Diet and exercise Advice??

[groovy]

Hi All, The advice is actually for my dad. He is about 50yrs old and has a good old beer belly. He doesnt drink much, but he never exercised before.

I am not so experienced yet on diet issues yet, but got some good information from you guys, so turning for some advice again.

He generally eats rice and veges most of the time and chicken or twice once a week. He has BP (blood pressure) and cholestrol. He doesnt eat much junk food.

We have a treadmill at home and recently got him into walking and little bit of running to get him in groove of being healthy.

Also he has lower back pain sometimes. I have some weights and bar at home.

So basically, can you guys please give some suggestions on food, excercies for his back?

I was thinking of some light deadlift excercises for the lower back, as it helped me with my back. What do you recommend the starting weight should be? or what should he start with?

I guess its never too late to get into shape right?

Thanks in advance.

[Pseudonym]

When you say he "eats rice and veges most of the time", what do you mean? That's obviously not all he eats every day (well, I hope not!) Can you give us a rundown of everything he might eat in a standard day?

I'm assuming the goal is to get rid of the belly, rather than turn your dad into a bodybuilder. That being the case, I'd be inclined to steer him towards other activities that he might find more fun than treadmills - tennis, for instance. That would also give him an incentive to improve his fitness, rather than just something the doctor's told him he should do.

As for the weights, yeah, you could give him a basic little routine. I'd probably go for a single full-body workout that he does once or twice a week in conjunction with the other activities. I'd be wary about giving him deadlifts though - they may have helped your back, but they have a reputation for injuries. I think I'd want to know more about what's causing his sore back before suggesting deadlifts.

I'm no expert though. Perhaps some of our resident PTs could chime in here?

[AgentOrange]

He could give that Body For Life thing ago its composed of three weight training days and 3 cardio HiiT days.. Maybe not go the full hog and enter the comp but just start the weight training and doing something like tennis as PSE said where cardio is just an added bonus of having fun.

The workouts are basic easy to follow upper and lower body workouts. Its how i got into BBing in the first place a few years ago

Good luck

[Delpreet]

Body For Life

. Its how i got into BBing in the first place a few years ago

Good luck

yeah hard....me 2....lol :pfft:

[IronGame]

Don't get him running, you need to be fit no run not run to get fit.

Lots of activity as others have mentioned, I would also suggest massage theropy once a week to get him going and so he can enjoy what he is doing, also the increased bloodflow will go along way to get him on track.

BFL is not such a bad idea either not that I particularly like it but it's proven itself as a good starting point.

He needs to see a physio/chiro to get his back assesed and if there are no structual problems he could start doing some deadlifts, assuming he can complete the lift with good form they will help alot. Back issue is likley due to postural problems.

As for diet, increase the protein and reduce the starchy carbs, lots of fruit/veg, nuts, fresh fish and olive oil.

[Hennie]

He can do a crap load with diet and even more with diet and training.

Him being 50,.... it could be difficult changing habits, small changes can also do a lot. Make use of some nutrient timing ,eg. no carbs after 3Pm and immediately swap the rice with brown rice , and limit oil in the cooking process. Let him get protein from Chicken breast (expensive in NZ) and clean red meat cuts if his iron levels are healthy. Egg white omelets with thinly spread Vegemite is great for breakfast. If he does a lot of fruit try and get him to substitute some of that with veggies. Leave the sugar drinks and get him to drink more water.

Always beware of to many drastic steps as that will make the whole project seem like just a lot of effort.

[poos_n_wees]

My pops is in the same boat as yours groovy - late 50s and slightly overweight with high blood pressure. He was recently hospitalised for his BP, and since being discharged we've made small changes to his diet (more veges, more fish/chicken).

He's also taken to walking for 30mins, 3 times a week. His lower back pain has improved since losing weight and becoming more active too Stress was apparently a pretty big factor in contributing to papa's elevated blood pressure, so there may be other aspects of your dads life that might be affecting his health... Just a thought.

But theres lots of great advice here that I can use for my pops as well!

BFL is not such a bad idea either not that I particularly like it but it's proven itself as a good starting point.

What don't you like about the BFL Irongame? Just curious

[diamond]

my old man is in the same boat. Hes 60 with really high blood pressure, eats a lot of shit, loves donuts and maccas.

got him into the gym and onto the treadmill about 2 months ago. Bought him some big earmuff headphones like the 80s djs used to wear so he can plug in and watch the tvs while he sweats it out.

He has been going 4 days a week and doing 45 mins each time and he's looking a lot better, not so red in the face, has lost a bit of weight and his blood pressure is down. Gonna get the old bugger onto heavy deadlifts next week......not.

[bj powerL]

One thing at a time I reckon.

Yes get him checked out first and remember not to bombard him with everything at the same time mate. Keep him exercising first with walking like he's doing and increase it more each time to get him burning that fat.

Don't forget it sounds like he enjoys beer so he has to tackle that one by having less (give the man a break he probably doesn't wanna give it up altogether) and then remembering to hit that pavement walking the next day.

Suggest he walks to different places each week to keep it varied for him.

Then look at his nutrition, firstly, remember that it will be a life changing move for him and one he can stick and enjoy so keep his nutrition varied with lots of coloured veges to keep it looking good and lean cuts. Probably needs to look at the amount of breads/grains he's having as well. Good sources of carbs don't have to come from rice but it is a good base.

Footnote:

Is bj a nutritionist? Nope, I'm his wife and I AM :nod:

[bj powerL]

OOPS and then work on his weights whether at home or in the gym....remember if at the gym it may give him the inspiration he needs, he won't be the only one doing it from scratch.

If at home, yes start light.