Jump to content

Advice/Help sought. Second time around


Recommended Posts

I've just turned 55. 4 years ago I made the transition from 2 times a day meat eater, binge chocolate eater and dairy drinker weighing 168 pounds and with a cholesterol count of 235 to completely plant strong. I was cycling 2/3 times a week, competing in duathlons, rock climbing indoors 2/3 times a week and feeling great. My cholesterol went down to 134, weight went down to 153lbs (I was always skiing as a kid and into any form of exercise possible but felt the years were catching up on me).

 

Then, a little over 2.5 years ago I had a difficult time at work, My wife was pregnant and and after the birth of our little son my wife and I had an exhausting time looking after our new arrival with us both working and neither of us with any family here in the states made things very hard for us.

 

Needless to say, my diet went from great to terrible, I managed to stay away from meat for the most part but I was back at Starbucks for my vente dairy drinks with chocolate brownies, veggie burgers with french fries from burger king and absolutely no exercise. NOTHING, NADA ZERO. I think I went out on my bike once in the past two years which for me is embarrassing.

 

Now, i am determined to get back on the diet again and start exercising on a regular basis. My main problem is that i have told that I have no cartilage left in my right knee and will probably need a new right knee sometime in the future. My father had this problem, my sister has had both her knees replaced so it may be hereditary. My doctor told me to try and build my strength up as much as possible before he does anything else. It is very painful and running more than 10ft is out of the question, it is literally bone on bone.

 

My bike has been serviced and is ready to go. I plan to hit the gym at least 3 days a week for maybe some elliptical work and hit the weights.

 

I need some help with a good starting program. I know all my upper body strength has vanished. I noticed that when I went climbing one day and i tried to pull myself over a lip, there was nothing there. So I need upper body work and also for my knee or at least the areas around my knee. My weight is back up to 172lbs and i want to lose at least 10l - 15lbs

 

My diet consists of

 

oats

fruits

avacados

nuts

quinoa/brown rice with beans

green juices/smoothies

large salads

 

Any help on a good starting program would be very much appreciated

 

Thank you

 

Martin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good place to start IMO, would be initially with basic body weight exercises, especially if its been a while since you've seriously trained. Simple list would include:

 

- push-ups...work in all 5 kinds...standard, wide, diamond, military (these are hard!), and decline. Maybe start out with a goal, say 10 of each kind, but do something else in between.

- plank: very good for your core and back, works shoulders too and such

- body-weight squats...again, I can think of 3 kinds or more kinds...normal (feet shoulder width apart), squat down like you're going to sit on a wooden chair -- in fact, having a chair that you can use helps with good form, just as the backs of your legs or your bum touches the chair stand back up again. And you do a wider stance, or do some with your toes pointed out, then some in pigeon toed...

-chair dips...

- calf raises if you like

- pull ups if you have access to a bar...or you can order some fitness bands that hang over a closed door....many kinds, standard, reverse grip, wide, narrow, etc.....

 

Write down the sequence of exercises you do, and keep a jounral/log of the number of reps you can do. You can also rotate through these in like 3 cycles.

 

Form is important at the beginning to avoid injury.

 

Then in a couple weeks you can get some free-weights (dumbells that come in like 40lbs set at Walmart)...can start working in shoulder press, curls, triceps exercises, and more....

 

does that help get you started?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...

You can lift weights and plates to build up your upper body.

I suggest lift 5 times, and rest for one minutes, and do another 5. Totally do it for an hour. These are just for starters. BTW, 8kg per dumbbell at least. Do 6 days and rest for one day.

I believe your can do 3~5 chin up after a month of training.

As for weight loss, cardio is a must. I suggest you get one of qualified exercise bikes as I did. I bought one on crazysales and always do cardio on it. The exercise bike can also make your legs stronger meanwhile dropping your weight.

Your goal is not that hard, bring it and you can do it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...