It's about time I started something...

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O2BBubbleFree

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Hi all,

Thought I'd post my fitness plan and see if you have any suggestions:

Bio: Just turned 42 years old, 5'8", 225#, male. non-smoker, non-drinker, non-exerciser. One of my favorite sayings is, "Every once in a while I get the urge to exercise, but if I lay down it goes away."

Goal: Would like to loose 30 - 40#, reduce air consumption, and not tire so easily.

Motivating factors: 1. Need to better keep up with my daughters (1 is 3 years old and 1 is 8 months). 2. Have to be in better shape before I can apply for the dive team at work. 3. Going to Coz in a couple of months.

Limitations: Due to the fact that I work days, my wife works nights, and we have the two little girls to watch, anything outside of the house is out of the question. Also, we don't have much money or space for exercise equipment. I got one of those mini-steppers for my birthday, which is easily stashed when not in use, and blew the exercise equipment budget.

Plan: On the mini-stepper, I've started out by doing 1 min. at a slow pace for warm-up, then doing 5 min. at a faster pace, then doing 1 min. slowly as a cool-down, about every other day. Right now 5 min. on the thing is enough to get my heart rate up and my legs sore. Will slowly increase time until I am doing something like a 5 min warm-up, 20 min workout, 5 min cool-down. Plan to add push-ups and crunches/leg raises later for a little upper body conditioning.

After I get on the dive team, I plan to make the most of their training dives / facilities to help stay in shape, but should probably still continue with the above routine. May even be able to do lunch-time dives for conditioning.

I know I should be stretching, but hate to.

And I know that I should see a doc first, but if I apply for the dive team I get an extensive medical with no co-pays, so may wait 'til then.

Also, the wife mentioned yesterday that she would like for us to join WeightWatchers and start eating better, so we are looking into that.

Any recommendations?
 
Just thought I'd post a follow-up...

I seemed to have gotten a slight ankle injury. When I was using the above-mentioned mini-stepper last week, my ankles were 'popping.' I didn't think much about it, because most activities produce pops, crackles, and other complaints from my joints the last few years.

Then when I was putting the wee one to sleep the next night I feel asleep in the rocker. When I woke up the ankle was stiff. I was using that leg to support the critter, and the way I had her proped the ankle was fully extended with a little extra pressure on it.

Over the next few days my ankle swelled considerably, and was pretty painful. Don't know if either of the above caused it, or maybe a combination of the two.

Now I have nearly full range of motion without discomfort, and the swelling is almost gone, so hope to get back on task soon.

Do any of you out there use a mini-stepper on a regular basis?
 
Personal Trainer checking in....

aside from Cardio.... you need to concentrate on strength training. Once you're done with cardio you are essentially done burning calories. If you build a few pounds of muscle, focusing on your major muscle groups, you will end up burning a ton of fat. For example.. if you gain 1lb of muscle you will burn an extra 50Calories everyday. Add 10lbs and burn an extra 500 calories a day. I'd concentrate on working out 4 days a week. Do legs, then Chest & Tri's, Back & Bi's, then Shoulders.

If you work those major muscle groups your fat will begin to go... it takes a while so be patient, but if you are doing your cardio and sticking to weight watchers for food, you are well on your way.

If you have more specific questions, PM me and I can get you started.
 
Scuba Jerm:
Personal Trainer checking in....

aside from Cardio.... you need to concentrate on strength training...

Thanks!

I'm hoping I can do that with the push-ups and/or other calisthenics, since I don't have the space or money for any equipment. I could probably hang a chin-up bar in the garage, but most of the year it's awful hot in there. I guess I'm trying for kind of a "Jack Lelanne' approach.

A million years ago I was able to do hand-stand pushups....

Followup: Ankle is still sore and motivation low...
 
How about an afterwork walk with the kids? Push the 8 month old in a stroller and let the 3 year old ride a tricycle or bike with training wheels.
 
dhampton82:
How about an afterwork walk with the kids? Push the 8 month old in a stroller and let the 3 year old ride a tricycle or bike with training wheels.

Thanks, I've thought about that. Problem is that by the time I get off of work, pick 'em up from the daycare, get home, and get 'em fed, it's time to get 'em ready for bed. Especially on bath nights.

I've also thought about getting 'em up early to do a walk, but that would mean getting up early...
 
Scuba Jerm:
Personal Trainer checking in....

aside from Cardio.... you need to concentrate on strength training. Once you're done with cardio you are essentially done burning calories. If you build a few pounds of muscle, focusing on your major muscle groups, you will end up burning a ton of fat. For example.. if you gain 1lb of muscle you will burn an extra 50Calories everyday. Add 10lbs and burn an extra 500 calories a day. I'd concentrate on working out 4 days a week. Do legs, then Chest & Tri's, Back & Bi's, then Shoulders.

If you work those major muscle groups your fat will begin to go... it takes a while so be patient, but if you are doing your cardio and sticking to weight watchers for food, you are well on your way.

If you have more specific questions, PM me and I can get you started.

NICE! I've been on the right track!
 
Scuba Jerm:
Personal Trainer checking in....

aside from Cardio.... you need to concentrate on strength training. Once you're done with cardio you are essentially done burning calories. If you build a few pounds of muscle, focusing on your major muscle groups, you will end up burning a ton of fat. For example.. if you gain 1lb of muscle you will burn an extra 50Calories everyday. Add 10lbs and burn an extra 500 calories a day. I'd concentrate on working out 4 days a week. Do legs, then Chest & Tri's, Back & Bi's, then Shoulders.

If you work those major muscle groups your fat will begin to go... it takes a while so be patient, but if you are doing your cardio and sticking to weight watchers for food, you are well on your way.

If you have more specific questions, PM me and I can get you started.







What he said. If you can get 200 bucks together, you should get a Total Gym. Not the on TV version, but the one in the sports store (made by the same company) because its much cheaper and lighter. It folds up to 50" by 13" by 6" so it really does slide under the bed. You can get a killer workout on it and it stretches you out at the same time. I bought one for my parents and my dad, who is a skeptic's skeptic, loves it.
 
try taking some weight loss pills. i lost 20 pounds in about a month and half. it really worked for me.
 
Jorbar1551:
try taking some weight loss pills. i lost 20 pounds in about a month and half. it really worked for me.

Well, that might meet one of my three stated goals.
 

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