Exercise Question(s) from a part-time lurker

Hey guys,

I lurk around here from time to time.  Come around for inspiration or motivation once in a while, but mostly keep the stealth mode on.

I had an exercise question (or two) and figured you guys might know 'best' so...

I have recently restarted my journey down (go back to the WLS clinic soon to start all over again) and have been working on getting exercise in while I lose weight.  I walk/jog (mostly walk) a 5k each morning and then do 3 days/week of muscle building exercises.

First Question:  I use the treadmills at work (my job is GREAT, we have 10 gyms scattered across our buildings here) and occasionally, I'll get on a treadmill that will occasionally slip foward 1/2" while I'm walking (and 1-2" while running).  I know this can just mean that the machine needs maintenance -- but is it also because the treadmill can't deal with a big dude stomping on it for 45-50 minutes?

Second Question:  I've tried to go with weight training exercises that are all using my body weight (so I can do them lots of places).  I currently do dips, chin ups, pushups, squats and sit ups.  My goal is to get to the point where I can do a single set of 25 in each without any modification to the exercise (no pushups against the counter, no wt assist on the dips, etc).  Is this set of exercises reasonable and will it help me build muscle while I lose weight, or is the group/sets really inefficient and I could improve it by doing X.

Thanks in advance to anyone who has any input.

-bz

I think body weight exercises are some of the very best we can do!!  Most machines isolate the muscle which is a "good" workout but not as practical as something that uses more muscles in the movement.

The flip side of that, the machine is less likely to hurt you because you lift it 'wrong' (Whole free weights vs machines arguments)

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/army/a/afpt.htm

Personally I think the Army fitness test is a great goal for all of us to work towards.  Pick your age bracket and you have a reasonable goal!!

(Marine Fitness Test below if you want to look at chin ups too!)

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/marines/l/blfitmale.htm

I too would like to be able to do unassisted dips and chin ups!

Good luck!

Sam,

Thanks for the reply.  Amazingly enough, the military fitness tests are where I got most of my exercises from.  My goal is to be able to pass the test for my age group for all armed services.  Figure that is a good goal.

joshua

I myself am I walker.  Occasionally I'll jog a little, like, back in the day when I could, but I'm 100% walking these days.  Good luck on your journey!

Josh, body weight exercises can be very effective.  I train in BJJ, Submission Wrestling and other Martial Arts. One of the biggest benefits I have seen are sport specific warm up drills and .......Yoga.  With the Yoga positions not only help you to become more flexible but they are a work out in themselves. 

The exercises you described can be very effective, I would add some burpies, jogging in place, jumping jacks ect to the mix and try and do the exercises back to back with little rest to keep your heart rate elevated.  You get the benifit of some cardio as well as the strength training portion of the exercise.

I know it may not be fore everybody but I will tell you there is nothing like BJJ or Wrestling for a full body workout...and it is just plane fun.

With that being said I supplement my training with mountain biking for some solid cardio twice or more a week.  Right now the weather is not permitting me to ride so I up the intensity on the mat.

One of my biggest pet peeves in life is slipping treadmills.  When I am in the 250-260 range, I can run 1/4 mile repeats at 8-9 mph.  Let me tell you that your heart skips a beat when it slips at that speed.  Even at a moderate run of 6 mph or so, it scares the crap out of me.  Anyway, I have two gyms to choose from and I drive 15 miles more round trip to use the gym with the solid new treadmills.  I have tried every TM at the closer gym and each the fourth one from the left in the back row is not bad but I still run scared.  My advice it to use them all and try t get them to slip at a slow speed to see which are better.  Good luck.
 

Swimming is my bread and butter. I've been swimming once a week for 17 years (all strokes except usually, butterfly). Weights have been pretty regular too, but lately once a week. Last month I got back into Bikram Hot Yoga, after taking a break from 4 years of Karate. HIIT and sprints are a regular too (bike, recommended) and can be completed in about 12 minutes. Very effective. We have a skate-style Nordic (cross-country) ski area close by, too. And depending on the winter, I might do a lot of that. I've only been three times this year, though.