I am under some pressure to keep reducing my weight to 202 pds as quickly as possible for the military and am beginning my 5th week of induction and weight 209. I am doing only cardio and pushups/crunches. I stopped lifting about 2 weeks before i started atkins and desperately miss it. Does anyone think that it would stall, help or hurt my weight loss if i started again? Even if i just did light weights and high repetitions.

Thanks

Why can't you do weights??? More muscle= more calories burned each day, even at rest! Therefore more muscle will mean more fat being burned off. Who cares about the scale if you are changing your body fat percentage? I'd rather be muscular and weigh like 160 than be 160 with lots of fat still on my body.

My advice is to step up cardio (like an hour a day, 6 days a week) AFTER lifting 45 minutes a day, 3 times a week. That is the advice that I always read on my many e-newsletters that I get!

Now follow that advice, visit www.bodybuilding.com to get info and learn you need to educate yourself.

I've been lifting for years throughout high school and college, my main concern was timing. If i started to lift now before my goal weight and build more muscle if it would slow the progress of the number on the scale, which is more important right now.

Are you joining the military or are you already in?

I am joining

What branch?
How are you with 2-minute sit-up drills, push-ups and pull-ups?

I'm a former Marine and can tell you from my experience, that the added muscle mass is not going to be helpful to you unless it is equal with muscle conditioning and strength endurance.

I would start running up to 3 miles at a time and maybe even adding some walking in there with it. Sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups and other bodyweight calisthenics will prepare you for what's ahead while helping you to reduce some bodyweight now. I wouldn't mess around too much high volume resistance training. Instead, start doing lower weight, high rep sets of dumbbell swings and squats (one-legged squats too if you can).

This may sound a little weird, but run in boots, regular clothes and if you have a backpack, fill it with stuff to add some weight to it and do your walks with that. This will not take the place of what you will be doing in boot camp, but will simulate it as much as possible. It would be nice if you could pick up a pair of combat boots from a surplus store and wear those while you do your training.

As far as dieting, I would not be following any kind of ketogenic diet. You will not likely have much choice on your food options and a drastic change from dieting like this might have a negative effect on you once your there. Start getting yourself used to eating a little quicker and with limited portion sizes.

Exercise recap:
push-ups
2-minute sit-up drill
pull-ups
3 mile runs
1.5 mile run for time (13.5 minutes or less)
bends & thrusts
leg lifts
side lunges
mountain climbing
running in place
side straddle hops

There’s plenty more that could be said, but this should get you going.

Thanks, I'm actually going into the Air Force and think that it's basic training isn't too difficult. I have been doing three mile runs every other day as well as pushups, situps, and crunches though still having trouble with pull ups. I can do about 45-50 pushups in 2mins. haven't tested myself on situps yet and only 1 full dead hang pull up. Thank you for your help and any other advice would be appreciated.

It sounds like you have the basic conditioning down for what you are heading into. Start working on the sit-ups and keep working on the pull-ups as well. Add in some shorter runs between your 3 mile days.

The high rep dumbbell swings and squats will really help burn some calories. The conditioning you get from it is a bonus.

A good routine if you like might look something like this.
Use the ladder format for swing and squat reps:
dumbbell swings and squats supersetted - 10 reps
brief rest or active rest (you decide)
1 pull-up
brief rest
repeat swings and squats 15 reps
brief rest
1 pull-up (if you can't, switch to doing half reps with a hold at the top).
brief rest
repeat swings and squats - 20 reps
1 pull-up
brief rest
repeat swings and squats - 10 reps
1 pull-up
3 times per week. Avoid going to faiure and modify the reps as per your conditioning level.

Not really sure how dumbell swings work? I have started doing squats regularly and weight assisted pullups. Thanks.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/dbswingsbig.jpg
http://www.trainforstrength.com/workouts.shtml
(Use the hips and core to thrust the weight up. It's a ballistic movement, not a slow grind one).

This one is cute. Scroll down to the bottom of the page.
http://www.crossfitracine.com/html/kid_s_korner.html


weighted pull-ups =

thanks for the tips and great article i'll let you know how things come along.

Good luck with your training (and the Air Force).

I have been doing the atkins to get my weight down to the max. for enlisting. I understand that I should transition from this in preparation for bootcamp, but how should I? Should I begin incorporating breads, potatoes etc slowly? I am also hoping to lose another 15-20 before I would leave for bootcamp which would be around Feb. I am down to 204 today and have only 2 more lbs till I can enlist, so I would still need to keep losing a little weight if I began eating more carbohydrates.
Thanks

Might as well stay with what you're already doing until you get signed up. Once you're enlisted, you can start the changes then. Once you do, just make small increases (veggies, potatoes, bread etc) every day or two and be sure to drop the added calories from another source, or up your activity level.

What carb intake are you currently maintaining? Figure up 25% of your calorie intake and compare it.