Short post this week, because I’ve been traveling and didn’t get far enough ahead on these posts before I left.
The single biggest factor that makes fitness advice a clusterfuck is the fact that different people react differently to the same exact plan.
On a macro (big picture, not macronutrient) level, there are three body types that affect your reaction to fitness plans.
Ectomorph – Ectomorphs are lean and have difficulty building muscle. The word that comes to mind is “scrawny”.
Endomorph – Endomorphs store fat easily and lose it slowly. They’re the big hosses with barrel chests.
Mesomorph – Mesomorphs build muscle easily and have a naturally high metabolism. These are the folks who can get “ripped” easily.
In summarizing a bunch of research that I read, the consensus is that you’re not locked into one category or another. You can be a blend of more than one category, and you can move between categories depending on age, fitness level, and other factors.
For example, when I’m regularly working out 4 or 5 days per week, I keep some of my endomorph tendency to retain fat, but I build muscle easily and do not store additional fat. When I stop working out, I quickly lose my muscle mass and store fat if I even look at food.
What does this have to do with personalizing your plan? It gives you more information about what to do and not do during your fitness plan. Using myself as an example, I’m sensitive to carbs, so my diet plan involves reducing my consumption of sugars and grains. When I keep my total carbs below 75g per day, I tend to lose 1-2lbs per week. Similarly, I know that when I plateau while doing my cardio on an elliptical, a stair stepper will usually break that plateau.
Since it’s a quick week, no recipe or exercise. See y’all next week!
I can’t gain weight, I can’t change my body type, I eat like a pig and drink like a fish,
go figure……
Gaining weight is easy, gaining muscle is harder. Cleveland Beer Week makes dropping money easy, and gaining weight even easier. For the most part holding steady this week.
I stay away from Bread, but the Beer makes up for some carbs, lot’s of protein, but still 138 lb.
same as when i was 20 years old
Fuck, when I was in high school I had that metabolism, and was stuck at 120. Now, you can invert those first two digits and you’ll be closer to my current weight. I hope to get back to a decent adult weight (for me) of ~160. Doing it 20 pounds at a time helps to prevent burn out and keep the goals manageable.
#MeToo
When I entered basic training, I was a svelte 120 lbs. 5 years later, I was 137.
Im happy Ive managed to cut 20 or so in the past 2 months, but I still need another 10.
The Marines (my dad served there) finally stopped calling me to recruit me when I told them I was 5′ 10″ and weighed 120. This was mid-90’s, before the eternal wars. Then I had my friends who signed up in their early 20’s (in the late 90’s) all trying to convince me to take the ASVAB and enlist with them for the bonuses (I had friends who served in the other three branches). I feel like I made the right decision.
Boo fucking hoo
Seriously – lift weights. Do the big 5 and keep moving your max on 5 reps up. Protein up afterwards.
I like being thin, and I’m too old to give a shit anyway,
Boo Fucking Hoo
Is there a drunkomorph ?
Us?
If you have to ask…
I’ve got some killer legs with thighs & calves that would make yer average bodybuilder weep with hatred. But I also have long monkey arms and building mass there has _always_ been a problem. I can get ’em nice looking – detailed and defined with muscle – but never large “guns”.
Peddling my fat ass around on a bike the past couple years gave me some strong legs. It did nothing for my upper body, but below the waist I can rock the bike shorts.
You’ll just have to supplement by collecting high-quality synthetic guns.
Just drive over to Indiana and we’ll be happy to hook you up. We are conveniently located right next to all 49 of the other states.
Don’t eat or exercise this week, got it.
When I cut out bread, beer and sugar I lose weight. When I add them back I gain weight. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs the last few years. I feel like I’m never just at a stable weight.
I’m about halfway between Endo and Meso. I put both muscle and fat on very easily, and lose both very slowly. If I stick to my diet and stay keto, I can keep the fat off but if I deviate, it comes roaring back in no time and takes three times as long to go away.
The plus side is that once I’ve built up muscle in an area, I have to neglect it literally for months before I start backsliding.
I’m in a similar boat. Though I seem to be stuck at 210. I need to track my intake better I think or actually get some exercise. That’s been the hardest part for me.
I hit 265 on today’s weigh-in, which is one of my milestones. Not really sure how, though, as I didn’t have a good week when it comes to calories. Definitely seeing good changes, and had to buy new jeans because my old ones are way too big now. I’ve been using an app called Sworkit that provides exercise plans, and am in the last week of its “Intermediate Fitness” plan (splits the difference between a focus on weight loss or strength). I could just pick another exercise plan after this one finishes, but I’m feeling a little burnt out with it. Anyone have suggestions for another app I should look at? I liked the HIIT workout from here a couple of weeks ago, so might want to go that direction next.
Weight: 152.2#, HR: unmeasured, but probably mid to high 40s
Today: 13.11 mile pack run, 40# pack, 2:22:44, 130bpm, 10:53 min/mile
weekend was: final two days of Balloon Fiesta; I was a layabout
Late post due to back-to-back (got home from first yesterday afternoon; left for second before 6am today) search and rescue missions.
I survived Balloon Fiesta with only a total gain of 1.2 pounds (10/6: 151.5, 10/15: 152.7). Much of that was indirectly due to the SAR mission I helped with on day 2 (10/7). Seriously, it wasn’t the nine straight days of day drinking. I budgeted for those calories.
This weekend is the White Mesa Fat Ass 50k on Saturday and the Duke City Marathon on Sunday.