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Super Ape

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Kind of a disappointing month for my continuing weight loss; this morning's monthly weigh in found me at 211.4, a net loss of only 3.8 lbs from 10/9, when I was 215.2 (I did go as low as 211.0 on Wednesday, but then I went out carousing last night...) and 48.6 lbs since March 9.

 

I knew from the start that eventually, I wouldn't be able to keep up the rate at which I had been cutting before.  What I hadn't expected was the three week plateau that 215 turned out to be; it was fully 22 days before I managed to weigh in at 214.x two days in a row.  It was totally infuriating after a while, but I still expect to be sub-210 by New Year's.  205 may be out of reach, though, if this last month is any indication.

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  • 1 month later...

So i completed the first of the couch to 5k runs. 5 minutes brisk warm up, 60 seconds jogging, 90 seconds cool down for 20 minutes total then 5 minutes cool down.

 

I started feeling a twinge on my back about 10 minutes in, and it slowed me down immeasureably almost to the point where i was jogging at the same speed i was walking. I did some light stretching before the walk warm up, and my back felt okay through then.

 

Is it just the impact of the bones / muscles not being used in the normal way (i weight 266 at 5'8" tall, part of the reason for running is to try to trim the shite) thats causing the pain or is it not warming up sufficiently?

 

I'd like to and will continue with the jogs; i just want to make sure I'm not causing permanent damage to myself.

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You're not. You just didn't stretch. My routine when I run is stretch until you think you've stretched too much, stretch some more and then run. Stretch after you run, also.

 

You're turning shit on you haven't used in a while. I did the couch to 5k and really dug it.

 

Good luck!

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Actual speed isn't that important when jogging, especially when just starting back out.  Its the movement and jacking up your heart rate that's the most important.  You can me moving at the same speed as walking, but your heart rate can be up in your ideal workout range.  

 

And stretch, or do yoga, or both.

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I find planking really hard on my elbows. I get bruises, or even blood blisters, from doing them. A yoga pad ain't enough padding, but if I add another layer of clothing or something, then I start slipping. Suggestions?

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Actual speed isn't that important when jogging, especially when just starting back out.  Its the movement and jacking up your heart rate that's the most important.  You can me moving at the same speed as walking, but your heart rate can be up in your ideal workout range.  

 

Your movement is a direct product of your walking/jogging/running speed. Walking the same distance burns less calories than jogging the same distance, which burns less calories than running the same distance, due to the movement of your legs hitting the ground.

 

So i completed the first of the couch to 5k runs. 5 minutes brisk warm up, 60 seconds jogging, 90 seconds cool down for 20 minutes total then 5 minutes cool down.

 

I started feeling a twinge on my back about 10 minutes in, and it slowed me down immeasureably almost to the point where i was jogging at the same speed i was walking. I did some light stretching before the walk warm up, and my back felt okay through then.

 

Is it just the impact of the bones / muscles not being used in the normal way (i weight 266 at 5'8" tall, part of the reason for running is to try to trim the shite) thats causing the pain or is it not warming up sufficiently?

 

I'd like to and will continue with the jogs; i just want to make sure I'm not causing permanent damage to myself.

 

What do you consider a "jogging" speed? Typically anything between 4.5 and 6.5 mph is considered a jog, and anything below walking, and anything above running. I have a bad lower back myself (one of the discs is slipping off place with another, a direct result of at one point being 6' and 280), so I'm pretty familiar with this, as the main reason I originally lost weight (besides wanting to get laid) was to prevent from having spinal fusion surgery.

 

It's not the lack of stretching, it's your body telling you you're doing too much too fast, in terms of progress. Are you using a treadmill or doing this outdoors? If it's treadmill, my suggestion would be to do a fast walking pace (4 mph give or take) with a steep incline, and hold on for dear life.  Once you've dropped 10 - 20 pounds with that, slowly progress back into the jogging. If your back hurts (and it's important to distinguish between being hurt and being sore, but if this happened just 10 minutes in, that's legit pain), that's something you need to take seriously.

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Actual speed isn't that important when jogging, especially when just starting back out.  Its the movement and jacking up your heart rate that's the most important.  You can me moving at the same speed as walking, but your heart rate can be up in your ideal workout range.  

 

Your movement is a direct product of your walking/jogging/running speed. Walking the same distance burns less calories than jogging the same distance, which burns less calories than running the same distance, due to the movement of your legs hitting the ground.

 

But the initial point of C25K isn't calorie burning. It's about building endurance. That's what makes the speed irrelevant. Speed comes later, endurance is what comes first.

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Didn't realize C25K was an actual thing, thought it was just being used as an euphemism here for "stop being lazy." Regardless if it's for endurance or calorie burning, if the back is aching just a few minutes into jogging, the best course of action is to stop, and walk instead with a steep incline. A lower back injury, unlike say, a chest, shoulder, or bicep, will prevent you from doing pretty much anything else.

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I find planking really hard on my elbows. I get bruises, or even blood blisters, from doing them. A yoga pad ain't enough padding, but if I add another layer of clothing or something, then I start slipping. Suggestions?

 

http://www.amazon.com/Ball-Dynamics-MATBAL-Airex-Balance/dp/B0011YY86G

 

I lucked out and got one of these off of eBay for $35. Some gyms have them, and some don't. 

 

I've had to work out at a commercial gym, since July, because the wife and I are in a total holding pattern regarding her career. About the only good thing I can say about 24 Hour Fitness is that the gym I work out at has five of them. 

 

I walk around with one for the entire time I'm working out. I've had too many knee/elbow issues to ever rest any limb on a hard floor. It especially gets a lot of use during ab/core work or when I'm stretching, which is basically 95% of my time in the gym these days (along with grip work).

 

The "strengthen your core" advice will help fix/prevent a lot of people's problems.

 

I ignored core work for the longest time, during my earlier fitness days, and holy hell have I paid for it ever since.

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Also: Strengthen your core.

 

If by "strengthen" you mean some form of resistance training, with the end result to build muscle, this is wrong. He's having pain with 10 minutes of light cardio, not struggling with 155 on bent over rows.  Ever see a skinny person that doesn't work out/run? They naturally have a defined core and legs, because these are the muscles that are used most often by the average person. You "strengthen your core" when you've plateaued on other exercises, or want more definition. So unless Red is Dead has been bedridden for the past 5 years or literally has NO bodily movement a day, working on the core makes zero sense. (Especially since "strengthening" would involve adding more muscle, which in turn would increase the weight even further. And before anyone corrects me, yes, you can both add muscle AND lose weight at the same time [i believe the term is 'cutting'], but that's several levels beyond C25K).

 

When your BMI is 35+ (and not on account of being in the same shape as Vitor or Brock), your sole priority should be to burn calories and drop weight. The cardio alone will "strengthen" your core, by increasing the number of muscle fibers (admittedly at a slower rate than resistance training), and the weight you lose will allow the body to add muscle more efficiently later on.

 

Seriously Red, get on a treadmill, set the speed and incline to what you can comfortably do without any pain in your back, and do it for as long as possible, holding on is perfectly acceptable. Forget the 5k shit. In my experience, I find increasing the speed .01 mph and half an incline every quarter mile or so to be a pretty efficient cardio burn.

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My agreement with the comment was a general statement that was directed at 50% of the world - no one in particular in this thread - who have issues stemming from working out, and said as such.

 

 Calm down, bro - why u mad?

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Also: Strengthen your core.

 

If by "strengthen" you mean some form of resistance training, with the end result to build muscle, this is wrong. He's having pain with 10 minutes of light cardio, not struggling with 155 on bent over rows.  Ever see a skinny person that doesn't work out/run? They naturally have a defined core and legs, because these are the muscles that are used most often by the average person. You "strengthen your core" when you've plateaued on other exercises, or want more definition. So unless Red is Dead has been bedridden for the past 5 years or literally has NO bodily movement a day, working on the core makes zero sense. (Especially since "strengthening" would involve adding more muscle, which in turn would increase the weight even further. And before anyone corrects me, yes, you can both add muscle AND lose weight at the same time [i believe the term is 'cutting'], but that's several levels beyond C25K).

 

When your BMI is 35+ (and not on account of being in the same shape as Vitor or Brock), your sole priority should be to burn calories and drop weight. The cardio alone will "strengthen" your core, by increasing the number of muscle fibers (admittedly at a slower rate than resistance training), and the weight you lose will allow the body to add muscle more efficiently later on.

 

Seriously Red, get on a treadmill, set the speed and incline to what you can comfortably do without any pain in your back, and do it for as long as possible, holding on is perfectly acceptable. Forget the 5k shit. In my experience, I find increasing the speed .01 mph and half an incline every quarter mile or so to be a pretty efficient cardio burn.

 

 

I am, in fact, speaking as someone with a history of back injuries who needs a strengthened core or else I can't run more than a mile or two without my back going out on me. Not unlike what Red is Dead is also talking about. I'm speaking from experience in this exact situation. You're operating based on assumptions alone.

 

Doing "more walking" won't help the problems in his back. Strengthening everything around that problem area will. He doesn't have to do bent rows (Which, by the way, I can never do to my satisfaction, and also seems to do more for the upper back than lower back). Sure, resistance training might be helpful in that situation, but even doing planks regularly will help a lot.

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There's no assumptions being made, as I said before, if I didn't drop 60+ lbs, I'd have two metal rods in my spine. My point wasn't that cardio would strengthen the core as much as resistance  training, but that the pain felt after doing 10 minutes of light cardio is due to the excessive weight being carried around, not because of a weak core (which he may or may not have), and that the only way to deal with it is by losing weight. Since jogging is what induces the pain (which used to happen to me as well), the best alternative is a fast walk with a steep climb. I don't know your stats, but based on what Red gave, which is close to where I was at one point, no amount of planking/hyperextensions/whatever will alleviate that type of pain when there's that much weight being involved.

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intense debate here with tons of good points.

 

ant, i consider jogging to be something faster than walking. with the first week of c25k (ninja edit, road running, meep meep), I've managed to rack up 2 miles (5 minutes brisk walk warmup, 60 sec jog, 90 sec cooldown for 20 minutes then 5 minute cooldown walk) Like BB said, its focused on two things, endurance and weight loss. In my younger, more brash days, I was racking servers and phone systems on my own...so that could be the cause of the back issues. 

 

Second run in, and I did a ton of stretching. The pain seemed to lessen somewhat and i could control my breathing better. Third run set for tonight. then onto week two. Once i get to week three or four, I'll start incorporating weight training on my off days. Got a bench and weights for christmas from the folks, so I've got no reason not to, now!

 

Cheers for the advice, people. Appreciate it.

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Bro, just walk on the treadmill. Best lower back exercise out there. In fact, you should stop what you're doing right now; walk to a squat bar or open area, and start squatting. Don't have enough weight - NBD, just grab the nearest desk or person and throw them on your back and squat. It's just that easy!

 

Don't worry about knee placement, bracing, how to position your chin/neck - just grab something and start ripping out the reps. In fact, the only thing you'll have to worry about is buying new clothes because you're going to be Quadzilla within a month or two, Brah.

 

 

And don't forget to buy protein powder, creatine and about 13 other pills. The more expensive the better - you're paying for the quality, Brother!

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Unfortunately my DDP DVDs have dropped off the face of the earth somewhere, but I just signed up with Planet Fitness ($10 startup fee and $20 per month for their "black card" so I can use all their locations, get assorted free goodies etc). Digging their vibe so far and actually looking forward to getting into a workout routine which I never would've thought possible previously.

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