Keep Fit Club - ALL exercise types!

[yesteryeargames]

Hi i have been using phd diet whey strawberry which is the nicest whey i have taken so far,

are there any other suppliments i should take to compliment it and help a little to boost fat burning ?
such as PHD Lean Degree ?

only lost about 5 pounds in a month , but its a start i guess.

[Taka]

Just about to turn in for the night after today's London Marathon, completing it in 3:52:31, so some way off my target of 3:30. It was very warm today on the course with no cloud cover and being placed in a comically slow starting pen meant I had to fight my way through hoardes of slower runners twice (my blue start and then the same again when we merged with the red start).

Glad I've done it but I'm going to target a smaller scale marathon for my next PB attempt.

[Anpanman]

Well done, a full marathon is well beyond me and my knees but I've got a lot of respect for anyone who can do one.

[charlesr]

Just about to turn in for the night after today's London Marathon, completing it in 3:52:31, so some way off my target of 3:30. It was very warm today on the course with no cloud cover and being placed in a comically slow starting pen meant I had to fight my way through hoardes of slower runners twice (my blue start and then the same again when we merged with the red start).

Glad I've done it but I'm going to target a smaller scale marathon for my next PB attempt.

That's 20 mins faster than my VLM

Portsmouth marathon is the one. Stay at mine if you want. If you enter I'll run it with you for fun. Probably the most fun I've ever had running.

[fuse]

Grats Taka! I was out there on the day and if I'd have planned better I'd have kept an eye out for you. My cousin didn't have the run he was hoping for either - link - but we still tried to make a day of it.

[Taka]

Thanks guys!

I may take you up on the offer of Portsmouth, Charles! Let me review what my race calendar is looking like and whether I can commit to the training again. Failing that, I may take it on next year for a PB attempt.

Sorry to hear your cousin had to pull, fuse. It's always difficult deciding whether to pull out and live to race another day, or stubbornly ploughing on with the risk of serious injury looming. None of my club running guys on their good for age places achieved their targets of sub-3 finishes, but they all scored another good for age place for next year again.

At mile 21, I bumped into a fellow Parkrun regular from my home event and we decided to stay together for pacing and support. Looking at the results, there were plenty of names I recognise from Cannon Hill.

[Kit]

Congrats, Taka.

Saw a few interviews after the marathon and people talked about the unexpected heat being an issue targeting their PB.

I have a question for you runner types? when is the optimum time to run? Morning or evening?

I've read for fat burning purposes early in the morning before eating is a must, with a delay of 30 minutes before eating after the run. Any truth to that or just internet nonsense?

Another thing I'm interested in is how on earth do you guys stay motivated?

Been trying to recapture the fitness bug like a mad man but I can't seem to stick to the routine! - couple of weeks and I kind of fade which is frustrating.

[Taka]

Cheers Kit!

The warm weather caught everybody off guard due to the particularly harsh winter we've had. There simply wasn't enough time to fully acclimatise to unusual conditions.

During the week, I run in the evening mainly due to time and convenience. At the weekend, I favour the mornings so that I can then carry on with my day afterwards.

The general consensus behind whether the body burns fat or glycogen (energy stored in muscles and the liver) is down to a number of things like the pace you're going at, your overall fitness and how much energy you actually have. The idea that you run in a fasted/energy deprived state is one that some marathon pros use to simulate the sensation of 'hitting the wall', helping to train the body to become more efficient at using body fat.

My personal thoughts? Running at any time of the day, whether fasted or not, will yield weight loss, especially during the early weeks. Every run will use a combination of fat and glygogen in varying degrees, i.e. the faster you go, the more glycogen and the slower you go, the more fat. I like to make sure I have enough energy in me before a run so that I can accomplish my goal for that session, be it speedwork or a long, slow paced run. I hate the feeling of running on low energy, where my legs feel heavy and every step is a struggle; on occasion, the feeling has been so bad that I've had to abandon the run and I return home thinking, "what a waste".

Further to this, the body will continue to use calories after a run whilst it's repairing micro trauma to muscles etc. Your overall metabolic rate will also increase over time with training and you'll find your body will burn calories at a higher rate, even at rest. I currently have a metabolic age of 13-14 despite being 29, so I'm burning calories as if I was a teenager going through puberty with growth spurts and so on.

As long as you fuel yourself sensibly so that you're meeting your calorie requirements, you shouldn't need to worry when or how you run for weight loss.

In regards to motivation, I'm personally very competitive even if it's just with myself. I love racing and I enter a variety of events each year and these give me a goal to work towards, whether it's beating my own time from last year or beating Mike from the local running club I occasionally train with etc. Each of these events forces me to focus on a different area of my ability, such as becoming faster or running further.

Whether it's running, another sport or just going to the gym, it's good to have achievable goals and to regularly evaluate how close or far away from these goals you are, readjusting if necessary so that you can make them easier or harder. Training with others can also be motivational; I can run faster with others around me than I can on my own and the effort required seems lower.

Best of luck whatever you end up doing and just shoot with any questions you have!

[fuse]

Personally I like early mornings too; rise before I normally would, do it, and then resume a normal day afterwards. I remember when I was trying to run later on after breakfast, and I nearly always found it... aggravted my movements, shall we say? I find morning exercise typically leads to me being much more awake during the day too, which is nice.

In terms of motivation I'm pretty much at the opposite end of the competitive scale to Taka - even when I've had some hints of stamina, I know I'm too big/slow to worry about pace. Kudos to him though, as really I think it's a case of knowing what works for you and playing to that. I mentioned it a few pages back, but for me I knew that having an easy and 'fun' way to track my progress would be the best for me, and I'm having good results so far with having a set of wifi scales that I just step on each morning. I've had busy weeks when I've not managed to get to the gym as often as I should, and I've also had some blow-out evenings with big meals and booze, but having a day-by-day breakdown of how I'm doing right there with me all the time on my phone is a good way to keep me on it. I've lost 8kg since the start of March and am hoping to keep up the pace!

[Taka]

Wow, well done, fuse! 8kg lost is awesome!

How much more are you looking to lose? The rate of loss will slow down at some stage, so you need to keep the body guessing to maintain a similar momentum.

Forgot to add that there's been some research done to suggest caffeine can help the body become more efficient at metabolising fat. Worth playing around with a coffee before a workout to see if it has any positive effect; if not, it at least helps to lower the perception of effort.

[fuse]

Looking at the BMI charts on the NHS site, I am still 40kgs away from a 'healthy' weight! Not really sure that is a realistic goal though; certainly not for now.

[Taka]

I tend to take a big pinch of salt when it comes to the BMI scale. I'm only 5ft 7 and based on my current weight, I'm on the upper end of 'healthy' or 'normal' and I don't think I could lose any more weight without seriously restricting what I eat.

My brother is 5ft 9 and seriously ripped and much bulkier than I am due to his history as a sprinter. He's borderline overweight according to the BMI scale, despite him probably being as fit and healthy as I am, but in a different discipline.

Keep doing what you're doing - it's working well for you and that's what counts!

[fuse]

Yeah, I'm aware that it gets a little sketchy at the outer limits also - I'm 6'4" and most certainly bigger than I should be, but I dread to think what'd be necessary for me to remain stably around that point.

[Taka]

The 2014 London Marathon ballot has opened. Anybody fancy giving it a go? No cost to try until you actually get a place, which is rare as hens' teeth.

[Kit]

It has begun!

Cleaned up my diet quite a bit over the last two weeks, less carbs more protein. Changed cereal (fruit n fibre ftw) , got rid of the white bread, building my main meals around chicken and fish again. It's just about cutting the chocolate out now which is going to be tough as I love the stuff - one a day maybe?

Started doing press ups again with the goal of hitting 2 sets of 60 a day - currently I can do 30 to 40 until failure.

I'm currently at 11 stone 10lbs from just over 12 stone 3lbs. Aiming to be around ten, though if I can get into running again my weight should be 10 or 11 as my thighs get bigger?

I have a double chin (the weight goes on either my neck or my mid section) so I've been looking at exercises to help. Do these chin exercises actually work?

I want to get my body fat very low so I'll have to start running again but I'm hesitant to do so. I was sick the last two times I ran (which was such a long time ago at this point) but I like to push myself - I'm more of a sprinter than a long distance type runner.

We'll see how things go tomorrow. Hopefully I can get a run in during the morning.