Getting in shape

[terryl965]

I have been training like everyday for the last three months and I feel that I am in a deep depression right now. I can motivate myself to do class and to teach my students but I am having the hardest time just getting myself up and going for my own training? We have a few BB that shows up to train with me but the intensity that I would love to have is about half of what it was, anybody else have this problem and if you did what did you do to get going with that intensity?

 

[ATC]

Don't feel bad or get down. I want to compete at this upcoming Nationals but just can't find the motivation needed to train like I know I should. I want to lose 20 or so pounds but keep finding myself eating when I know I shouldn't.


Below is what I am doing now to get into shape. Maybe it will work for you. My new approach will be to ramp up and not try to start off like the kids nor train as intense as the kids.

1. I will do 30 minutes of light stretching and kicking 5 days a week. Nothing to bad or to intense, just enough to break a sweat.
2. I will do light strength training 3 days a week. Light, again nothing to intense.
3. I will do the track only twice a week in the beginning. Just jog 2 miles maybe. Slow pace, nothing too fast. Should take me 30 minutes to do this. 15 minutes a mile is almost walking pace. I may do a bit faster as I just got timed in the mile and did it in 8 minutes. But I was trying my best. So maybe 12 - 15 minutes is not to bad for just working out.
4. The last thing I will do is control my eating. I am not a big guy, 6'2" about 205 right now. I want to get down to 180, maybe even 175. Just 2 years ago I fought at 172. Tall and lean is what I want again. I have to eat right for this. I need to cut the cookies and ice cream.

After about one month of this I will ramp it up a bit. Just add some intensity to each work out. Also increase the time from 30 minute workouts to 1 hour. When doing this I may add an extra day of break time in somewhere. In my mid 40's, so more recovery time is needed. Rest is a good thing at my age.

There was an Olympic swimmer Dana Torres that made a comeback in her 40's and took home silver in the last Olympics. She stated that she could not train like she did when she was a teen and in her 20's. She stated that she had to take days off and she did not train as long as she did when she was younger. It worked for her. She only lost gold by a few hundredths of a second. She beat kids half her age and younger at the Olympic level.

Just look at it as less is more. We are not kids anymore and we can't train as such.

Good luck with the training.

 

[CoryKS]

You could be overtraining. Get some rest and come back strong.

 

[Manny]

Don't feel bad or get down. I want to compete at this upcoming Nationals but just can't find the motivation needed to train like I know I should. I want to lose 20 or so pounds but keep finding myself eating when I know I shouldn't.


Below is what I am doing now to get into shape. Maybe it will work for you. My new approach will be to ramp up and not try to start off like the kids nor train as intense as the kids.

1. I will do 30 minutes of light stretching and kicking 5 days a week. Nothing to bad or to intense, just enough to break a sweat.
2. I will do light strength training 3 days a week. Light, again nothing to intense.
3. I will do the track only twice a week in the beginning. Just jog 2 miles maybe. Slow pace, nothing too fast. Should take me 30 minutes to do this. 15 minutes a mile is almost walking pace. I may do a bit faster as I just got timed in the mile and did it in 8 minutes. But I was trying my best. So maybe 12 - 15 minutes is not to bad for just working out.
4. The last thing I will do is control my eating. I am not a big guy, 6'2" about 205 right now. I want to get down to 180, maybe even 175. Just 2 years ago I fought at 172. Tall and lean is what I want again. I have to eat right for this. I need to cut the cookies and ice cream.

After about one month of this I will ramp it up a bit. Just add some intensity to each work out. Also increase the time from 30 minute workouts to 1 hour. When doing this I may add an extra day of break time in somewhere. In my mid 40's, so more recovery time is needed. Rest is a good thing at my age.

There was an Olympic swimmer Dana Torres that made a comeback in her 40's last year and took home silver in the last Olympics. She stated that she could not train like she did when she was a teen and in her 20's. She stated that she had to take days off and she did not train as long as she did when she was younger. It worked for her. She only lost gold by a few hundredths of a second. She beat kids half her age and younger at the Olympic level.

Just look at it as less is more. We are not kids anymore and we can't train as such.

Good luck with the training.

First let me tell you I envy you, believe me, I'm 6 feet tall but sadly 260-265 punds and as you are I'm in my 40's, for me it¡'s very dificult to drop weight, I am training 4 night per week and it's the only time I have to do it, and yes, like you do my food intake is not short.

I just tought that maybe only with the work out it could be enough to drop my bacon but it isnt.

Weightin only 205 my friend you are blessed believe me.

Manny

 

[mj_lover]

very day for 3 months is just a bad idea, your body needs rest, I'm assuming here that you like a solid workout, judging by what I've read.
take a day or 2 off/easy, focus on nutrition, and alternate, 2 days hard, 1 day easy, and always watch the food intake, it will mess your body up fast if your not carefull (stress, lack of nutrients, etc)
hope that made sense

 

[ATC]

First let me tell you I envy you, believe me, I'm 6 feet tall but sadly 260-265 punds and as you are I'm in my 40's, for me it¡'s very dificult to drop weight, I am training 4 night per week and it's the only time I have to do it, and yes, like you do my food intake is not short.

I just tought that maybe only with the work out it could be enough to drop my bacon but it isnt.

Weightin only 205 my friend you are blessed believe me.

Manny

Thanks Manny, My build is slinder by nature but and I only recently got over 200 pounds. I find it harder and harder to keep my weight down. Now that I am at 205 I need to do something now before it becomes 210, 220, or even higher. Food is so good but I have to be strong and resist over eating.

 

[bluekey88]

Been there. Done that. Have the t-shirt and commemorative coffee mug.

For me, the problem can be two-fold. Over training...I'm trying to get strong, cut weight, do my training, get to work, see my family, sleep, eat, etc. It can be too much. I actually schedule back-off weeks in my training every 4-6 weeks. During that week I stop all weivght training, back off the cardio to about 50% and only keep my MA training at the uaul levels.

Not only that, bu I listen to my body. If I'm hurting too much, or I'm feelign really tired, sick or run-down. I don't train and I don't beat myself up about it. Listen to th ebody and it will reward you, ignore it and you're in for an injury.

The other issue I struggle with is the mental aspect (somewhat tied into th ephyscial training). Somedays I jsut ge bored....burned out, fed up, wanna do something else, it's too cold, too hot, etc. with training.

I've ridden through enough of these slumps that I jsut try to make it to the gym, the dojang, etc. I might schedule a back off week in there just because the depression muight be due ot over-training and not just my geneal mental cycle. The most improtant thing is I fight to not stop everything. I will not be a couch potato again...keep some momentum goign, if even just a little bit.

I always make sure I have some sort of specifric trainign goal. Something to work towards. I also change these up regulalry (hopefully as I acheive them). That helps to focus me. I struggle with training for training's sake.

As to what I'm doing training-wise:

i work out/condition 6 days a week for about 30 minutes a session. 1 day is straight free wight training 9sometimes 2 days). Another 2-3 days is kettlebell work (never overlapping). Each of those sessions is preceded by a breif warmup with bodyweight excercises following the Convict Conditioning protocols (working on my pistols and pullups primarily). There's a coupls sessions of runnign in there as well. through this I wave the intensity of nmy various workouts so some days are heavier than others and I always have at least 1 or 2 complerte rest days.

For diet, I try to eat clean...but I've switched from the 6 mela a day grazing style to intermittnet fasting (look up Eat Stop Eat).

i did this in starting lat December. I had ballooned up to 249 lbs at 6 ft height and about %24 body fat. Since then, I'm down to approx 234 lbs and 20.1% bf (haven't lost anything as far as lean muscle mass goes). I posted PR's within the last two wekas in my squat, dead lift, military press. I also have mroe stamina when sparring and my kicks seem faster 9(if not stromger).

Take away message? train smart, with a plan and purpose. Stick with it for a reasonable period of time. Listen to your body and try not to compare yourself too much to others (it never ends well).

Good luck Terry!

Peace,
Erik

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Hey Terry,

Stick with it and modify your work out according to your bodies needs. If you are over training then ease off and if it is more motivation for your own training then find some thing that inspires you. However, keep going as always!

 

[IcemanSK]

The idea that perhaps you are over training is a strong possibility. Yet, I understand & appreciate your situation. Teaching is one thing, training yourself is yet another thing.

Perhaps one thing that is happening is that when you train with your BB's, they are expecting you to take the lead (as they do in class) & don't feel ok pushing the pace, or pushing you. It may not even be a conscious thing for them. But they may feel, "I can't push Master Stoker more than he's going. He's SBN."

Perhaps finding training partners from outside your school.

Just a thought. I'm in your corner as always.

 

[searcher]

Time to hire a personal trainer Terry. PTs will make you have the intensity.

Or you could locate a CrossFit gym in your area and give it a go for a month or two.

 

[granfire]

three letters:

DDR

 

[terryl965]

Thank you all for the advice, I am looking for a PT in the AM hours.

Granfire I am sorry I do not understand the DDR thing maybe I am tired or just stupid.

 

[Manny]

Thanks Manny, My build is slinder by nature but and I only recently got over 200 pounds. I find it harder and harder to keep my weight down. Now that I am at 205 I need to do something now before it becomes 210, 220, or even higher. Food is so good but I have to be strong and resist over eating.

ATC Please read this and take note. When I was a teen 16-17 my weight was 165 pounds, I was a slender kid, I really like food and the real one, when I was in the last year of college my weight was about 210 so I did the Dr.Atkins diet and went down to 185 pounds, oh boy those were horrible days but I reached a good weight, sadly I drop the diet and went 210 that was my weight when I married. The rest you know it I droped TKD for almost 15 years and now I am 260 and believe with age lossing weight is harder and harder.

So please take care of yourself, maybe going to 165-170 can be too much for you but I think 10-15 pounds are not so dificult to you, go ahead and try your best.

I will love to get about 220 pounds, that's 40 punds my friend it's goping to be dificult but be again around 200 pounds I think is almost imposible.

Manny

 

[granfire]

Thank you all for the advice, I am looking for a PT in the AM hours.

Granfire I am sorry I do not understand the DDR thing maybe I am tired or just stupid.

LOL, no, I was being a smarty Pants

Dance Dance Revolution, video game with matching dance mat.
But you can just put your favorite music on and dance.

 

[Carol]

Hey Terry,

Its natural to have life get you down, it gets everyone down. Its not natural to be in a deep depression for a few months.

Put work and everything aside and take a walk in outside for 30 minutes or so each day. Even if it is cold enough to wear a coat, the sun exposure on face and hands can add a lot to the body's uptake of Vitamin D....which will improve your mood. Give it a few weeks and it will improve your mood even more.

Also, talk to your doctor about this. Depression is a real medical issue, it can happen even when nothing is bothering you. It is also a warning sign for other medical problems, such as medication side effects or a Vitamin D deficiency.

Hang in there my friend and take care of yourself, we care about you.

 

[terryl965]

Thanks Carol, well this was the first week I did not loose a pound matter of fact I gained three pounds back and no it was not do to muscle build up. It was due to fallen off the wagon and having probaly 10 Dr. Peppers and a couple of bags of chips, well back to the damm workouts and making sure no more soda or chips until I am at 185.

That is all you may continue with your regular schedule events..

 

[dortiz]

Terry,
two things have worked for me. First let me say everyone on FB who has seen my constant pics of meals and treats can testify that I am a foodie. I come from Restaraunt background that included some world class fine dining. Its in my blood.
At the same time two things have saved me recently.
1. a quote from some model " Nothing tastes as good as Skinny"
2. I started teaching Hapkido 1 day a week at bmy sons TKD school since their teacher left to help keep the rpogram alive. About 5 years ago I trained there alot and since then went from 180 to 205. The Master there calls me fatty in front of everyone every time he sees me. It bad but guess what. Since then I have been on the tread mill 3 days a week.

Besides that I do three sets of push up and crunches every day. I then go to classes and try to get some weights in 1-2 times a week.

Diet! its everything. less and better stuff. For me its a power Bar for breakfast. Almonds or Citrus for snack. Lunch, 1 can spinach/half portion of tofu and half a jar of Classico Sauce (less cals 60 per serving and 10 fat). Some jars are three time that. More light snacks and then Vegies for dinner. Usually Asparagus or broccoli and some Turkey or Chicken.
I then only drink water or tons of Green tea. Once a week I do Guac and Sarines for good oils ona couple of Brushetta Toasts.

Feb 18th and I am at 183.

Every time I say just one soda or treat I remeber "Nothing tastes as good as skinny" or "Fatty" then go do some push up and drink lots of tea.

Keep at it amigo and find what works for you. Me. I am happliy aming for 178 : )

Dave O.

 

[CDKJudoka]

LOL, no, I was being a smarty Pants

Dance Dance Revolution, video game with matching dance mat.
But you can just put your favorite music on and dance.

Wii Fit!! Or pick up the P90X dvds. One of our BBs did this for 90 days and has a renewed vigor and intensity about him. He dropped 15 lbs and i have a hard time taking him, and I am 20 years younger than he is, and a lot stronger.

 

[StudentCarl]

Hi Terry,
Since we train mind, body and spirit, it makes sense that plateaus in training can come from any of the three. Sometimes our training is out of balance and doesn't focus enough on one of these areas. I suggest some quiet thinking or meditation on what needs rebalancing. I replied on the other training thread with a couple of ideas to stimulate your mind. Lots of good ideas above. It's good to have such support and wisdom here.

Carl

 

[robertlk808]

Wii Fit!! Or pick up the P90X dvds. One of our BBs did this for 90 days and has a renewed vigor and intensity about him. He dropped 15 lbs and i have a hard time taking him, and I am 20 years younger than he is, and a lot stronger.

If he liked P90X then you guys might be interested in the Insanity program which is put out by the same company. I'm going to do a shameless plug here and provide a link to my blog -

http://warriorfitness.islandwarrior.com/?p=50

Personally I'm using the program to help get ready for an event in September and so far I can tell a difference in my sparring. This is a pretty intense program and I really dig it.

Aloha,
Robert