runnergirl's fitness log

[runnergirl07]

Hey guys!

Been on here for like a month and although I don't post much I figured I'd start out with my own fitness journal, so here it is.

I'll try to update this log whenever it's not too busy, I feel the need to keep track of things - my workout and diet. Lol

So for my stats:
Female, 5'7" and 164lbs as of 11/01
Body fat is around 29% most likely but I need get that checked again

My usual workout routines include running and strength training. Diet, well I eat clean as much as possible, prep my own meals. For supplements, nothing at the moment. Took some a few years back but I stopped. Still looking for the right stuff I guess..

So yeah, just posting this up on here and hopefully I get to update this soon!

Thanks all for the time!

 

[Kaido]

Considered doing macros at all?

 

[runnergirl07]

Been awfully busy, but here's a log from today's workout:

30 minute run on treadmill
8x3 10lb bent over barbell rows
8x3 10lbs shoulder overhead press
8x3 20lb triceps pushdown
8x3 bench dips
10x3 10lb dumbbell alt bicep curls
10x3 10lb pushup rows
10x3 10lb triceps kickbacks
10 minute walk on treadmill (cool down)

No pre/post workout yet. However I did my research and found these products interesting:

For pre: http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/muscletech/nanox9-next-gen.html
For post: https://supplementreviews.com/maxler-sports-nutrition/problend-1

Of course, I'm still looking up and reading a looot to make sure I buy the products that will work best, but for now these two above made the ut for me. What do you guys think? Any thoughts on this? Has anybody ever used this before or something similar? How did it work for you guys? I do appreciate your insight on this, I'm really quite a nood, supplement-wise. So I do need all sorts of advice I can get.

Thanks so much!

 

[runnergirl07]

Considered doing macros at all?

I do

 

[mike8675309]

What are your goals? Generally pre and post workouts are unnecessary. The advantages are quite low for the cost and much can be achieved through what you eat and when.
That said, supplements can provide some benefit. And if you feel you need and have the money then look closely at the ingredients to make sure you only get what you need.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghFWUVgIa80

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIHTqd5GZ50

 

[Kaido]

I do

Way ahead of the game then!

 

[deadlyapp]

I would avoid any supplements as they make up a very tiny portion of overall fitness. The only things you should think about taking are creatine and whey protein, anything more than that is really unnecessary in most cases. If you have issues with energy or focus during your workout, then a good preworkout can help - stick to the ones with caffeine (even small amounts) as there is more data on them. Most of them will have an energy blend (caffeine and beta-alanine usually), a BCAA blend, and sometimes a vascular blend (arginine, citruline) which have questionable benefit but can give you a visible pump.

I question your strength sets. 8x3 at what appears to be very low weight will not benefit you much. If it's 3 x 8 (3 sets of 8 reps) then it's a bit different, and everyone has different goals, but you should think about it a bit more. What is your goal? Building more muscle? Toning existing muscle? Strictly benefiting your running (if that is your focus)?

 

[Carson Dyle]

My #1 goal in exercise these days (as I get older, like we all do) and best advice I can give is: avoid injury. If you go out and overdo it, or do something dumb, it can be a big setback if you're sidelined for weeks or months.

I wouldn't get too caught up in the supplements racket. Just eat well. Watch your macros and calories and your weight will come down gradually. Don't be looking to "drop 10 pounds for Christmas" or "lose 20 pounds for the wedding". That's just getting on an endless merry-go-round.

If you can afford it, work with a trainer for a couple of months. Doesn't have to be every workout, but you'll learn a lot that you can use when working out on your own. A training partner can also be invaluable. When you don't feel like working out at 5AM some morning, but they're all gung-ho, it can be a huge boost. And you'll be there for them when the moods are reversed.

 

[runnergirl07]

What are your goals? Generally pre and post workouts are unnecessary. The advantages are quite low for the cost and much can be achieved through what you eat and when.
That said, supplements can provide some benefit. And if you feel you need and have the money then look closely at the ingredients to make sure you only get what you need.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghFWUVgIa80

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIHTqd5GZ50

My goal at the moment is to drop bodyweight and body fat. I feel like it's been really slow lately, no matter how hard I try to keep my diet clean and hit the gym at least 4 times a week. Additionally, my gp prescribed me some sort of multivit that was supposedly going to help correct my sleep. It did make me sleep but I noticed after two weeks of taking them, I gained about 10lbs. Not sure if it's water weight or what though. I'm getting frustrated. So I thought maybe the supplements can help me shed off fat and weight faster.

 

[runnergirl07]

I would avoid any supplements as they make up a very tiny portion of overall fitness. The only things you should think about taking are creatine and whey protein, anything more than that is really unnecessary in most cases. If you have issues with energy or focus during your workout, then a good preworkout can help - stick to the ones with caffeine (even small amounts) as there is more data on them. Most of them will have an energy blend (caffeine and beta-alanine usually), a BCAA blend, and sometimes a vascular blend (arginine, citruline) which have questionable benefit but can give you a visible pump.

I question your strength sets. 8x3 at what appears to be very low weight will not benefit you much. If it's 3 x 8 (3 sets of 8 reps) then it's a bit different, and everyone has different goals, but you should think about it a bit more. What is your goal? Building more muscle? Toning existing muscle? Strictly benefiting your running (if that is your focus)?

I meant 8 reps by 3 sets, yes I was told I needed to increase my sets and reps so I'm working on that right now. I don't focus much on strength training though as I've been focusing more on my running, correct. But like I said in my prev post I gained weight all of a sudden so I panicked a little and thought of supps. I saw a liquid L carnitine at GNC, not sure if that'll help but I wrote that one down in my choices of pre workouts. What do you think though? You haven't mentioned it in your suggestions so I spose it's something unnecessary? And for the supps with caffeine, I tend to stay away from them as I am still breastfeeding my two year old. Maybe once I'm done with it I can take them. Or I'll ask my OB if I can do it now, even at minimal amounts..

 

[runnergirl07]

My #1 goal in exercise these days (as I get older, like we all do) and best advice I can give is: avoid injury. If you go out and overdo it, or do something dumb, it can be a big setback if you're sidelined for weeks or months.

I wouldn't get too caught up in the supplements racket. Just eat well. Watch your macros and calories and your weight will come down gradually. Don't be looking to "drop 10 pounds for Christmas" or "lose 20 pounds for the wedding". That's just getting on an endless merry-go-round.

If you can afford it, work with a trainer for a couple of months. Doesn't have to be every workout, but you'll learn a lot that you can use when working out on your own. A training partner can also be invaluable. When you don't feel like working out at 5AM some morning, but they're all gung-ho, it can be a huge boost. And you'll be there for them when the moods are reversed.

I'll write your opinions down, thanks so much for your input. I do appreciate it!

 

[blackdogdeek]

Have you read the fat-loss thread that is stickied at the top of this forum?

 

[mike8675309]

My goal at the moment is to drop bodyweight and body fat. I feel like it's been really slow lately, no matter how hard I try to keep my diet clean and hit the gym at least 4 times a week. Additionally, my gp prescribed me some sort of multivit that was supposedly going to help correct my sleep. It did make me sleep but I noticed after two weeks of taking them, I gained about 10lbs. Not sure if it's water weight or what though. I'm getting frustrated. So I thought maybe the supplements can help me shed off fat and weight faster.

Macro Control will be your savior. Get a sense of the calories you need with your BMR and make small adjustments to fine tune what amount of dietary calorie intake is necessary to maintain your weight and then reduce that by small amounts. This type of real lasting fat loss takes time but it helps to keep your body from fighting you. You don't want to be stressing your body so much that you start having hormone issues and loose your menstrual cycle. If that happens you can put yourself at risk for bone density problems due to the hormone imbalance.

As far as a multi-vitamin. Find out from your GP what vitamins they feel you are lacking and start eating some whole foods to replace the supplement. Eating the vitamins is much more effective.

I meant 8 reps by 3 sets, yes I was told I needed to increase my sets and reps so I'm working on that right now. I don't focus much on strength training though as I've been focusing more on my running, correct. But like I said in my prev post I gained weight all of a sudden so I panicked a little and thought of supps. I saw a liquid L carnitine at GNC, not sure if that'll help but I wrote that one down in my choices of pre workouts. What do you think though? You haven't mentioned it in your suggestions so I spose it's something unnecessary? And for the supps with caffeine, I tend to stay away from them as I am still breastfeeding my two year old. Maybe once I'm done with it I can take them. Or I'll ask my OB if I can do it now, even at minimal amounts..

Stay away from caffeine. Caffeine is added to pre-workouts as a stimulant. It's main benefit is to allow you to crank out 1 or 2 more reps from a set. You're not body building, and your focus is on fat loss, so those extra 2 reps are not needed.

Personally I would stay away from Whey proteins if you find you need more protein in your diet, there are plant based proteins that avoid the extra IGF-1 found in whey proteins and they are nearly as cheap. Again about 1gram per lb of lean body weight (your target weight, not your overweight weight) is the recommended daily amount of protein and unless you are training more than 3 or 4 times a week that should be plenty. Again this is assuming you are not trying to build significant muscle mass. If you want to just add size, that requires a different approach.

8 reps for 3 sets is generally just fine. Ideally the last two reps for a set should be getting difficult. It is o.k if even for the 3rd set you have to drop weight to complete the set (but complete the set). I personally super-set my workouts so I generally just do 3 sets for each exercise or a total of 6 sets of workout in a relatively short period of time. But I have sense of my max 1 rep so I adjust my weights in my sets with that in mind.

To gain muscle and thus strength you need to make sure your workouts are within 30% of your 1 Rep Max. If you use 30% then you will be with lower weights and can do more sets. If you use 10% then you'll be doing less reps and possibly less sets. You can decide what you have time for and what you feel good doing, but anywhere in that 30% of your 1 rep max will allow you to build muscle.

BlueBlairyFitness channel has some good videos of her struggles as she was trying to get in shape for fitness competitions. Go back a year on her videos and you may see her asking the same questions you are. Then you can see her progression and challenges she faced.
https://www.youtube.com/user/blairbailey11/videos

 

[runnergirl07]

Macro Control will be your savior. Get a sense of the calories you need with your BMR and make small adjustments to fine tune what amount of dietary calorie intake is necessary to maintain your weight and then reduce that by small amounts. This type of real lasting fat loss takes time but it helps to keep your body from fighting you. You don't want to be stressing your body so much that you start having hormone issues and loose your menstrual cycle. If that happens you can put yourself at risk for bone density problems due to the hormone imbalance.

As far as a multi-vitamin. Find out from your GP what vitamins they feel you are lacking and start eating some whole foods to replace the supplement. Eating the vitamins is much more effective.



Stay away from caffeine. Caffeine is added to pre-workouts as a stimulant. It's main benefit is to allow you to crank out 1 or 2 more reps from a set. You're not body building, and your focus is on fat loss, so those extra 2 reps are not needed.

Personally I would stay away from Whey proteins if you find you need more protein in your diet, there are plant based proteins that avoid the extra IGF-1 found in whey proteins and they are nearly as cheap. Again about 1gram per lb of lean body weight (your target weight, not your overweight weight) is the recommended daily amount of protein and unless you are training more than 3 or 4 times a week that should be plenty. Again this is assuming you are not trying to build significant muscle mass. If you want to just add size, that requires a different approach.

8 reps for 3 sets is generally just fine. Ideally the last two reps for a set should be getting difficult. It is o.k if even for the 3rd set you have to drop weight to complete the set (but complete the set). I personally super-set my workouts so I generally just do 3 sets for each exercise or a total of 6 sets of workout in a relatively short period of time. But I have sense of my max 1 rep so I adjust my weights in my sets with that in mind.

To gain muscle and thus strength you need to make sure your workouts are within 30% of your 1 Rep Max. If you use 30% then you will be with lower weights and can do more sets. If you use 10% then you'll be doing less reps and possibly less sets. You can decide what you have time for and what you feel good doing, but anywhere in that 30% of your 1 rep max will allow you to build muscle.

BlueBlairyFitness channel has some good videos of her struggles as she was trying to get in shape for fitness competitions. Go back a year on her videos and you may see her asking the same questions you are. Then you can see her progression and challenges she faced.
https://www.youtube.com/user/blairbailey11/videos

Wow.. thank you. I do appreciate everything that you share with me, and thank you for taking the time to type this all down (quite a very long response, I do appreciate it!)

Whats the extra IGF-1 that is found in whey proteins? Will it not be good for me (knowing that my goal is more of fat loss)?

I might need to do another computation on my macros. I did them before, but I haven't been lately. And I will check that YouTube channel out. Again, thank you for shedding some light!

 

[runnergirl07]

Have you read the fat-loss thread that is stickied at the top of this forum?

No, I haven't, sorry. I got too lazy to go back on some threads, been very busy too. But I will when I get the extra time. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[mike8675309]

Wow.. thank you. I do appreciate everything that you share with me, and thank you for taking the time to type this all down (quite a very long response, I do appreciate it!)

Whats the extra IGF-1 that is found in whey proteins? Will it not be good for me (knowing that my goal is more of fat loss)?

I might need to do another computation on my macros. I did them before, but I haven't been lately. And I will check that YouTube channel out. Again, thank you for shedding some light!

I wasn't very clear, but dietary protein intakes trigger a response in our liver to produce IGF-1 a growth hormone. Animal based proteins like Whey (dairy) generate a large response from the liver (greater than plant based proteins) possibly leading to excess circulating IGF-1. IGF-1 is needed to signal cells to do something with the dietary intakes to build muscle, rebuild various cells. The risk though for excess IGF-1 is that it doesn't only signal good cell growth, it can also signal cancer cell growth, something we like to avoid.

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/1999/04/growth-factor-raises-cancer-risk/

http://nutritionfacts.org/video/igf-1-as-one-stop-cancer-shop/

The point is, that excess animal proteins in the body promote excess IGF-1 production which increases a person's risk for various cancers including some of the most common (Breast, Colon).

Because of that I recommend avoiding whey protein supplements because there are plenty of plant based protein supplements available.

 

[runnergirl07]

I wasn't very clear, but dietary protein intakes trigger a response in our liver to produce IGF-1 a growth hormone. Animal based proteins like Whey (dairy) generate a large response from the liver (greater than plant based proteins) possibly leading to excess circulating IGF-1. IGF-1 is needed to signal cells to do something with the dietary intakes to build muscle, rebuild various cells. The risk though for excess IGF-1 is that it doesn't only signal good cell growth, it can also signal cancer cell growth, something we like to avoid.

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/1999/04/growth-factor-raises-cancer-risk/

http://nutritionfacts.org/video/igf-1-as-one-stop-cancer-shop/

The point is, that excess animal proteins in the body promote excess IGF-1 production which increases a person's risk for various cancers including some of the most common (Breast, Colon).

Because of that I recommend avoiding whey protein supplements because there are plenty of plant based protein supplements available.

Wow, I came in surprised upon reading this. My family has history of cancer, and I'm very prone to it myself. It's in my genes. So, thank you. I didn't realize it can trigger cancer cell growth. You're a life saver. Those are really good reads too, learn a lot from them. Thank you for sharing.

 

[mike8675309]

Wow, I came in surprised upon reading this. My family has history of cancer, and I'm very prone to it myself. It's in my genes. So, thank you. I didn't realize it can trigger cancer cell growth. You're a life saver. Those are really good reads too, learn a lot from them. Thank you for sharing.

Much of the research around the risks of excess IGF-1 hormone were reported in 2011 and 2012 as part of a number of studies going on to understand why people who live to 100 achieve that while others do not. Especially in regions of the world where long lived people are the norm, unlike the USA. One major difference was seen in their diet. Thus a lot of dietary research being done in the last 20 years.
Further studies are ongoing but when the options to avoid excess animal proteins is an essentially simple one, why take the chance? At least that is how I approach it.

 

[runnergirl07]

Much of the research around the risks of excess IGF-1 hormone were reported in 2011 and 2012 as part of a number of studies going on to understand why people who live to 100 achieve that while others do not. Especially in regions of the world where long lived people are the norm, unlike the USA. One major difference was seen in their diet. Thus a lot of dietary research being done in the last 20 years.
Further studies are ongoing but when the options to avoid excess animal proteins is an essentially simple one, why take the chance? At least that is how I approach it.

And I'll start doing the same, thank you!

 

[runnergirl07]

30 reps 2lb shoulder dumbbell press

20 reps 4lb shoulder dumbbell press

15 reps 5lb shoulder dumbbell press



30 reps 2lb alt shoulder dumbbell press

20 reps 4lb alt shoulder dumbbell press

15 reps 5lb alt shoulder dumbbell press



15x5 box jump burpees

10x2 15lb kettlebell squat

 

[runnergirl07]

Okay glad that the holidays are over, been terribly busy. Skipped a few workouts... boo. But its good to be back!

So here is today's workout:

15 minutes stationary bike

10 burpees x 15 jumping jacks x 20 ventral jacks x 25 half burpees x 10 jump squats

set of 5


So for a preworkout, I bought a liquid L carnitine and I'm only 2 days into trying it. I got the one from GNC: http://www.gnc.com/GNC-Total-Lean-L...-Tea-with-Lemon/product.jsp?productId=4452496

Heard that the prices are ridiculous at GNC, lol, but the one I purchased is only $17 dollars, enough for 30 days, so I guess it's not so bad. I'll see how it works. Hopefully it helps in melting down the fat fast. I'll keep you all posted.

 

[runnergirl07]

Legs today:

3x15 30lb kettlebell squat
3x15 30lb sumo kettlebell squat
3x15 30lb closed leg kettlebell squat
3x15 20lb lunges
3x15 45lb leg curls
3x15 squat jumps
15 mins stationary bike

 

[runnergirl07]

Just logging today's workout on here, changed my routine a bit:



10 minutes stationary bike

15x40lb barbell deadlifts
12x40lb
10x40lb

15x50lb rowing machine
12x50lb
10x50lb

15x50lb reverse grip rowing
12x50lb
10x50lb

15x15lb single arm dumbbell row
12x15lb
10x15lb

15x40lb barbell row
12x40lb
10x40lb

 

[runnergirl07]

350 counts jump rope

5 sets:
15 20lb kettlebell swing
45 second 50lb kettlebell farmer's walk



3x15 10lbs dumbbell bench press
3x15 10lbs inclined dumbbell bench press
3x15 10lbs inclined dumbbell flys
1x10 10lbs dumbbell flys
2x15 5lbs dumbbell flys

3x15 30lb pec deck



120 counts jump rope

 

[runnergirl07]

5 mins stationary bike
300 counts jump rope
60 burpees

4x15 dumbbell hammer curls
4x15 dumbbell curls
4x15 alt hammer curls
4x15 alt dumbbell curls
3x15 overhead triceps extension

weights are at 2lb - 5lba

abdominals:
3x15 leg raise
3x15 sit ups
3x15 cross legs
3x15 flutter kicks