ExRx.net

Hey guys,

As I have gotten a little pudgier around the middle of late I'm thinking of getting back into running, mainly because it fits my family schedule slightly better than my current weights program. I'm just wondering how to maintain the small amount of gains I have achieved so far? I was thinking lifting 2 sessions per week, running 3 sessions (with one or two on lifting days) and then 1 game of basketball a week should be doable, it's the "what to do in the gym?" part I'm having trouble with!

I'm thinking go back to the Starting Strength A/B + Pull Ups once a week each, stick to the weight ranges I'm lifting currently, play around with rep increases instead of weight increases and decrease accessory lifts but does this sound like too much or not enough?

As for running, it's been so long since I've run consistently that the 4 flights of stairs to my work are now a minor effort, whereas I was able to run the whole way up them earlier this year, my cardiovascular endurance has dramatically decreased. So I aim to go back to the beginning and start the Couch to 5k program again, but probably go a bit faster than the first time around!

I'm already addressing diet, I had let a LOT of processed food, bad carbs/sugars and take away foods to slip back into my daily intake where I had limited it to occasional for a year or so and decreased my intake of whole foods like veggies and grass fed red meat as we were shopping in supermarkets not our local fruit and veg and butchers shops! So it's back to the fruit and veg shop, getting grass fed beef, free range, non-drugged chickens and "hobby" farmed pork, lamb, venison and kangaroo and family caught Mutton Bird when they're in season!

Any suggestions welcome!

Also, to give a rough idea of my goals, I'm 182cm tall, currently 105kg and was at 97.5kg in February, I think roughly 50/50 of my weight gain is lean/fat, long term I'd like to maintain a double digit weight, even if it's 99.9kg! I'm trying to eat protein at a rate of 2g/kg for the weight I'd like to be, which ultimately is 90kg, so aiming for the 180g a day mark and trying to keep carbs below 100g a day and filling in with fats to get roughly 2000 cals on "off" days and 2500 to 3000 on "On" days! Haven't tried any of the following yet but I'm researching them all slowly: Carb Cycling/Carb Back Loading, Intermittent Fasting, Paleo or Adkins/Taubes-type very low Carb diets! I'm a "Life Time Fatty!" save for a few years in the mid teens, I started on my path to obesity at around the age of seven when my father quit smoking and replaced them in the "hand to mouth" habit with chocolate bars and would get me one too! lol

maintaining gains is easy. One or two strength sessions a week'll not only maintain it, you'll probably increase it.

people worry too much about losing their gains when they think about adding cardio. Lift weights, run fast, eat properly. There's nothing to worry about.

Thanks Rob, sounds good to me! I'm also trying to lose my hang up on what the scales read, I would rather be the weight I am now with less fat and more muscle than 90kg with slightly lower fat and less muscle! However it's a 31 year long learning process to overcome, so it may take time! lol

Jeffrerr, I saw a study recently that said that 30 minutes of cardio actually worked better that 60 minutes for weight loss. They suggested that 30 minutes doesn't increase your appetite the way 60 minutes did and that, even then 30 minutes made more difference than expected, probably due to EPOC. It just goes to show that intensity trumps duration.

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Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~Hippocrates
Strength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley
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Thanks TimD

Thanks Stuward, I was planning to keep it to the 30 minute/5k mark as when I started pushing up into the 8-9k range 3 times a week I found it hard to recover adequately with shift work and lack of sleep!

Remeber that you can't out-train a bad diet.
And that cardio might not be any more effective than resistance training on the grounds of losing bodyfat.

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Prove the impossible!

Cheers Dub, it's the time constraint situation that has me going back to running, my lifting was going between 60 and 90 minutes and my wife is getting annoyed with it so it's a compromise that 2 days a week I work out twice then I have two other days with running and basketball in shorter sessions so more work with the same number of "days off"

So currently thinking plan would look something like this:
Monday: Run + Pull Ups and Work Out A
Tuesday: Basketball
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Run + Chin Ups and Work Out B
Friday: Off
Saturday: Run + Pull Ups
Sunday: Off

Work Out A:
Squats 4x5 Warm Ups Sets and 3x5+ Work Sets
OH Press 3x5 Warm Up Sets and 3x5+ Work Sets
Power Cleans 4x5 Warm Up Sets and 3x5+ Work Sets

Work Out B:
Squats 4x5 Warm Ups Sets and 3x5+ Work Sets
Bench Press 4x5 Warm Up Sets and 3x5+ Work Sets
Deadlifts 3x5 Warm Up Sets and 1x5+ Work Sets

Will do Pull Ups Post Runs to cut down gym session times. I don't currently do any form of row, should I add in rows or should pull ups and chin ups be sufficient? I intend to add reps to the work sets if possible, once I can do a weight for 3x8 (1x8 for DLs) then I'll add a small amount of weight. I'm leaning toward skipping accessory exercises for time saving, though there's a little voice saying "Keep the curls and extensions!", your thoughts? Maybe and "Accessory Session" on the 3rd run day instead of just pull ups? But again it's time consuming! My goal is 90 minutes max on work out days, 45 minutes Gym and 45 minutes for Run and Pull Ups, Basketball takes about 90 minutes with warm up, 40 minute game, cool down and socialising post game. Geesh, this programming stuff is bloody time consuming too! lol

Also if I start to get knee issues back from running I intend to use cycling!

I highly recommend a horizontal row. For lots of reasons Im sure others will get into more with you.

Consider using Power Cleans as Warm Up for Deadlifts, and moving Rows to the Power Clean slot
Just an idea

Nothing wrong with pull ups 3x week, but you could drop one of them while adding the horizontal rows.

You'll probably like your new scheme, anyway, you're sure to apprerciate the flexibility as you learn more about what you can handle and what works best for you. One goal I have is to not worry about what folks here have to say because I learned enough to know what works. Meanwhile, this is a great source.

Oscar, I'm keen to add some rows in, either your ideas seem to fit well! Only problem is I don't a pulley set up in the garage, I assume a bent over barbell row or inverted rows (body weight then weighted with varied foot positions) would have similar benefits?

I have never been as proud of you as I am now.