MgoFitness - You're Either Getting Better, or You're Getting Worse

Better. New squat, dead, clean, jerk, and snatch PRs- all since November. Looking to start RP diet this summer.

I changed my eating on January 1 to reduce my sodium intake, try to be healthier, and lose 20 pounds. I also make sure to get at least 10K steps every day while ensuring at least a 7-day rolling total of 100K steps (mainly walking and playing with the kids). I track what I eat on an app, get outside when the weather is decent, and often watch past TV shows (that are new to me) while walking on the treadmill if it's late or when the weather doesn't cooperate. In two months, I lost more than 15 pounds of bad weight (per a test at the gym). I've now lost 20 pounds overall and I'm just maintaining at this point. (I'm 5 pounds lighter than I was at my college orientation 25+ years ago.) I'd like to do some mild upper-body lifting at some point, so I'm also building a small amount of strength through push-ups and light weights a few times per week. Thanks to all who are sharing what works for them.

I became slovenly after my son was born, but I'm trying to at least play racquetball a couple of times a week

I've been lifting for 25 years. 39 years old and I can deadlift 500 lbs. I guess my goal now is to maintain my strength and not get injured. my knees are actually better now than 8 years ago. a lot more emphasis on foam rolling and mobility. have to avoid some exercises just to avoid injury. No more cleans for me. I was up to 280 but horrible elbow tendonitis. Not worth it.

I've lost almost 30 lbs following a ketogenic diet (started in January and had a few setbacks due to gf who loves going out to eat). It's awesome because I can eat bacon and sausage on a regular basis but I do occassionally get those bread and sweets cravings. I've also been lifting and running for several years now and added HIIT workouts to my regimen. Unfortunately, I'll be traveling for the entire summer (Europe) and I'm afraid all of the weight is going to come back. The plan right now is to find local parks in each city I go to with monkey bars or anything I can get a decent workout on and try to jog every other day but I'm well aware that life sometimes gets in the way.

I'm super excited for my races this year. I'm running a Spartan ultra-beast in August, which is a 32 mile obstacle course race. Then I'm running the Honolulu marathon in December. I do a lot of elevation/trail running, street running when it's raining in the mountains, and I usually do 3 days of body weight and dumbbell workouts at home. I'm a couple weeks away from beating some top scores on strava on my go-to trails.

You can only get worse

My main goal has been to gain muscle mass, as I've always been on the skinny side. 

I'd say I'm definitely better than I was a year ago, but probably only a third of the way to where I want to be. That said, probably worse off cardio wise than I was a year ago. 

My challenge is I feel like I can never be productive at both cardio and weights/muscle mass at the same time. Throughout high school, and to a lesser extent, college, I focused mostly on running and in the last two years I've tried to switch my emphasis. I like the way my body looks more, but I feel like I'm in worse shape because cardio is ultimately more important. 

 

I did a half marathon last August in just over 1:50, but since then I've only run/done cardio very sporadically. Kind of tempted to do another one at the end of this summer, but I'm almost certain that my progress muscle wise would drop off/revert. 

Meh. 

 

What am I doing?

I don't believe there are any tricks, secret diets, certain foods that will get you lean, or certain foods that will get you fat.  There are no miracle supplements.  When it comes to getting or staying in shape consistency over a long period of time with a plan that is both enjoyable and allows adherence is the key.  I don't "diet", but I know my macros (fats, protein, & carbs) and kcal maintenance and generallly hit them most days of the week. Sometimes I track using apps like My Fitness Pal, but not always because I've been doing this long enough that I can eyeball most foods now.  But, during weekends or times where my schedule is not as structured I will track.  Typcially diet is the hardest part for most.  As a point of reference I'm 5'9" 190 lbs, eat about 3,000 kcal per day, about 200g pro, and the carbs/fat vary.

 

Most people tend to enjoy exercising so it's not as hard.  I generally vary my volume and frequency of weight training throughout the year.  There are times where I only lift 2-3 days per week and other times where I will lift 5-6 days.  I get really anxious to train more if I only train 2-3 days per week so I typically only do that for a week or two at a time as an active recovery period.  Also, typically I can only do 5-6 days of lifting per week for a few weeks before I start to get burned out.  So, both of those are at either end of my spectrum.  Four days of lifting per week is typically the norm through most of the year.  If I look at a 12 week period I may do 1-2 days of 2-3 days per week, 8 weeks of 4 days per week, and 1-2 weeks of 5-6 days per week.  I will also generally do 1-2 days of cardio per week just for general health and typically take at least one day away from the gym and do general physical activity with walks with my dog, hiking, any other fun activities, etc.

 

I will vary my exercise programming over the year spending some time doing more stability training to stay injury free.  I will also spend some time doing big lifts in strength ranges like squats, deadlifts, benches, etc. for 3-6 reps.  But, my preference is more of a bodybuilding sytle of training using one or two big lifts at the beginning of my workout for each bodypart and then doing 2-3 exercises that are more isolation movements for each body part in the 8-12 rep range.  Once in a while I will also do some more muscular endurance type of lifts in the 12-20 rep ranges.  Overall my goal is to maintain health, mobility, stability, joint balance, and generally be fairly strong, but at the end of the day I'm most concerned with building muscle.  If muscle growth is your goal you should train in an array of rep ranges and vary your exercise selection fairly often while spending the majority of your focus on the 6-12 rep range.

 

Am I getting closer to my goals?

I think my goal, once my collegiate baseball career was over, was just to look good, ie lean and muscular.  I think I tend to go through periods of higher and lower motivation.  In general I've found it harder to focus and be as consistent into my late 30's as it was 5, 10, 15 years ago because I have more responsibilites and stressors in life.  But, I've managed to stay consistent with my training, it's just sometimes I go harder than others and sometimes I'm more consistent with my nutrition than others. 

i eat terribly; both too much in general and definitely too much junk food.
to offset that, i workout a lot. most mornings i start with a little bit of yoga and stretching. throughout the work day i take breaks and walk up/down the stairs and usually get about 250 flights per day. when i get home i either run, do interval training, or ruck (hiking while carrying weight, usually somewhere between 45 to 75 pounds, depending on how bad i want it to suck). i don't take any supplements anything like that.

i'm going on 40, and while not in the best shape of my life, i feel pretty good about where i'm at. plus, with 3 toddlers running around i'm lucky my wife lets me workout as much as i do.

About three years ago made a life change after watching myself become one of the walk the flight of stairs and get out of breath people. 

Now, I have lost almost 150 lbs. No sugar/caffine diet. Whole grains, vegtables, protiens, and fruits only at breakfast make up the diet. I use a protien shake as a meal supliment for lunch.

Workouts consist of three to four days of running a week with a target length of one to two hours on ellipticals/treadmills/arctrainers to save the knees after numerous knee injuries and surgeries. Lifting is a three day program designed to focus on different core lifts. (Day 1: Olympic/plyometric - Cleans/deadlifts/etc, Day 2: Lower Body -squat based lifts and activities, Day 3: Upper body - bench/TRX based workouts).

Overall, the end goal is to be healthy so I am getting there.

#RISEnGRIND

#NObadDAYS

50 or more miles a week and averaged a 7 minute mile but that was in my 20s and 30s. I've had a lot of back, knee and hip problems but still run 3 to 4 miles every other day. MWF I concentrate on weight training. I use to bench 300 lbs and did squats and dead lifts but I ruptured my L4-L5 5 years ago and have been on the machines. I do weightless squats and concentrate more on strengthening my core.

I returned to running.

I've found my mile splits are 15 sec/mi slower for any early morning/before work runs.  I'm old.

I've been doing a six day/week routine that has me doing a minute of cardio in between every set.  I get my heartrate up at the beginning with 10-15 minutes on the elliptical, do my 30 or so sets of weight training, and cool down with 5-10 minutes when I'm done.  All told, it's a lot of cardio and a lot of resistance training and I'm completely pooped out by the end of it because there's no rest involved.

I just missed three days in a row, though.  I've been bad.  I feel like a T-Rex walking around, making waves in puddles.

I'm 6'3" and I got down to my goal weight when I was 27.  I then met a girl that I thought was a drinking buddy but was actually in love with me and happy to fatten me up.  Months of pizza and beer every other night with her caused a 30 pound weight gain, and I've been trying to get that off and keep it off since.

unfortunately, i just spend 10 minutes reading all comments...for those that like to drink ( i am diffentialy one of them), a tip that i learned from a nutrionist is to consume 1-2oz of oliver oil prior to drinking. Dont know the exact reason, but something to do with the good fat limiting your bodies sugar level...again, works for a couple not a lot.

Took twenty years off exercising to raise a family and focus on their needs. Ballooned to 250 pounds (I'm 6'2). Kids are out of college now and decided being fat is bullshit and started working out again. After 18 months I'm down to 190. I eat whatever I want, when I want. I'm prepared to pay for that with exercise. 

I swim Mon-Wed-Fri with a light Sunday workout

2.5 miles in one hour (interval based training, high intensity aerobic, 6-8 minutes rest during the entire session). Sunday is fun day. I do about a mile and half of mostly anaerobic training (sprints) and allocate 30 minutes to get it done. These workouts are long enough to get the job done and short enough to where I'm not dreading heading to the pool or ever feel like I'm grinding. 

No weights (former ACL tear, collar bone break don't play nice with weight training). I had absolutely no intention of ever competing again I just wanted to lose weight when I started. A buddy of mine convinced me to qualify for Masters Nationals, I did. I competed and I loved it. I even ran into my old Michigan coach Jon Urbanchek there (still coaching!). That alone made this entire experience infinitely more rewarding. 

I've hit my fitness goals. I'm satisified with 190 going forward. 

much better. I don't know how much I weigh, haven't checked since last October simony because I don't care. It's not about that. It's about getting some cardio to be a bit healthier. Everyone tells me I lost weight so there's that. All I do is alternate walking/jogging (4 min speed walk then 1 min jog) 2.5 miles a night 4 nights a week. Takes me a bit over a half hour. I also lift lightly 2 nights a week (2 sets of 12) arms, chest, back, shoulders. Diet is I almost never eat sugar and a light lunch (~800 calories) of apples, yogurt, whole grain bread. That's it. Feel 100x better than a year ago.

I crossfit 3-4 times a week and try to limit my sugar and grain intake with marginal success. Feeling kinda crappy and getting a slightly iffy HA1C lab score had me just cut back the sugar and grains a little bit had me lose 10 pounds which coincided with upping the crossfit from 2-3x a week to 3-4x which then had me gain 5 of it back while still moving down 2-3 holes on the belt. I'm 6'5 190 so I don't have much to lose.

Hard to say. I've been an avid weightlifter since Jan 08 at Michigan, my sophomore year, religiously going to the gym at least four times per week. Many times six or seven times. Fast forward to now...I'm in a surgery residency, regularly work 80 hours a week *wink wink,* and get to the gym on average 2-3 times a week. Physique wise, I'm still at a point I'm okay with, but I'd rather be about 10-15 pounds lighter. Strength wise, doing great, can't be happier. So overall, i'd say I am content. Just not enough time in the day, sadly.

Weightlift x 5 days a week

Eat paleo style diet no processed foods at all

Treadmill, elliptical, etc about 3 miles x 6 days a week

I also take about 15-20 supplements a day including a few herbal ones for anti inflammation which is the root of all evil

-cayenne pepper

-turmeric powder

-fish oil

-glucosamine

-dhea

-calcium

-b complex vitamin

-ginger extract

-niacin

With morning oatmeal I also add spirulina & cinnamon

I'm 51, take no prescription drugs and have perfect cholesterol/blood markers.  Had low T for a while and raised it naturally through this regimen.

This is a really cool thread and I've really enjoyed reading all the responses. As for me...I'd say "better...erhhh...kind of?" The pursuit of anything in extreme is not healthy. Crossfit was a topic above and I'd say at it's base level it can be done in a healthy level but in the "extreme" not so much. That isn't a knock on it...actually sort of a compliment. Same goes for muscle building. At 5'7" and 265 pounds I wanted to get down to a more healthy 230 which meant the purposeful loss of quite a bit of muscle.

Current: 5'7" 232 pounds

BF: ~10%

Diet: Intermittend fasting and keto Sunday through Saturday morning eating about 2,700 calories with Saturday being a very (and I mean like 1,200 grams) high carb day

Training: HIIT cardio 240 minutes per week and 4 weight training sessions per week.

It's a head f*ck watching muscle go away but overall this is a more maintainable look with much less performance enhancing "supplements".

For some reason I can't post freaking pictures anymore on this site argh! Everytime I go to paste the link in between the [img] [/img] it doesn't work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yoga changed my life. Highly recommend it to anyone as their primary exercise or to supplement your normal workouts.

I'm also one of those silly vegans (personal choice). I've never felt better.

This is why this site needs a "Misc" section on the forum. A lot of interesting information that could be shared amongst the group.

This has been one of my favorate threads in a while.

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