Working Out?

[Liquorpuki]

i disagree on this. if you have a strong willpower and are determined to get healthier, then your body will automatically be repulsed by fatty foods. however, subjecting yourself to constant torture at the gym will never be a fun activity (unless your goals are minimal).

Dietary fat isn't bad for you. You body has no regulation mechanic to avoid ingesting fat because it needs it to function.

Second, if it were easier to diet than exercise, the US would be full of skinny people with no muscle. Not fat people on treadmills.

 

[R94N]

Maybe if you have a friend that is in the same position as you, you could get together and work towards a common goal. If you're a competitive person you may find it more motivational.

 

[Hellhammer]

Agree with the diet being 80% for dropping body fat %. Far as workouts though, I think weights > cardio

Weights = builds muscle which increases your metabolism, raise your RMR for 24 hours, encourages your body to create growth hormone which burns fat

Cardio = catabolyzes muscle through low intensity repetitive motion, burns a pitiful amount of calories (whatever number your treadmill throws at you also includes BMR, the calories you'd burn doing nothing), raises RMR for 30 mins - 1 hr only

And if you want a starting point, figure out your BMR and count calories

Not true. Building muscle and dramatically losing weight at the same time is not even possible. Why? Because in order to lose weight, you must cut down your calorie intake, which means there is no fuel for the muscles. You can't build muscle out of nothing, it needs its fuel which in this case is energy. Also, building muscle mass is an extremely slow procedure. If you want to lose fat now and not in 5 years, then weightlifting is not the solution.

Furthermore, cardio does boost your metabolism for over 24 hours: http://scoobysworkshop.com/afterburner-effect-melts-away-fat/

Of course, combining moderate weightlifting with cardio is the best choice, but cardio is more important if one's goal is to just lose weight. However, you must do cardio daily. Doing it once a weeks won't help much, but 30mins a day is already burning plenty of calories a day.

And for the record, weightlifting does not mean you need a gym membership. Your own bodyweight is actually one hell of a resistance. Pushups, squats etc are all great exercises for beginners.

 

[Liquorpuki]

Not true. Building muscle and dramatically losing weight at the same time is not even possible. Why? Because in order to lose weight, you must cut down your calorie intake, which means there is no fuel for the muscles. You can't build muscle out of nothing, it needs its fuel which in this case is energy. Also, building muscle mass is an extremely slow procedure. If you want to lose fat now and not in 5 years, then weightlifting is not the solution.

Yeah that's what people who are already in shape go by. But beginners who are out of shape can do both.

There's also a difference between building muscle and bulking efficiently. To build muscle all you have to do is break it down and eat enough protein to rebuild it in your sleep. To maximize bulking though, yeah you're not gonna be able to do it on a weightloss diet because you won't have enough energy to channel toward lifting at your full potential. But you'll still be able to build lean muscle and change your body composition to an extent

There's also a bunch of hacks:
- cycle your diet instead of following the whole bulking/cutting trend
- use a keto diet, which replaces the energy lost through the calorie deficit by burning your own bodyfat

Also from your website: http://scoobysworkshop.com/gain-muscle-lose-fat/
http://scoobysworkshop.com/bulking-and-cutting/

Furthermore, cardio does boost your metabolism for over 24 hours: http://scoobysworkshop.com/afterburner-effect-melts-away-fat/

Only high intensity cardio gives you the extended RMR. This is along the lines of HIIT cardio or programs like Insanity, not the standard low intensity cardio where people run on treadmills or jog around the block.

Of course, combining moderate weightlifting with cardio is the best choice, but cardio is more important if one's goal is to just lose weight. However, you must do cardio daily. Doing it once a weeks won't help much, but 30mins a day is already burning plenty of calories a day.

The reason I think cardio is overrated for weightloss is because it's just a corrective measure for when you went over your calorie deficit. Diet is what creates the deficit. Cardio is just a time consuming way to fix things when you didn't meet it. Running a mile because you put butter on your toast.

And for the record, weightlifting does not mean you need a gym membership. Your own bodyweight is actually one hell of a resistance. Pushups, squats etc are all great exercises for beginners.

Agree. Anyone who can do a planche pushup can probably do a hell of a bench press.

 

[acidfast7]

1. 6'1"-6'2" is overweight unless you have a huge frame and/or lift heavily. What's you waist size? Hopefully 32-33in, which is what you should be striving for.

2. Find an activity that you enjoy. MTB, Frisbee golf, rock climbing, kayaking, jogging. Enjoy what you do and go with other people. I'd found that MTB and rock climbing are good for meeting different-minded people.

3. Avoid the gym. Sure, weights are good, but the gym usually turns into a meet/meat-market and it feels really forced. A good activity is much better. A day in the Italian Alps climbing >>>>>>>> 10 days in the gym.

4. Don't diet straight away. Eat exactly what you already eat - and reduce it by 10% every week for 4 weeks straight. You'd be shedding calories without realizing it. Sure, you'll be hungry, and that's good, it feels good to be hungry (like an accomplishment.) If you eat a bag of chips, throw the last 10% away or don't eat the last bite of a hot dog.

5. It's a long process ... that's why I recommend outdoor activities rather than gym time. Plus, you'll meet a huge amount of people and as you lose weight, you'll gain confidence and meet a ton of ladies/men (whatever you're preference is.)

6. Have fun and enjoy. It's a lifestyle change more than anything else.

 

[GD0X]

When i was 17, i went from 210 to around 155 in a matter of months.... and i can contribute the weight lost to two things.

small breakfast, no lunch, and large dinner... eating anything i wanted.
and
hour on the treadmill every day... I was religious about that aspect.

as you start seeing results your unhealthy lifestyle will slowly turn over into healthy ones to compliment a more mentally and physically fit body.

 

[phas3]

3 important things:

- Eat healthy
- Eat at a calorie deficit
- Workout at least 3x a week

and watch the pounds shred off.

one more thing LOG YOUR MEALS!! most people say oh I'm pretty sure I'm eating XXXX calories but I don't log my meals...then complain why they haven't lost a pound!

 

[JGC1986]

THANKS FOR ALL THE RESPONSES...

Yes, I am not that overweight, just need to lose some in the stomach area, waist size is 34-36. 2 years of heavy college drinking caught up with me 2 years later. :-(

 

[Hellhammer]

Yeah that's what people who are already in shape go by. But beginners who are out of shape can do both.

There's also a difference between building muscle and bulking efficiently. To build muscle all you have to do is break it down and eat enough protein to rebuild it in your sleep. To maximize bulking though, yeah you're not gonna be able to do it on a weightloss diet because you won't have enough energy to channel toward lifting at your full potential. But you'll still be able to build lean muscle and change your body composition to an extent

There's also a bunch of hacks:
- cycle your diet instead of following the whole bulking/cutting trend
- use a keto diet, which replaces the energy lost through the calorie deficit by burning your own bodyfat

Also from your website: http://scoobysworkshop.com/gain-muscle-lose-fat/
http://scoobysworkshop.com/bulking-and-cutting/

It's possible but I think the key here is what's one's goal. I admit that I thought OP is fatter than he really is (his BMI is 26.4, which is almost normal weight). Then it's fairly easy to lose some fat while building muscle.

However, if you're obese, then 10% calorie deficit won't do miracles. In that case it would be better to just concentrate on weight loss and cut calories as much as possible (if you eat well, you can do fine with 1300-1500 calories a day).

Only high intensity cardio gives you the extended RMR. This is along the lines of HIIT cardio or programs like Insanity, not the standard low intensity cardio where people run on treadmills or jog around the block.

Do you have anything to back that up? Because everything I've read suggests other way around:

Interesting question, what qualifies as “cardio“. Definitely traditional steady state cardiovascular exercise like walking, jogging, swimming, and biking. Perhaps interval training, its unclear. The Tabata supporters would have you think that 4min of Tabata is all you need to do, personally I feel that is some very wishful thinking. At best I would say that 20 minutes of intervals is like 35min of running.

http://scoobysworkshop.com/afterburner-effect-melts-away-fat/

Of course, high intensity cardio will burn more calories per minute, but that's not to say that lower intensity cardio is useless.

The reason I think cardio is overrated for weightloss is because it's just a corrective measure for when you went over your calorie deficit. Diet is what creates the deficit. Cardio is just a time consuming way to fix things when you didn't meet it. Running a mile because you put butter on your toast.

I don't find it to be a corrective measure, it's a boost. If you burn 2000 calories a day by doing nothing, doing 30mins cardio and burning 350 calories will increase your burnt calories to at least 2350 (I'm ignoring the afterburner method now, but we would be looking at over 2500). If you eat 1800 calories, normally you would lose around 0.5lb a week. With some cardio, you could easily shed over a pound per week, as long as you do cardio daily (or almost daily).

Sure, diet is still at least 80% of your weight loss, but cardio is a great tool to speed it up. Besides, it's never a bad idea to increase one's basic fitness. If you're fat, there is a good chance that your heart etc are not in the best shape either.

 

[Liquorpuki]

Do you have anything to back that up? Because everything I've read suggests other way around:

It's funny. I searched the net looking for a solid source and there's support going every which way. A lot of debate about duration and magnitude too. So I guess we're just contributing to the debate. But stuff like this is what I'm going by.

http://www.drlenkravitz.com/Articles/epocarticle.html
Elliot et al. (1988) investigated the difference in EPOC between aerobic cycling (40 minutes at 80% heart rate max), circuit training (4 sets, 8 exercises, 15 reps at 50% 1RM) and heavy resistance training (3 sets, 8 exercises, 3-8 reps at 80-90% 1RM). Heavy resistance training produced the greatest EPOC (10.6 liters, 53 calories) compared with circuit training (10.2 liters, 51 calories) and cycling (6.7 liters, 33.5 calories). In a similar study by Gilette et al. (1994), resistance training (5 sets, 10 exercises, 8-12 reps at 70% 1RM) elicited a significantly greater EPOC response when compared to aerobic exercise (50% VO2 max for 60 minutes).

http://www.askmen.com/sports/bodybuilding_150/198b_fitness_tip.html
Just as with weight lifting, the more intensely you perform your aerobic sessions, the greater the EPOC you will generate. Ideally, you would actually move into the anaerobic range while doing high-intensity sprints to really get those after-calorie-burning effects up there.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/research-review-effects-of-exercise-intensity-and-duration-on-the-excess-post-exercise-oxygen-consumption.html
Without going into every paper detailed in the review, the picture that has developed from the research is that EPOC goes up linearly with increasing exercise duration but exponentially with increasing intensity.

http://www.builtlean.com/2011/06/29/afterburn-effect-of-exercise-qa-with-dr-christopher-scott-phd/
If you’re working your muscle to the point where you’re causing damage at the microscopic level, it’s going to take energy to repair that… breaking proteins and laying down new proteins, that is most certainly going to be raising your energy expenditure…

The logic I use is when you do exercise, you're knocking your body out of homeostasis. You body goes into recovery mode and the afterburn kicks in, expending energy until everything is back to normal. The more intense the exercise, the longer it takes to get back in homeostasis. With weight training, you've also destroyed muscle so your body also needs to expend energy to rebuild, extending the RMR spike further. And HIIT cardio or any other anaerobic cardio mirrors weight training in its effect on muscle building.

Sure, diet is still at least 80% of your weight loss, but cardio is a great tool to speed it up. Besides, it's never a bad idea to increase one's basic fitness. If you're fat, there is a good chance that your heart etc are not in the best shape either.

I'm not knocking cardio as an exercise. I play ball, do martial arts and run half marathons and besides exercising the heart, cardio's good for immunity and the bloodflow helps physical appearance. I just think the typical person compensates for breaking their diet (or ignoring their diet) by hopping on the treadmill. And since diet is the key factor in shedding fat, and it takes about 2 mins to ingest 300 calories and 30 mins to burn it off, that kind of approach is inefficient.