

10/21/2012 8:13:47 PM

MattJMM2 - I am in Charlotte or I may have already been in touch with you for training. Can you speak to how weight lifting bolsters the weight loss process? I've always been hard wired to think cardio = weight loss, and that's mostly how I lost my weight (70#)...]

10/21/2012 9:11:31 PM

Quote :

"I am in Charlotte or I may have already been in touch with you for training. Can you speak to how weight lifting bolsters the weight loss process? I've always been hard wired to think cardio = weight loss, and that's mostly how I lost my weight (70#)..."

Cardio does increase calorie expenditure. So that helps a lot with weight loss.

However, if you want to lose primarily body fat, you have to increase protein synthesis (maintains/builds muscle).

What stimulus increases protein synthesis the most? Strength training. However, a balance must be struck. Too much lifting volume will require calories to recover from. Calories that should be unavailable due to a diet restriction.

So, to keep it concise. Create a calorie deficit from diet. Keep protein intake high to prevent the breakdown of muscle to obtain essential amino acids. Strength train to stimulate protein synthesis.

Doing those things maximizes lean mass retention and body fat loss when losing weight. You do this when you want to lose weight AND be ripped.

10/21/2012 10:58:03 PM

Thanks for the quick and dirty, that makes a lot of sense. I need to up my strength training some and not be as concerned with the amount of running/spin I'm doing.

10/22/2012 11:05:46 AM

Going to have the debate on tonight while I work out

The resulting anger should allow me to double the weight on everything

10/22/2012 8:03:38 PM

Is he alien?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=M4Nz_ln5zHY&feature=endscreen

10/26/2012 2:21:53 AM

No, I'd say above average genes, high frequency & high volume training, combined with high training experience and possibly AAS. And he's lean as hell.

10/26/2012 5:52:44 AM

Finally got a hold of the heavier kettlebells my mom bought me for my birthday over the summer and had a great workout yesterday.

Tough trying to get in a workout with light weights. I can only do so many high-rep sets.

10/26/2012 9:59:54 AM

Started getting comments from people saying it's obvious I've been working out (I hadn't told them, so they actually noticed) - so that's good.

Sadly, not a single ounce of fat has disappeared from my gut.

11/4/2012 6:53:48 PM

Always a good feeling

Congrats dude

11/4/2012 8:40:08 PM

Thanks!

It's definitely giving me more motivation to stick with it.

11/4/2012 8:54:39 PM

Well its been a slow year in all for participation.

Be interesting to see some start of year progress to end of year progress for people though.
Whether it be measurements or pictures.

11/14/2012 12:11:40 PM

anybody else think GKMatt kinda looks like MATTJM

11/14/2012 4:34:56 PM

so what's the best bang for your minute workout for losing weight? I'm time challenged and don't have regular access to a gym, so at home is probably a priority (without expensive equipment).

Of the last 2 articles I read, one suggested short bursts of intense cardio and the other suggested weight training. For the first, I have no idea what time frame "short" refers to and how long that workout should be; for weight training... well, that's just difficult to accomplish without access. I have some dumbbells (10 & 20s), could calisthenics count?

11/14/2012 4:43:17 PM

You could do a lot with dumbbells, compound movements are great.

thrusters
weighted squats
lunges
weighted step ups
renegade rows
dumbbell swings

11/14/2012 5:43:09 PM

you forgot burpees and pullups

and burpee pull-ups (which I believe slot somewhere between waterboarding and burning alive)

11/14/2012 10:09:02 PM

^ ha! Okay that made me laugh

11/14/2012 11:58:31 PM

Quote :

"Of the last 2 articles I read, one suggested short bursts of intense cardio and the other suggested weight training. For the first, I have no idea what time frame "short" refers to and how long that workout should be; for weight training... well, that's just difficult to accomplish without access. I have some dumbbells (10 & 20s), could calisthenics count? "

you could go on youtube and look for HIIT work outs. those are normally anywhere from 12-30 minutes long of high intensity interval training. i do HIIT 2-3 days a week in between days of longer boot camp style work outs. i still want to be active but don't want to over do it.

but then again - i should probably let the professionals speak. i am only talking from personal experience

11/15/2012 9:48:36 AM

Here's one of the best oblique exercises, the reverse crunch. Also great for correcting anterior pelvic tilt.

Made this video today

11/15/2012 10:38:57 AM

lol, so I'm toning up a bit...everywhere but my gut. I'm not even imagining it, my gut is getting bigger...and it's not muscle mass pushing it out further, I can actually pinch more fat.

[Edited on November 20, 2012 at 3:16 PM. Reason : not really thinning]

11/20/2012 3:16:25 PM

Feels like I'm up to 230lbs now. Sigh. It's going to be a long winter.

11/30/2012 11:08:08 AM