I simply forgot to exercise or just didn't have the time during the school year. And then when I did, I'm sure that laziness had a hand in it. =/
All this worry over adequate cardio levels. Don't worry about it, just go out and enjoy yourselves. Healthy habits, not healthy 60-day programs, make healthy people. Interestingly, if you build muscle mass, your resting calorie consumption raises (so its easier to lose, or keep off, weight) 152 lbs as of today. The BF% thing at the gym says 10.5% but I think its as accurate as asking a magic-8 ball.
I know I'm losing weight because the clothes are fitting loose and my pants are sagging, but I don't think I'm gaining enough muscle. Maybe I'm not eating enough protein? I feel like I'm fighting uphill every day. I'm at the point where I can work out every day, but I'm tired as hell and was so hungry today that I wolfed down a gyro. When I run tonight I'm gonna see if I cramp up again the way I've been doing the last couple of days, this is taking a toll on me.
Keep track of your calories in/out with an online tracker. There are literally thousands of them. Also smart phone aps. You want to be sure you are not putting your body into starvation mode, as you will gain it all back once food is 'abundant' again. See Oprah for an example. Shoot for a 500-750 daily deficit, and just maintain it. You will not see much muscle growth during a cut phase (caloric deficit) as it takes energy to build mass. You will see some gains, just nothing massive.
I cannot let Jonathan beat me! I will pursue my own regiment as well, starting tomorrow. I am determined! Now to find my jogging gear, haha. I keep forgetting there is a mini public track by my home that might be worth trying out. Congratulations of the success so far, Jonathan, I believe you to be beast as they say, haha.
Damn, Kyle! That's intense; good for you! I'm still trying to work my way down to 18%, which is normal for an active female but still challenging for me since I'm kind of un-stick-like and have bigger curves than other girls might. My scale is supposedly high-tech in the sense that, in addition to weighing you, it can sense which member of the family (up to four) you are and can calculate your BMI and your body fat percentage. ...But I dont think it can count the BF percentage very well. At one point, it said I was 45% body fat. 120 pounds at the time, I have to believe that was untrue. I dont need to weigh 65 pounds to be at 0% body fat, haha! I've had a hard time trusting any sort of BF calculator ever since. Not to mention the fact that this scale can vary between 4 pounds just by stepping on it time and time again. I want an analog scale again; digital sucks, and you cant recalibrate it like an analog. xx Jon, have you tried any shock training methods? Like supersets and pyramid styles? Sometimes just mixing up your routine and working your muscles in a different order can really help push you through plateaus. Also, maybe try slowing down how often you do weighted workouts. I've always heard that the general rule is to weight train three to four times a week. Then again, I'm female, and our bodies work differently, so you may want to check that. But all I know is that I've always been told to give at least a day between weight training and to take a recovery WEEK every three to four weeks, because you constantly rip your muscles when you use weights and stuff, and its the recovery time that actually lets them rebuild. Also, maybe measure yourself, especially around the areas you want to see grow. Sometimes when you see yourself in the mirror every day you cant see all the amazing progress you've made. And I guess as long as you can continue to lift heavier and / or lift with more reps, you know you're making progress. Hope I told you something you didnt already know, and I hope it helps. Good luck! xx I am back in the rhythm again with my workouts! Today I burned about 900 calories, according to the workout manager I use. I did an intense boot camp program which was in the pattern cardio, leg, upper body (which was broken into segments of back, chest, shoulders, biceps, and triceps), and abs. Everything except the cardio and abs was weighted (the abs were obviously isometrical). I repeated the pattern 6 or 7 times doing different exercises, and I am sure to be sore tomorrow! A good sore. I have to miss tomorrow and Friday because I am going to Freshman Orientation Camp, but I am planning on a serious butt and tummy (my problem areas) workout for Saturday. Also! I threw the majority of my clothes into the wash today, so I threw on a shirt that I bought four years ago (eighth grade). I havent worn it in probably that long. I was absolutely shocked by how baggy it looked on me. I remember when that shirt used fit! Now it is at least six or seven inches too big on me in the waist. YAY ME!
My knees hurt really badly. I was doing a lowerbody workout yestedy, and I had to stop halfway through because squats and lunges and all that was really painful. I didnt even workout yesterday, and my knees still hurt. Badly. So that's... great.
oh dear, be careful Bev! are you stretching? maybe no squats for a while I think being injured and out of commission for a while is worse than not working out for a few days, just switch to some low impact workouts or something I think now I'm going to attempt two ab/upper body workouts per day in addition to the daily runs, as my stamina builds I should be able to do it Buddha bless me...
Sounds like your form was off. When doing your squats: 1) Be sure your knees never extend past your toes (hyperextention) 2) As you come up, keep your knees APART, don't let them drift inward (this activates your 'posterior chain' muscles) 3) Be sure to stretch first (quads, calves, and some squat-stretches [google it for an example]) Also, hold something in your hands as you squat. Push it away from your body, parallel with the ground. It will help you maintain form and also balance When doing your lunges, make sure that your back leg stays on the correct side of your body. The tendency is to drift it toward the middle of your body's line, and this puts unneeded stress on the lower body's joints.
I will try to work on my form once my knees stop hurting; in the meantime I am just going to try to focus more on cardio and upper body. Editted Nevermind, I'm just being whiny. Thanks, guys. I am going to do some lower impact cardio workouts, which irritates me because it's a less calorie burn... but it'll have to do for now. And I'll try to work on my form once my knees feel up to it.
Just a point I'd like to reinforce, though I know it's been mentioned many times (and I haven't even read through the entire thread), STRETCHING! Very, very important. Also pay attention to your stretching routine. At a training camp for swimming, we had classroom sessions and one of the professionals teaching us (works with the paralympic swimming team and has for many years) explained that dynamic stretching before a workout is beneficial and helps decrease risk of injury. First you'll want light cardio to get the blood pumping, then do dynamic stretches (light arm swings, leg swings ect.) Save passive stretching (ie: holding positions) for after a work out. Some people say that static stretching (not quite the same as passive stretching) before the dynamic stretches at the start of a workout also helps, but I'm not sure how well supported this statement is; it's not something I had learned through swimming so I'd need to look further into it.
I've been bike riding a lot recently. I've also eaten a lot less junk food and food in general. Also, I've rediscovered roller blading, and I'm into soccer again after watching the World Cup.
So my knees are still bothering me. I tried to do another lower body workout and had to stop after about thirty or forty minutes. (I was planning on ninety minutes.) Then on Tuesday I had a horseback lesson, a jumping lesson. I managed to hang around for two hours, but my knees were bothering me the whole time and really hurt yesterday. Today I decided to use the elliptical at my friend's gym, and I had to stop after about twenty minutes because I hurt so bad. The thing is my knees dont hurt right now, when I'm not using them, or even when I'm going up the stairs or taking my dog on a walk. They only hurt when I'm working out. But unlike most people with knee pain, I'm eighteen. And I get plenty of calcium. I love (skim) milk, and broccoli and spinach are my favourite veggies. I feel like I should go to the doctor (I really should go anyway because of my busted nose), but I'm anxious. I know my doctor and he's really nice, but in the back of my mind there's this paranoid scenario playing out where he's laughing at me and saying that my knees cant be hurting because I couldnt have been working out because I am obviously too fat to look like I work out. (I know, I know. I said I knew it was a little paranoid.) But I'm the kind of person who hates going to the doctor and doesnt go unless I'm so messed up that my ailment is interfering with my schoolwork or my sleep or something. I dont go just because my knees make standing up just a little more difficult than usual; I go if I cant stand up at all. Rawr, it's making this losing weight thing kind of difficult. Although I am down a full pound since yesterday, and I know I should see an even lower number tomorrow too.
Ermm, I'm thirteen years old so i don't really owkr out but I'll do 20 press ups and 50 sit ups every night before I go to bed and I'm out A LOT, whether it be to play basketball, to do some running or whatever other sport, or to play Man Hunt with my friends
You may have to use some weights to streghten the muscles in and around your knees. You may also be pushing yourself to hard to fast. My advice would be to talk to your doctor or your gym instructer. There may be something wrong with your knees, if not then the gym instructer should be able to give you a detailed workout plan to help combat this problem.
You might have put too much stress on your knees and strained them somehow. Go to the doctor asap before the problem gets worse! I did the exact same thing to my knees when I played netball. The impact of all the stopping and started ruined them, oh man.. they hurt so badly... I had to give up Tennis for about a month and a half because of it. Anyway, I started Tae Kwon Doe this week. It was awesome. Best work out ever. I'm trying out Ninjutsu next week too. Aww yeah.
I second everything everyone else said. Sounds like this isn't going to just go away and will probably get worse if you continue to stress it. Then you'll be down and out for even longer than if you stopped and treated it. So see a medical person -- sports injury doctor or whoever. In the meantime, I suggest putting ice or a cold pack on your knees and take it easy on them. Standard procedure in sports injuries is RICE: Rest Ice Compression Elevation. Good luck, I hope you find out what's wrong soon.
Thanks, everyone. When I see my doctor next, I will mention my discomfort to him. I dont have an appointment set up, but I have to see him sometime in July for a checkup before I go to university in August anyway. In the meantime, I'm going to take it as easy as possible. Maybe I'll just go on long bike rides or for short runs with my dog for cardio... and work on upper body and core strength, I guess. And follow the RICE idea for my knees when they're bothering me. Maybe I am trying to do too much too fast. I am desperate to lose fifteen pounds before school starts in late August, and since losing weight has always been challenging, genetically, for me anyway, I'm working really hard. It'd really suck if this is the problem and it ended up backfiring on me. I'm just so confused; my legs have always been the strongest part of my body, partly because of genetics, and partly because I've always been involved in leg-heavy sports since...birth, really. I started figure skating around age six and horseback riding around age eleven.
I'm so happy, today my sister said I was looking skinny, she doesn't usually give compliments she was all like "you losing weight? your face is all thin" and I was like "uh, yeah, I've been running like every day for like a month or something now"
Aww, those are the best moments when you've been working so hard, arent they? I bet you look awesome!
Anybody have any reccomendations for protein shakes? I play soccer, row crew, and play basketball so I'm kept very busy and I am mostly skinny muscle, and am looking to bulk up.
HEALTHY weight-loss is 0.5-to 1.0 lbs per week (figure 2.5 lbs per week), Beyond that, and you are entering crash diet range (and opening the way for failure) Be patient and do things right.
If you want to bulk, and do it clean, GOMAD (google it, Gallon Of Milk A Day) protein shake wise, look for one with a wide amino profile. I use 'Pure Protein' but there are plenty of good options out there.
Thanks! I was looking into shakes like Myotein, and things with why protein in it, is that considered clean?
You may be confusing 'bulking' with amino bio-availability. 'Bulking' is consuming more calories than you burn on a daily basis. This increases body mass (and with proper activity, this will be muscle rather than fat stores). You will gain fat and muscle both during this phase. Protein shakes only serve to make the needed amino-acids available to your body immediately after a workout. With proper diet, you really don't need them (as your diet will make the proteins available) but nutrients in a liquid state digest faster, so they reach your strained muscles (post workout) faster. If you want to gain muscle, eat more than you burn. If you eat 'trashy' foods (lots of sugars and carbs) you will store more fat than if you were eating 'clean' foods. What foods work best depend on your goals and can be easily googled.
