What do I need to incorporate into my exercise regime to have an as complete schedule as possible?

Question

I am obese (300 pounds now, down 40 pounds) and have been for the better part of my life. As I've acquired a great interest in medicine and sports medicine I've decided to shed most of my weight and get as fit as possible as I applied to medical school and got accepted (as it would be quite hypocritical to be a fat doctor). I have 4 months left till I start and I am aware that I cannot reach a healthy weight by then, but I'll be on my way there and I can handle a few stares.

This is my current exercise regime (I just graduated from high school, don't have a job so during down time from exercise I sit at home and read, play):

3x a week (mon, wed, fri): Wake up, do "foundation training" which includes stretches for posture, walk 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) to the gym, do Stronglifts 5x5 (squats, bench, deadlift, rows and press), walk home 3 kilometers. At home, do grip training.

3x a week (tues, thurs, sat): Wake up, do "foundation training", walk 5 kilometers to a place I like to do cardio, do couch-to-5k training (intervals), rest for a little bit on a bench and then walk home 5 kilometers. Total 11-12 km.

Sundays: Take a 5-20 kilometer (3-12 miles) walk depending on mood.

On top of this, when I'm at home playing/reading/watching movies I get up every 30 minutes to move for 5-10 minutes and clean the house a bit, get some water and so on so I work up a sweat over 8 times a day. But the problem is with the above training and standing up regularly, I still sit down for an average 8 hours a day. I have purchased an ergonomic chair and I've noticed that my posture is a lot better with my exercise (especially the stretching in morning, squats and deadlifts help a lot) but I still sit down too much. How can I change this? I've heard sit/standing desks are good, but I also need a new pair of running shoes now that winter is coming and I have to transition to treadmills and so I can't afford both.

Also, do I need to incorporate another exercise form? I've heard stretches before/after activity can be good but I feel that my morning stretches leave a great impact for the rest of the day.

Answer 1

Train hard, and recover harder. This is a very complete schedule, but I would warn you to be careful of the other part of the equation that is recovery. Your body is a machine that is tuned to respond to external stress (dieting, strength training, aerobic training are all stressors) and that stress needs to be increased slowly so as to not cause yourself to stall or worse, get hurt, and it needs to be evacuated (by taking lower effort weeks here and there, called deload weeks in strength training) regularly. Sleep a lot, eat well and take it slow - think of it as a marathon, not a sprint.

Stronglifts is a good start but I wouldn't recommend to stay too long on it as it isn't a very balanced program. It will help you exploit your existing muscle mass to the fullest very fast but it lacks the hypertrophy work to make you a well-rounded lifter, which can lead to potential injury on the long run. Once you are past the "easy gains", switching to a more well-founded program (like the Juggernaut Method, 5/3/1, or any periodized program) will help you move forward. I would also recommend that you read "Scientific Principles of Strength Training" if you are interested in resistance training - despite its name it's an extremely easy and fast read (I got through it in an afternoon).

Answer 2

Congrats on the forty pound weight loss!

You mentioned that you sit for eight hours a day and the only way to change that is to not sit. Research has shown that our prolonged sitting is killing us. Experts agree that we should all work our way up to standing for four hours a day to avoid health issues. If you are on the computer a lot a stand up desk is a great idea. If you can't afford one stack books on top of a desk and go from there. It may feel awkward but you can stand while you are watching tv.