Diary of a Loser: 2/13/2012

Sunday, February 19, 2012

2/13/2012

Weight: 225

Exercise: Work with upper body weights after a 5-6 minuter warm-up on the elliptical trainer. I get my pulse rate up to my aerobic level (70% of max heart rate) and then go immediately to my first weight exercise. My weight workouts are not optimized to gain muscle mass because between reps ,I try to keep my pulse rate higher than 60% of max and up into the aerobic range. This is difficult after I have been exercising consistently (6-7 days a week for several weeks)because my recovery time is much shorter. That means I go from say 70% to 60% quickly between reps.. I do wait at least 30 seconds between reps even though my rate my fall below 60% so the muscles I'm working on can clear the lactic acid that builds up. After about 10-15 minutes into the workout it is easier to stay above the 60% level. Many times I experience a combination of some corollary of Parkinson's Law ( work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion) and Murphy's Law (if anything can go wrong it will) as applies to working out - "If there is only one other person in the gym they will just be getting on the machine I need to use next AND they will do 50 reps using little weight." I want to ask them why are they are using the machines that way but I mind my own business.

Toward the end of the weight lifting routine my heart may get up to 76-80% of max heart rate during some exercises. I do two sets of 12 reps. on each exercise. If I was trying to maximize muscle growth I would do 3-4 sets of 8 reps until I built up to 12 reps then I would increase the weight until I reached maximum fatigue at 8 reps on set 3 or 4. But I try to make my weight lifting fat burning and aerobic. If you've followed my blog you know that 60-70% heart rate is when your body burns fat.

After my last weight exercise I get on the elipical and get my heart rate up to 82-83% and then I walk/job for about 10-15 minutes at a rate that lets my heart rate come down slowly to about 60-65% and then I do a 8-10 minute stretch.. My work out time this day was 1hr 4 min. My avg heart rate during the workout was about 62%.

In case your wondering I use a Garmin Forerunner 405. to keep up with my workout statistics.

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Some Basics (changes in review)

There is no such thing as a quick loss diet with lasting results. Forget about the fads if you want to lose weight and keep off the fat in a healthy way. There are a few inescapable facts concerning weight loss.

First of all, a pound of fat contains 3500 calories. If you want to lose a pound of fat, you must burn 3500 more calories than you consume. Here's the equation : Fat lost or gained = (Calories consumed - Calories burned) / 3500. If you want to lose a pound fat a week, you must on average burn 500 calories a day more than you consume.

Second, you must consume enough calories each day to keep your body from thinking it may starve. If you don't get enough calories your metabolism will slow down thereby burning less calories and you'll just feel tired and hungry. Also, if the deficit is too large and last more than a few days, your body will start consuming muscle, the organ that burns the calories. The accepted wisdom seems to be 1200 calories for females and 1800 for males. One to three pounds a week is a healthy rate of fat loss.

Third, muscles burn the calories (your brain burns some also but for some people its negligible :) ), therefore exercise is a important part of any weight loss effort. It does not have to be strenuous. Walking is wonderful, it will burn extra calories and build muscles in your legs. Try to work up to at least 2 miles a day. If you walk 2 miles in 34 minutes (3.5 mph), you'll burn approximately your weight in extra calories. Use the calculator below. I strongly suggest you lift weights at least twice a weak. Try to increase or maintain all your muscles.

Exercise Calculator (click in box to select Pace)

Calories Burned Calculator
Estimate calories you burn walking:
Pace:
Weight:
Time:

BMI =	(weight in pounds * 703 )
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	height in inches²