Thread: What`s needed, What`s not?

Originally Posted by willocraig

Hi guys, lately I have been literally working my ass off on my rowing machine.I row for 31minutes and row about 12.0km in distance and Im expiring an average of 125 calories each session IS THIS GOOD?.As for my diet I am eating pasta the night before I work out(mon,wed,fri,sat) Or rice,with some chicken breast. As for the rest of the time Im just eating(or trying to eat) low fat things and such I have no specific diet IS THIS A WEAKNESS IN MY TRAINING AND DIET?.Im always seeing these kinds of posts on this site and they have a pritty specific diet, an exapmle is below.It Is Not My Diet Just An Example!

6:30
1 Scoop Whey
26g Oatmeal
(215/3.1/20.4/27.2)

6:45-7:05
HIIT


7:10
3/4 Scoop Whey
35g Oatmeal
1/2 Cup Blueberries
(265/3.45/35/25)

9:00
6 Egg Whites
50g Oatmeal
2 Fish Oil
(312/5.3/35.3/29)

11:30
1 Whey
.5 TBS Peanut Butter
26g Oatmeal
2 Fish Oil
(288/9.1/22/29)

They have this sort of thing and I don`t no if I should be doing this,in other words should I be eating the same specific food week in week out?If you guys could possibly write up your diets on here so I can see what im supposed to be eating(only those cutting and losing weight). Right now im cutting down,hense the cardio on the rowing machine so what sort of food should I be eating to maximise my workout so I get enough energy from my diet but not any fat(except the amount my body needs). If any of you guys could tell me a specific meal I should be eating, a specific food group I should eat alot of a certain foodgroup I should totally avoid. Any help is very appreciated.
Thanx guys
Willo

PS. I wasn`t sure where to post this as it contains both training and diet so I decided to stick it in here.Hope that`s ok.

-might wanna think about getting some protein from chicken/lean beef/lean pork as well..

-Just my opinion, but I would come close to insanity after a few days of your diet... very boring heh. Variety is GOOD!

-Might be a good idea to add in a multi and some green tea extract too?

I know its boring, tell me about it.lol.Thanx for your advice.Appreciated
I know this is alot to ask but can someone do me a ruff guide to what my diet should be like and what it should and should not contain considering I'm cutting at the moment.
Thank you so much for any more help.

Few things you can do..

Check out the stickies and try your best to make your own fulfilling diet. If you aren't comfortable with that, check out this thread I made a few months ago when I was confused about my diet as well.. you can try using it as a guideline, and see what Emma had to say about it.

This look ok?

Originally Posted by willocraig

Hi guys, lately I have been literally working my ass off on my rowing machine.I row for 31minutes and row about 12.0km in distance and Im expiring an average of 125 calories each session IS THIS GOOD?

Well - I have no idea how you got that calorie level... but you have to look at the cardio in context of your total life.. Is it the ONLY thing you do? How often do you do it? Do you train with weights as well? Do you do cardio and then go and eat a bag of candy?

It is all relative.

But doing cardio is good....

As for my diet I am eating pasta the night before I work out(mon,wed,fri,sat) Or rice,with some chicken breast. As for the rest of the time Im just eating(or trying to eat) low fat things and such I have no specific diet IS THIS A WEAKNESS IN MY TRAINING AND DIET?

They have this sort of thing and I don`t no if I should be doing this,in other words should I be eating the same specific food week in week out?

No, you don't need to follow a 'specific diet' and you do not need to eat the same thing day in and day out (well - you can... but it is not needed)..

But you do need to make sensible choices in terms of what foods to eat, and you also want to watch your meal/portion sizes.

If you read this post I give some guidelines on setting up a basic diet plan without having to go into the detail that some people do.

Hay guys thanx for the help, I think I just found out a major flaw to my diet and training, so thanx for that!
Im going to attempt this that you have posted about,if I do it for a week then post on here what I have been eating and when and such do you think you guys can take a look and see if Im doing it the way I should be doing it?
Oh yeah, I looked at the "Guide to cutting" and I looked at the "shopping list", In the fats section it says I should have real butter NOT margarine or spray on, So if I did a salad sandwich would I have real butter not my low fat margarine?(which Is what I normally have)

Thanx for all present advice and thanx for any future advice.
Willo

Hay guys, what should I be eating for a snack?or what is the best thing to eat as a snack? Thanx for any help.
Willo

Originally Posted by willocraig

Hay guys, what should I be eating for a snack?or what is the best thing to eat as a snack? Thanx for any help.
Willo

Snack? Hmmm... Do you mean a 'meal snack' or a 'I'm hungry but should not be eating snack'?

A 'meal snack' should be a 'meal' and have a bit of everything - protein, carbs, fats and fibre. So an example would be an apple with a can of tuna and some celery spread with a little peanut butter. Or some yoghurt with cottage cheese, walnuts and blueberries... That type of thing.

A 'I'm hungry but should not be eating' snack is something that you can snack on without feeling guilty - and can be things like salads (lots of mixed non-starchy vegetables topped with a little soy-sauce, lemon juice and black pepper), cut vege stips (eg: celery) or pre-steamed vegetable peices (eg: broccoli), sugar-free jello etc.

Thanx for all your help Emma-Leigh.I really appreciate.Thanx again
Willo

Without dissecting your whole diet, the one thing that stands out to me is that your only fruit or vegetable is one serving of blueberries a day...I would replace a couple serving of your oats with fruits and vegetables.

Hay guys, I am starting to weight train again tomorrow and I have some compound movements to maximise movement and the amount of muscle groups involved,Thanx to advice from Emma-Leigh,Cheers!Im not to sure as to how many reps and sets I need to do for my workout as when I worked out before I just winged it and now I want a more specific workout so could you guys advise me on how may sets and reps I need to do for each exercise.

Pectorals:
-Decline dumbbell bench press
-Decline bench press, Olympic bar(OB)
-Incline dumbbell bench press
-Incline bench press (OB)

Biceps:
-Preacher curls (Ob)
-Incline seated Db curls (alternate)
-Standing biceps curls (Ob/narrow grip)
-Standing Db curls (alternate)

Quadriceps:
-Safety squats
-seated leg extensions

Misellaneous:
-Overhead Dumbbell press
-Deadlifts

That is just my one day workout I will post my workouts for other days on the site later on in the week if I need any more help.
Thanx for any help guys I really appreciate it!
Willo

holy crap, you do that all in one day? what are you in the gym for like 3 hours?

you should split that up and give your muscles a break. 45mins to an hour is best for most.

Originally Posted by willocraig

Im not to sure as to how many reps and sets I need to do for my workout as when I worked out before I just winged it and now I want a more specific workout so could you guys advise me on how may sets and reps I need to do for each exercise.

Ok - what you did looks like a chest and bicep workout with a little bit of other stuff thrown in as an after-thought at the end!

You have to think BIGGER - that means you want to move the BIG muscles like your butt, legs, back and chest. Get EVERYTHING moving! Spending that much time working your biceps is not working big muscles!

Now - Compound movements = more than one joint moving at one time. So bicep work is generally not this. So if you are going to do a full body workout then you would be better off with things like:
Deadlifts (conventional or sumo)
Squats (oly squats)
Leg Press
Lunges
Bench press or low incline DB press
Bent over rows, t-bar rows or cable rows
Pull ups/lateral pull downs
Overhead military presses or DB presses

If you are comfortable and you know what you are doing - then you can't beat:
Clean and press or clean and jerks
Overhead squats
Overhead Lunges
Snatch

etc...

These are moves that move multiple muscles all at once.

So an example of a full body workout could be:

Sumo deadlifts
Bench press
Cable rows
Overhead DB press
Pull ups

Or:

Oly Squats
Incline DB press
WG Lat. pull down
WG parallel bar chest dips
Bent over DB row


In terms of sets and reps - something like 1 or 2 warm ups sets followed by 3 to 4 working sets at 6-8 reps could work. Or doing 5 x 5's.. But I would keep the rep range to under about 10.

If you wanted, you could throw in some bicep/tricep and ab work at the end - but I would not do more than 1-3 sets of 1-2 exercises... It is really not needed if you are doing full body workouts.

These are all the the weight training exercises I can do with my equipment,

Barbell Exercises:
Tricep Extension
Front Raise
Arm Curl(Reverse Grip)
Arm Curl(Standard Grip)
Upright Rows
Squats
Hamstring Stretch
Bent Arm Rows
Lunges
Shoulder Press
Lying Tricep Extension
Bench Press

Dumbbell Exercises:
Front Arm Raise(Alt)
Upright Rows
Curls(Alt)
Side Waist Bends
Side Raise
Shoulder Press(Alt)
Lunges
Seated Tricep Extension
Bent Over Tricep Extension
Bent Over Rear Arm Raise
Dumbbell Press(Elbows In)
Bent Over Single Dumbbell Rows
Dumbbell Flys(Flat)
Dumbbell Flys(Inclined)
Dumbbell Press(Elbows Out)
Straight Arm Pullover

Extra Equipment:
I also have a rowing machine for my cardio workouts.
Sit Up Bench
Also any floor exercises are possible.

Out of all of these exercises which should I do instead of exercises like Cable rows, Pull ups, WG parallel bar chest dips, WG Lat. pull down and basically any others that can`t be done without the correct equipment.
Basically Im asking If you can tell me the most effective exercises out of the list above for weight loss?
Thanx for any help guys, I appreciate it!
Willo

Any Help?
Please

No help then?

I think the whole thing sucks. What are your goals. Row Row you boat. You need to check out in our canoe racing forum. I think it will be a big help! We do have one don't we Emma?