Hey all,

My Dad is obese, he's around 300-310lbs and 6 feet tall. This is the biggest he's ever been. ABout seven years ago he was down to about 220 or so on the Weigh-Down workshop program, but gained it all back when he started drinking beer again and developed sleep apnea.

The sleep apnea is especially bad, he's finally seen a specialist a few weeks ago who said it was the worst case he had ever seen and that my Dad had likely not slept well in years. He's being set up with a breathing machine so hopefully that will enormously boost his metabolism and help him with weight loss. He's tried weight-watchers in the past few years and has stuck with the program for several months before becoming frustrated (and then rejoining later) his usual cycle is losing twenty pounds on a low cal diet (like <2000 for him) and then plateauing for not just a week or two, but for months at a time (his sleep apnea likely had a big effect on this, as did not exercising and eating too few calories.

The thing is he can lose weight, and I've sent him a lot of links and material, but he's not that great at assimilating and processing the raw material on his own. If I can help him devise a plan he'll be able to stick to that, and after one week on the plan he'll understand everything I"ve been telling him be able to go back and read all this stuff and probably understand it as well as I do (he learn's by doing things :p).

However he's never trained with weights before, and since he is so overweight I"m not sure what precisely to set up. He wants to do 3 days of cardio and 3 days of weight training (I'm not sure if I should make it four days of cardio or not). From what I've read, MAX-OT/HIIT cardio is not for him (at his weight) so I think traditional low impact, long duration fat-burning cardio is better. Am I correct in thinking that?

Also I think MAXOT weight training would also be a mistake. Am I right in thinking that something like pyramid sets would be better for my Dad? He was a farm boy and is probably capable of lifting 1.5-2x what I lift, very strong, massive forearms so he has a good muscular base and was definitely a mesomorph when he was my age (now a definite endomorph). He probably won't be able to do too much cardio to begin with, so after he hits the gym over the next week and gets back to me I'll decide how he needs to start off with cardio. I'm thinking beginning with either 30-40 min of cardio and then adding two minutes each new cardio day until he builds up to an hour of cardio. Is that worthwhile or a waste of time?

I think I'll set him up with a 3 day split akin to John's initial program:

Sunday: off or 40 minutes of regular/traditional cardio, not HIIT
Monday: Pecs Delts and Triceps
Tuesday: 42 minutes of cardio
Wednesday: Legs
Thursday: 44 min cardio
Friday: Back and Biceps
Saturday: 46 min cardio

Weight exercises (he'll be using the YMCA gyms):
Monday: Barbell Bench Press, Dumbbell incline press
seated dumbell/military press, dumbell side raises/laterals
Cable Press downs, seated tricep extensions

Wednesday: Squats (? is this okay, I know it's a hugely important exercise), leg extensions/45 degree leg press (I think the second would be better after he lost some belly)
leg curls, dumbell lunges
calf raises

Friday: Cable Pull Down, CLose Grip Pull Down
Alternating dumbbell curl, straight/curl bar curl.

All exercises would be done in the following fashion
1x12 light weight 55% target
1x10 increase slightly 70% of target
1x8 increase slightly 85% of target
2x6 (or positive failure below, adding if necessary to the second rep) 100% of target

I'm working on designing a 2800-3000 calorie diet right now, I'm trying to create fourteen separate days so he has a two week program.
I"m going to start him out with 1/2 serving of a protein shake immediately after waking up and then a serving of John's Oatmeal, a banana and possibly some OJ.
Second meal I"m not sure on, cause he'll be at work. Possibly a small salad (say 1/4-1/2 a bagged salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar), or maybe a half bag of baby carrots and some nuts. help here would be good, something inconspicuous but with variety and substance to it Lunch time I'm thinking a Turkey/chicken sandwich or a salad with meat and cheese in it.
Second snack (around three) a bowl of instant oatmeal perhaps with some protein powder or maybe an AST Meal Replacement shake?
around six I'd have a a full serving protein shake,
followed by his workout,
Around seven-7:30 a protein shake in a juice (for the sugars), then some brown rice and chicken/tuna/steak 30 minutes later.
a few hours later some fruit and veggy snacks and then 30minutes before bed 1/2 serving of a protein shake.


That's the general outline I have for him, but I'll be filling it in with foods, and trying to make sure he's getting enough calories. Anyhelp fleshing out the diet would be appreciated. I plan for him to use a lot of the chicken, tuna, and round steak recipes found in the recipe forum as he is very competant about the kitchen.

I think I've got the basic outline of what my Dad needs to do, but any help at filling it in, or correcting/adjusting what I have where I'm wrong would be greatly appreciated

I think this is great. Definately keep squat in there, just help him understand the importance of form and range of motion. One suggestion that I have is to do away with the pyramid, and use a constant weight for the first 4 weeks. Use a weight that he can lift 8-12 times and use that same weight for 3 sets. If he can't do 8 reps all 3 sets lower the weight. Once he can do 12 reps all 3 sets raise the weight. Muscle and strength will develop faster than the ligaments and tendons, and heavy lfting(working to a 6 rep max) opens greater potential for injury. After 4 or so weeks I would lower the rep range a bit.

It sounds good but be careful and make sure he gets a doctor's approval. :tu: Let him take it slow

Thinks very much for the input. The weight program is the thing I'm most unsure about, and the idea of doing 8-12 for the first four weeks, sounds great. What sort of warmup would you recommend for that (if any, almost wouldn't seem necessary, other than ample stretching). I'll definitely have him run these by his doctor as well.

Adam

Sleep apnea is bad stuff,. it kills brain cells and over time can cause significant damage. Though with the machine he has this is not an issue (though from what I hear, sleeping with those machines isnt terribly comfortable).

Since he hasnt weight trained before he should go easy. Excerting previously inert muscles can make them sore for days and days, which usually is enough to convince any newcomer that weightlifting sucks (little knowing that it is not long before you dont get sore at all).

As for warming up for weight training, its a good idea to do light reps (like maybe 30% weight) of whatever exercise you'll be doing.

Good show helpin out your dad like that,. best of luck to him.

I've got one basic day's meal log planned out for my dad. I'm going to try to get three of these done that are quite different in many of the different meals and another three or four with small variations from these.

One thing I noticed is that when I multiplied the macronutrients out (9,4,4) and added them together, they read about 180 more than the actual calorie count! still, both calorie numbers are under the 3000 mark which is about where I think my dad needs to be for the first four weeks or so, I'm shooting for a 2800 calorie goal for the regular calorie count.

also I cheated a bit on meal 2 and snack two, their calorie numbers are reversed in the actual meals, because I was surprised at how low cal one of my dad's favorite salads (from wendys) was.

Any comments on this would be greatly appreciated. I know from reading AST that you should get about 1/3 of your daily calories post work out, but I"m wondering with an evening workout, will that be a problem with storing food before sleeping?

I figure four weeks of this, and then he can cut down to 2600 perhaps and maintain that until he's down 20 or 30 lbs. to at least 270 before lowering it again.

Diet Plan (http://www.philoticweb.net/dietplan.xls)

hopefully the new attachment will work too, and if you can't read it, click for the spreadsheet.


Adam

Don't know enough about nutrition and training to give you any suggestions, but I just wanted to tell you that I think what you're doing for your dad is great :tu:

Good luck :)

thanks everyone, my dad tells me he's lost 8-9 lbs in the last two weeks. He's gone from 350 to 342. currently he's following the advice of the gym trainer and sticking with low impact cardio and verylight machine training until he takes off some more weight and gets acclimated to exercise and training. He's been doing 30 minutes on a treadmill and 30 min on a bike almost every day, and eating 2400-2600 calories. I didn't realize he was this heavy (as my first post says I thought he was around 300), so I'm going to recommend to him that he up his calorie intake after another week or two to 2800 because I think he may plateau right about then for too few calories, especially given his increased activity.

I heard the numbers on his sleep apnea, 96 incidents in one hour when he first went in, that's the number of times he stopped breathing! normal is 8-12. The machine they had him on the first time wasn't strong enough and only brought him down into the upper 30s so they put him on a stronger machine the second time which I assume he'll be getting to use as well. Hopefully his metabolism will stay up this time by knocking out the totally sedentary lifestyle and the sleep apnea (along with all the nasty processed carbs and huge portions two-three times a day). He's on the way towards making a huge lifestyle change permanent, I'm so glad I found this site to get myself motivated which in turn has helped me get my dad motivated!

Thanks again for everyone's input.

Adam

The diet/workout you've set up looks very well thought out; I think it will work wonders if he sticks to it.

The only comment I have is that you may want to change the protein powder right before bed. I'm assuming you're using a whey protein. This is a very fast-digesting form of protein, and is best consumed before and after workouts, when you need it most. Instead, I'd recommend a serving of cottage cheese, because it has the slow-digesting protein casein. It keeps you through the night better than whey.

Best of luck to you and your dad.

yeah actually there are a couple typos on that, it should be for the half servings after waking up and going to bed 4 oz of juice/water/milk

I actually recommended to him he use 4 oz of milk with the protein powder so it will be slower digesting.

Thanks for the input though, I'll definitely be making sure I'm using milk myself for that pre bed shake!

one other thing i'm going to suggest to him (that I heard from a friend whose Dad recently lost 60 lbs) is to start mixing like a teaspoon or a little less of apple cider vinegar in his water. the pectin from the apples will help supress cravings and the vinegar helps keep your metabolism!

Adam