Group: General Fitness & Exercise

Created: 2011/12/31, Members: 382, Messages: 54581

Various general exercise related discussions. Find out what it takes to reach your fitness goals through daily effective exercise. With so many options we try to find out what works best.

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Am I Doing Enough?-This Might Be Long...

dart368
dart368
Posts: 113
Joined: 2005/05/20
United States
2006/01/27, 05:04 AM
Hey everyone. I am new here. In fact, I just posted on the intro message board about 30 minutes ago. Anyway, I wanted to get some feedback from some of the "Guru's" here on my program I have been on since the beginning of the year. Please let me know if I should change anything or if I am doing okay. But first, a little background:

I have been running off and on for the past 4 years. I say off and on since I will run 3-4 days a week for 3-4 months and then take off a month or two. But since last April, I have been pretty consistant, running 5 miles about 3-4 days a week in the 10-11 minute mile range. I only ran about once a week during November and December though due to my wife's pregnancy. I feel I am in decent shape with a short, stocky build and probably around 17% body fat. Of course, it is mostly seen on my stomach which is what I would LOVE to lose! I have also been lifting weights for about 1 1/2 years consistantly, mostly upper body exercises but stopped in December due to being on Paternity leave (The gym was at work).

So since January 2nd, I have been running almost every other day 5 miles. It goes something like this:

Monday-5 miles on a slight grade, going up about 4/10 mile, going down about 4/10 mile with 2/10 mile flat surface.

Wednesday-5 miles on a track stopping at every 1/2 mile and doing 25 push-ups.

Friday-5 miles on a track starting the first 1/2 mile with a moderate jog for a warm up. Then sprinting the straights and slow jogging the turns for 4 miles with the last 1/2 mile at a moderate jog for cool down.

Sunday-5 miles running either the slight grade up and down or just on a flat surface at around a 10 minute mile pace since it is about as fast as I can go and still be able to finish all 5 miles.

Mostly, my goal is to lose my body fat (Mostly my stomach), increase my cardio endurance and enhance my overall strength with the push ups. My wife just bought me a "Smith-Type" machine but it is not totally put together yet. When I get it together and buy some weights, I will begin lifting again. So, any suggestions on how I can do better or am I doing it all wrong?

Thanks.
gangstershoes
gangstershoes
Posts: 641
Joined: 2005/05/27
United States
2006/01/27, 09:34 AM
Honestly from all that cardio I would suspect your diet would be your biggest issue when trying to lose weight. Congrads on your cardio cross training. Your 10-11 min pace can be increased by doing squats and deadlifts. This helps you build strength to kick your stride out further, hence with the same frequency of stride your pace will become faster because you will be covering more ground. Try kicking your sride out a little in your current cardio sessions to understand why having your legs stronger will help. good luck, and welcome to ft.
dart368
dart368
Posts: 113
Joined: 2005/05/20
United States
2006/01/27, 02:55 PM
Thanks for the input. I am going to include legs in my weight training as soon as I finish putting together my weight machine or get back to work...whichever comes first.