Off Season Conditioning

drjeff · Sep 16, 2010

SKIQUATTRO said:
cracked the 175 mark...174.2 this morning....its not rocket science,,,,,burn more calories than you put in and you lose weight (abiet the right type of calories too) and making smart choices...

Nice work! And yup its not rocket science or any magic pill, just good ol' burn more than you consume and then keep doing that over and over and over! My self motivating phrase this summer has been "you didn't put all the extra lbs on in 1 day, so there all not coming off in 1 day either!"

mondeo · Sep 16, 2010

neil said:
Disagree. You lose weight by consuming less calories than you burn. That is all there is to it. Doesn't matter how you burn them. Studies have shown that cardio isn't the best way.

wa-loaf said:
And building muscle burns more calories when you are at rest. Any workout should have a combo.

Anything scientific I've seen says a pound of muscle burns about 6 calories/day vs. 4/day for a pound of fat. And a pound of muscle contains about half the calories as a pound of fat, so you can trade pound for pound despite burning calories. About half your caloric intake goes to the brain and digestive system. That leaves 1000 calories/day for the other 130 pounds or so. It's not possible for the basal metabolic rate for muscle to be as high as muscle building programs advertise it as.

I figure a 5 hour bike ride burns about 4000 calories. And hour on the treadmill can hit 1100. Judging from my respiration rate while weightlifting, I'm guessing that's about 800/hour, maybe more given that recovery takes longer. And with cardio, you can go much longer. I can only do about an hour of weightlifting before I'm spent.

Weightlifting has its benefits, but the whole burn away calories while sitting is pretty much nonsense. Big reasons I do it are to give my legs a rest, increased bone density, and core strength. Bike riding keeps my legs in good enough shape that the beginning of ski season isn't a killer, and I figure losing weight is more benefit than being able to squat more. Reduces the need to squat more while reducing the cardiovascular needs and risk of injury.

severine · Sep 16, 2010

SKIQUATTRO said:
cracked the 175 mark...174.2 this morning....its not rocket science,,,,,burn more calories than you put in and you lose weight (abiet the right type of calories too) and making smart choices...

It's not rocket science, but it does take a lot of motivation, dedication, and walking away from temptation... none of which is easy.

Congrats!

o3jeff · Sep 16, 2010

I've also been walking 2-3 miles at night with the neighbor. Weights been staying right around165-167(at 5-8 I think that's what they recommend) the past few weeks.

gmcunni · Sep 16, 2010

i'm no fitness guru or nutritionist but can say from past experience that a mix of cardio and weight training is key, at least for me.

there was a time i was in decent shape, i'd 5 miles/day. i lost weight getting to that point but once i added weight training (4-5 days / week) i saw a huge difference. muscle burns fat, more muscle = more fat burn. IMHO

Sky · Sep 16, 2010

severine said:
It's not rocket science, but it does take a lot of motivation, dedication, and walking away from temptation... none of which is easy.

Absolutely! I'm fortunate to have a relatively high metabolism and the opportunities to workout. It's a fight every day to NOT stop @ Starbucks for a cookie. One Day At A Time. :>

MommaBear · Sep 16, 2010

gmcunni said:
i'm no fitness guru or nutritionist but can say from past experience that a mix of cardio and weight training is key, at least for me.

there was a time i was in decent shape, i'd 5 miles/day. i lost weight getting to that point but once i added weight training (4-5 days / week) i saw a huge difference. muscle burns fat, more muscle = more fat burn. IMHO

I agree on both points. Walking/running does nothing for me. Weight lift and throw in some cardio and the weight finally moves. Not to mention, working with weights changes your physique to something more pleasant to look at.

Now if I could just get back to doing ALL of that!

riverc0il · Sep 16, 2010

neil said:
Disagree. You lose weight by consuming less calories than you burn. That is all there is to it. Doesn't matter how you burn them. Studies have shown that cardio isn't the best way.

Right. But I was talking about the best way to loose weight by exercising..... of course eating right trumps all.

mondeo · Sep 16, 2010

gmcunni said:
i'm no fitness guru or nutritionist but can say from past experience that a mix of cardio and weight training is key, at least for me.

there was a time i was in decent shape, i'd 5 miles/day. i lost weight getting to that point but once i added weight training (4-5 days / week) i saw a huge difference. muscle burns fat, more muscle = more fat burn. IMHO

MommaBear said:
I agree on both points. Walking/running does nothing for me. Weight lift and throw in some cardio and the weight finally moves. Not to mention, working with weights changes your physique to something more pleasant to look at.

Now if I could just get back to doing ALL of that!

I'm guessing that when you add in weight lifting to an existing cardio routine, overall time spent excercising goes up. If you need to burn 1500 calories a week to stay the same weight and actually do 2000, that's a pound every 7 weeks. Add in weight lifting for 1000 but drop 500 of cardio, now a pound every 3.5 weeks Hey, you dropped cardio and added weight lifting, must be the weight lifting that makes so much difference.

People don't often go through the math to figure out how much they actually need to do to meet their goals. The whole 1/2 hour 3x per week thing is purely to achieve cardiovascular fitness to reduce heart and lung issues, not weight loss. A pound/week means 30-40 minutes of moderate to high intensity excercise per day. That's more than most people with lives can handle, supposedly (although I'm pretty sure the average TV time per day is over 30 minutes.)

gmcunni · Sep 16, 2010

mondeo said:
I'm guessing that when you add in weight lifting to an existing cardio routine, overall time spent excercising goes up.

fair point. i was basically doing 2 workouts a day.. a weight program in the afternoons and a cardio at night. i think i cut back on the cardio stuff cuz i was having fun lifting and got a little obsessed on how much i could bench :-D

deadheadskier · Sep 17, 2010

gmcunni said:
fair point. i was basically doing 2 workouts a day.. a weight program in the afternoons and a cardio at night. i think i cut back on the cardio stuff cuz i was having fun lifting and got a little obsessed on how much i could bench :-D

interesting, I'm obsessed without much I can't bench. :lol:

there are some dudes in my gym that are absolute animals. one guy who frequently works out the same time as I do does flat dumbell presses with 125# dumbells :blink: I do see people doing barbells with well over 200#, but dumbells are much harder.

drjeff · Sep 17, 2010

deadheadskier said:
interesting, I'm obsessed without much I can't bench. :lol:

there are some dudes in my gym that are absolute animals. one guy who frequently works out the same time as I do does flat dumbell presses with 125# dumbells :blink: I do see people doing barbells with well over 200#, but dumbells are much harder.

This was a generic NBC affiliate story yesterday - saw it on my local Hartford station about "gymorexia" or basically folks so obsessed by working out that it consumes their entire life

http://www2.nbc4i.com/lifestyles/2010/sep/15/2/gym-obsession-sparking-new-disorder-ar-232662/

The reporter that did the local segment I saw had a closing line something like (paraphrasing here): If you're entire day is planned around your workout schedule, instead you fitting a workout into your daily schedule, you might have a problem!

gmcunni · Sep 17, 2010

drjeff said:
This was a generic NBC affiliate story yesterday - saw it on my local Hartford station about "gymorexia" or basically folks so obsessed by working out that it consumes their entire life

The reporter that did the local segment I saw had a closing line something like (paraphrasing here): If you're entire day is planned around your workout schedule, instead you fitting a workout into your daily schedule, you might have a problem!

obsession, in moderation, is a good thing.

Madroch · Sep 17, 2010

Was a cardio rabbit for a couple of years and dropped weight, but was still loose in the cage or skinny(er) fat. Adding weights and eating right have really helped tighten things up a bit (with more tightening needed). Wile I did drop some additional weight- biggest change was inches lost around gut, chest, back, etc.

Combo has worked best for me- but eating right blows. I do track cal consumption and burn- and while not exact week to week, a planned deficit will result in a predictable rate of weight loss over longer term.

speden · Sep 17, 2010

drjeff said:
The reporter that did the local segment I saw had a closing line something like (paraphrasing here): If you're entire day is planned around your workout schedule, instead you fitting a workout into your daily schedule, you might have a problem!

That rings a bell with me. One of the reasons I started working out was so I would have more energy and be able to keep up with my kids. But lately I find them asking me to help with something and I tell them, "I can't do that right now, I have to do my workout!" So the exercise can definitely take on a life of its own.

mondeo · Sep 17, 2010

Madroch said:
Combo has worked best for me- but eating right blows. I do track cal consumption and burn- and while not exact week to week, a planned deficit will result in a predictable rate of weight loss over longer term.

Yep, that's my method. It works.

MommaBear · Sep 17, 2010

mondeo said:
I'm guessing that when you add in weight lifting to an existing cardio routine, overall time spent excercising goes up.

The program I was doing focused on the weight lifting first (with healthy eating) to get the metabolism cranked, then added in cardio at key points to burn off the fat. So my overall time did not increase. I didn't care so much about the number on the scale, I was looking for the inches to come off, which it did. At different times, I have been the same weight - yet once I was a size 10 and the other a size 6. That is where weight lifting made the difference for me.

I guess the "right" thing is whatever works for you.

mondeo · Sep 17, 2010

MommaBear said:
I guess the "right" thing is whatever works for you.

Yep, I was addressing the pure weight loss issue. You can have net calorie loss and gain weight if you're adding muscle; my weight doesn't change for about a month every May when I shift from skiing to my summer program, despite an hour+ in the gym on on the bike almost every day.

I just don't put any faith in the ability to substantially change your base metabolism. Yeah you can budge it, maybe up to 100 calories/day if you really put on muscle, but that's pretty insignificant on a month to month time scale.

Madroch · Oct 20, 2010

Recent snow and K getting the guns going have me thinking it is time to start adding more leg and core workouts (already do a good bit weekly). Earlier than I had planned, but that is a good thing....

It will be interesting to see if all this off season work pays off, or if, as expected, I still will be tired and sore as hell early season until I ski myself into shape.

Ultimate goal... not be paralyzed by the length of the Gunny bump run for S7...

snowmonster · Oct 20, 2010

Last week at the gym, there were a number of guys doing all sorts of thigh exercises. At least, more than usual. When I started doing step lunges with dumbells in each hand, one old-timer came up to me and said: "Skier? Looks like you still have some life in those knees."

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