male only Advice needed from weight lifters

[mediummike 0]

Same story as Ceradad - I was on the treadmill the day after surgery and have never looked back since...

[Ceradad 10]

Just an update. I started the Protein Shakes up this past Saturday and have already seen improvement in the gym. While I decided to simply start a new 6 wk cycle of reps on the circuit training, meaning only 7 reps/exercise/circuit, I didn't feel "weak" at all. Hopefully, as I continue the Protein and the workouts, my strength will increase as the reps do.

[mediummike 0]

glad to hear it !

[mrboswell 0]

Mike,

We might be twins! I'm 41 starting weight was 335 and there was something else I read that was identical to my situation.....can't remember what it was tho?? Other than you have the results I'd like to see myself achieve! I started working out, not lifting yet but doing aerobics for 30 minutes a day.

[scarecrow 4]

This is extremely long and all things you may know/do, but I've finally hit a point where I'm losing weight and making gains biweekly on weights, so I'm eager to talk about it : P. A local trainer got me leveled out, and I've had GREAT results since.

When I got banded I was 315, I repped 275 on chest (I'll use chest for examples) and maxed around 350. I did an hour of lifting everyday, 1 muscle a day.

When I got the band, I switched to cycling exercise reps (circuit training). I was eating very little, of course. Within a 6 month period I dropped almost 70 lbs, which was amazing... but I had no stamina, I was dead halfway through the second set. I had dropped down to repping with 175 on bench. That's a full 100lbs drop on workout weight - and I couldnt even max 250.

I made these changes:

I take in every day at least 1200 cals, but usually no more than 1400. This was moved up from 800-1000.

- Pre-workout I take half a glass of grape juice (no sugar added), a glutamine pill, and I cycle creatine. That's 40g of sugar carbs, but if you stress your muscles you will burn it. The GI carbs are needed to spike your insulin and thus increase muscle absorbion. I take that stuff 15-20 minutes before my first set.

- Immediately after workout, I take another glutamine pill with a Protein shake - I use gold standard Protein mix, 25g a scoop, because it's extremely lean, and very cheap. I mix it with sugar free koolaid to kill the taste. yah, it's that bad. But 100 calories and 0 carbs compared to premades is extremely lean.

- For gain building, he switched the way I lift to 1 exercise at a time. For example, for chest, I will do 1 set of 15 warmups (100 lbs) on bench. Then My goal is to find a weight I can get up 9 times on my first set. Then I wait a full 2 minutes, add 5 or 10 pounds, and go til fail - normally 7 or 8 reps. I continue that 4 times, THEN I move to butterlys or whatever. Rotating is appearantly bad.

The point is when stressing the muscle out blood goes to that muscle. The muscle tears and absorbion are triggered by the buildup of blood and folic acid in the worked muscle. So if you cycle exercises, or circuit train, you train your body to NOT dump as much blood as possible into a muscle, but instead to conserve - since itll need it elsewhere soon.

- I changed to making sure that whatever muscles were getting worked that day, the largest of the group was worked first.

- Cardio raising your heartrate over 125 for someone middle aged eats complex protein at a very high rate. Meaning, your cardio, if strenuous, will eat your own muscle building material. He instead had me switch to "bounce" cardio. I run at a decent pace until I hit a heart rate of 125, then I slow it down - and I do this for 20 minutes, first thing in the morning.

- I do biceps and stomach on Monday, chest and neck on tues, legs and stomach on wed, back on thur, shoulders and tris on friday. I do absolutely nothing on the weekends. I actually try to use my muscles as little as possible to let them get a full rest in.

- I take in my weight in grams of protein per day. like right now I weigh 190, so I take in 190 grams of protein per day, a whey shake in the morning, one right after my workout, and 1 casein Protein Shake before I sleep - because it absorbs slowly throughout the night. In addition, I eat every 3 hours or less, small meals, which he says teaches the body that it's ok to burn through and apply the energy as it comes in because more is on the way.

- All in all I take three glutamine pills a day, and two fish oils. 1 glut before workout, 1 after, 1 right before bed. The glutamine prompts protein absorbsion in muscles. It's found naturally in most protein mixes, but only in small amounts.

it's been a year now since I got banded and I weigh 125 less - and my bench rep weight is back up to 245 per first set. And although I'm not quite as strong still, I look alot stronger because there's not 100 pounds of fat covering me up : P.

Hope some of this helps - he gave me a book that explained all this in greater detail, if I can find it I'll send it to ya.

Edited November 20, 2008 by scarecrow

[mediummike 0]

I was always skeptical to a lot of these Protein mixes / glut supplemaents, etc... until I actually started losing weight and lifting / did cardio regularly. As posted above, as well as by Cera's dad, these things do make a difference. We are all closely watching what we eat and presumably all of us are focusing on protein for our regular meals, but becasue we are "challenging" our bodies (e.g., trying to lose weight AND gain muscle tone), we find ways to supplement (and I mean supplement - NOT substitute) that work for us and it is reassuring for me to hear it from others as well !!

[mediummike 0]

Dave - how tall are you ? My starting BMI was around 41 at 6'4" ish. I have been extremely happy with the band and have found it a great tool. I do my share as well. I see you have just recently been banded - goo dluck and let us know if you have any questions / struggles !

[Ceradad 10]

Scarecrow, thanks for the advice. Anything I can get my hands on that works for others, I will at least try to incorporate and see if it works for me.

[mrboswell 0]

Wow Scarecrow,

That's awesome info. You guys ROCK! I can't believe you guys went from fat to BUFF in a year! I can't wait to be there with you! Mike, your right, that's where I fall a little short (literally!) I'm only 6' with a BMI of 46. So I guess we're not twins :thumbup:. But I still want your results!

[B-Man 1]

any of you guys using a NO supplement? I started using N.O. Shotgun mixed with whey before my workouts and have seen significant weight increases over the past month or so. Of course it has not helped me get my lazy butt to the gym more often.

the stuff taste absolutely horrible, but I believe its worth it.

[mrboswell 0]

any of you guys using a NO supplement? I started using N.O. Shotgun mixed with whey before my workouts and have seen significant weight increases over the past month or so.

Hey B-man,

I assume your referring to Nitric Oxide? Some people say it's hype and others swear by it so I'm not sure, having never tried it myself. Your saying your able to lift more not your body weight? Dumb question I know, just wanted to make sure:smile:

[mrboswell 0]

Hey,

If Ceredad will hurry up and catch up with us we could start our own 41 years old and banded club!

[B-Man 1]

right, lifting weight increase. about 15% increase across the board over the past month or so.

[mrboswell 0]

never mind, B-man has 41 post, not 41 years old........

[mediummike 0]

just noticed that - funny that there is a bunch of 41 year olds. we may give ceradad a pass - good to have the "youth" around....