Hey guys. I'm fairly new to the board. I started doing cardio about two and a half months ago (6' ~325lbs). I'm now at about 285 and switched to weights. I just finished my second week of the Iron Manual phase of HGM. I'm not new to lifting but I'm limited as to the facilities I have available so I'm doing a sort of hybrid...beginner workout but three times per week instead of two. I'm doing 3 sets of each triad to 12 reps.
My problem is I'm completely running out of steam before I get to the end. I've tried upping the time between circuits from 90sec. to three minutes but it's not helping.
I think maybe I'm not eating right but I don't really know. My typical day includes...
Breakfast: plain instant oatmeal with a handful of frozen blueberries OR three eggs.
Snack: three ounces of tuna, powerbar, or some almonds.
Lunch: three or four ounces of salmon (canned) with a couple slices of whole wheat bread and a bowl of grapes or some other fruit.
Snack: three ounces of tuna or a powerbar.
Dinner: some type of fish or chicken breast with a vegetable.
Drinking: almost all water with a couple cans of Rockstar sugar free thrown in
Is this too little to sustain enough energy to properly complete the circuits or am I just doing too much with the sets and reps (maybe cut back to two sets or fewer reps)?
Any help is greatly appreciated...I really dislike feeling like I'm going to throw up two thirds of the way through my workout!
Your food choices (other than the Powerbar) seem pretty decent. Might not be enough, though. Have you tracked your food intake with fitday.com before? At first glance, it seems like way too little food. I'm 180 and I eat a lot more than that to lose fat.
A Powerbar (unless it's one of the Protein Plus versions) is mostly just sugars and stuff that might as well be sugar. Your other snack choices are much better.
As a general rule with fat loss, more workouts don't mean more fat loss. Doing three times a week could be just fine, but you might not be ready for three days AND that many circuits.
The goal is the produce just enough deficit to lose fat, but too much and eventually you'll stall, or as you've seen, run out of steam.
Also, what other exercise are you doing? Like steady state cardio or intervals?
Fitday.com is free and pretty easy to use. If you make it public and post the link, I'll be happy to take a look (and I'm sure a lot of others will, too). In the meantime, I'd cut back to either two days a week or drop one round of triads on the three days. You want to keep losing fat and still have something to add to the mix when you need it.
Damn it. I had a quite a post done, then I lost my wireless connection and lost the post. Now I'm crunched for time.
First, good work and good plan!
Essentially, I agree with Roland.
HGM muscle is intense. It is hard.
But, you are not eating much at all. It looks like you're probably not even hitting 1,500 cals a day. That's not much for a 285 pounds guy, particularly on a lifting day. I eat more than that when I diet, and I'm only 150-155. You could probably eat 2,800 cals and still drop fat. I'd say add on about 30-50% more, to hit 2,000-2,000 cals or so a day. Bracket the extra cals around the workouts, particularly any carbs. Personally, I'd have a cup of milk and a scoop of whey 15 minutes before and after your workouts. Post workout nutrition is always recommended (a protein/carb combo drink), but I do better for fat loss if I don't add in extra carbs/sugar. So, I use the plain milk/whey combo. That would take care of a chunk of your extra cals for the day on workout days.
Dump the bars. If you need the convenience, pick a better bar: less sugars, more protein, some fat. Someone gave me some Atkins bars and shakes they weren't using, and I actually didn't mind them for breakfasts in the car, along with an apple.
How about an apple and two string cheese sticks for a snack? Or a cup of low fat cottage cheese? A few more nuts could be good, too. (Walnuts!) Be careful with the nuts, though, in terms of extra cals.
If all you're doing is HGM, then three days might be OK, particularly with extra food. Bear in mind, however, that it is intense and it total body. Otherwise, if you still find it very hard, cut it down to two days as written(!) then add in a couple of days of HIIT (interval style cardo).
One the other days, just get in some easy extra activity -- walking, using stairs, etc.
Good luck. Keep us posted, and feel free to ask back.
I agree with the above. And I've worked HGM....it is hard. I think you need to up your good claories. Looks like way too few for the intensity of the workouts. When I did HGM, I was starved all the time.
Tracking, like they said, works wonders for awareness. Good luck and welcome to the forum.
__________________ "I'm growing older but not up. My metabolic rate is pleasantly stuck. So let the winds of change blow over my head. I'd rather die while I'm living then live while I'm dead."
I also finished HGM. The lads may be right on the calories. You may need to increase. I ate liek a pig on HGM and still lost fat.
BUT one thing I should mention is that HGM is hard nad the break in at twice a week might be a good idea if you have not done this kind of high rep training. If you are having problems with running out of gas I would suggest that you work out 2 X, and go back to the 60 sec rest, rather than 3X and increae the rest. You may need the recovery BETWEEN the workouts until you adapt to the intensity.
hope this helps
__________________
Peter
After all, diamonds are a girl's best friend…
Your food choices (other than the Powerbar) seem pretty decent. Might not be enough, though. Have you tracked your food intake with fitday.com before? At first glance, it seems like way too little food. I'm 180 and I eat a lot more than that to lose fat.
I agree. I'm 170 and would lose on that much food.
Like the others said, your food intake isn't adding up to much overall. And, I noticed that you have either tuna or a Powerbar, or almonds or a Powerbar for snacks. There is a huge difference between tuna and a powerbar. And if you seem to lean towards eating Powerbars more often, then you're probably eating too many empty carbs.
My suggestion would be to dump the carbs aside from maybe your morning oatmeal, and replace them with more veggies and protein. And, for that energy kick, mix up a pre-workout shake with Gatorade and whey. Drink half before, and half during your workout. Doing so made a noticeable difference in my energy levels during my workout. That should allow you to dump the Rockstar energy drink, which is LOADED with caffeine.
Great job so far. Stick with HGM, it was a great program and tons of fun.
Thanks for all the advice guys! I should point out I used the term "powerbar" like you would use q-tip. I actually go for the cliff bar nectar usually...probably lots of sugar still.
My next workout day is saturday so I'm going to try to eat more and get in a pre and post workout shake (whey and milk). If that doesn't make the difference needed I will cut out a set of the triads.
Go for it, man! As good as the Clif bars are, they are loaded with sugar and useless carbs. I know, I used to be a protein bar addict!
Just try to sub veggies into your diet whenever you can. It takes effort, but with a little extra time while preparing dinner, you can set aside an extra serving of meat and veggies that will work well for lunch or a snack the following day. Preparation is key in avoiding eating junk or sub-standard meals, and that leads to eating processed, easy to find snacks (bad carbs).
Well, after the first day of tracking my eating, I'm amazed! I only ate 1100 calories. I really thought it would be up around 2000 at least. Guess that explains the constant fatigue and inability to complete a workout! For those who want to check it out and critique, here is my fitday page...FitDay
Well, after the first day of tracking my eating, I'm amazed! I only ate 1100 calories. I really thought it would be up around 2000 at least. Guess that explains the constant fatigue and inability to complete a workout! For those who want to check it out and critique, here is my fitday page...FitDay
Good job getting right on that! wow
Now, the easy solution. Just double everything you ate. (With the aforementioned tinkering, of course.)
Today was one of the best days of my life! I don't even know where to begin. I didn't quite make it to what you guys said about eating more...I at least got to 1700 calories. I had a cup of milk and a scoop of whey before and after my workout and I felt amazing! Instead of feeling like I was going to throw up and dreading the next circuit, I found myself looking at the clock waiting for the 90 seconds to be up so I could get going again.
I feel full of energy...no more fatigue. I can't begin to thank all of you enough. I really feel like this has been a major step in really getting healthy. I can't wait until I can start contributing to this forum so I can return the favor to someone else!
P.S. I never thought a couple 15lb dumbells could kick my ass so badly until I met the Cuban Press!
HGM Help!
"I'm growing older but not up. My metabolic rate is pleasantly stuck. So let the winds of change blow over my head. I'd rather die while I'm living then live while I'm dead."
(With the aforementioned tinkering, of course.)
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