Need advice from the exercise experts! (1 Viewer)

[Rob Gillespie]

Towards the end of last year, over a period of four months, I managed to lose over 40lbs. This was done by cutting out most of the junk foods and going back to the gym. I'd exercise probably 4 (sometimes) 5 times a week. This was usually around 30 mins of aerobic (bike, treadmill walk, cross trainer) followed by some weight machine stuff.

Then I had problems with my knees and I had to use the pool instead, swimming between 800 and 1000 metres per session (30-40mins approx).

I've kept the weight off throughough this year, but I don't seem to be able to get any further. I've gone down from a waist size of 36-38" to 32", my shoulders have expanded(which I'm very happy with), but I still have wobbly belly. Basically my body fat is still too high. I'd really like to get it down so that I'm just a little bit firmer all over.

This is the deal: I cannot jog. I cannot do high-impact aerobic exercise due to problems with my knees and back. I'm quite happy swimming, but I'm not fast. I want to know what the best way is to reduce the wobble without turning into an exercise nerd.

I've heard about the ideal heart BPM rates for burning fat and I wonder if I should be doing that. I'm a bit clueless really. At the moment I'm doing 30 mins on a crosstrainer, on a low setting, keeping my BPM at 130 or just below, however I do need to be careful in case my knee problems come back again.

Anybody have any advice on this kind of thing?

Rob

 

[Rob Gillespie]

Oh, and I'm 32 years of age and about 5'7".

 

[Paul_D]

Heres a few tips that are very useful in reducing body fat:

-Avoid loading up on carbohydrates throughout the day. And never eat any in the evening/before bedtime.
-Without the carbs to give you energy, your body will feed off your fat stores. This may not always be enough, especially if you're exercising regularly, so eat complex carbs like basmati rice, brown pasta etc. They're broken down slower so don't result in a massive short-term increase in blood-sugar levels, which contribute to fat gains.
-Drink lots of water. It cleans out the body, and helps avoid the temptation of sugar drinks. More of an all round health tip, but some people find it helps reduce weight as well.
-Stretch your aerobic workouts to 45-60 minutes. 4/5 times a week is perfect. Always be sure to increase the intensity of your workouts at regular intervals. There's nothing that demotivates like a workout-slump. Also, if you don't the exercise will stop having an effect.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

Cheers Paul. 30-60 minutes is going to kill my knee joints. I'm not even sure if I'm going to be able to maintain what I'm doing now. I'll probably need to do a mixture of gym and swim.

 

[Bill_Weinreich]

Hi Rob,

First things first, get the knees checked out by a doctor (preferably one in sports medicine). If it's nothing major, than a little rehab may be in order with a physical therapist. But if you opt out of that, try doing some MILD exercises for the knees and back in particular to help rebuild their strength. Remember to stretch before each exercise, do warm-ups before and cool downs afterwords. Using moderate or no weights, do some basic exercises. Squats, leg presses, leg extensions, squat thrusts etc.

Having a bad back myself (was broken in three places) and problems with my ankles, jogging and other high impact exercises are off limits to me. I prefer the stair master, cycling (make sure the seat is adjusted right) and am ready to ATTEMPT roller blading.

Good luck,
Bill

P.S. Congrats on the weight loss!!

 

[Rob Gillespie]

I've already undergone physio for the knees and back. I have to avoid 'impact' exercise to the knees. So I can walk, but running is a no-no. Bike causes similar problems.

 

[Robert G]

Hey Rob,
I use walking as my best friend for burning the fat. I do 30 minutes a day about five times a week. I have also been eating better and lost 50 lbs in the process. I use a treadmill for my walking and have slowly increased the speed but still keep it under a jog. I also increase the incline slightly. You might want to try this but be careful with the knees as incline might put more stress on them. I find that walking is better than any other means of aerobic activity for me. I too have hit a lull in the weight loss but am still losing inches on the waist. I have been gaining muscle tone from adding weight lifting to my regimen therefore no actual weight loss. If you have access to a good treadmill give it a try. They are very easy on the knees with the cushioning system that most of the good one's have(I have to watch this as well, I'm thirty one years old and can't run all day on cement anymore). Also, try one of the ab roller gadgets that they have out. They assist you with crunches and sit ups and allow you to do them without the back or neck stress. You can concentrate on the abs much better when your neck and back are not burning like fire.
Paul is right on the money with the eating tips. Carbs can hurt you if you eat to many of them. If you do not already, start eating 100% whole wheat bread in your sandwiches if you eat much bread. While it is full of carbs and not as good as some of the stuff Paul mentioned, it will be broken down better than white bread and such.

 

[Meaux]

All of the above, take care of it NOW because at 50, it's almost impossible....

 

[Andrej Dolenc]

It sounds like you have all 3 parts going, aerobic exercise, weights, and diet. If you're stuck a bit, might be time to push the intensity a bit higher as Paul indicated.

One trick which I'd heard of (but haven't done myself) is to exercise (aerobic) first thing in the morning before eating anything. The idea is your body is in a glycogen depleted state (glycogen being the processed form of carbs), and will turn to it's 2nd favorite source of energy - fat. I'm not a morning person, getting up for work is hard enough, much less to exercise!

As far as non-impact exercises that are good for the knees, I *LOVE* rollerblading. Both my knees have problems from skiing. My knee would occasionally feel weird when walking, something just not right there. Since I've started rollerblading, well, last winter I went skiing with no knee braces and felt great. Skating builds up tons of muscles in the legs, particularly your quads. All that supports your somewhat weakened knees.

Furthermore, I find it's far more intense of a workout than biking or stairmaster. My heart rate (I wear a heart rate monitor all the time now) is consistently higher skating than biking. Makes sense if you think about it, on a bike your legs are the only muscles doing the work. While skating, not only are your legs supporting your body weight and working to push you forward, you're swinging your arms as well.

Added bonus - skate chicks in spandex. Mmmm, spandex.

Andrej

 

[Jay H]

Hey Andrej, biker chicks wear spandex too!
I've seen some cyclists who seem to have an awesome upper body too, but true, probably not as much as a skater. Sprinting takes a lot of upper body strength too cause you are assisting the legs by pulling on the handlebars to get as much effort into propelling the bike forward as possible. Another reason some bikes can feel stiff while others can feel like a wet noodle.
Not having tried one but how are rowing machines on the knees? They can build up quads decently and they are kind of multibody workouts as they can build arms and chest too but how are they on the knees?
Jay

 

[Scott L]

How about those treadmills that have slots to put your feet in and it moves along with your feet in a running motion. Ya know, also has moving handle bars to help balance yourself, makes you look like your climbing up a slope on skis. I've tried those out before I went on the treadmill and it was easy on the knees but great for the leg muscles.

 

[Bill_Weinreich]

Mmmm, spandex

Like Hammerjack's in the '80s

 

[Andrej Dolenc]

Boy there's a blast from the past, Hammerjack's. Not much spandex there when I saw Gwar there though!

Andrej