Time to get Fit thread

[stangmx13]

I don't think bicycles need to follow the moto standard of "replace sprockets with the chain". I replace the cassette and chainrings when they are worn or shift poorly with a good chain. With component upgrades, this means Ive never needed to buy a new chainring. Now Di2 makes this even worse since it always shifts well . My last chain shifted great after 3500k miles even though it was super "worn".

The internet suggests 2k miles per chain and 10k miles per cassette/chainring, justifying not replacing sprockets all the time. A 1x chainring will probably be replaced a little more often since it's doing all the work.

 

[Mike95060]

I bought my bike second hand in 2019 with unknown mileage on the drivetrain. I should know how many miles I have put on it but I really don't. I'll probably try the new chain and cassette on the old Wolftooth and see how it goes. I wasn't sure if the "replace it all at the same time" applied as much to bicycles

 

[Sharxfan]

So been working on losing weight without effecting my lifting too much and so far have lost about 11lbs. First week was awesome as it just melted off and since then it has been a struggle to get it to drop but at least it is not going up. I started incorporating a treadmill session at the end of the workout and was doing a fairly sedate 3% incline at a 3.3 walking pace and for some reason my knees were killing me. So this week I skipped the treadmill Monday and last night I decided to hit the heavy bag instead of the treadmill. I did about three 3 minute sessions on the bag with 16oz gloves and damn it kicked my ass. I think that is going to be my new cardio going to try and get to 10 3 minute sessions with less rest in between rounds. I tried to keep my punch count high with little to no breaks in punching during the 3 minutes. That was hard to do last night but it was also back/shoulder day so my shoulders are worn out today but I did drop some more weight so yeah me.

 

[stangmx13]

Short term weight loss is almost always water weight / dehydration. Maybe if you are doing huge exercises (many many hours) and building a massive calorie deficit, you can lose significant weight weekly. But that's not most people, and especially not lifting. 30min of cardio is only ~300Cal. It takes forever to lose weight with such a small change. Adding that on top of your existing workouts would produce a 1lbs difference only after >10 workouts for most people. And that assumes you don't eat any extra because of increased hunger. All this just exemplifies why most weight loss happens in the kitchen, not the gym.

 

[Sharxfan]

Yup. also working on the kitchen part of it. been eating healthier and smaller portions. I think putting on muscle during the last year has helped me burn it a little better when sitting still at work. Clothes are looser and feeling better but it is a slog and if I lose it slower I will be more likely to keep it off I hope.

Thinking about purchasing a heavy bag and stand for doing some cardio at home on off days at least until the knees feel better.

 

[Holeshot]

Maybe if you are doing huge exercises (many many hours) and building a massive calorie deficit, you can lose significant weight weekly. But that's not most people, and especially not lifting. 30min of cardio is only ~300Cal. It takes forever to lose weight with such a small change. Adding that on top of your existing workouts would produce a 1lbs difference only after >10 workouts for most people. And that assumes you don't eat any extra because of increased hunger. All this just exemplifies why most weight loss happens in the kitchen, not the gym.

Ehhhh....Can't really agree, if the program is setup correctly and tuned for one personally. I do agree that cardio is less effective than people give credit for.

My program is 1-1.5 hours and non-stop. Calories are from 850 or so to 1200+, depending on time and effort spent. It takes a good month or so to get into the pace, but once there, things are pretty plug/ play. The only (current) downside is the lack of low/ medium impact routines, which I'm starting to add in for a few of the "off" days. The whole workout is built around weights and HR...so kinda a HIIT workout, but with greater emphasis on targeted muscle manipulation/ control. It's been working so far, but if I don't eat enough (and I never seem to get enough cals in), I lose weight I don't to lose.

We all have our problems. If only we could trade them once in awhile.

 

[HappyHighwayman]

My trainer shifted things up today, we solely did bench press, rows,incline bench press, pullups, and shoulder press but did six sets and he made me go to 12 reps instead of 10 or to max.

My arms and chest are pretty tired now and I think I'll be sore tomorrow.

 

[stangmx13]

Yup. also working on the kitchen part of it. been eating healthier and smaller portions. I think putting on muscle during the last year has helped me burn it a little better when sitting still at work. Clothes are looser and feeling better but it is a slog and if I lose it slower I will be more likely to keep it off I hope.

Thinking about purchasing a heavy bag and stand for doing some cardio at home on off days at least until the knees feel better.

Afterburn is a new-ish buzzword in fitness - the amount of calories you burn after a workout as you recover. You are right that having more muscle should increase this, as you have more muscle to repair after a workout. More muscle should increase your BMR too, which is probably the most impactful thing for weight loss.

Ehhhh....Can't really agree, if the program is setup correctly and tuned for one personally. I do agree that cardio is less effective than people give credit for.

My program is 1-1.5 hours and non-stop. Calories are from 850 or so to 1200+, depending on time and effort spent. It takes a good month or so to get into the pace, but once there, things are pretty plug/ play. The only (current) downside is the lack of low/ medium impact routines, which I'm starting to add in for a few of the "off" days. The whole workout is built around weights and HR...so kinda a HIIT workout, but with greater emphasis on targeted muscle manipulation/ control. It's been working so far, but if I don't eat enough (and I never seem to get enough cals in), I lose weight I don't to lose.

We all have our problems. If only we could trade them once in awhile.

It mostly sounds like we are on the same page. You listed a 60-90min workout whereas I listed only a 30min one. 100-200% more of a calorie deficit makes weight loss happen a lot faster.

I dont really consider HIIT to be a cardio workout. Sure, there is plenty of cardio in there. But there is also plenty of muscle damage that you won't find in "cardio". And the intensity should be a lot higher. So the calorie expenditure during and after should be higher too.

It is hard to make these general comparisons, though. People are so different. The easiest difference to notice is probably mass. Myself at 143lbs running a 10K in 55min is ~800Cal. A 180lbs person doing the same uses ~1100Cal. The larger person may also have a higher BMR. If we eat the same, the larger person probably loses weight and I dont. And that situation probably happens all the time because American portion control isn't exactly fine-tuned, even when you cook at home.

 

[Holeshot]

Good comments all around. I appreciate the input cause it gets me to thing outside my norm and work with other approaches.

Agree HIIT isn't traddy cardio, hence why I call the hybrid stuff a HR workout. Cardio's much lower impacting overall, but has it's function(s). A 10K in 55mins ain't no slouch.

 

[Mike95060]

Afterburn is a new-ish buzzword in fitness - the amount of calories you burn after a workout as you recover. You are right that having more muscle should increase this, as you have more muscle to repair after a workout. More muscle should increase your BMR too, which is probably the most impactful thing for weight loss.



It mostly sounds like we are on the same page. You listed a 60-90min workout whereas I listed only a 30min one. 100-200% more of a calorie deficit makes weight loss happen a lot faster.

I dont really consider HIIT to be a cardio workout. Sure, there is plenty of cardio in there. But there is also plenty of muscle damage that you won't find in "cardio". And the intensity should be a lot higher. So the calorie expenditure during and after should be higher too.

It is hard to make these general comparisons, though. People are so different. The easiest difference to notice is probably mass. Myself at 143lbs running a 10K in 55min is ~800Cal. A 180lbs person doing the same uses ~1100Cal. The larger person may also have a higher BMR. If we eat the same, the larger person probably loses weight and I dont. And that situation probably happens all the time because American portion control isn't exactly fine-tuned, even when you cook at home.

This post made me dig into my Strava account a bit and I found some cool shit! The best ever 10k I did was just over 55 mins! I have also put 1000 miles on my bike.

This is a recent and typical 10k for me. I’m a 9:45-9:30 minute/mile runner.

 

[Sharxfan]

I am really trying to lose enough weight so I can start running again so it burns quicker on the treadmill but I think I stressed my knees out to much doing treadmill workouts. I was also doing heavyweight smith machine shrugs and think that added extra to the knees issues. Doesn't help that I have surgically repaired knees to deal with from when I was young. Also old age sucks. Knees are a little better so I think I will be doing more heavy bag sessions until they start to get back to baseline bad instead of the constant pain they are in now.

I have also found that keeping a log of what I am doing during my workouts has helped me increase my lifts because otherwise I was not really pushing myself. The last 4 months or so I have put way more weight on the bars and am finding out I can handle it. Really working on my shoulders to also help protect them as already had one repaired. Sigh maybe I should not have been so rambunctious when I was younger.

After reading HH's post I think I need to get off my 3x12 sets plan and switch it up although doing 3x12s helps me get in and out in about 2 hours with some form of cardio.

 

[Holeshot]

Do you use a wearable fitness device of some sort?

 

[Sharxfan]

I was using a Samsung Galaxy watch but it is not working the way I wanted so not right now. I might get a different one later but not high on the list.

 

[mlm]

I am really trying to lose enough weight so I can start running again so it burns quicker on the treadmill but I think I stressed my knees out to much doing treadmill workouts...

This is something I was really worried about because of osteoarthritis (aka worn caretilege). Supposedly the biggest thing to avoid is over-striding as this where you get the greatest impact (heel strike). The coaching apps I used stress maintaining a higher run cadence as one way to correct this. Just google "run cadence" and you should see some good info.

There are also a lot of simple stretching and strengthening exercises like this that will help stability, I just googled this link but it's similar to what I do. https://www.active.com/running/articles/14-running-specific-strength-training-exercises/slide-12

 

[stangmx13]

All those PE teachers letting us heel strike in elementary school really did a number on our knees

 

[Sharxfan]

I think I overexerted it with the treadmill and then doing the smith machine shrugs with like 225lbs. I have since stopped the treadmill and shrugs and started doing heavy bag this week and the knee has been feeling better each night. I didn't want to do the normal and stop going and also stop doing cardio so was trying to figure out the best way to do it. The weirdest shit is that when I was on the treadmill it would hurt then it was like it warmed up and the pain went away. Then when it cooled off it started to hurt again. I wonder if I need to start doing some stretches to keep it limber. I was thinking about getting into some home yoga to try and stay flexible.

 

[Holeshot]

I was using a Samsung Galaxy watch but it is not working the way I wanted so not right now. I might get a different one later but not high on the list.

I didn't think much of them neither. Had an iwatch that was lame as hell. Got a Garmin dive watch and started using the training functionality. It's changed (and affirmed) much of what I do for the better...never thought it'd be like that nor I'd like mine as much as I do now.

 

[HappyHighwayman]

I think my trainer felt he wasn't working me hard enough and too much breaks in the circuit so he's working me harder with less breaks/less chatting and today he added negative style exercises which crushed me hard.

Specifically instead of pullups he'd have me start at the top and slowwwwwly lower myself down (I had a chair to get back up), and do negative sloooooow pushups when I lower myself, before then doing flat bench.

I think it worked because I am wrecked today.

 

[Holeshot]

Wrecked Das GOOT!!!!

 

[stangmx13]

Negatives are fun sometimes. It's amazing how much harder a rock climb is going down. I usually down-climb all my warm-ups to speed up the warm-up and engage some extra muscles.