Ideas to overcome a plateu...

[AleaveR]

Hello all! I am new to the forums so let me begin with a little background, I'll try to make it quick.

Worked out in high school and weighed 190, at 5'9, 14%BF. Got to college 3.5 yrs ago and ballooned to 273, 32%BF. On 5/29/03 started dieting/lifting and have lowered weight to 240lbs/24%BF with the following plan:

Workout:
Mon: Back & Shoulders
Wed: Legs
Fri: Chest, Bicep, Tricep
*Lifting heavy for 5-8 reps.
*Cardio 30 min 2x week

Sample Diet
Meal 1: 8 egg whites, 1 whole egg, 1/2 cup oatmeal
Meal 2: Can of Tuna, 2tsp Mayo, 2 melba toast crackers
Meal 3: 1 chicken breast, 1 apple, 1 slice white bread
Meal 4: 2 scops whey, 1tbsp peanut butter, 1/2 bannana
Meal 5: salmon, brown rice, mixed vegetables
Meal 6: 2 scops whey, 1tbsp peanut butter, 1/2 bannana, Flax oil

The problem is that I have hit a plateu and have stayed at the same weight for over a month. these las few days I started to eliminate milk, fruits, and bread in an effort to break through this. Any other suggestions would be great...Thanks

I am gonna include some pics of my progress as soon as I figure it out.

 

[Lao Tzu]

30 minutes of cardio 2x a week isn't alot, why not up it to 40 minutes 4x a week. you might want to try daily cardio or something close to daily. I've found that a 2 days on, 1 day off routine helps me avoid overtraining and keeps motivation high.

Might also want to look into High Intensity Interval Training.

Plus whats your daily caloric intake. it doesn't seem too high, like it would barely top 1600 a day.

my WAG is you are cutting calories too much and not doing enough cardio. but thats why they call it a WAG.

 

[AleaveR]

I have kept cardio down because I haave heard that too much cardio leads to muscle loss. I have actually wanted to increase cardio lately to improve my cardiovascular health but haven't started.

What would an example of HIIT be? I have read that HIIT results in less muscle loss and have been considering it as an option. But will HIIT also improve cardiovascular health? I have also read the for cardio benefits you have to do at least 30 min at a low intensity?

 

[Babyfaced Assassin]

cut out the crackers, white bread and processed carbs man!

 

[Avo]

What would an example of HIIT be? I have read that HIIT results in less muscle loss and have been considering it as an option. But will HIIT also improve cardiovascular health? I have also read the for cardio benefits you have to do at least 30 min at a low intensity?

i hear you man...im 6', 220 with about 23%bf(previously 240 28%bf)...to get the best results HIIT is the way to go...you should always keep in my mind never to exceed more than 20-25 minutes of HIIT or else your body will start using your muscles as a source of energy therefore deceasing your hard earned muscles...and also its best to do the cardio early in the morning on an empty stomach inorder for your body to use up the fat in your body as a fuel source...low intensity cardios are pointless, with a HIIT cardio you burn off more calories and also once you finish the session your body's metabolism speeds up and digest everything for the next 6 hours.
for your diet cut out all the procesed carbs and just eat complex carb(fruits vegetables), the body will be able to break them down more easily...Diet is the key to your goal...i hope i was able to help you out...

 

[AleaveR]

Avo, congrats in your progress and thanks for the good advice.

now just to make sure, HIIT is cardio where you begin at a low intensity and slowly increase for 5 min or so and then go back down and start a new interval?

also, can u guys see mt pics? I see them in my gallerry but I cant see them on the two posts that I put them in at the beginning of the thread?

 

[Avo]

acclu97, with HIIT cardio you start at a low intensity for about 2 minutes, then go to a moderate speed for about 1 minute and then increase the intensity to the max (as much as you can withstand) for another minute, and then after that you start a new interval...
this site will tell you all about HIIT, http://davedraper.com/hiit-cardio-training.html

the pictures don't appear on the posts

 

[AleaveR]

 

[Lao Tzu]

no offense but are you sure thats 24% on the bottom? i'm around 24% and i dont look like that.

there was a major notable difference between the 32 & 24% pics though.

 

[AleaveR]

nordstrom,
first let me begin by saying that the method I used is probably not acurate. I used a wrist blood pressure machine that has a built in body fat tester where you put your thumb and forefinger between two metal plates and it gives you a reading based on your height, weight, age. Also, that picture was taken 8-7-03 and my body fat was recorded a couple of days ago. So, there has been about a month more of dieting between that pic and when I recorded by BF. Either way, even if the machine is wrong, it is cinsistently wrong and allows me to get an estimate of how much BF I have dropped.