Starting a new bodybuilding program!

Hello everyone! I have been lurking here for some time, reading everyones daily posts have been very motivating for me. I have to admit, I have been very reluctant to begin lifting weights after having a bod pod done and finding out that out of my 245 pounds, I have close to 170 pounds of muscle! And I do not want another ounce of muscle!!!!!! However, I am beginning to look like a deflated balloon, so......I realize that bodybuilding isn't only about gaining muscle, it is also about shaping the muscle you already have. I am looking to give my body a long and lean appearance, especially my legs since they are short, even though I am 5 feet 10 inches tall! My height seems to be from having a long waist, which I plan on shaping up as well! Right now I have a spare tire that I am working on burning off with 6 day a week cardio sessions on the elliptical trainer and treadmill. I will start posting my workouts right now!!! I am very glad to be here!!! I have real problems with weekend overeating so I hang out in the gym on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday afternoons. Friday afternoon I spent 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer, 15 minutes on the stationary bike, and 15 minutes on the treadmill. After that, I played around a little on the resistance machines to get a feel for them...it's been a long time since my jock days of lifting free weights and doing the rounds on the machines, I'm looking forward to this! Saturday I did an hour on the elliptical, a few laps around the walking track and 30 minutes on free weights. Tricep pulldowns 1 set 15 reps 25 pounds seated rows 1 set 15 reps 25 pounds wide grip pulldowns 1 set 20 reps 25 pounds upright row 1 set 20 reps 10 pounds Havent decided todays workout yet, cardio for sure, we'll see about the rest. Have a great day!

Hiya Misha - So glad you posted! Sounds like you are doing a good job at the gym already. You mentioned jock days? What sports did you play? Keep in mind to gain muscle you really need to eat a lot of food. What is your diet like right now? How many calories are you eating? What are you eating? It just isn't that easy to gain muscle especially for WLS patients. I'm confused on those body pod results.. if you really do have 170lbs of lean muscle then why would you be lifting such light weights - unless your just lifting light because of the fear of gaining more muscle. I would really take a hard look at your diet and not worry about gaining more muscle via resistance training. For a resistance training program you might want to see how full body workouts do as opposed to just exercising a certain muscle group. Try to see how interval training feels and keeping your heart rate up a little higher when you lift. Also, try not to focus too much on the numbers of that body pod result and go more with how you look and feel. Looking forward to your posts!!

Hi Stayce! The bod pod is something we all had to do before surgery in order to give the surgeons an idea of how much fat versus muscle mass we had and then after a year post op, I am guessing in order to measure progress. It also makes for a more realistic goal weight. I wanted to weigh 160 until I got those results back! Now I am looking at around 200 pounds as a goal weight. If you go to bodpod.com you will see the device in action. I lift light weights because I do not want to gain any more muscle, I just want to give myself a longer and leaner appearance. I need to tone up my arms, my thighs have alot of jiggle they never had before, and my tummy has alot of loose flesh that I want to get rid of, hence the cardio. My diet leaves much to be desired...*sigh* I eat a little more than I should, and have grown weary of gaining and losing the same 5 pounds, but have gotten better at this, dumping most of the sugar and carbs out of my diet. I eat a little extra carb before working out, but my real problem is sugar, namely chocolate. I can eat it in small bits, and I find when I am bored at work, I begin nibbling. A week of nibbling can add up as we all know! So I pack a good lunch along with a baggie of veggies to nibble on during the boring times. These days, my diet consists mostly of meats and veggies....red meat for the most part, I cannot seem to tolerate chicken. I take my vitamins most days and drink at least one protein shake a day. I also aim for a gallon of water a day, and I drink alot of decaf coffee. I am going to try interval training, perhaps if I can keep my heart rate up I won't have to spend quite as much time pedalling every day. And I used to do discus and shot put in high school, but weight lifting was my real passion in those days!

Welcome Misha!!!!

Hi Tami!!!! Thanks for the welcome.

I think you are going the right route, 60+/- THR on the eliptical will do wonders, welcome aboard.