hey! i'm the second person in your group!



i'm kinda on the opposite end of the spectrum though. i'm reading more. but still exercising. i need to take some new pics.

i'm stealing that idea! a close shave gives you knicks and ingrown hairs sometimes. plus, it's a pain to shave every day with a razor.



great job john. i think you should write that book.

you're disappearing!! hehe. you look so much different from your first pic(in the red shirt).



way to go!

check out josephine. she's all about strength training, and she lost 32 lbs while greatly increasing her max (in everything!).



strength training is heavy weights and low reps, like the 5x5 routine. as long as you're only eating enough calories to maintain your weight, you won't gain any. make sure to get your vitamins and plenty of rest. you want to keep your immune system in good condition.



i'm not sure your diet would need to be different for endurance training. your body can metabolize proteins. if you were playing a competitive sport, then you might want to up the carbs.



#1 diet tip for strength training AND endurance training: drink more water.

that could be so. i grew up around mom, who has horrible eating habits. but both jesse and i eat healthy and are very active. it's part of the all-american sub-culture, where you try to be the best athlete and student at the same time. i'm sure it's something dad wouldn't have advocated.

http://www.tomvenuto.com/articles/never_give_up.sh tml



doesn't really have much to do with the original topic of this thread. but it's useful none-the-less. it explains the two different mindsets that one might possess.



thank itadaki for the link to that homepage.



a good book to check out would be The Magic of Thinking Big. i think chapters 12 and 13 discuss "excusitis."



the same people who make excuses with their diet and exercise are likely to make excuses for other things as well. we seem to be trained to make excuses. i never realized what i was doing until a book pointed it out to me. now i take responsibility for actions and my attitude. it's not a simple change, but it's worth it.

wow, good read. thanks for the link



currently reading: How to Get Abs Like A Pro Boxer

real friends will let you know when you make a mistake. if this friend of yours is overweight, then why tell her? you guys could work together to start eating more healthy.



if she doesn't want to work with you, don't worry about it. just because your friend does one thing doesn't mean it should be difficult for you to do another.



also, it never hurts to play sports. you'll make some new friends and may find that you're really great at something.

why not stick with the treadmill and add those outdoor runs? see how you feel after a couple weeks.



running outdoors will condition your heart and breathing more quickly than using a treadmill. but you also run the risk of damaging your knees. then again, some people never have knee problems.

that makes sense. if i were back in high school, i know what my science project would be.

tip on what not to do:



don't eat chips. on wednesday night, i crushed a bag of tostitos and an entire jar of salsa. calories from salsa, 130. calories from the bag of chips, 1200. something about the salty goodness makes you crave more!



now i understand how people get fat. you know what else i didn't do? i didn't do any pushups while i was munching on those chips. leave the chips in the kitchen and do 5-10 pushups every 5 minutes. it will keep you occupied enough to not snack.

let us know how the session tomorrow goes.



as far as burning calories after the workout, it's difficult to say. some research says you burn 9x as many calories in a 20 minute session of hitt than in an hour of steady state cardio. other studies show you burn twice as much. and some say just 1.5x.



but how can you measure something like that? it sure would be nice if it was closer to 9x. did you check out that link in the other hiit thread? that was a study done on women using hiit.

darn. a chance to feel smart, and i missed it.



i'm surprised that you've lost muscle mass though. now i'm a bit afraid to cut.

sweet! i love traineo, and i've been telling people about it. now i'll really push them, lol.



i want that shirt!

thanks for the info and the link!

i hop out of the bed in the morning and never remember to check my HR. i think it's going to be higher than 54, because i haven't been running for a quite a while. we're going in opposite directions, hehe.

i never made a connection between lighting and snacking in the evening, but lighting definitely affects your mood. if you're watching tv in the evening, leave the lights on.



my new thing, thanks to dean g, is doing 10 pushups every 5-10minutes. maybe you could try 5 pushups every 5 minutes. it will keep you occupied enough not to indulge yourself

i measure my HR the old fashion way, checking my pulse. i tend to check it at the end of a hard interval, never at the end of a recovery period. so i can't tell you from experience what i average. i guess because HIIT is somewhat anaerobic, your HR won't follow the pattern that you'd normally expect it to.



you should definitely plan your intervals differently. your sprint should be 30 seconds. whether you take 30sec or 2min30sec on recovery is up to you. if you're doing 30sec recovery periods, then your workout should only be 10-12 minutes, and that's including a 3-4 minute warm-up at the beginning at an easy-moderate level.



i was looking for an article i read a while back on building up a HIIT routine, but i couldn't find it. i did find another table. i'm not sure it's something i'd follow myself, but it looks like an effective way to gradually build up a strong routine.



http://www.musclemedia.com/training/hiit_table.asp



the table doesn't include a warm-up. if you did a 4 minute warmup, then you'd be starting with an 8 minute workout (warm-up plus 4minutes of hiit).



i was like you. i didn't want a short workout. when i started i tried to go the distance with 1min/30sec intervals. the second time i tried it, i did 2min25sec recoveries with 35 second intense intervals. i was on a stationary bike.



i really can't give any advice about using HIIT on an elliptical. if the weather permits, running outside would definitely be better. you could probably reach your goals fairly quickly if you started running outdoors. it wouldn't even necessarily be using hiit. you could do the couch to 5k program. in the process of preparing your body for a 5k, i think you'd smash your mini weight goals.

i can't even remember how to calculate your maxHR, lol. i think you're supposed to do an activity as intensely as possible and measure your HR. is that right?



that's what i meant by calculate them separately. your maxHR for swimming is different from your maxHR for riding a bike. and your maxHR for running is different for your maxHR.



...after looking at some websites, the above doesn't make any sense. i remember reading it on traineo though, a long time ago. sorry for throwing you off! and i'm glad i've been corrected on that misconception.



here are two maxHR calculators for anyone who's interested.



http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/calhr.htm

it's probably still a good way to burn fat. certainly better than nothing. as far as raising your metabolism, if you do it every day, then it should benefit your RMR. an active lifestyle contributes greatly to raising your metabolism.



it most likely won't have the same effect as a quick, exhausting workout with hiit. i'll base this on my personal experience. the first time i heard of hiit, it sounded to me like a shortcut for lazy people. i'm healthy. i'm fit. i can run 5 miles in 30 minutes, so why would i want to waste my time with intervals?



my attitude changed after i tried it. it gets your heart rate much higher than you could possibly get doing anything else and it keeps it higher for longer than you could maintain by just pushing yourself till you burn out. example: at a 6min/mile pace, i run 400m in 1min30sec. at my top speed, i run 100m in 10 seconds. under no circumstances could i ever run 400m in 40 seconds (although i'd like to). i just can't maintain that speed. while running a 6min-mile, which is a hard pace, my heart-rate is somewhere around 120-140. if i ran any faster, i wouldn't be able to keep it up for long. but running 200m sprints and jogging inbetween keeps my HR above 160 and even as high as 200+, a feat i usually only reach at the end of my runs.



that's why i swear by HIIT. also, you probably already do this, but your maxHR for skating is different than your maxHR for running. whether it's higher or lower, i'm not sure. it should be calculated separately so that you know what % of your maxHR you're working in.

just a quick note on the study above, remember that it was for women. luckily for us guys, we seem to get results much more easily. the study was done over an 8 week period, with the women working out 3x a week. coupled with a diet, they probably would have seen better results.



@john, 1 & 2 a shorter session in which you really go all out on the high intensity intervals is much more taxing. you said you're currently hitting level 9, five times over a 2hr30min session. if you do a simple 30sec/30 sec split for 30 minutes, then you'll have spent 15 minutes at that intensity. although you get a larger workload currently, with about 28min30sec at level 9, it's spaced out enough that it doesn't effectively stress your body. if you still want to do another 2hrs a day of steady state cardio, why not? but don't go easy on your HIIT routine. put all your energy into it.

3. your low intensity level should be whatever you feel you can comfortably maintain without taking away from your high intensity intervals. on the stationary cycle, it comes pretty naturally. my legs keep pushing the pedals, usually between 8m/s and 10m/s.



@jessipoo, i'll go post in your thread since i think you're asking the same question there.

cute pics! i like the first one. everyone's working on their form and the guy on the far right is just scratching his head, lol

working out is like preparing food to be cooked. you can peel and chop up a thousand potatoes, but until you cook them, you're not gonna have any fries. when you workout, you're prepping your body for major changes. repairing your muscles takes a lot of energy. your internal organs are going to work harder to make sure your body's getting the building blocks it needs and removing the waste. rest is a necessity if you want to see results. fortunately, you get it every day. how much you need is debatable.



are you overtraining? yes. is it better to lose weight more slowly? yes. do you need to eat more? yes. your plan might be to lose the weight quickly and then develop a healthy lifestyle to maintain your lower weight, but you'll have a lot of problems adjusting to a normal diet and exercise routine once you've reached your goal. ie, you're going to yo-yo and start gaining weight back.



all that aside, it is possible to do what you're doing, it's just difficult. you sound like you have the discipline to accomplish your goals, i just wanted to reiterate the negatives for anyone else who reads this and thinks it's a good idea.



HIIT



two people at exactly the same weight, who have the exact same diet, and have identical workouts won't necessarily have the same metabolism. the one with the higher metabolism will go through his day with more energy and will lose weight more quickly. the one with the lower metabolism may feel tired throughout the day and be discouraged by slow results.



HIIT will turn you into the first guy. a workout with high intensity intervals will raise your metabolism for the next 24-48 hours. you'll have more energy, and you'll lose weight more quickly.



i love using hiit on a stationary cycle. running is preferable. an ergometer sounds like a great workout as well, but i've never tried that myself. you have to use some common sense when you start because this workout will make you queezy.



all the articles i've read suggest a 30/30 split. take 3-4 minutes to warm up, then do 30 seconds at a moderate intensity followed by 30 seconds at an all out high intensity. you might want to try a 60sec/30sec interval, or even as much as a 2min30sec/30second interval (if you're planning on doing 30 minutes). use your best judgement.



30 minutes of HIIT is by far better than 2hrs30min of steady-state cardio. if you pump your legs for each intense interval and really go as fast and hard as you can, you'll find yourself slowing down at each interval. don't slack off though. i use my old busted stationary bike on it's highest resistance and shoot for at least 15meters/sec on my hard intervals. on the first one, i always do something over 20m/sec. it only lasts one or two intervals, then i struggle to keep it above 15m/sec (which normally wouldn't be too difficult if i didn't go all out on the first couple intervals).



i wish i could think of another word for interval. that last paragraph sounds so redundant. anyways..



don't cheat yourself. do it right.

my twin brother! not exactly a fitness idol, but being competitive is why i'll never be out of shape. not to mention my older brother's as well. one of them is benching 205! i need to get on the ball.



=p

yes, that's a great piece of info for anyone who's worried that they might be overtraining.

i'm taking that pushup advice! my goal is 500 a day.

^

^

^

that guy's got balls.



sorry, that's my low-brow post for the week.

actually, it's not likely that you're going to get giant legs from doing squats. keep doing them. something that just recently came to my attention is that it's better not to do a split. you can train your upper body, lower body and back all on the same day, 3x a week, and get faster results than using a split.



a split works, but you'll progress more slowly. check out the linear 5x5 program for intermediates. there's a lot of good info there.



http://www.geocities.com/elitemadcow1/5x5_Program/ Linear_5x5.htm



as far as getting thinner legs, dean seemed to bring up the unwanted but likely truth. it might be that your legs are the first place you gain weight. you may have to lower your overall body fat % in order to get the results you're looking for.



or you could train for a marathon. a lot of those people have sinewy legs.

way to go. and a rhm of 52, that's great! you should tell the recruitment officer to give you bigger bonus.

i had the same problem. some coach in high school had told me to point my toes forward when doing squats. it always bothered my knees and i didn't go all the way down because of it. that and using too much weight.



squats without weight are better than no squats at all. currently i'm doing 2-5 sets of 100 each day. it's gets my heart rate all the way near 180 and leaves me queezy.



edit: ps. my heart rate for a 5:50 mile isn't even 180. if you're not already doing squats, do them!