For the first time in forever I am going to back into a gym. I am reasonably fit…I do circuits, run, dumbell-oriented exercises. I want to lose about 15 pounds and/or drop about 5% body fat (I have it to lose). How best to achieve this? I am not a huge guy in relation to meat heads, but I wouldn’t mind some more size, but with my goal of losing weight/decreasing body fat, what’s thge best gym-oriented regimen?
What’s your diet like?
Circuit training.
There was a good routine on Men’s Health’s website called the Abs workout. High reps, and a workout will hit every muscle group.
I’ve had tremendous success using circuits to loose weight. Went from 6’-3" 230lbs to 180lbs.
You still have to work in cardio days and build up your wind. How much depends on your goals.
Now I’m at my target weight, so I’ve dropped to having dedicated muscle group days and lift heavy with lower reps. Lots of pyramids too. Very good way to build strength.
Typical. Heavy on fowl and pork for protein, minimize red meat/sausages (thanks, gout), lots of fruits, OK on veggies. I haven’t a clue on calorie intake. I don’t mind modifying my diet some, but working 45 hours a week and raising 6 kids with my wife cooking all the meals, only so much modifying I can do.
If you aren’t aware of or in control of your calorie intake, you’re kicking yourself in the balls.
You’ll have to get one sorry to say. It’s not that people don’t lose fat (vs weight, which is yet another issue…) without any clue as to their calorie and or macro nutrient ratios, but it’s far more hit or miss.
As for a program, this is a fairly good program set up in terms of striking an overall balance between strength, conditioning, etc:
https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=28226
There’s many other ways to skin that cat of course.
I get that. Rough math gives me around 2,000. I am fairly calorie-neutral…my weight hasn’t changed much in a long time. If I desire to drop pounds, right now I cut back by a couple snacks and up my running or do another 15 minutes of circuits.
If you’re trying to loose weight by cutting down calories, and at the same time increasing physical exertion, you will drive up your appetite. When I do distance runs I notice this big time, a 6-8 mile run will make you really hungry. Less of an effect with weight training oddly enough.
There is a balance between food intake and PT you have to strike. Eat smaller meals, lots of fiber and protein…peanuts are great, as are lean meats.
Watch carbs and sugar big time. These foods will play havok with your blood sugar driving you to eat when you aren’t hungry.
The older I get, and I’m 33 now, the bigger importance I see with diet.
I saw 33 ten years ago. Oh, to be 33 again…
I am having to modify my diet some as I have gout. Many forms of proteins will ne a no-go for me, but I will figure that out, as I will carbs and sugars (my meds can affect glucose levels…all of this shit is inter-connected).
I need to figure out what kind of work-out plan I need…circuits with moderate weights, higher reps, HIT, etc vs days with heavier weights and fewer weights. I haven’t been in a gym in a long time.
If you have a medical condition you’re working with obviously seek your doctors advice for diet, if you have limits on workouts etc.
Like I said before, I had tremendous luck with circuit training.
The big thing is not to get too complacent. Just like with firearms training, you have to reach out of your comfort zone.
I still enjoy some “bad” foods. I’m partial to Hagen Dazs strawberry ice cream, m&m Blizzards and McDonalds…and Dr. Pepper. The difference is I watch portions and don’t eat that stuff all the time. If you eat 1400 calories of McDonalds, you have to regulate yourself the rest of the day. Even when I go to the gas station and get a Dr. Pepper, I get the smallest cup they have (like 20oz) and fill it 3/4 with ice then the soda. I crunch ice more than I drink soda really.
Hydration is important too. A lot of food cravings are connected to water.
Once you get into the habit of working out, you’ll find out you feel a lot better throughout the day. I sleep SO much better on workout days.
Thanks. I am good on the diet…Mayo puts out a pretty well-respected gout diet. It also calls for a crap-load of water. I will do anything–ANYTHING–to not get another gout flare.
Historically circuits have been good for me, but I can do a circuit routine without weights, so need to figure out how to do it in the gym with access to everything.
http://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/abs-diet-workout-plan#mobify-bubble
I slightly modified it doing sets of 12-15 for the weighted exercises.
You do two sets of whatever taking 30 seconds between sets, then move onto the next excersie. Then you do the whole circuit again. This gives you four sets on everything, divided into 2 sets per circuit.
I had a lot of success with this.
I found it far easier to lose weight by dropping calories off than it is to exercise more and drop calories only a little. I have lost 14 pounds since August 26th and plan on going down to 165lbs (I am 5’8") During this time I stopped lifting weights and only do low intensity cardio. I did try and lose weight by doing heavier cardio and lifting weights, but I found it impossible to sustain the right amount of calories to build muscle AND still lose weight at anything greater than say .2lbs a week. Now I am losing about .7lbs a week and its much easier. Calories are currently about 1780/day.
But the latter strategy generally does a better job of preserving LBM and metabolic rate on the long term.
14lbs of what would be the question. Fat? Muscle? Water? Bone? If one is doing resistance exercise (and they always should be…) of some type, then the scale may not be a dramatic, but one tends to lose more actual fat and preserve, and or gain, some LBM.
Thus, the scale may not show as dramatic a weight loss, but fat loss (the only thing that actually matters) will be either enhanced, or similar to other strategy, but the all essential LBM maintained.
Thus, as I have been saying for a few decades now, following only weight loss is fools gold of fitness, and only tracking actual bodyfat is the key to success.
And the kicker is, it dead cheap and easy to track bodyfat via products like accumeasure calipers. 
See:
The older I get the more important diet seems to be.
For the most part, if you’re looking to loose fat you’re looking to sustain muscle. Very hard to build and burn at the same time.
You can burn by doing weights, but don’t expect huge strength increases.
A very important componet to consider is who working out really hard increases your appetite. When I run 8 miles I devour everything in sight. I noticed this effect seemed to increase as I lost weight.
I’m not trying to loose anymore, just worrying about strength and speed on my runs.
Back in the gym now. I do arms and shoulders one day, back and chest one day, circuits one day, cardio every day. Not looking for big strength increases, I am certainly not going into body building, just looking to lose some weight/fat and become healthier.
Regarding diet, gout has knocked my dick in my watch pocket and has required a pretty significant change in diet. While I don’t count calories I watch what I eat, exercise portion control, and generally eat relatively healthily.
Now that I am no longer in Uncle Sam’s employ, I don’t track weight loss per se, nor do I track fat loss; however, I notice when clothes feel looser.
In hindsight I recognize the biggest fitness gains I have had have not been related to ‘goals’ but just doing it (“OK, I ran ‘x’ miles this week, I will run ‘n’ miles next week”). I have done things with specific end-points (Muddy Buddy, marathon, etc.), and have trained to that end-point, but after the event I did not carry that training forward.
When I was 43 (2007) I lost 60 pounds fairly quickly, and maintained strength by doing cardio followed by circuits six days a week. I rotated my workout (elliptical 60 min, run 40-45 min) and made sure I had at least 24 hours off between working body parts, doing 3 complete circuits with 10-12 reps of fairly light weight.
I also paid strict attention to what I ate. I didn’t count calories, but I quit eating garbage and ate a lot less of it. My food consumption has increased over the years, as I figured out how to balance eating and exercising.
When I started, I weighed around 240, (I was 5’9"). In the years following, I keep getting leaner, and harder, and am now down to 165, give or take a few pounds (My bottom was 158, which was too damned skinny and affected my quality of life significantly).
I like the combo of aerobics, circuits and eating less. It takes a tremendous gut check at first, as your body will hate you for a week or two. But once you get used to being hungry before meals again, you’ll learn to live with it.
BTW, I used to program snacks into my diet to avoid gorging and feeling hungry all the time. Make eating them a goal.