Fitness/Weight lose..........

[PadraicHenryPearse]

Ok, usually this thread starts around new years and i can remember the last few and wondering did anyone successfully keep off any weight and still fit.

I'm 27, 6"3 and 95kg (210lbs/15st). I'm looking to get down to about 85kg (189lbs/13.5st). i hope when i go back to Ireland to play at a decent level for my club.

I'm on a 2 year career break and living in Phuket. I am looking for work as a teacher but have no experience so could be unemployed a while. I am staying in a apt. at for the next month that has a small gym. I have never used a gym before (well at least as an adult).

So to get to the point i am looking for some advice. I am not very fit. I went down to the gym today and i did 4km in 25minutes at 9k/h speed. can hardly do 20 sit-ups.  I want to get rid of my man breast and beer belly especially.

Any advice on what exercises i should concentrate on in the gym? How many times should i go a week? should i run slower and longer or run faster and for a short amount of time etc. etc. i am looking for a game of soccer twice a week so that will help aswell.

i assume i'll get a few smart replies but anyone with genuine advice it will help me alot.

cheers

PHP

[dodgy umpire]

using free weights will speed up metabolism and increase muscle strength size and tone.
doing long runs wont be as effective as say sprinting the width of a pitch, taking a 30 sec break and sprinting back (repeating as many times as you can)
if u can afford a personal trainer it could be a useful option but its easy to google all sorts of training methods and find a work out plan that suits you.
good luck

[PadraicHenryPearse]

Thanks dodgy,

certainly cannot afford a personal trainer, skint even by Thai standards but that helps as i am off the drink because of it aswell. I have goggled but was thinking it would be better to get it from someone on this board as there is so many different plans out there.

cheers SDG

[Zulu]

I'm a bit caught for time at the moment but I'll give you a few pointers, because you're relatively unfit any form of exercise will see improvements. But your diet is way more important than your training when it comes to weight loss, so if that's your main (or first) goal concentrate on cleaning up the diet as a priority. The 5 a side soccer is a very good idea or a bit of squash or tennis would help you also. Basically start off slow and do what you can exercise-wise and get serious about your diet and you'll  lose the weight no problems.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Sprinting, then jogging or walking, then sprinting and jogging/walking alternately would be known as Interval Training PHP, which is great for getting your resting metabolic rate up, and thereby burning more calories even when you're not exercising, and that could last for up to 72 hours. 5-a-side (or badminton, squash, etc.), as Zulu has said, will have the same effect, since you're walking or jogging between bursts of sprints.

[PadraicHenryPearse]

Cheers guys, i am not sure about my diet over here, i m going to try and cut back of my sweet tooth but after that Thai food is completely different and i am eating alot of rice, alot of fried food also but it hard to avoid that stuff over here, nearly  evertything is fried. I am changing to grilled chick on a stick now and cutting back on rice but its so cheap.

[Zulu]

Consistency in your training would be important PHP, some lads when they're getting back into it will do it for one or two weeks then do nothing for 10 days and then do one day out of five etc. Set yourself a goal of 3 to 4 training sessions per week and alternate, if you can, between things like soccer, slow running, interval running and tempo running. It doesn't really matter which you do when you are starting off and want to lose weight, they'll all help. But you'll need to cut back on the rice, fried food and full fat dairy products if you want to see results. A guy your size though can still eat a decent amount and lose weight. The other thing is to get out and do plenty of walking/physical activity, whatever training session you do won't burn that many calories and a short term elevation of your metabolism won't burn too much body fat after training. So keep working your body by walking to the shops, taking the stairs, doing a bit of work (if possible), or head off site seeing etc. The more active you are during the day the more calories you'll burn and you'll burn far more calories each week by daily activities than you will through training.

[J70]

I lost nearly three stone in three months earlier this year. Just stopped eating shite, ate loads of vegetables and fruit, and started walking every chance I could, doing 15-20 miles a week. Currently trying to run about 12-15 miles per week (I do 4 miles in 28 minutes on the treadmill each session, hoping to get it down to 25 minutes) and have taken up bouldering as well as the usual wee bit of weights. Can be hard to fit it all in some weeks, but its been well worth it. I've literally had to spend hundreds of dollars on new clothes though, which is the biggest drawback of losing four inches off the waste!

[DrinkingHarp]

PHP,

Since you are going for the thin physique you should be doing circuit trainning with weights (Low weight with high reps). Do 15-25 reps of shoulder, back, arms , chest and legs. Rest about 1 min between each set do 3-4 sets.

Ex: chest 20 bench presses rest 1 min then 20 squats rest 1 min and so on.

Do the weights 3xs a week and cardio 3 other days rest 1 day,  alternate the weights and cardio every other day.