We have bodybuilders here that shared their tips and personal experiences.
Thanks guys.

But here we lack of fitness or losing weight people that achieved their goal.
Hope a lot that they share their experiences and tips just as the bodybuilders here.

Well, personally i'm going for fitness, not bodybuilding. My achievements so far are a noted toning of muscles, and much increased power and flexibility. One thing is, i do NOT use gym equipment, relying instead on pushups and various exercises. Working for me so far though i guess i'll have to advance to that level in a year or two to be able to continue progressing. Probably when i can do 1 handed pushups.

i lost quite abit of weight after getting injured and fat, exercise and diet is the key.

doesnt matter if you're going for fat loss, weight gain or just general health and fitness, diet and exercise is where everything is controlled.

i hate when people go "cut out rice and all carbs, no carb high protien" or "eat vege's and fruits only" or "eat 1 meal a day", in all honesty i feel like kicking all of the people who tout that crap like its the sliced bread of weight loss.

you dont have to starve yourself, you dont have to eat funny tasting weight loss food, you dont have to eat unhealthy unbalanced diets to lose weight. a well thought out healthy balanced diet and exercise, thats it, no shortcuts, no expensive crap to lose weight.

the majority of my exercises include running, light weight training, pushups, pull ups, situps(or whatever people call em these days, crunches?), squats and martial arts practice and sparring.

Losing weight is realtively simple. The key is consistency and drive for results. In my case I lost an average of about 2.5 - 3 KG/month just by doing cardio everyday for 1.5 hours on 3 machines at the gym. 25 minutes walk with incline, 25 minutes on steps and 25 minutes on another machine of your choice (e.g bike or rotex etc)

I go everyday except Sundays. Short to say I'm quite pleased with the results, and I didn't need a PT to help me on this. It's about having the right attitude and habit.

In terms of diet, yes it plays a part too. Although I wouldn't say I restricted the stuff I ate when I was on my weight losing spree. But I guess I would have lost more if I did control my diet better..

Hope this helps..

i still think weights will provide faster weight loss than cardio and imo 1.5-3hours of cardio is over doing it, especially if you're simply doing it for weight loss. anyway i think most people dont have the time for such long sessions.

my personal experience was over 20-30lbs of fat loss and approx 5-10lbs of muscle(i was a weak fat boy during my younger days...) weight gained in less than 3 months with a mere 10-15minutes of weights a day, 5 days a week and a less fatty more balanced diet. i dont go all out on healthy meals but i try to keep it balanced and cut out the really ultra uber oily foods.

This post has been edited by malaysianPotato: Jul 2 2006, 10:45 PM

Well, 3 hours is certainly overdoing it. But 1.5 I think is just nice and not too much.. There are really 2 schools of thought in this aspect. Most of the time most PT and individuals familiar with this area would quote cardio as being a better weight loss technique, while weights would certainly help build muscles. Just sharing what I learned from others here..

this is where i disagree with most PTs and individuals then, you said you lost 2.5-3kg per month doing 1.5hour cardio right? thats approx 6-6.5lbs per month of weight loss - 1.5hour cardio for 6 days a week.

i lost 20-30lbs over approx 3 months, say it was 20, over 3 months. thats 6.6lbs per month doing 15 minutes of weights for 5 days a week. the 20-30lbs lost includes the weight gained from muscle increment(i assume its 5-10lbs...i dont really know, my weight would go up then go down and go up abit and go down, i simply counted the ups as muscle weight increment and the downs as fat loss).

so if my 15 minutes of weights for 5 days a week can produce equal amounts of weight loss over a month as 1.5hours cardio for 6 days a week, cant really say cardio is better for weight loss now can we. this ofcourse varies with people as everyone has a different genetic disposition and ofcourse fitness levels when one first starts working out has an effect on this aswell.

eta: ofcourse everyone prefers a different work out routine and doing something you like is more important and possibly more effective than doing something you dont like.

This post has been edited by malaysianPotato: Jul 2 2006, 11:03 PM

it's just calories in calories out. as long as you're expending more calories than you're taking in, you'll lose weight though in my opinion 1.5 hours of cardio is a bit too much to the point of muscle wasting.

Well, I'm sure everyone has their opinions in regards to this issue.. As the thread starter mentioned, he is looking for insights into this topic, so I'm just contributing what worked for me..

Of course there may be diffrent approaches to achieving the goal, and I'm just sharing mine.. At the end of the day it's up to the thread starter (and of course the readers) to choose which approach he considers as suitable for him/her.

I would suggest we stick the the original purpose of this thread, which is to allow forummers to put down the opinions and insights, and not kill of any ideas.. Leave that to the thread starter/reader to decide which is best..

This post has been edited by perror: Jul 3 2006, 10:20 AM

you sound defensive and resistant to ideas.

^^^^^^^^
I agree. In the grand scheme of things, it's calories in vs calories out.
A lengthy post isn't needed to explain the differences of weight training and cardio in weight loss.
Muscle just being there burns fat because it has a higher metabolic rate. Muscle burns fat even at rest. More lean muscle mass, more fat burning capacity.
Excessive cardio kills muscle gains ------->less muscle------->less metabolic rate--------->less fat burning capacity.

My apologies if I sound in that manner. I'm not resistant to what was brought up by malaysianPotato. I'm just trying to say that the purpose of me posting is to share what worked for me. Perhaps my method may be in error, and it's certainly up for debate.

This post has been edited by perror: Jul 3 2006, 10:49 AM

MPotato, my health initiative gained similar results to yours but I being an old fogey of 32 my weight loss muscle gain period spanned about 6 months. Lost about 14 kilos (but was told my body fat index was good so msucle gained there about 5-10 pounds methinks. I was so pleased with myself I promptly went on on steak and beer binge,heehee!

But I agree, cardio isn't everything;its just a contributing factor.For general health u need to include activities which build bone density,and therefore some form of weight training is a must for everyone. This has been proven by those crazy health freak americans.

Guess perhaps I was wrong in this aspect. Gonna try injecting some weight training into my regime and monitor the results..

It's cool bro. You'll never know until you try.
To tell you the truth, for those who're in the cutting phase of bodybuilding, a good diet will get the person down to about 10-12% bodyfat, but to get below that, some individuals find cardio a necessity to get even more shredded to 6-8%.
1.5 hours is definitely overdoing it but cardio is moderation to supplement a good diet and training regime will produce awesome gains!

for cardio, i think 30 minutes is enough. If you are doing the HIIT cardio, then 30 minutes is more than enough to kill you and your muscle. HIIT is better in burning fat and muscle build at the same time.

hey, bro. everything goes here. if there's a better mean to an end, of course we'll voice it out. everyone can benefit from a little extra knowledge. feel free to post your opinion.

This post has been edited by FleshWound: Jul 3 2006, 07:17 PM

aah now i feel like i was involved with the spanish inquisition. i didnt mean to put anyone or their opinions down, i simply felt like pointing out that weight training provided good results on my end provided i did my part.

i wanna know...how to make the butt and tighs smaller!!
i look like a typical pear shaped person!!
its aint healthy...can someone..help me out!

I'm just assuming , you're female?

If yes, congrats!

U are biologically and evolutionarily a superior female genetic specimen. Females with larger thighs and hip ratio are statistically more fertile (healthy birth weight, mortality etc) and less likely to die of congestive heart failure than those who collect their bulk in the upper chest and abdominals.

I'm just sayin...