Roh, I appreciate you asking your trainer about my routine (although today it consisted of sitting on the couch and eating a lot of fruit!)
It was very kind of you to ask on my behalf! I will eagerly be awaiting your latest update.
I asked him yesterday. This is what he had to say -
The first thing you have to do is to get an InBody analysis done. One of the metrics which is measured is the Lean Body Mass (or, Fat Free Mass). This is the amount of mass you carry in your body which is not composed of fat, and is the sum of intracellular water, extracellular water and dry lean mass.
Once you know your lean body mass, you must regulate your calorie consumption. For effective weight loss, the maximum amount of calories you should consume in a day is equal to your Lean Body Mass (in lb) * 10. As an example, if your lean body (in lb) is 109.4, then your calorie intake in a day must not exceed 1,094 calories. You can do this by changing your diet to include fat-free foods, vegetables, nuts, etc.
Now comes your workout part. As a rule of thumb, 7,000 calories is equivalent to 1 kg of body mass. If you want to shed 'X' amount of weight, you have to burn 7,000 * X amount of calories. Since you want to lose weight, you should alternate between weight+cardio training and cardio training. For cardio, start off with a target of burning 500 calories in a day. On exclusive cardio days, increase the target by 50 with every passing week. In about a year, you should be burning 500 calories during cardio on weight training days and 1,000 calories during the exclusive cardio days. Note - It is advisable to work with a trainer in order to fix your workout regimen.
Other points to note:
1. Make sure that your body is burning the excess fat stored in your tissues and not the Lean Body Mass. This would be disastrous for you. You will know this by undergoing the InBody analysis regularly (usually done once for every 45 days of continuous workouts).
2. Diet is 70% of the job, whether you want to gain or lose weight. On days that you end up eating beyond your calorie intake limit, make sure you burn more at the gym.
3. You can have a Lean Mass protein shake to help restore your muscles and to build up your lean body mass.
4. An InBody analysis has to be performed regularly in order to monitor your progress.
5. While weight training, do 15-20 reps if you are a beginner. Then as you increase your weights, progressively reduce your reps. At present, my counts are the following - 5 sets of 20, 15, 15, 12 and 12 reps at low weights. By low weights, I mean -
Benchpress - 65 lb (20 reps)
Seated leg press - 130 lb (20 reps)
Wide-grip lat pull down - 27 lb (20 reps)
Seated rowing - 60 lb (20 reps)
Keep in mind that, when it comes to weight loss, there are different schools of thought. This is just what my personal trainer follows and advises for all his clients. I train at Gold's gym and he is a silver category trainer, so I assume he is fairly credible in what he practices.
I hope this helps you, Kim.
