Thursday, September 13, 2007

Getting Over the Plateau's

As I mentioned yesterday I think I've hit a plateau of sorts in the weight loss department. I think this does mean that I've made progress, but I also think its yet another test that I need to pass if I'm going to be successful. I have a fairy simple plan to get over it:

1. Food: Yes, there are days like yesterday where circumstance makes it hard to eat enough, but that is not the norm. I recovered by evening time anyway. I feel like I'm doing what I can in the food department, so the plan here is to basically maintain my current practices.

2. Exercise: I'm still doing my 30 minutes of cardio every day on the bike, but it's getting too easy. The past two days I've mixed it up a bit by throwing in the elliptical machine as well as the Stairmaster. That is all good, and I can feel like I was worked harder than when I just rode the bike, but that's not good enough. It's time to give HIIT a try. This starts tomorrow, or possibly tonight if I have time (I've already done me regular cardio workout today).

3. Daily Life: I feel there are other things in your daily life that you can do to supplement your weight loss and healthy living. One of those things is walking more. In an effort to do more of this, I just purchased a pedometer. The plan is to spend the next day or so getting an accurate reading of how many steps a day I take, then get that number up to 10,000. From what I've read online, walking a minimum of 10,000 steps a day is equivalent to a 30 minute cardio workout. Of course that is very subject , but more exercise is good exercise so I'll give it a try.

That is basically it. Tune in later for more details and hopefully I can report getting over this plateau.

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Edit - Strength Training
I completely forgot to mention my strength training routine. I'm not changing it so I guess it wasn't on the top of my mind. I just started it this week. I do 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps to fail.

Monday

chest:
Cable Crossovers
Incline dumbbell presses

shoulders:
seated dumbbell lateral raises
dumbbell shoulder presses

back:
wide-grip pulldowns
seated cable rows

arms:
dumbbell curls
tricep pulldowns

Wednesday

ABS:
twisting sit ups
crunches
pullovers
vertical leg raises

Friday

Quads:
leg extensions
squats

hams:
leg curls

4 comments:

billy said...

Have you been doing any strength training at all? This is a key element as it burns fat and helps you not lose muscle when you are dieting...

Brian said...

yup, 3 days a week.

Rob Tucker said...

Sounds like you're getting to the next stage. As Billy said, get into some strength training. You're about my size so I can help if you need some tips for dudes our size.

Also, if the Elliptical is getting too easy, bump up the resistance. You'd be surprised at how much harder the Elliptical can be when you raise that level from 5 to 11 (for example).

Brian said...

the elliptical definitly isnt easy yet. I lift m-w-f. I completely forgot to mention that. I'll post up my routine later when I have some time.