Advice regarding exercise...

[H. Zee]

2 and a half miles' run a day.
30 press-ups a day.
30 over-the-head reps with a 11 kg dumbbell a day (left hand).
30 over-the-head reps with a 11 kg dumbbell a day (right hand).
30 bicep curls with a 11 kg dumbbell a day (left hand).
30 bicep curls with a 11 kg dumbbell a day (right hand).
50 sit-ups a day.

After about 3 months on this regimen, what sort of changes would I start noticing on my body? At the moment I'm a 6 ft 2 inch-tall 14-stone 18-year-old, fairly muscular but it's covered by a layer of fat. I have spent the last few days on the above regimen, and although tiring, it's definitely not way above my current level of fitness or anything.

Does the Playground have any thoughts, advice, recommendations? All welcome. :smallsmile:

[drakir_nosslin]

Well, for starters, you don't want to overdo it, I did a lot of bicep exercises recently, as a part of my everyday program, and I ended up with an injury and two weeks of almost no arms at all, so take it easy and listen to your body.

Secondly, you need to give your muscles some rest, say every third day or so, to allow them to rebuild. Take one day with no arms and focus more on your stomach and back, then the next day don't run, but do more arms and core, third day, arms and running, light core (You can train core every day, as long as you don't max it all the time.).

Make sure that you eat properly and if you want to loose fat, the best thing I've found is longer sessions of running, 45 min+, since you have to work for around 40 min before you start to burn fat. Take it easy in the beginning, and stop if you feel that your joints/ligaments start to hurt. The muscles should hurt, not the sinews.

[skywalker]

What is your objective? That will greatly change any advice I might give.

You're not likely to lose your layer of fat, I think, because most of what you're doing is strength training, not fat-burning.

[Dr.Epic]

At the moment I'm a 6 ft 2 inch-tall 14-stone 18-year-old, fairly muscular but it's covered by a layer of fat.

Could you convert that into pounds?

[horngeek]

And kilograms. :smalltongue:

[Jack Squat]

Could you convert that into pounds?

252 lbs.(114 kg)

I would expect your endurance to increase, gain strength (but not necessarily muscle mass, since it's high rep/low weight - assuming your reps of 30 are in one or two sets) and you may lose some fat, but you won't look ripped.

As Skywalker asked, what's your goal? Really if you're just starting out exercising after a good break, no matter what I'd suggest you kind of ease yourself back into any regimen, but I can't really give a whole lot of advice past that without a goal in mind. Best bet would be to go to a personal trainer - even if it's just one session so they can set up a plan for you.

[Dr.Epic]

252 lbs.(114 kg)

Thanks. Most people don't use stone as a way to measure weight (or is it mass?). The only instance I've heard it used before was in the Canterbury Tales.

[Serpentine]

Assuming you're doing this to lose weight:
If your weight is steady now, all you have to do to lose some weight is to do more than you are now.
Improving your lifestyle in the long run is more important, and more useful, than losing a few kilos now.
Keep track of your weight and waistline, but not every day. I'm checking every Sunday, before eating.
Your hip-to-waist ratio may be more important than the number of kilos you weigh. Your aim, as a male, should be a ratio of about 0.9.
Look for accomplishments other than these. Add a hundred meters to your run each week, perhaps, or do a few more weights.
It doesn't matter what you do on one day - an occasional splurge or bout of laziness is nothing to be ashamed of. What matters is what you do overall.
You possibly shouldn't be doing that routine every day. Give your body a chance to recover.

On my end: I lost a whole kilogram last week! :biggrin:

[horngeek]

...I never check my weight.

Basically, I eat moderately healthily (with some junk food splurges) and exercise... three to four days of the week. That keeps me quite fit enough for my purposes.

[H. Zee]

What is your objective? That will greatly change any advice I might give.

You're not likely to lose your layer of fat, I think, because most of what you're doing is strength training, not fat-burning.

Losing the fat would be very nice indeed, but it's secondary to building up my strength/stamina. My objective is basically to have an exercise regimen which allows me to a) get fitter and b) lose some surplus body-weight, while not having to go on a particularly stringent diet.


Well, for starters, you don't want to overdo it, I did a lot of bicep exercises recently, as a part of my everyday program, and I ended up with an injury and two weeks of almost no arms at all, so take it easy and listen to your body.

Secondly, you need to give your muscles some rest, say every third day or so, to allow them to rebuild. Take one day with no arms and focus more on your stomach and back, then the next day don't run, but do more arms and core, third day, arms and running, light core (You can train core every day, as long as you don't max it all the time.).

Make sure that you eat properly and if you want to loose fat, the best thing I've found is longer sessions of running, 45 min+, since you have to work for around 40 min before you start to burn fat. Take it easy in the beginning, and stop if you feel that your joints/ligaments start to hurt. The muscles should hurt, not the sinews.

I don't need to worry about overdoing the weights - I've been doing the "weights" part of my regimen for a month now and it's much, much easier for me than the running is (which I consider the most difficult part of my regimen at the moment). I'm actually thinking of buying heavier weights.

That's useful advice about "rest days," thank you. :smallsmile: I'd vaguely heard they were necessary, but wasn't sure to what extent that was actually true. If I rest every Tuesday and Thursday, would that be enough? Those are my busiest days and the ones where exercise is the least convenient.

And I have to say, at the moment my running ability is dire - 20 or so minutes of running without stopping is enough to completely wear me out. The 2 and a half miles' run of my regimen is pretty much my limit at the moment - I'm just hoping that after a bit of practice, I'll improve in that area. Thanks for the advice :smallbiggrin:


252 lbs.(114 kg)

I would expect your endurance to increase, gain strength (but not necessarily muscle mass, since it's high rep/low weight - assuming your reps of 30 are in one or two sets) and you may lose some fat, but you won't look ripped.

As Skywalker asked, what's your goal? Really if you're just starting out exercising after a good break, no matter what I'd suggest you kind of ease yourself back into any regimen, but I can't really give a whole lot of advice past that without a goal in mind. Best bet would be to go to a personal trainer - even if it's just one session so they can set up a plan for you.

Hopefully I've made my goal a bit clearer already. I can't afford a personal trainer though. :smallfrown: That's why I have to turn to the Playground!

EDIT:


Thanks. Most people don't use stone as a way to measure weight (or is it mass?). The only instance I've heard it used before was in the Canterbury Tales.

Still very common in the UK.


Assuming you're doing this to lose weight:
If your weight is steady now, all you have to do to lose some weight is to do more than you are now.
Improving your lifestyle in the long run is more important, and more useful, than losing a few kilos now.
Keep track of your weight and waistline, but not every day. I'm checking every Sunday, before eating.
Your hip-to-waist ratio may be more important than the number of kilos you weigh. Your aim, as a male, should be a ratio of about 0.9.
Look for accomplishments other than these. Add a hundred meters to your run each week, perhaps, or do a few more weights.
It doesn't matter what you do on one day - an occasional splurge or bout of laziness is nothing to be ashamed of. What matters is what you do overall.
You possibly shouldn't be doing that routine every day. Give your body a chance to recover.

On my end: I lost a whole kilogram last week! :biggrin:

Well done! :smallsmile: I don't think I'll be obsessively checking my weight; it can be pretty misleading, especially if you're putting on muscle faster than you're losing fat. Thanks for the advice though :smallbiggrin:

[Serpentine]

...I never check my weight.

Basically, I eat moderately healthily (with some junk food splurges) and exercise... three to four days of the week. That keeps me quite fit enough for my purposes.Well, like I said, my advice was under the assumption that he wanted to lose it. As he doesn't, I'll say choose some other thing to keep track of, such as the aforementioned "how far/long you can run", or "how many weights you can lift".

[Adlan]

I'd say to keep the running on alternate days, and slowly increase the length. This gives your body time to heal up after every run.

[drakir_nosslin]

Your hip-to-waist ratio may be more important than the number of kilos you weigh. Your aim, as a male, should be a ratio of about 0.9.

Interesting, is there a similar thing for chest/waist or chest/hips?



On my end: I lost a whole kilogram last week! :biggrin:
Congratulations! That's a lot, I'm impressed! :smallbiggrin: (I'm otoh is trying to gain weight. Takes a bit more time to build muscles :smallyuk:)



That's useful advice about "rest days," thank you. :smallsmile: I'd vaguely heard they were necessary, but wasn't sure to what extent that was actually true. If I rest every Tuesday and Thursday, would that be enough? Those are my busiest days and the ones where exercise is the least convenient.
Well, it would be better if you could spread them out a little more, but it's certainly an improvement to what you're doing right now.


And I have to say, at the moment my running ability is dire - 20 or so minutes of running without stopping is enough to completely wear me out. The 2 and a half miles' run of my regimen is pretty much my limit at the moment - I'm just hoping that after a bit of practice, I'll improve in that area. Thanks for the advice :smallbiggrin:

How long time does it take for you to run those 2.5 miles'?
That's one of the things that I learned when I was young. You can actually run really far, if you take it easy. Try to just jog, real slowly, not much faster than walking, and keep that pace, no matter if it's a slope or just flat ground. In that pace, and with a bit of patience, I bet you could at least double the distance you're running right now.

And if the weights don't bother you, then it's all good, just remember to listen to your body :smallwink:

[Serpentine]

Interesting, is there a similar thing for chest/waist or chest/hips?No (at least noone's found anything significant there thus far), just the waist-hip ratio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waist-hip_ratio). Studies have found that a ratio of 0.9 for men and 0.7 for women generally (much more reliably than the BMI) coincides with physical attractiveness, fertility, general health, and the like.

[Runestar]

I am also interested in running tips, since I have been running for quite some time now (~ 3 months) but I noticed that my timing has not really been improving (takes me roughly 11.5 - 12 minutes to complete 2.4 Km). I run roughly once every other day.

I dunno - sometimes, my legs just feel so lethargic when I try to run, though the feeling goes away after a few hundred meters. Is this purely psychological or is my body trying to tell me something? :smallconfused:

[H. Zee]

Well, it would be better if you could spread them out a little more, but it's certainly an improvement to what you're doing right now.

How long time does it take for you to run those 2.5 miles'?
That's one of the things that I learned when I was young. You can actually run really far, if you take it easy. Try to just jog, real slowly, not much faster than walking, and keep that pace, no matter if it's a slope or just flat ground. In that pace, and with a bit of patience, I bet you could at least double the distance you're running right now.

And if the weights don't bother you, then it's all good, just remember to listen to your body :smallwink:

It takes me 20 minutes, and by the end of it I feel like my legs are going to give out! Embarrassing, right? On the upside, I've only been doing it the last two days, so have yet to get the practice in. :smalltongue: I'll try to go a little slower and up the distance, though, if you think that'd help?

[Serpentine]

I think it's meant to be good, when it comes to cardio-vascular exercise, to alternate the intensity (i.e. run for a burst, then slow down to a jog, then run, etc.).

Hollow: Once a week isn't "obsessive". In any case, like I said, that was specifically if your aim is to lose weight. If it isn't, there's no point keeping track of it *shrug*

[H. Zee]

I think it's meant to be good, when it comes to cardio-vascular exercise, to alternate the intensity (i.e. run for a burst, then slow down to a jog, then run, etc.).

Hollow: Once a week isn't "obsessive". In any case, like I said, that was specifically if your aim is to lose weight. If it isn't, there's no point keeping track of it *shrug*

Sorry, "obsessive" was a poor choice of words. :smallredface:

[Liffguard]

You need to work your back and your legs.

Stronglifts (http://www.stronglifts.com): A very basic but effective weightlifting program.

Or, if you don't have access to a gym have a look at the 20 level challenge on Bodyweight Culture. (http://bodyweightculture.com/forum/vbarticles.php?do=category&categoryid=1)

Keep running. Keep trying to go faster and longer.

Eat small, frequent balanced meals. Lots of vegetables, lots of protein, some fat and complex carbs. No sugar. No processed food.

Good luck.

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

Unless you're training to actually run a certain distance, the time spent running it far more important than the distance. I would say for most people 20-30 minutes of running would be sufficient. Are you planning on changing your diet at all. Just exercising and not changing your diet one bit really won't do a whole lot of good. As for the changes you might see, it's really hard to tell, as activities like you're doing can vary quite a bit person to person, even of the same height and build.

[horngeek]

Unless you're training to actually run a certain distance, the time spent running it far more important than the distance. I would say for most people 20-30 minutes of running would be sufficient. Are you planning on changing your diet at all. Just exercising and not changing your diet one bit really won't do a whole lot of good. As for the changes you might see, it's really hard to tell, as activities like you're doing can vary quite a bit person to person, even of the same height and build.

This. Train for times, not for distance. :smalltongue:

Also, if you want to build up strength, do pushups and the like fast, but if you want to build up stamina, hold them.

[H. Zee]

You need to work your back and your legs.

Stronglifts (http://www.stronglifts.com): A very basic but effective weightlifting program.

Or, if you don't have access to a gym have a look at the 20 level challenge on Bodyweight Culture. (http://bodyweightculture.com/forum/vbarticles.php?do=category&categoryid=1)

Keep running. Keep trying to go faster and longer.

Eat small, frequent balanced meals. Lots of vegetables, lots of protein, some fat and complex carbs. No sugar. No processed food.

Good luck.

Thanks for the websites! :smallsmile: I'll try to avoid unhealthy foods, but I think my emphasis will be on exercise rather than on diet.


Unless you're training to actually run a certain distance, the time spent running it far more important than the distance. I would say for most people 20-30 minutes of running would be sufficient. Are you planning on changing your diet at all. Just exercising and not changing your diet one bit really won't do a whole lot of good. As for the changes you might see, it's really hard to tell, as activities like you're doing can vary quite a bit person to person, even of the same height and build.

I'll try to work my way up to 30 minutes of running within the next 2 weeks. Would you say that's a reasonable goal?

[Serpentine]

Lost 1kg last week, gained 0.2kg this week :smallsigh: Ah well, push on...

edit: In case anyone's interested. I did lose 0.5cm off my waist. I keep track of the number of abdominal, aerobic (step-ups and/or star-jumps), weights, and squats exercises and kilometers walked or run. This week, I did more of everything, except kilometers walked. So, guess I have an idea of what works best, assuming this is reasonably representative...

[Lioness]

I've started going to the gym, but lost no weight at all. Having said that, I have pretty epic abs hiding under the flab, and my thigh and butt muscles are really strengthening.

[Lillith]

Might I suggest a thing or two about food? Last year I managed to lose 11kg in about 3 months (a whole summer vacation basically). I went to the gym 5 times a week, but food is a very important thing to watch to lose weight/fat.

The most important thing to remember is that you should eat healthy foods like already mentioned. Don't do the 'only eat 3 times a day' thing cause you'll feel starved and lose energy. Try to eat healthy snacks to keep your body 'burning'. I usually try to eat things like apples, tomatoes and cucumbers as in between snacks when I'm hungry but it is not dinner time yet. Whole wheat crackers and walnuts are a good way to snack too, just don't go too heavy on the walnuts cause they have a lot of proteins in them.

Just my 2 cents, I hope you'll succeed.

[ForzaFiori]

Every time I see one of these, It makes me wanna start working out again for a little bit, and then my laziness kills the idea. Which sucks cause I could use it. However, all my experience from when I ran can come in handy now!

Zaraki: Not sure about your weights, but when running, what your (probably) gonna wanna do is begin with increasing your endurance, by jogging slowly for long periods. You should be jogging slow enough that you can hold a conversation while doing (its called, oddly, your "conversation pace"). Work on that till you can go 30, 40 minutes with it. Then, once you can do that fairly easily, start speeding up every so often. Slow jog for 2 minutes, then pick something about 50-100 meters (I think that's the right distance. about 50-100 yards) ahead of you, and actually RUN to it. then slow back down for another two minutes, and do that your entire run. You won't be able to go as far, but you'll have enough endurance that you'll keep your heart rate up for a while, which is what your looking for. It'll REALLY help burn that last bit of fat, and your endurance will sky-rocket. However, don't do it every day. Do the speed intervals like 2, 3 times a week, and the rest just do the simple slow jogging. Otherwise you'll almost certainly hurt yourself.

[Thajocoth]

The only physically healthy thing I do is walk to/from the pizza place each day. ~35 min each way.

I'm curious to know... Assuming the same distance, does jogging/running do anything more than walking?

[Serpentine]

I've been wondering the same thing. I think the answer is yes.

[Tyrandar]

Thanks to a flareup of seasonal depression that makes it very difficult for me to leave the house, I am horribly out of shape. I've been trapped in this vicious cycle where I notice how out of shape I am, get even more depressed, and can't bring myself to do anything about it.

Any suggestions Playground?

[drakir_nosslin]

Lost 1kg last week, gained 0.2kg this week :smallsigh: Ah well, push on...
It's just the birthday cake, don't worry :smalltongue:


edit: In case anyone's interested. I did lose 0.5cm off my waist. I keep track of the number of abdominal, aerobic (step-ups and/or star-jumps), weights, and squats exercises and kilometers walked or run. This week, I did more of everything, except kilometers walked. So, guess I have an idea of what works best, assuming this is reasonably representative...

That's what I've been taught as well, continuous walking/jogging is the best way to loose fat, while abdominal training and weightlifting is better to build muscles. I'd say that aerobic training is somewhere in between, though that's more of a guess than anything, I'm not really good at that kind of training.

[Serpentine]

But I haven't had any birthday cake :smallfrown:

Wait...
I haven't had any birthday cake! :smallmad:

[Tirian]

The only physically healthy thing I do is walk to/from the pizza place each day. ~35 min each way.

I'm curious to know... Assuming the same distance, does jogging/running do anything more than walking?

The key is your heartrate. Off the top of my head, this (http://www.thewalkingsite.com/thr.html) looks like a sensible site for calculating your target heart rates depending on your goal. And you want to spend the maximum amount of time in that zone (aside from adding in some safe periods for warming up and cooling down). In general, powerwalking seems to be as aerobically strenuous as jogging while being much less strain on your joints, but you can figure it the right speeds for yourself.


I've started going to the gym, but lost no weight at all. Having said that, I have pretty epic abs hiding under the flab, and my thigh and butt muscles are really strengthening.

Don't be discouraged. At the beginning of a workout regimen, you are both losing fat and gaining muscle, and muscle weighs more than fat so you won't initially see the results on the scale. Instead, keep a tape measure handy and track the reduction in your waist and hips. Another piece of advice that was great encouragement for me is to look at yourself naked in the mirror for one minute a day and you will be able to appreciate the difference in your trimness and muscle tone. Eventually, your muscle mass will stabilize and then you'll lose fat weight like crazy because muscle consumes energy 24 hours a day.

[drakir_nosslin]

But I haven't had any birthday cake :smallfrown:

Wait...
I haven't had any birthday cake! :smallmad:

Now that's a shame! Too bad I live on the opposite side of the world, otherwise I'd rush over with some delicious cake. And a candle.

Might do that in two years, since I'm planning on going to Australia to study. Sadly, the cake will have gone bad by then :smallfrown:

[Thajocoth]

In general, powerwalking seems to be as aerobically strenuous as jogging while being much less strain on your joints, but you can figure it the right speeds for yourself.

Fast-walking (which is what I assume powerwalking is) hurts my shins. Considering the following list, it's impossible to tell why exactly:
* Bowed legs
* Flat feet
* Very wide feet
* Full foot, full foot instead of heal-toe, heal-toe.

I've thought about switching between fast-walking and a low jog. Haven't the stamina for a jog the full way, but jogging/running doesn't hurt my shins as it's a very different stance.

I just got back from my daily walk. My shins hurt a lot. It's not sore-pain like muscles get. It's like a headache in my shins. (My standard walk when I don't think about it is a fast-walk.)

[H. Zee]

Zaraki: Not sure about your weights, but when running, what your (probably) gonna wanna do is begin with increasing your endurance, by jogging slowly for long periods. You should be jogging slow enough that you can hold a conversation while doing (its called, oddly, your "conversation pace"). Work on that till you can go 30, 40 minutes with it. Then, once you can do that fairly easily, start speeding up every so often. Slow jog for 2 minutes, then pick something about 50-100 meters (I think that's the right distance. about 50-100 yards) ahead of you, and actually RUN to it. then slow back down for another two minutes, and do that your entire run. You won't be able to go as far, but you'll have enough endurance that you'll keep your heart rate up for a while, which is what your looking for. It'll REALLY help burn that last bit of fat, and your endurance will sky-rocket. However, don't do it every day. Do the speed intervals like 2, 3 times a week, and the rest just do the simple slow jogging. Otherwise you'll almost certainly hurt yourself.

This is really useful advice! :smallsmile: I'm definitely going to pick this one up and give it a go if I can, although first I'll spend a week or so just getting used to the regular running. :smalltongue:

I'll pop back into this thread in a week and tell everyone how it's going for me! Hope it's a useful thread for other people with exercise issues as well. :smallbiggrin:

[Liffguard]

Thanks for the websites! :smallsmile: I'll try to avoid unhealthy foods, but I think my emphasis will be on exercise rather than on diet.

Then you'll fail to achieve your goals. Sorry to put it so bluntly, but that's the way it is. Exercise is important. Diet is more important.

That doesn't mean you can't ever indulge ever again but you need to set some rules and limits. I posted this in an earlier thread and I think it sums up good nutrition fairly simply:


1) Cut out all processed food. Junk food, fast food, ready meals, it all has to go. This includes a lot of "healthy" stuff like cereal bars. Whenever possible, prepare your own meals from whole ingredients.
2) Related to above, cut down on sugar. This includes obvious things like sweets and fizzy drinks but also less obvious things like fruit. Try and eat vegetables instead of fruit.
3) Eat small, eat often. Try and have small regular meals spaced out evenly throughout the day. As a very rough guide, "small" is something that would fit on a side plate.
4) Eat balanced. Try to ensure each meal contains a roughly even split between
a) protein & fat
b) complex carbohydrates
c) vegetables
5) Maintain consistency but don't worry about cheating every now and again. Follow the 90% rule. Eat healthy 90% of the time.
6) Stay hydrated. Aim for between 2 - 4 litres of water a day.

[Thajocoth]

Then you'll fail to achieve your goals. Sorry to put it so bluntly, but that's the way it is. Exercise is important. Diet is more important.

That doesn't mean you can't ever indulge ever again but you need to set some rules and limits. I posted this in an earlier thread and I think it sums up good nutrition fairly simply:


1) Cut out all processed food. Junk food, fast food, ready meals, it all has to go. This includes a lot of "healthy" stuff like cereal bars. Whenever possible, prepare your own meals from whole ingredients.
2) Related to above, cut down on sugar. This includes obvious things like sweets and fizzy drinks but also less obvious things like fruit. Try and eat vegetables instead of fruit.
3) Eat small, eat often. Try and have small regular meals spaced out evenly throughout the day. As a very rough guide, "small" is something that would fit on a side plate.
4) Eat balanced. Try to ensure each meal contains a roughly even split between
a) protein & fat
b) complex carbohydrates
c) vegetables
5) Maintain consistency but don't worry about cheating every now and again. Follow the 90% rule. Eat healthy 90% of the time.
6) Stay hydrated. Aim for between 2 - 4 litres of water a day.

I wish I could change my diet. Or replace it with some sort of direct nutrient-to-blood system... Why do they not have this? Life would be so much better if I didn't have to deal with eating. None of the above points would be possible for me for a variety of reasons.

A short summary of these reasons, without their full explanations would be:
When I feel pain due to not eating, I'm reminded that I need to, and find something my body will tolerate. These things are all processed, and loaded with sugar and/or cheese. I drink a lot of milk though. It's my primary source of protein, if not my only source of it. If you count pasta sauce, then I get my share of vegetables each day. If not, then I get no vegetables ever. If I attempt to deviate from this, my body will reject it, closing my throat & choking me. Whether that happens sooner (during prep) or later (during bite) depends on how strongly the food smells.Between my horrible diet and the fact that this walking I started a month ago is the only exercise I really get, it's a wonder I'm not obese and apparently have a very strong immune system.

[skywalker]

252 lbs.(114 kg)

It's come out to 196 lbs. on every converter I've used. Just so you know. 196 seems like a lot healthier weight at 6'2" rather than 252.


And I have to say, at the moment my running ability is dire - 20 or so minutes of running without stopping is enough to completely wear me out. The 2 and a half miles' run of my regimen is pretty much my limit at the moment - I'm just hoping that after a bit of practice, I'll improve in that area. Thanks for the advice :smallbiggrin:


I am also interested in running tips, since I have been running for quite some time now (~ 3 months) but I noticed that my timing has not really been improving (takes me roughly 11.5 - 12 minutes to complete 2.4 Km). I run roughly once every other day.

I say run every day. Don't worry about the time, there's a certain point where you can't jog any faster. Just try to run farther. As far as I can see, 2.5 miles in 20 minutes and 1.5 miles (2.4 klicks) in 12 is pretty good for a "fitness jog." It's just that you could be running farther, which would be increasing your stamina, etc.


I dunno - sometimes, my legs just feel so lethargic when I try to run, though the feeling goes away after a few hundred meters. Is this purely psychological or is my body trying to tell me something? :smallconfused:

It's not a point of concern. Not completely psychological, but not "my body is trying to tell me this is wrong" either.


It takes me 20 minutes, and by the end of it I feel like my legs are going to give out! Embarrassing, right? On the upside, I've only been doing it the last two days, so have yet to get the practice in. :smalltongue: I'll try to go a little slower and up the distance, though, if you think that'd help?

Run 2.5 for a week. Then up it by a half-mile. Then another week, then another half-mile. Continue to taste. Don't worry about raising your speed so much, you're already running pretty fast for a distance run. Remember that running is a lifestyle. It won't do to run for a couple of months and then stop doing it. You'll lose everything twice as fast as you gained it.

...

I hate running.


I'll try to work my way up to 30 minutes of running within the next 2 weeks. Would you say that's a reasonable goal?

Are you running on a track or what? It won't do for you to pass out on a country road somewhere with no help available, but if you're running on a track or treadmill where there are people fairly near, I'd say run just a little bit farther than you think you can. One of the greatest things for me when I started running was I ran with a cross-country guy who knew all the roads we were running on. I had no idea, so I had no idea where we were going or how far we were running. I just trusted him not to kill me. Consistently, I ran about .5 to 1 mile farther than I thought I could. Then one day we did an extra long run and he looked at me and said "you just ran 6 miles" and I was like "WTF?!"


Thanks to a flareup of seasonal depression that makes it very difficult for me to leave the house, I am horribly out of shape. I've been trapped in this vicious cycle where I notice how out of shape I am, get even more depressed, and can't bring myself to do anything about it.

Any suggestions Playground?

Do something incredibly easy like crunches? Seriously, you just lay on the floor and lift your shoulders a few times.

Try to eat healthier foods? When I start my day with a juice smoothie, I feel about a billion times better than when I don't...


That's what I've been taught as well, continuous walking/jogging is the best way to loose fat, while abdominal training and weightlifting is better to build muscles. I'd say that aerobic training is somewhere in between, though that's more of a guess than anything, I'm not really good at that kind of training.

I'm pretty sure walking/jogging is aerobic training.


The key is your heartrate. Off the top of my head, this (http://www.thewalkingsite.com/thr.html) looks like a sensible site for calculating your target heart rates depending on your goal. And you want to spend the maximum amount of time in that zone (aside from adding in some safe periods for warming up and cooling down). In general, powerwalking seems to be as aerobically strenuous as jogging while being much less strain on your joints, but you can figure it the right speeds for yourself.

Yeah, jogging/running does a lot more for you because it raises your heart rate so much more.


Then you'll fail to achieve your goals. Sorry to put it so bluntly, but that's the way it is. Exercise is important. Diet is more important.

BS. Sorry to put it so bluntly, but BS. Yes, diet is important. No, it isn't impossible to achieve your goals without changing your diet.


1) Cut out all processed food. Junk food, fast food, ready meals, it all has to go. This includes a lot of "healthy" stuff like cereal bars. Whenever possible, prepare your own meals from whole ingredients.
2) Related to above, cut down on sugar. This includes obvious things like sweets and fizzy drinks but also less obvious things like fruit. Try and eat vegetables instead of fruit.
3) Eat small, eat often. Try and have small regular meals spaced out evenly throughout the day. As a very rough guide, "small" is something that would fit on a side plate.
4) Eat balanced. Try to ensure each meal contains a roughly even split between
a) protein & fat
b) complex carbohydrates
c) vegetables
5) Maintain consistency but don't worry about cheating every now and again. Follow the 90% rule. Eat healthy 90% of the time.
6) Stay hydrated. Aim for between 2 - 4 litres of water a day.

Now, I don't eat donuts every meal. But cookies, hot dogs, chips, cokes, fried chicken, sweet tea; those are all things I eat regularly. All things I ate regularly while playing a season of lacrosse. And I gained 30 pounds of pure muscle, increased my cardio fitness tremendously, and stayed lean.

No, you can't eat like crap, but if you're just trying to get fit, and stay healthy, you don't have to have an Olympian's diet plan.

[drakir_nosslin]

I'm pretty sure walking/jogging is aerobic training.

Ah, right. That's what happens when I don't check words I'm not sure of, and guess instead. I thought she meant aerobics :smalltongue:

[snoopy13a]

Best method of losing weight is cardio combined with a 500-1000 calorie per day reduction. Walking an hour a day is likely the easiest method as most people can handle walking and it doesn't put stress on the joints so there is a much lesser chance of injury then with running.

When starting an exercise program, it is critical to ensure that you don't eat more to compensate for the calories burned off. It is very common for people to reward themselves with a 400 calorie or so treat after a 3 mile run that burns off about 300 calories. Hence, they don't lose any weight. Exercising doesn't cause weight loss unless the calorie intake stays the same or is lowered.

[Lev]

As a firefighter in training, fitness enthusiast, nutrition enthusiast and martial artist I'll give you my advice, simple tips:

Before expanding your body you need to start stretching, stretch 3 times a day for 20 mins, 30 seconds each stretch. Not joking.

The more metal weights you use the more solid your muscles will be, that's not meaning that they will be more useful but it does mean they will be stronger inside their limited range, much much stronger, but expanding back out of that range will be more difficult and can cause injury. If you want to be in the security industry I highly recommend metal weights, if you want to be overall fitter I would recommend never using them unless you have to, and then only limited usages at high-reps (other pros will tell you 10-12 reps is the best, but they are speaking from a muscle growth quantity, not a muscle health quality).

If you want to lose weight you have to do cardio, period.
Rotate these activities to make sure your cardio doesn't injure you, only a few of these will build up the intensity needed to burn the fat off you, stuff like walking and swimming is not effective at fat loss as walking is too gentle and swimming with fat makes you too light to be intense.
Rock Climbing
Inline Skating
Running
Walking
Swimming
Cycling
Sports

For building muscle outside of simple cardio (which works most of the body tbh) you want to do MINIMUM REPS of:
Pullups, Pushups and Situps
Remember to go to a gym or hire a pro-trainer for an hour to get the 100% correct way to do these. If your pro trainer will only teach you/recommend crunches ask if thats because of something about you, if it isn't and he still won't teach you proper situps then go find a better trainer, as bad trainers tend to be shaky around things that make dumb people cause liabilities.

How to do this?
PT Pyramid (http://www.military.com/military-fitness/fitness-test-prep/pt-pyramid)
Begin at level 1, don't move up a level until about 1-2 weeks after you start-- injury is slow to recognize, if you feel you are ready for a higher level of super slow PT pyramiding then go for it, but it's always good to be protective against injuries.
Any fitness inspector will rate you on time spent exercising, not number, so remember to do these as slow as possible while keeping a good ways away from where you'd think you'd start to get injured.


http://completerunning.com/dawn-on-the-run/wp-content/trainingplans/13weeks.html
As for running, start off with this at day 1 week 1 and move up from there, very important to do this 3 days a week close to the same days, with good breaks in-between.
It says # repeats which means you run X time then walk Y time then run X time and walk Y time however many times it says to repeat.
To do running-based stretches you need to warm up first, static stretches improve range but mostly in muscles, if you want your actual tendons and ligaments to improve in health you gotta stretch them while they are warmed up.

Remember to eat balanced meals, and between 2carb-1protein to 4carb-1protein (depending on current metabolism) 5 meals a day with protein at each meal and at least 2000cal.
If you cant have calcium in your diet naturally you NEED to get sups, you need loads of calcium to combat the bone restructuring from the cardio.


Also, you need meat or VERY VERY clever nutritionist-grade vegetarian food, meat contains the BCAA level amino acids that regular insulin to make your muscles grow, which is why lots of vegetarians are scrawny-- they are malnourished.
Any diet which requires you to eat more protein than carbs is STUPID. It causes ketosis which flushes all your waterweight, and as soon as you nourish yourself again the water weight comes back.

Good luck buddy!

[Liffguard]

Also, you need meat or VERY VERY clever nutritionist-grade vegetarian food, meat contains the BCAA level amino acids that regular insulin to make your muscles grow, which is why lots of vegetarians are scrawny-- they are malnourished.

Eh, I think it's overstated how difficult it is to get enough complete protein on a vegetarian diet. Off the top of my head quinoa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa#Nutritional_value), chia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_hispanica#Seeds) and kidney beans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidney_bean#Red_or_kidney_beans) are all adequate sources of protein. And of course, those who aren't vegan still have access to eggs and dairy. Not to mention that numerous grains also have surprisingly high protein contents. Oats are about 12% protein for example. Admittedly, most vegetable protein sources are not complete on their own but it's not difficult to obtain all of the essential amino acids by mixing and matching.

[Lev]

Eh, I think it's overstated how difficult it is to get enough complete protein on a vegetarian diet. Off the top of my head quinoa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa#Nutritional_value), chia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvia_hispanica#Seeds) and kidney beans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidney_bean#Red_or_kidney_beans) are all adequate sources of protein. And of course, those who aren't vegan still have access to eggs and dairy. Not to mention that numerous grains also have surprisingly high protein contents. Oats are about 12% protein for example. Admittedly, most vegetable protein sources are not complete on their own but it's not difficult to obtain all of the essential amino acids by mixing and matching.
Yes yes, just scarf down some tofu if you want protein, easy fix.
The amino acids are what I was mentioning as tricky to combine in balance for the insulin self-regulation.

Also, 2L of water a day and 100g of banana post-workout will help your endurance, muscle soreness and muscle growth as the high GI banana triggers an insulin spike right when your muscles need it.


Keep track of your weight and waistline, but not every day. I'm checking every Sunday, before eating.
Waistline is pretty silly, the most fit people I know have bigger waists than chests-- you should be expanding your waistline technically seeing as breathing properly (breathing down, making the stomach expand and contract with each breath) will strengthen the diaphragm and create a nice little dome around your stomach.

Breathing up aligns the muscles upwards making you topheavy (http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p380/AthQarm/FMA/armstrong.jpg) (and more importantly disrupts the superficial backline (http://www.bbcfl.com/BBCFL%20-%20Newsletters%20-%2008%20-%20February_files/at%20Superficial%20back%20Line.gif) which weakens a person's true center of balance power (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSnUDkCQ0WU)), breathing down aligns your muscles downwards making you bottomheavy (http://shamballaalchemist.free.fr/images/colos/sig-curtis.jpg).
Topheavy creates a broad and strong shoulderline where as bottomheavy creates a large and strong core. It all depends what shape you want... but as far as breath is concerned, a stronger diaphragm means more efficient breathing.

Also, I don't think you have to be an engineer to figure out how topheavy or bottomheavy you'd make a machine or a building in the same shape as a human.

[mucat]

Keep track of your weight and waistline, but not every day. I'm checking every Sunday, before eating.
Snakes don't really have waistlines.

So problem solved; now go eat some birthday cake!

[skywalker]

Waistline is pretty silly, the most fit people I know have bigger waists than chests-- you should be expanding your waistline technically seeing as breathing properly (breathing down, making the stomach expand and contract with each breath) will strengthen the diaphragm and create a nice little dome around your stomach.

But you hang with firefighters... Look at this guy. (http://www.google.com/imglanding?q=Bruce%20Lee%20Flex&imgurl=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W_-a3t6WTZs/SRf_RtC_uBI/AAAAAAAAARQ/O_OaEOOQ6fM/s400/The.Way.Of.The.Dragon.1972.Bruce.Lee.flex.front.jp g&imgrefurl=http://discountcouponpromotionalcodes.blogspot.com/2008/11/legend-of-bruce-lee-on-cctv.html&usg=__20t-QXItdbqCp6jZxwehZhvWquM=&h=265&w=242&sz=15&hl=en&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=eFGC0fOTyvnC6M:&tbnh=112&tbnw=102&prev=/images%3Fq%3DBruce%2BLee%2BFlex%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den %26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbs=isch:1&start=0#tbnid=eFGC0fOTyvnC6M&start=0) Bigger chest than waist for sure.

[Runestar]

The cake is a lie...:smallwink:

[Lev]

But you hang with firefighters... Look at this guy. (http://www.google.com/imglanding?q=Bruce%20Lee%20Flex&imgurl=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W_-a3t6WTZs/SRf_RtC_uBI/AAAAAAAAARQ/O_OaEOOQ6fM/s400/The.Way.Of.The.Dragon.1972.Bruce.Lee.flex.front.jp g&imgrefurl=http://discountcouponpromotionalcodes.blogspot.com/2008/11/legend-of-bruce-lee-on-cctv.html&usg=__20t-QXItdbqCp6jZxwehZhvWquM=&h=265&w=242&sz=15&hl=en&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=eFGC0fOTyvnC6M:&tbnh=112&tbnw=102&prev=/images%3Fq%3DBruce%2BLee%2BFlex%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den %26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbs=isch:1&start=0#tbnid=eFGC0fOTyvnC6M&start=0) Bigger chest than waist for sure.
Care to give another example as the archetype of health, one that didn't die in his 30's?

Fire fighters, like police, have a job to do, at that point it isn't about health, it's about being there instead of someone else, being there instead of someone who wouldn't be able to do the job as good as you.

[rakkoon]

First of all: congrats on your planning an determination.

What fitness instructors and physical therapists have always told me: only abs and calves can be exercised every day. All other muscle groups have to have a day of rest. So you can do arms on Monday, legs on Tuesday and arms again on Wednesday. Sit ups and running (and calves) you can do every day.

[Lev]

First of all: congrats on your planning an determination.

What fitness instructors and physical therapists have always told me: only abs and calves can be exercised every day. All other muscle groups have to have a day of rest. So you can do arms on Monday, legs on Tuesday and arms again on Wednesday. Sit ups and running (and calves) you can do every day.
Running works way more than calves, you do need rest in between sessions.

[rakkoon]

Could very well be. I do not like running at all and never asked a professional about it. Though it is probably the the best way to loose weight.

[Serpentine]

Then you'll fail to achieve your goals. Sorry to put it so bluntly, but that's the way it is. Exercise is important. Diet is more important.
The rest of your post wasn't bad advice, but this is rubbish. If his goal is "get more fit", as it seems to be, and he doesn't have an incredibly horrendous diet, he will achieve his goals even if he doesn't change his diet at all.
I'm pretty sure walking/jogging is aerobic training.It was in the context of my post where I mentioned I distinguish between "aerobic" exercise, specifically star-jumps and step-ups, and "cardio-vascular", specifically running and walking.

Waistline is pretty silly, the most fit people I know have bigger waists than chestsThen they should probably get checked by a doctor, because unless that weirdly massive waist is all pure muscle, they have a risky amount of fat around their organs, regardless of their overall fitness.

The WHR has been used as an indicator or measure of the health of a person, and the risk of developing serious health conditions... A WHR of 0.7 for women and 0.9 for men have been shown to correlate strongly with general health and fertility. Women within the 0.7 range have optimal levels of estrogen and are less susceptible to major diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disorders and ovarian cancers.[1] Men with WHRs around 0.9, similarly, have been shown to be more healthy and fertile with less prostate cancer and testicular cancer.[2]

WHR has been found to be a more efficient predictor of mortality in older people than waist circumference or body mass index (BMI).[3] If obesity is redefined using WHR instead of BMI, the proportion of people categorized as at risk of heart attack worldwide increases threefold.[4] The body fat percentage is considered to be an even more accurate measure of relative weight. Of these three measurements, only the waist-hip ratio takes account of the differences in body structure. Hence, it is possible for two women to have vastly different body mass indices but the same waist-hip ratio, or to have the same body mass index but vastly different waist-hip ratios... Other studies have found that waist circumference, not WHR, to be a good indicator of cardiovascular risk factors,[6] body fat distribution,[7] and hypertension in type 2 diabetes...Some (http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118889249/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0) primary (http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118889249/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0) sources (http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/148/12/1187), but the internet's being dodgy so I haven't read over them.

[Lev]

Then they should probably get checked by a doctor, because unless that weirdly massive waist is all pure muscle, they have a risky amount of fat around their organs, regardless of their overall fitness.
Since not everyone here necessarily has a 20/20 view of the inside of the human body in their mind, I'll do some overlays.

Fig1
http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/8562/bellyf.jpg
Normal Normal Belly, very plain, and it has a decent amount of ab built up, remember that the plates of abs get smaller as they go up, the strongest, biggest and most protruding muscle is at the bottom.

Fig2
http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/6072/bellylung.jpg
Ok, basic resting lungs in pretty much the same spot they need to be.

Fig3
http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/7792/bellydp.jpg
The diaphragm here's job is to supply air to the lungs, everyone knows that, but what muscles EXACTLY help do that? Did you know you can breathe with entirely different sets of muscle groups? You can breath with your shoulders, or your back, you can focus your breath so you massage and tweak organs and that way you can control glads to physically manipulate your emotions, cool stuff but onto the point.

The actual cavity and expansion line for your lungs is up and down, but since your lungs are technically ABOVE your diaphragm it makes NO sense to breathe up, you might as well be squeezing your chest in while your breathe in and relaxing it when letting it out (which some people actually do, silly enough).

What this means is that breathing up forces you to breathe with your upper body to expand the chest cavity, it works everything it forces to move aside since you are compensating for your natural form you gain perks there.
Breathing down allows your diaphragm to naturally expand, you can also sup it with your abs if you need to breathe in quicker or stronger, the abs can provide explosive breathing if you were to ever need it, which is MUCH stronger than breathing up explosively. Breathing down healthily moves your organs, contributing to the outward protrusion of the belly later as the body shifts with your breath while allowing the stabilizing muscles of your body to not have to move, giving you much easier and stronger muscle control.

So lets see, we have the following slabs of muscle so far:
Obliques, Lower Abs, Diaphragm resting and pulling down and out.

This seems to make a circle around your belly, and unless you are underfat, breathing wrong or not at all or scrawny you should have a belly that can expand farther than your chest.

[Serpentine]

Expand father than your chest? Possibly. It would have to extend a lot, and I would have to see and measure it to really believe it on a healthy person. But if you're measuring your waist with it expanded to its extreme, then you're measuring it wrong, and your result has nothing to do with what I am talking about. Well, basically, that entire post has nothing to do with what I'm talking about.
If you measure your waist like you're meant to (around its narrowest part, or where that should be, relaxed - neither sucked in nor expanded), and your chest, if they do not have close to a ratio of 0.7 for women and 0.9 for men, they are almost certainly unhealthy (or at least less healthy than they should be).
I would be willing to bet that if you were to measure the waists of those "most fit people you know" (properly!), you would find that either they actually have this approximate ratio, or they do have more fat around their guts than is healthy. If neither of these are true, then I would very much like to see a picture of them, because I'm imagining freakish amounts of belly-muscle while somehow having a very scrawny chest.

[Lev]

It all depends on your lifestyle, if you have the lifestyle of needing a very strong upper body you're going to have a muscular chest, or have your workouts wasted, if you don't then you're going to want to focus on core muscles which can be worked out simply through everyday living as long as you don't set yourself up lazily. Easy things like having no chairs in your house and not owning a car, ect.
Unless you can explain how having pecks, arms and shoulders enlarged makes you fitter (technically adding more weight to your frame and making it top heavy) I don't see how having the same sized resting belly/chest which means a larger belly when not exhaled and not hungry is unhealthy.

But then again, I am just an enthusiast and have no degrees in that field, though this information does come from the studies I have done with my mentor (a trained physio/body worker) and all the things I've picked up from the countless hours of being exposed to that entire field of work.

[Serpentine]

Unless you can explain how having pecks, arms and shoulders enlarged makes you fitter (technically adding more weight to your frame and making it top heavy) I don't see how having the same sized resting belly/chest which means a larger belly when not exhaled and not hungry is unhealthy.Because scientific studies have found that these ratios, comparing the waist to the hips (and I just realised I think we've gotten a bit off track there - it's about the waist, not the chest; chest circumference has nothing to do with anything) is the best way for estimating health, attractiveness, and so on (that doesn't involve a whole lot of heavy equipment and scanning devices and the like).
Maybe, MAYBE, you're right, and these people you know really do have a larger waist than their hips due solely to muscle with no or very little influence of harmful belly fat. Even if you are right, these people are exceptions. They are the outliers, part of the very few for whom this method of health estimation does not work due to exceptional lifestyles and/or body shape. That does not mean that it is "silly", to use your word. It is the best means of estimation for the vast majority of people currently available.
I would still very much like to see their dimensions, if you're interested in getting them. It would be interesting to see what someone this different would look like, or if I'm right and they actually do have a narrower waist than hips.

Probably worth repeating something here, because I realised it's most likely significant and where this whole discussion went wrong: it's the HIP-waist ratio, not chest. Chest size has nothing to do with it - if it did, I'd probably be underweight.

[Lioness]

Chest size has nothing to do with it - if it did, I'd probably be underweight.

Mmmmm.

Those extra couple of kilos are what makes me seem overweight. I'm actually not.

[Serpentine]

That's why you use your waist :smallwink:

[Liffguard]

BS. Sorry to put it so bluntly, but BS. Yes, diet is important. No, it isn't impossible to achieve your goals without changing your diet.


The rest of your post wasn't bad advice, but this is rubbish. If his goal is "get more fit", as it seems to be, and he doesn't have an incredibly horrendous diet, he will achieve his goals even if he doesn't change his diet at all.

You're both right, I shouldn't have put it in such absolute terms. What I should have said is that diet is just as important a factor in health and fitness as exercise and that fitness goals will be significantly harder to achieve with poor eating habits.

[skywalker]

Fire fighters, like police, have a job to do, at that point it isn't about health, it's about being there instead of someone else, being there instead of someone who wouldn't be able to do the job as good as you.

Here's what I know about firefighters and police over say... 30: They get fat. They're still incredibly fit people, some of them, but they get fat. It's just the nature of the game. It in no way hinders their firefighting ability, but how many skinny fire chiefs do you know? I know zero, and I know a lot of firefighters. It's just the nature of the kind of strength they have. Bulk is important, being incredibly fit isn't. Plus, their lifestyle is one of sitting around, sitting around, sitting around, then BOOM! high, high-intensity, relatively short-duration workouts. What do these guys do while they're sitting around, tho? They eat. And eat, and sleep. Maybe wash the truck. This is not the kind of lifestyle that generates a ripped physique, for the most part. Sure, you see the guys on the calendars, but for the most part, firefighters are chunkier guys. It's not a bad thing, but they're not 100% and that's certainly not muscle around the middle because they breath properly.


The actual cavity and expansion line for your lungs is up and down, but since your lungs are technically ABOVE your diaphragm it makes NO sense to breathe up, you might as well be squeezing your chest in while your breathe in and relaxing it when letting it out (which some people actually do, silly enough).

What this means is that breathing up forces you to breathe with your upper body to expand the chest cavity, it works everything it forces to move aside since you are compensating for your natural form you gain perks there.
Breathing down allows your diaphragm to naturally expand, you can also sup it with your abs if you need to breathe in quicker or stronger, the abs can provide explosive breathing if you were to ever need it, which is MUCH stronger than breathing up explosively. Breathing down healthily moves your organs, contributing to the outward protrusion of the belly later as the body shifts with your breath while allowing the stabilizing muscles of your body to not have to move, giving you much easier and stronger muscle control.

So lets see, we have the following slabs of muscle so far:
Obliques, Lower Abs, Diaphragm resting and pulling down and out.

This seems to make a circle around your belly, and unless you are underfat, breathing wrong or not at all or scrawny you should have a belly that can expand farther than your chest.

I have been "breathing down" since I was about 10 years old (11 years ago). I am well aware of the explosive power of abdominal breathing, and breathing with my chest makes me feel terribly inefficient.

And I still don't have a bigger waist than my chest. I might be able to expand my belly farther than my chest, but I doubt it. That's because my chest is much bigger to start with, and I don't work out at all. The only "exercise" I get is breathing in the manner you're prescribing. Yet I still have an "upside down triangle" shape.

I'd be willing to bet Bruce Lee breathed exactly the same way. It's a common feature of most "serious" martial arts. Breathing from the true center grants all sorts of benefits.

What I mean to say is, don't get me wrong, I understand all the science of breathing and encourage and practice what you're encouraging. But I don't think even a lifetime of doing it could create a body where the belly is bigger than the chest, by itself.


You're both right, I shouldn't have put it in such absolute terms. What I should have said is that diet is just as important a factor in health and fitness as exercise and that fitness goals will be significantly harder to achieve with poor eating habits.

Cheers mate. I will agree with that. Plus, something very important: Zaraki's 18. At 35, the advice would be completely different. But at 18, you can eat practically anything, and as long as you're working out like this, you'll make something good of it.

[Lev]

Here's what I know about firefighters and police over say... 30: They get fat. They're still incredibly fit people, some of them, but they get fat. It's just the nature of the game. It in no way hinders their firefighting ability, but how many skinny fire chiefs do you know? I know zero, and I know a lot of firefighters. It's just the nature of the kind of strength they have. Bulk is important, being incredibly fit isn't. Plus, their lifestyle is one of sitting around, sitting around, sitting around, then BOOM! high, high-intensity, relatively short-duration workouts. What do these guys do while they're sitting around, tho? They eat. And eat, and sleep. Maybe wash the truck. This is not the kind of lifestyle that generates a ripped physique, for the most part. Sure, you see the guys on the calendars, but for the most part, firefighters are chunkier guys. It's not a bad thing, but they're not 100% and that's certainly not muscle around the middle because they breath properly.
Might I point out that your firefighter and police are also living in a life of American culture, the land of corn products.
Here our firefighting halls have built-in sports facilities, and to my understanding Squash is the highest cardio activity out there.
Post-40 the healthy fat % increases though, I agree.
Weight also fills in wrinkles :smallwink:
To qualify for being a fire fighter you have standard medical and fitness exams, though I haven't done any research to what a fire chief needs to keep working. Good point though.


I have been "breathing down" since I was about 10 years old (11 years ago). I am well aware of the explosive power of abdominal breathing, and breathing with my chest makes me feel terribly inefficient.

And I still don't have a bigger waist than my chest. I might be able to expand my belly farther than my chest, but I doubt it. That's because my chest is much bigger to start with, and I don't work out at all. The only "exercise" I get is breathing in the manner you're prescribing. Yet I still have an "upside down triangle" shape.

I'd be willing to bet Bruce Lee breathed exactly the same way. It's a common feature of most "serious" martial arts. Breathing from the true center grants all sorts of benefits.

What I mean to say is, don't get me wrong, I understand all the science of breathing and encourage and practice what you're encouraging. But I don't think even a lifetime of doing it could create a body where the belly is bigger than the chest, by itself.
Brude Lee was an ectomorph and asian, what body type are you?

[drakir_nosslin]

Might I point out that your firefighter and police are also living in a life of American culture, the land of corn products.
Here our firefighting halls have built-in sports facilities, and to my understanding Squash is the highest cardio activity out there.
Post-40 the healthy fat % increases though, I agree.
Weight also fills in wrinkles :smallwink:
To qualify for being a fire fighter you have standard medical and fitness exams, though I haven't done any research to what a fire chief needs to keep working. Good point though.

Um, that's not something that's limited to the U.S actually. It's a common sight all over the world (or at least the countries I've visited and seen law enforcement/emergency personnel). Now, you might be living in a country that happens to have better than standard firefighters, but over all, I wouldn't set neither police, nor firefighters on the top when it comes to physical fitness.

They keep themselves in decent shape, agreed, but generally speaking, they're not that good.

[Lev]

Um, that's not something that's limited to the U.S actually. It's a common sight all over the world (or at least the countries I've visited and seen law enforcement/emergency personnel). Now, you might be living in a country that happens to have better than standard firefighters, but over all, I wouldn't set neither police, nor firefighters on the top when it comes to physical fitness.

They keep themselves in decent shape, agreed, but generally speaking, they're not that good.
Good point, great insight!

[skywalker]

Brude Lee was an ectomorph and asian, what body type are you?

Wass an ectomorph?

[Jack Squat]

Wass an ectomorph?

It's like an animorph, but you turn into Slimer from Ghostbusters :smalltongue:

It's someone who's thin and doesn't gain weight easily. An endomorph tends to be pretty stocky and will pack on fat pretty easily, and a mesomorph tends to be able to gain muscle easily and tans well.