Wow, what a great thread, I'm surprised I havn't seen it before. I read through the first 8 pages and found too many comments to continue trying to respond so I just skipped through to the end. Hopefully I'll try to contribute a little bit to this.
QUOTE (jeff_536 @ Friday, January 25th, 2008, 5:37 PM)

So I joined a gym last Friday. Been six times in eight days. Things are going well.
My goal is to get into good enough shape to complete a beginner's triathlon (375-m swim; 10K bike; 2.5K run) in the summer.
I'm 42, 202 lbs (down about five or six from before xmas).
I live in a fairly small town and there's only one gym. It's reasonably well-equipped... half-a-dozen treadmills, three rowing machine, five or so stationary bikes, couple stair climbers, four elliptical machines. There's a decent amount of free weights and all the standard weight machines.
Right now I'm focussing on increasing my cardio, i've lived a very sedentary life for too many years.
For three of the last four nights, i've done 30 minutes on the elliptical machine, first at level 1, then at level 2, tonight at level 3 for 20 minutes and level 4 for 10 minutes. I then went and did some upper body work on the machines (bench, military, chest, bicep, tri) and I end every session with crunches on this machine

.
One of my main questions is, should I do cardio first, then weights? or the other way around. Any other tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
If there's interest, this could be a place where we post our results and try to encourage each other.
thank you for listening.
bye
You should do a slight cardio early to get the muscles warmed up and blood flowing. That is about all you need this for. It depends on what your workout was for to determine how much cardio you do at the end. If yoru trying to build muscle, I would keep cardio to a more minimum of no longer than 20 minutes. If you want more endurance out of your body, then longer than 20 minutes is alright.
QUOTE (SuperJon @ Friday, January 25th, 2008, 5:56 PM)

I plan on rejoining the gym soon and getting my flat stomach back.
As for the cardio question, here's what I did when I used to go to the gym:
Start with 15 minutes light cardio.
Hit the weights.
End with 25 minutes of heavy cardio. (The last 5 minutes were usually a cool down period for me at a low intensity level).
That worked for me, but you should also experiment and do whatever works best for you.
One thing that I'm pretty sure has been proven for fat loss is interval training. Work at your normal pace for 5 minutes, and then up the intensity for 1 minute, and then go back to normal pace. Rinse and repeat.
Good luck!
YES. A definte proven fat burner.
QUOTE (fryer98 @ Monday, January 28th, 2008, 8:54 AM)

Hint: Get Men's Health mag.
I absolutely agree. They always try to show different ways to mix up simple workouts like pushups and stuff to keep it challenging. I love their different food recipes.
QUOTE (jeff_536 @ Tuesday, January 29th, 2008, 7:37 AM)

Agreed. I'm walking the fine line between going too easy and going too hard.
But I actually increased the weights on all the upper body machines i used, to the point I struggled to complete my third set of 10. Either I'm becoming a little more accustomed to pushing weights around or i need to push a little harder. I'll keep ramping things up.
This is good if your trying to build muscle. As soon as you can push that last rep of 10 on thelast set, wait just a couple workouts to let your muscles readjust and add weight. You always want muscles pushing.
QUOTE (El Guapo @ Saturday, February 2nd, 2008, 5:28 PM)

Jeff creatine will also make you retain water, be careful. You may gain 6-10 pounds the first week you are on creatine. I personally hated it, I always felt bloated, and unless you are trying to get ripped/bigger there is no need for it. Basically it pumps more water into your muscles so you can push on them harder, causing them to rip and repair more and faster.
From what I understand you are trying to lose weight and get into shape to do a trithelon, not see how much you can bench. IMO this would be slightly counter-productive.
Creatine helps your muscles retain water yes, but the easiest way to explain it is that creatine helps keep the protein your hopefully taking also in your muscles longer, to speed recovery.
QUOTE (jeff_536 @ Wednesday, March 12th, 2008, 7:03 AM)

Holy Crap...I just looked up some nutrition info...
My daily breakfast consists of a Tim Horton's sesame bagel, toasted buttered, and a large coffee, half a cream.
The bagel and i'm assuming 1 oz. of butter is 450 calories with 54 g. of Carbs. Yikes.
so today I switched to having a Carnation Instant Breakfast. 130 cals or so, mixed in a cup of 1% milk. And then a coffee.
Got to be better, yes?
Any other alternatives? I'd really like to cut back on carbs in my diet and increase protein. Should I get protein powder, maybe make a shake in the morning?
When I was really pushing workouts and losing weight to gain muscle, I would eat 1 1/2 cups of oatmeal in the morning made with water. When it was done in the microwave, I would add a little splash of milk, a cup full of blueberries, and one scoop of protein powder. mix it up and I would feel great all day.
QUOTE (TRB05 @ Saturday, February 28th, 2009, 3:09 PM)

I've been reading this thread for a little while maybe I'll try to contribute a little. I have been going 6 days a week for a little more than a month following Randy Reed's bodyforlife program somewhat. I am almost 30, and have been overweight since forever. I'm 6'2", January 5th I weighed 280, I'm down to 247 with a goal of 215 by August.
Anyway today did upper body
Incline Press, Flyes, Dumbbell rows, Lat pulldowns, shoulder press, reverse flyes, hammer curls, preacher curls, tri pulldowns, and tri dumbbell presses. Wow, I bored myself typing that out.
I'm up to about 2 miles without stopping but it takes me over 20 minutes to get there. Trying to improve on distance rather than time at the moment, although I only run for distance once a week, the other 2 cardio days I do the bodyforlife cardio workout that RR has described.
A couple questions:
Is there an advantage to working out with a sweatshirt on rather than just a t-shirt, other than just sweating more? I see guys all the time with sweatshirts, I sweat enough.
After the first workout or two of this program I was so sore that I could barely move the muscles I had worked. Now, they get tired during the workout but the next day I really don't feel too much soreness maybe just a tiny bit of fatigue. Am I not working hard enough, or is this just normal?
This might be your diet. After a strong workout you shoudl just feel the soreness the next day. If your feeling fatigued you are probably not getting enough nutrients into your body after a workout. If you are trying to lose fat/gain muscle, I would recommend more of a 2-1 protein/carb mix after workouts.
Regarding the sweatshirt thing, it really depends. It's almost hard to explain, raising your body temperature helps you to burn calories, which helps to lose weight. This is really the basis for thermogenisis, the "scientifically proven" way Hydroxcut and other diet pills say they cut fat. Sweatshirts also helps you sweat, retain body heat, which helps you lose water weight. I used to run 3 miles a day wearing a sauna suit under my clothes which would make me drench with sweat, but for all that fluid you put out, your body needs back. You have to take in fluids as you sweat or your body will take the time to rehydrate your body, instead of repairing your muscles. Definitely wear a sweatshirt if you like, actually, just try a long sleeve for a while as a mild transition bridge between the two to see if you like it.