Deth Muncher Is Still Fat: Second Attempt At Zombie Apocalypse Survival Preparedness

[Deth Muncher]

Okay, maybe Adonis is much too much of a stretch. For those of you who remember summertime, I was trying to work out prepare for the zombie apocalypse and...well, it didn't so much work. In fact, I weigh more now than I ever did - though I have gained about an inch in height, so I guess that kind of offsets that?

Before things go too much farther, here's a link to the old thread. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=154894) I want to know if you guys who were also posting your working out/diet zombie apocalypse preparedness stories had better luck than I!

So, going at it this time, I know a bit more than I did before. That is to say, I have the benefit of the entire previous thread, plus whatever happens here. However, I'm going to have to address a few other things here:

-My original routine was as follows: Bike/Run a mile, do weights, do legs, leave. (I actually had a more specific workout, but I don't remember what anything's called.) I need to amend this, as even when I went regularly there were lackluster results. Proposed additions include swimming (which means I get over the fear of people seeing mah chubs at the gym and effing do it), and more running. The issue with running, however, is that lots of running on the treadmill is difficult, and lots of running on the streets of my city means Deth Muncher has shin splints, so fast. Which means I need to find another way to get the goodness of running, but without the shin splints. Also, query - is running for a distance better than running for a certain amount of time?

-I am slightly more fiscally stable now, since I actually have a job, though I now also have fluctuating bills and such, so I may be able to splurge occasionally for lean beef, etc, to make things.

-Speaking of making things, I no longer eat at the college's dining hall - everything I eat I make, with very few exceptions (and I'm trying to make that no exceptions, but sometimes you've just gotta have a cheeseburger at 2AM, amirite? [Yes, I know that's not good for you.]) Also, I work right next to a Qdoba. [doom] (That's Fakesican food, for those of you who don't know.) And also a Coldstone Creamery. [dooooom] But I AM making my food for the most part - I have a rice steamer as well as a fully equipped kitchen, so I've been cooking as much as possible - though unfortunately, since I don't have a lot of time, a lot of what I've made that isn't vegetables or chilli is premade, which means high sodium. :smallfrown:

-Speaking of no time, despite how the last thread advised against working out in the morning, it looks like that's what I'll be doing. I have class at 9AM 3 days a week (starting the 18th) and 11AM two days a week. I then have class until 3ish every day, and work a few days a week, generally either 4-9 or 5-9. Thus, the morning or late night is the only time I can reliably schedule exercise, and working out at night is bad, especially after 5 hours of retail and 6 hours of class. Thus, mornings. I'll probably start waking up at 6, eat a small breakfast (maybe oatmeal/grits and an egg), get to the gym by 7, work out for an hour, come back, bathe and then go to class. On T/R, assuming I still go to class at 11AM not 9 (my schedule isn't firm yet) I could do something like swimming in addition to the other stuff. Or instead of, so I can give my muscles time to rest. Also, maybe rock climbing?

-The inherent issue with the above workout schedule is that I'll be taking 17 credits this semester, which means more homework - which means I have to basically be super diligent with my homework, so that I can go to bed with enough time to be able to wake up. This. Will. Suck. But I'm gonna do it, or I'm going to live with being fat for the rest of ever.

I have a week to prepare for the gym. What does this mean? This means I need to start getting used to waking up at 6AM, in addition to trying to eat breakfast and be coherent. In addition, I have to go buy groceries - I have lots of juices and teas now, in addition to Diet Coke, so at least there's a little bit less sodium than normal going in. But I'm going to have to start buying eggs/oatmeal and such. I have Bisquick, maybe I'll start making pancakes/biscuits...

Anyway. This is take two. This time, it's serious. This time, I'm going to be a sexy shoeless god of war who blinds the peasants with his holy body. Or...something. Really, I'd just like for my moobs and burgeoning beer gut to vanish. :P

EDIT: Also, Serpentine, I demand kangaroo steaks.

[Haruki-kun]

Well, right now we're all carrying a bit of Holiday weight. :smalltongue: After the holidays is a good moment to start, though. Just remember: Be consistent!

[Deth Muncher]

Well, right now we're all carrying a bit of Holiday weight. :smalltongue: After the holidays is a good moment to start, though. Just remember: Be consistent!

This is SO true. My parents apparently wanted to give me diabetes for Christmas - I have SO MUCH CANDY. X_x I've been making my girlfriend/friends eat it, but then they come to my house with beer, which is worse! I think! Maybe!

I live in a world of temptation. Delicious, boozy, chocolatey temptation.

EDIT: Also, so I'm working on my workout music to keep me pumped. Thus far, I have my "Gratuitous Epic Metal" playlist, which has the collected works of Yngwie Malmsteen, Megadeth, Dio, and Ozzy's Blizzard of Ozz. Maybe also some Sabbath. Also, possibly Iron Maiden. So yeah, there's that. For peppy music, I've got all of Anamanaguchi's works, and a crap ton of techno.

[Demon 997]

Well, right now we're all carrying a bit of Holiday weight. :smalltongue: After the holidays is a good moment to start, though. Just remember: Be consistent!

The consistency is key. Tell some friends or your girlfriend that you're doing this and ask them to help you hold yourself to it. Put a note on the fridge and other places reminding yourself. That makes it harder to not do it one day and then have that become a pattern.

Not trying to call you weak willed or anything, I just think this would help you achieve your goal.

[Deth Muncher]

The consistency is key. Tell some friends or your girlfriend that you're doing this and ask them to help you hold yourself to it. Put a note on the fridge and other places reminding yourself. That makes it harder to not do it one day and then have that become a pattern.

Not trying to call you weak willed or anything, I just think this would help you achieve your goal.

>_< So about that...

I asked my girlfriend to try to help me with this. Because while you're not calling me weak willed, I'll do it for you - I'm weak willed. And what does she say to me? "Eh, I like you the way you are, it's kinda hard for me to try to motivate you if I have no idea what would do it, and since I don't mind you the way you are..."

-facepalm-

And then my other gym-going friends are either now in different schools, or can't go in the morning - so while I have people as resources to ask about the way to do things, I don't have anyone to go with.

[Demon 997]

Could you have your friends and girlfriend ask you if you've been keeping to your schedule and have them harass you about it if you haven't?

[Deth Muncher]

Could you have your friends and girlfriend ask you if you've been keeping to your schedule and have them harass you about it if you haven't?

I could. The whole process would be easier if I had some way to gauge goals for myself - dropping pounds is an improper goal, since muscle mass would eventually accrue and skew those figures. I can't measure my BMI, nor can I really gauge actual muscle gain other than just looking at it. It'd be nice if I could just plug into something and it would tell me "You've converted 3% fat into muscle!" Or something.

[Haruki-kun]

Fat doesn't turn to muscle. /nitpicky

Well, it's good that she likes you as you are, but you should do it more for yourself than for other people. Health, image, self-perception, but for yourself.

You can measure body fat with skin-fold calipers, with measurements, or with electric currents, which some public scales at the mall have (though I don't trust those scales at all).

Or with observation.

[Crow]

I actually got leaner during the holiday season, and enjoyed a great deal of delicious food at the same time!

Anyhow, whatever measure you use to gauge your progress, you have to remember that you have to take the mean of multiple, consistent measurements over a long period. My weight fluctuates anywhere from 2-5 pounds (average 172ish?) EVERY DAY. Body fat measurements need to be averaged over a long period also, as the readings will fluctuate based upon hydration, water-based weight, and scale inaccuracies.

I use performance to measure progress. Choose an extremely physical activity and train in order to improve at it. If you train for function, the form will follow.

People who train only to "look good" have a higher rate of failure than those who train for sport for a number of reasons. Not the least of which is going into "maintainence mode" once they have reached certain goals. Your body doesn't "maintain" anything. You are either getting stronger, or you are getting weaker. Or fast/slow, or whatever you happen to be training for. There isn't really an in-between.

[TheThan]

Ok the first thing to remember about zombies are that they are attracted to two primarily things: light and sound. Oh wait… this isn’t the thread for this sort of preparedness.

Anyway the best way to loose weight is to burn more calories and carbs that what you take in. if you can do this successfully then you’ll start to see results. Now if you just want to get into shape. Well the best thing to do is to just keep at it.

[Dralnu]

If you have trouble doing a gym routine yourself, I recommend trying out P90X. It's a series of workout videos that you do at home. It comes with a booklet that includes a bunch of great tips on how to lose weight, such as how to calculate how much of what you should be consuming in order to lose weight based on your height and general activity, a sweet chart on what to eat and what to avoid, and general tips like always drink water, don't eat 3 hours before you go to sleep, etc. All you need is a chinup bar and resistance bands. I bought both for a total of $40 Canadian.

I'm the opposite of you -- I'm a tall and skinny college student with weak arms, been doing so-so at the gym until a shoulder injury discouraged me for a year. I've started doing P90X four days ago and it kicks my ass. It's nice to have a full routine schedule already laid out for you, with someone yelling at you to push yourself. It works for me and has kept me motivated so far. Maybe it'll work for you too?

[Deth Muncher]

If you have trouble doing a gym routine yourself, I recommend trying out P90X. It's a series of workout videos that you do at home. It comes with a booklet that includes a bunch of great tips on how to lose weight, such as how to calculate how much of what you should be consuming in order to lose weight based on your height and general activity, a sweet chart on what to eat and what to avoid, and general tips like always drink water, don't eat 3 hours before you go to sleep, etc. All you need is a chinup bar and resistance bands. I bought both for a total of $40 Canadian.

I'm the opposite of you -- I'm a tall and skinny college student with weak arms, been doing so-so at the gym until a shoulder injury discouraged me for a year. I've started doing P90X four days ago and it kicks my ass. It's nice to have a full routine schedule already laid out for you, with someone yelling at you to push yourself. It works for me and has kept me motivated so far. Maybe it'll work for you too?

You're not the first person to tell me about the P90X, actually. It seems interesting, but I have yet to investigate it.

EDIT: After some investimigations, it looks like I may even have everything I need - or my dad does, at least, and I'll go finagle it out of him. I kind of dislike the doing things at home thing, since...I dunno, I don't feel like it's really working out if it's not at a gym. But I'm looking into it, at least.

[Crow]

I do Crossfit (http://www.crossfit.com/). It's free, and is apparently hard enough to actually kill you. I haven't had that problem though, and enjoy it immensely.

[Deth Muncher]

I do Crossfit (http://www.crossfit.com/). It's free, and is apparently hard enough to actually kill you. I haven't had that problem though, and enjoy it immensely.

How long have you been doing Crossfit?

[Crow]

How long have you been doing Crossfit?

About 2-3 years.

[Deth Muncher]

About 2-3 years.

Oh. Well crap. Okay then. And I'm assuming that based on your recommending it and your signature, you're probably doing okay by it. Maybe I'll go check it out...

[junglesteve]

I have lost 107lbs and the only advice I can give you is CARDIO CARDIO CARDIO CARDIO CARDIO! Sure tack some weights on there but always do atleast an hour of cardio every day.

When I was getting really hardcore I would do one hour in the morning at like 6 or 7am depending then another hour at 11am or noon THEN another hour after dinner at around 6

When i say cardio I dont mean light little strolls I mean heart rate above 150 for almost the entire hour. I suck at managing my diet but I did a decent job with bananas and peanut butter sammies. If you slip up and eat delicious things just use that guilt to get your butt back in the gym and do MORE CARDIO!

When i was bigger btw I didnt run it was hell on my joints. Low impact cardio like the elliptical are your friends.


I could. The whole process would be easier if I had some way to gauge goals for myself - dropping pounds is an improper goal, since muscle mass would eventually accrue and skew those figures. I can't measure my BMI, nor can I really gauge actual muscle gain other than just looking at it. It'd be nice if I could just plug into something and it would tell me "You've converted 3% fat into muscle!" Or something.

Can I just say you wont be gaining any significant muscle to 'offset' your weight for like a year or two. Even then I think its only like 5lbs of muscle after one or two years. But this is according to every thing I have read im no pro or anything. People are all different I guess.

What is your current height / weight if you dont mind me asking?

[Ohmyani]

Also, so I'm working on my workout music to keep me pumped. Thus far, I have my "Gratuitous Epic Metal" playlist, which has the collected works of Yngwie Malmsteen, Megadeth, Dio, and Ozzy's Blizzard of Ozz. Maybe also some Sabbath. Also, possibly Iron Maiden. So yeah, there's that. For peppy music, I've got all of Anamanaguchi's works, and a crap ton of techno.

-appears-

I'm just gonna pop in and recommend Korpiklaani as some epic metal as well. :smallbiggrin:
Bai! -disappears-

[Deth Muncher]

What is your current height / weight if you dont mind me asking?

Uh, just shy of 5'9", and between 175 and 185 lbs, depending. But most of my fat is actually concentrated on my stomach and chest, surprisingly. Everyone keeps telling me how skinny I look - it's because it's all in one place, so I can hide it better. :P

[Lycan 01]

C'mon Death, you can do it! :smallbiggrin:

I have good news and bad news.

The bad news is, I kinda fell out of my Zombie Apocalypse Preparedness Training, especially since Winter is here and the cold makes it to where I can't go running outside and my joints are sometimes too stiff and sore to work out. I also... kinda... sorta... started drinking sodas again...

BUT, the good news!

Somehow, even after I fell out of my fitness regime, I've still managed to noticeably lose weight! :smallbiggrin: I've kept to my healthy eating habits I developed in thanks to your previous thread - I've been lots more fruits and veggies, avoiding junk foods or foods high in fat and sodium, drinking water, milk, gatorade, and Tang rather than sodas, sugary drinks, and "it looks healthy but its not" things like Sunny D, and other healthy alternative choices like putting lettuce and tomato on all my burgers, or putting fruit jelly instead of syrup on my pancakes.

Apparently, those small changes over time helped to make a difference, because I've apparently been losing pounds, specifically from my stomach (my main objective, huzzah!), and a friend of mine even commented upon seeing me for the first time in a few weeks that I looked like I'd lost weight, much to my pleasant surprise.


Also, further good news!


Over the last month or so, I've started to get back into the swing of things. I started doing pushups again (started out only being able to do about 30), doing pullups on weekends (because stupid Iron Gym doesn't fit on the stupid extra-wide doors in my dorm! :smallannoyed:), doing crunches and situps every few days. Well, over the last week or so, I really kicked it back into high gear. I started doing more pushups - I can now do 45 per set! I started doing more dips and pullups and stuff when I'm at home - again, stupid Iron Gym doesn't work at my dorm, so I can't do those except on weekends. :smallannoyed: I've started lifting weights again, though I've had to restart back at around 10-15 pounds... And now I do situps and crunches almost daily, especially when I'm bored or during tv commercial breaks. In fact, in the time it takes the news to go to commercial and cut back on, I can crank out 75 situps. :smalleek: 80 is my limit, btw... or at least it was 3 days ago. Maybe I should check that again later... :smallamused:


At any rate... I'm trying to start back to Zombie Apocalypse Preparedness Training, and I'm doing relatively well thus far. Still eating healthy, though I need to re-cut sodas from my diet, starting NOW. And I need to keep motivated... That's probably my only real obstacle.


So yeah. DON'T GIVE UP, DETH MUNCHER!! You motivated me to do this, and I thank you for it. And I'm pretty sure you're more than capable of keeping up the good work yourself. Good luck, buddy! :smallbiggrin:

[Deth Muncher]

C'mon Death, you can do it! :smallbiggrin:

I have good news and bad news.

The bad news is, I kinda fell out of my Zombie Apocalypse Preparedness Training, especially since Winter is here and the cold makes it to where I can't go running outside and my joints are sometimes too stiff and sore to work out. I also... kinda... sorta... started drinking sodas again...

BUT, the good news!

Somehow, even after I fell out of my fitness regime, I've still managed to noticeably lose weight! :smallbiggrin: I've kept to my healthy eating habits I developed in thanks to your previous thread - I've been lots more fruits and veggies, avoiding junk foods or foods high in fat and sodium, drinking water, milk, gatorade, and Tang rather than sodas, sugary drinks, and "it looks healthy but its not" things like Sunny D, and other healthy alternative choices like putting lettuce and tomato on all my burgers, or putting fruit jelly instead of syrup on my pancakes.

Apparently, those small changes over time helped to make a difference, because I've apparently been losing pounds, specifically from my stomach (my main objective, huzzah!), and a friend of mine even commented upon seeing me for the first time in a few weeks that I looked like I'd lost weight, much to my pleasant surprise.


Also, further good news!


Over the last month or so, I've started to get back into the swing of things. I started doing pushups again (started out only being able to do about 30), doing pullups on weekends (because stupid Iron Gym doesn't fit on the stupid extra-wide doors in my dorm! :smallannoyed:), doing crunches and situps every few days. Well, over the last week or so, I really kicked it back into high gear. I started doing more pushups - I can now do 45 per set! I started doing more dips and pullups and stuff when I'm at home - again, stupid Iron Gym doesn't work at my dorm, so I can't do those except on weekends. :smallannoyed: I've started lifting weights again, though I've had to restart back at around 10-15 pounds... And now I do situps and crunches almost daily, especially when I'm bored or during tv commercial breaks. In fact, in the time it takes the news to go to commercial and cut back on, I can crank out 75 situps. :smalleek: 80 is my limit, btw... or at least it was 3 days ago. Maybe I should check that again later... :smallamused:


At any rate... I'm trying to start back to Zombie Apocalypse Preparedness Training, and I'm doing relatively well thus far. Still eating healthy, though I need to re-cut sodas from my diet, starting NOW. And I need to keep motivated... That's probably my only real obstacle.


So yeah. DON'T GIVE UP, DETH MUNCHER!! You motivated me to do this, and I thank you for it. And I'm pretty sure you're more than capable of keeping up the good work yourself. Good luck, buddy! :smallbiggrin:

Yay Lycan! Even if I can't be ripped, at least I motivated someone to get there. :P

[drakir_nosslin]

Here are some tips that have helped me a lot when it comes to some of the things you mention being troublesome in your first post.

1st: cooking. Yes, it's boring. Yes it takes time that you could use for other, funnier things. But you need proper food to be able to both train properly and to stay away from all the delicious, sugar filled snacks that you see every day.
Solution: Get up early on Sunday and start cooking! Don't stop until You've readied enough food for the entire week. Then freeze it!
Tadaa! Food for a champion ready in a few minutes. Soup is great for lunch, since if you take it out of the freezer around 6 AM and put it in a fridge until 12 it'll thaw and heat in no time in a microwave.

2nd: Running and shin splints. Most injuries from running comes (in my humble opinion, one that is shared by many trainers and physicians over the world) from wearing the wrong kind of shoes. And by wrong I mean runner's shoes. Yes, the ones with soles so thick that it's ridiculous. Thick soles don't dampen the damage incorrect running techniques does to your body, but you won't feel that you're doing it wrong (http://cdn1.knowyourmeme.com/i/2626/original/doing-it-wrong.jpg?1242842328). The soles are making you land on your heels, rather than on the middle of your foot and because of that all the weight of your step is transferred directly into our shins, knees and back instead of being taken care of by the foot, which is actually built to take that sort of beating (which runner's shoes aren't).
Solution: Run barefoot, or use something like this (http://www.blavish.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/fajfingr-10-5-2006.jpg) if you don't have a good place to run barefoot in. Do note that it takes time to learn how to run like this, so if you're going to do it (and I really think you should try it) start out slowly, running for no longer than 10 minutes in the beginning, taking care to listen to your body and stopping if it gets uncomfortable.

And yea, that's about it.

Oh, and one final advice: If it isn't fun, then don't do it. Maybe it's just me, but I can't stand weight lifting. I find it shampoo-drinkingly awful to be honest. But I train, and I train a lot. By running around jumping and having fun, climbing on whatever climbable objects I can find. With my friends. Sure, it might look retarded, but I'm having fun, and that makes me train much harder than any PT at the local gym could.

Also notice that bit about friends. Either bring somebody with you, who can encourage you and motivate you and sometimes even swear and scream at you for being lazy, or find someone to be your friend where you train. And I'm not talking about a spotter, but a real friend, who you're hanging with outside of training as well sometimes. It's going to help out a lot when you're feeling down and unmotivated. If you know that a friend is waiting for you when you're going to train, the session becomes a way for you to hang out with that person. And it's fun to hang out with your friends, not boring, despite sweating and having to force your body through various hellish exercises.

Oh, and a final final advice: If you're thinking of trying out home training, and you think you have the mental focus to do so (it's harder to train at home, just like it's harder to study or work there as well. Too many other things to do) check out the TRX (http://www.fitnessanywhere.com/). My brother uses it a lot, I can't because I don't have the discipline, but I've tried it and it's great. Lots of different exercises both for the fit and not so fit, most of which not only work your muscles, but also increase balance, which is something most weight lifting exercises won't.

Good luck!

PS: November next year the group I train with will have a 1000 muscle up challenge, do you want to join? :smallwink:

[Crow]

The 1000 muscle-up challenge ripped off every last callous from my hands. Tore up my wrists too as I used rings.

Never again.

[drakir_nosslin]

The 1000 muscle-up challenge ripped off every last callous from my hands. Tore up my wrists too as I used rings.

Never again.

Tip: Use gloves :smallwink:
Doing it rings sounds nasty though, it was hard enough doing it with a bar, and it wasn't moving around very much, well done! :smallbiggrin:

[Deth Muncher]

Re: Cooking - that's kind of almost what I do now - except it's usually just one big thing, and it lasts me two months: Chilli. And it's not even chilli that's bad for you, really - I use hamburger, three different kinds of beans, corn, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and then a few spices (not salt). And then hotsauce when I eat it - which I usually eat in burrito form to conserve the portions, and it seems to work out pretty well.

Re: Barefoot -I would LIKE to run barefoot, but there's not really any place to do it where I live - I'm kind of in a city. And the foot-glove-shoe things...I just can't make myself buy them. :smallsigh:

Re: Running around - My school actually does have a parkour club that's pretty intense and they do a lot of PT, but they don't operate when I have free time. Mostly due to the cops wanting to yell at them, since they think they're some sort of criminal organization. -facepalm-

Okay, so, does anyone have any suggestions for small, easy to make, turbocharged breakfasts? My dad always used to make a tiny steak and have an egg with it, but that's when he could find cheap steaks when he was working out. I somehow doubt I can do the same. I already mentioned getting stuff like oatmeal or grits (yes, I do live in the American South, how did you know?) and eggs, and there's always the healthy staple of every college kid's breakfast - Poptarts! [/sarcasm] So anyway, what other suggestions for breakfasty things?

[CurlyKitGirl]

Okay, so, does anyone have any suggestions for small, easy to make, turbocharged breakfasts? My dad always used to make a tiny steak and have an egg with it, but that's when he could find cheap steaks when he was working out. I somehow doubt I can do the same. I already mentioned getting stuff like oatmeal or grits (yes, I do live in the American South, how did you know?) and eggs, and there's always the healthy staple of every college kid's breakfast - Poptarts! [/sarcasm] So anyway, what other suggestions for breakfasty things?

Porridge.
Takes about five minutes to make and is a slow burner. Can be made with milk or water. Can add anything from sugar to salt to honey to fruit.
Delicious.
Seriously, I can have a nice bowlful about half eight, not be hungry at lunch so have a small sarnie and then have a nice dinner.
Alternatively, weetiebix is good.
And have a banana. Very filling, slow burning and apparently contains most of your GDA for potassium.
Yoghurts perhaps? Plain Greek yoghurt (bioyoghurt is disgusting), chop up some fruit and there you go.

Lean bacon maybe? But put it under the grill so you don't pick up lots of fat with it.

Oddly, I actually lost weight over the Christmas holidays despite literally binging on chocolates and biscuits (we always have a box of each on the table, and one has to walk past it to get to the bathroom and kitchen, and when we run out we bring in a new one) and everything on the OH GOD NO! list of dieting.
I just can't motivate myself into exercising though. :smallsigh:
Shame as I'm told I have fantastic toned legs, then it all goes to hades in a handbasket by the time it gets to my upper thighs, stomach and waist.
Hips, annoyingly, aren't a problem as far as weight loss goes, same with the butt.
Any motivational tips?

[Ravens_cry]

Unless you are morbidly obease, it is better to be overweight, but active, then then thin and somnolent.
So yeah, ideas for exercise. I find I exercise best when I have a destination in mind, not just a set goal. If you like books, walk or jog or bike to your local library. Or the local gaming store, whatever. I just find I am more likely to go out if I have a goal that is rewarding in itself. There are ways to add exercise to your daily routine. Take the stares, not the elevator. Maybe try weights? As you get used to them, add more. Dance, dance your heart out to your favourite music, in the privacy of your home if you don't feel like doing it elsewhere.

[KuReshtin]

I made the mistake of mentioning to my team leader at work that I was planning on starting back up with going to the gym and trying to get regular exercise.

The mistake was mentioning it to her. She took that as a challenge, and started thinking up an exercise program for me that will likely mean that I'll be absolutely dead in about a month.
She's an ex-national champion kick-boxer, so she knows training and exercise.

Should I be worried?

[Haruki-kun]

I made the mistake of mentioning to my team leader at work that I was planning on starting back up with going to the gym and trying to get regular exercise.

The mistake was mentioning it to her. She took that as a challenge, and started thinking up an exercise program for me that will likely mean that I'll be absolutely dead in about a month.
She's an ex-national champion kick-boxer, so she knows training and exercise.

Should I be worried?

Yes, but it'll probably work pretty well. Once you adjust to it. Probably.

[KuReshtin]

She said it'll be a lot of weights and a lot of body-weight training, and she'll throw in some boxing pad work as well.

In a masochistic kind of way I'm looking forward to it. She'll try to break me, and I'll try not to get broken.:smallbiggrin:

[Deth Muncher]

She said it'll be a lot of weights and a lot of body-weight training, and she'll throw in some boxing pad work as well.

In a masochistic kind of way I'm looking forward to it. She'll try to break me, and I'll try not to get broken.:smallbiggrin:

Why can't I have that? I hate you. Not really.

[Haruki-kun]

Why can't I have that? I hate you. Not really.

There, there. Everyone has obstacles. And I do mean everyone. <.<

[Saposhiente]

One thing- Don't try to limit calories. It's impossible; 20 excess calories per day (one sip of someone else's milkshake!) will give you 20 pounds in a few years(And yet via controlled metabolism that burns calories at different rates per day (Ever feel hyperactive?) we don't all become really fat really fast). Instead, try to limit carbs (simple sugars!), so try taking white rice out of your diet (too many carbs for a day in one serving(if you're dieting, that is. It's not absurdly unhealthy.)) and go for whole grains. Also avoid: Potatoes(EDIT: w/o skin, that is), less healthy than ice cream (atleast it has protein).
@v: fix'd

[drakir_nosslin]

Potatoes, less healthy than ice cream (atleast it has protein).

Umm, are you sure about that? Cooked potatoes served as they are, without any deep frying silliness are afaik no worse than pasta. They come with lots of minerals and vitamins, which are essential to eat in order to feel well.
However, there's also a lot of starchy (sp?) carbohydrates in them. While this might give the individual potato a high GI-index, I'd say it's better to eat potatoes, some salad and chicken prepared in the oven than just eating the salad, chicken and topping off with ice cream.
Ice cream contains lot's of sugar, which isn't very good for you and there's often bad fat as well. And don't forget that there's often lots of other chemicals in ice cream, just added for the taste or so that it lasts longer.

[Lycan 01]

In my college's Cafeteria, they added a Baked Potato Bar. A nice bit of healthy variety, considering most of the stuff they serve is reeeeeally not good for the diet. Greasy foods galore, badly seasoned veggies, lots of sugary foods... Now, normally I like to get a cheeseburger and fries. Since I started eating healthier, I've started replacing the french fries with a baked potato (a little cheese and sour creme inside it, yum), and I've started putting some sliced tomato and lettuce leaves on the cheeseburger.

So yeah, even though I'm still eating a cheeseburger, at least having it with some healthy veggies makes it the lesser of two evils. XD


Also, I went for a walk earlier, since it was 3 AM and I wasn't tired. Because it was freezing outside, I just walked and ran up and down the halls and stairwells of my dorm. I ran up the stairs, and mixed walking, brisk striding, and jogging in the halls. I ended up doing it for 30 minutes... Well, I'm tired now, at least. XD

[Amiel]

If you can catch a few spare (or free) moments during the day, you could do some exercises that require no equipment; sit-ups, push-ups, chair-dips (I imagine chairs will be commonplace), these all can be done where convenient at any time and place.

While continuous exercising is ideal, it needn't necessarily have to be so. As long as exercising is consistent, it'll be good for your body.

[Haruki-kun]

Potatoes(EDIT: w/o skin, that is), less healthy than ice cream (atleast it has protein).

That's still a bit of a stretch. With the amount of sugar ice cream has...

[Saposhiente]

*researches things I was told*
Ice cream is ~60% water, ~15% sugar(bad), ~25% fat(has decent GI) and potatoes sans skin are ~70% water and ~30% starches and carbohydrates (bad)

[Deth Muncher]

So, I went to the grocery store tonight. Breakfasts will consist of an egg, toast (possibly with marmalade, since I got a jar of it for Christmas), either grits (butter and salt/pepper) or oatmeal (with milk and brown sugar as topping - maybe regular white sugar, depending), and a yogurt (I've got strawberry and peach right now). I'm aiming at getting up at 6 tomorrow and going to the gym to get myself into the habit of being ready to go by about 7, getting to the gym and doing an hour or so's work, come back, bathe and be ready for class. Classes don't actually start until Tuesday, but y'know, best to be prepared.

[Haruki-kun]

So, I went to the grocery store tonight. Breakfasts will consist of an egg, toast (possibly with marmalade, since I got a jar of it for Christmas), either grits (butter and salt/pepper) or oatmeal (with milk and brown sugar as topping - maybe regular white sugar, depending), and a yogurt (I've got strawberry and peach right now). I'm aiming at getting up at 6 tomorrow and going to the gym to get myself into the habit of being ready to go by about 7, getting to the gym and doing an hour or so's work, come back, bathe and be ready for class. Classes don't actually start until Tuesday, but y'know, best to be prepared.

That is, in fact, an excellent mindset. I wish you the best.

But then shouldn't you be in bed, though? :smalltongue:

[Deth Muncher]

That is, in fact, an excellent mindset. I wish you the best.

But then shouldn't you be in bed, though? :smalltongue:

Rargleblag. I SHOULD be in bed, but unfortunately I have to do laundry. This is going to be a GREAT way to start the workoutness.

Also, I have a metric crapton of Pop Tarts due to an epic sale - they'll be making occasional appearances at breakfast in the event I don't have as much time, in which case I'll probably sub them in instead of toast. Is it good? No. Are they sugary, and thus can give me easily-accessed sugars in the morning? Youbetcha.

[Haruki-kun]

Rargleblag. I SHOULD be in bed, but unfortunately I have to do laundry. This is going to be a GREAT way to start the workoutness.

Also, I have a metric crapton of Pop Tarts due to an epic sale - they'll be making occasional appearances at breakfast in the event I don't have as much time, in which case I'll probably sub them in instead of toast. Is it good? No. Are they sugary, and thus can give me easily-accessed sugars in the morning? Youbetcha.

Eh.... you could do a lot worse than pop tarts. Don't use them to substitute actual food, though. Ever.

[Ravens_cry]

*researches things I was told*
Ice cream is ~60% water, ~15% sugar(bad), ~25% fat(has decent GI) and potatoes sans skin are ~70% water and ~30% starches and carbohydrates (bad)
Simple starches are pretty bad, but there is a lot of vitamins and minerals in potatoes (http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-potato-baked-flesh-skin-i11674) that you certainly are not going to get from Ice Cream. There is also fibre, no one has yet made a high fibre ice-cream.
Fat is, among other things, an energy source. It may take longer to digest, but it has twice the energy content per gram of carbohydrates. The skin is high in fibre and the area very near it is high in a lot of the minerals and vitamins, so of course removing it will decrease the health value. But unless you're eating a potato cooked in shellac or a burnt baked potato, you should be fine with eating the skin. All that fibre does help slow down the digestion of starches.
It's pretty tasty too in a earthy kind of way.

[Saposhiente]

Simple starches are pretty bad, but there is a lot of vitamins and minerals in potatoes (http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-potato-baked-flesh-skin-i11674) that you certainly are not going to get from Ice Cream. There is also fibre, no one has yet made a high fibre ice-cream.
Fat is, among other things, an energy source. It may take longer to digest, but it has twice the energy content per gram of carbohydrates. The skin is high in fibre and the area very near it is high in a lot of the minerals and vitamins, so of course removing it will decrease the health value. But unless you're eating a potato cooked in shellac or a burnt baked potato, you should be fine with eating the skin. All that fibre does help slow down the digestion of starches.
It's pretty tasty too in a earthy kind of way.
Do note the phrase 'sans skin'

[Ravens_cry]

Do note the phrase 'sans skin'
Do note I noted that. I am just saying that saying 'sans skin' stacks the odds in your favour. Eating a potato without the skin is a choice, not a necessity except with certain forms of cooking.
Sans skin, sans fibre, sans nutrients, sans everything, to mutilate the Bard.

[Serpentine]

EDIT: Also, Serpentine, I demand kangaroo steaks.Gedditjurzelf!
But no, seriously, do. Very good for you P:

I've mostly been sticking to my experimental diet thingy. Had a few weeks of slackness, but mostly keeping track of everything and being concious about what I eat. I've been doing pretty much nothing else (although I do usually walk anywhere), and still losing a small but steady amount of weight.
I don't think it's really so much a diet, though, as a modified food pyramid type guide to amounts you should eat. If anyone's wondering, it is thusly:

At least 2.5 units vegetables per day: 1 unit = 1 cup cooked veg (i.e. one large carrot, a smallish salad (w/ proper lettuce, not iceberg) - prefer nutrient-dense and high-fibre veggies.
2 units fruit per day: 1 unit = 150g fresh or unsweetened tinned (i.e. half a large banana, a mandarine, several grapes), 150ml unsweetened juice (i.e. small glass freshly squeezed OJ), 30g dried fruit (i.e. a few dried apricots).
2-3 units of protein per day: 1 unit = 100g raw weight meat (i.e. a sausage), 2 eggs, 1 dairy unit (esp. cheese, see below) - prefer lean and red meats.
2 units of bread per day: 1 unit = 1 35g slice bread, 1 slice fruit loaf, 2 crispbread, 1 medium (~150g) potato (prefer skin on), 1/3 cup cooked rice or noodles, 1/2 cup cooked pasta, 1/3 cup legumes* - prefer wholemeal, low added sugar, etc.
1 unit of cereal per day: 1 unit = 40g high-fibre breakfast cereal, 40g rolled oats, 1 slice wholegrain toast^ - prefer high-fibre, low added sugar, etc.
3 units of dairy per day: 1 unit = 250ml milk, 200g yoghurt, 200g custard or dairy dessert, 25g full-fat cheese, 50g low-fat cheese - prefer low fat, low sugar.
3 units fats and oils per day: 1 unit = 1tsp liquid oil, 1tsp margarine, 1tsp curry paste in canola oil, 60g avocado, 20g nuts and seeds - prefer olive oils and other "good fats".+
2 units of indulgence per week: 1 unit = any food or drink containing ~450kj, 150ml wine, 20g chocolate, etc.

*I've been having enough trouble with keeping my bread intake low, so I tend to count beans as veggies - the baked bean tin says it's okay!
^ Normally I have 2 weetbix, a cup of milk and brown sugar (1 unit cereal, 1 unit dairy), but I've been replacing one of the weetbix with a spoonful of milled linseed. It fills me up just as much, has more fibre and some vitamins, and also means I use less sugar.
+ It amuses me that I have trouble meeting this requirement. I need to eat more nuts...

It's surprisingly easy to stick to, overall - although I do struggle with keeping my bread consumption down; too used to having something starchy as the base of my meals. It helps that I track it on a weekly basis, rather than a daily one. That way, if I run out of milk one day I can make up for it with a nice big milkshake the next.

Hey Deth, what's your hip-to-waist ratio now?

[Saposhiente]

Do note I noted that. I am just saying that saying 'sans skin' stacks the odds in your favour. Eating a potato without the skin is a choice, not a necessity except with certain forms of cooking.
Sans skin, sans fibre, sans nutrients, sans everything, to mutilate the Bard.
You could also get that kind of stuff by having your ice cream with a multivitamin. Still, the fact that <1% piece of it is the source of debate puts it on the same unhealthiness tier as ice cream, better in some areas and worse in others.

[Ravens_cry]

You could also get that kind of stuff by having your ice cream with a multivitamin. Still, the fact that <1% piece of it is the source of debate puts it on the same unhealthiness tier as ice cream, better in some areas and worse in others.
Still no fibre in ice cream and a hella lot more fat, which GI or not, is a dense source of calories. It's way more easy to over indulge on ice-cream then potatoes

[Lioness]

I've been doing pretty well just limiting the amount of sugary stuff I eat...I've lost 5kg since November, but I've put on some muscle too (so I've probably lost more fat than 5kg).

I ask myself if I really need to eat it...e.g., lollies, ice cream, chocolate, cake, etc.
I might really really want it, but I don't need it.

Where willpower hasn't worked on that one, I've instead bought smaller portion sizes...instead of a block of chocolate, I'd buy a small bar.

I haven't been going to the gym as much as I'd like, but I've been working almost 30-35 hours per week, which is big and draining for me.

I don't restrict the amount of potatoes, bread, rice, etc. that I eat, because I love them. Words cannot describe how much I love them. And they're not bad for me, they're just slower to burn...correct me if I'm wrong, but I was always told that it's better to eat energy that takes longer to burn because it lasts longer.

I've been substituting an unhealthy snack at work for a banana...I like bananas.

I've also been trying to drink a lot of water...my favourite way to do that is in a live green smoothie, which gives me veggies/fruit for the day too. Most delicious one was watermelon+peach+baby spinach+water. Might look a bit weird, but it's yummy.

[Serpentine]

I ask myself if I really need to eat it...e.g., lollies, ice cream, chocolate, cake, etc.
I might really really want it, but I don't need it.I've been working on employing the policy of "if I really want some sort of treat, then I'd better make it a GOOD one" - so, for example, if I decide I really want some chocolate, I go to the chocolatier and get fancy chocolate. Puts a bit of a brake on spontaneous gutsing.

I don't restrict the amount of potatoes, bread, rice, etc. that I eat, because I love them. Words cannot describe how much I love them. And they're not bad for me, they're just slower to burn...correct me if I'm wrong, but I was always told that it's better to eat energy that takes longer to burn because it lasts longer.Eh, if you're losing weight anyway it's probably not a big deal. However, unless you're eating proper wholemeal and/or wholegrain everything, I think it's pretty close to "empty calories" - just sugars, even complex ones - and it doesn't even fill you up all that much.

[Deth Muncher]

Gedditjurzelf!
But no, seriously, do. Very good for you P:

Hey Deth, what's your hip-to-waist ratio now?

I can't gedditmahself! Not without importing it, I'd wager which would cost a metric crapton (that's one of the units you "colonials" use, right? :smallbiggrin: ).

And hip-to-waist? I've never checked. I suppose I will as soon as I can find one of those tailor's tape measures.
Also, the "colonials" comment was a jab at you for the last thread, when you made fun of us "lesser colonials" for calling small circular baked goods "cookies." I think. No hard feelings!

(paynoattentiontothewhitetext)

EDIT: Oh, by the way. I did NOT go to the gym today, because had I done so, I would have been going with three hours of sleep, and I really didn't want to injure myself. I'm still going to make the breakfast I was going to, just to see how long it takes me to do so.

[Serpentine]

metric crapton...other people use that now?

Remember: the ideal hip-to-waist ratio (for most men) is 0.9. Should clear up whether your friends are right to call you "skinny", or if you really are heavy around the middle...

[drakir_nosslin]

You could also get that kind of stuff by having your ice cream with a multivitamin. Still, the fact that <1% piece of it is the source of debate puts it on the same unhealthiness tier as ice cream, better in some areas and worse in others.

High GI or not, I do believe that eating potatoes will be healthier for you than ice cream. Carbohydrates are not all bad. As with most things you just shouldn't eat too much. Carbs are important for your brain to function, as said here (http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/carbs.html).



Glucose is the form of sugar that travels in your bloodstream to fuel the mitochondrial furnaces responsible for your brain power. Glucose is the only fuel normally used by brain cells. Because neurons cannot store glucose, they depend on the bloodstream to deliver a constant supply of this precious fuel.

This blood sugar is obtained from carbohydrates: the starches and sugars you eat in the form of grains and legumes, fruits and vegetables. (The only animal foods containing a significant amount of carbohydrates are dairy products.)

Too much sugar or refined carbohydrates at one time, however, can actually deprive your brain of glucose – depleting its energy supply and compromising your brain's power to concentrate, remember, and learn. Mental activity requires a lot of energy.

While the fat in ice cream will help a little, since it's (most of the time) dairy based, it's offset by the sugar. So no, I don't buy that ice cream is better than potatoes.

[Keld Denar]

An alternative to your oatmeal with milk + brown sugar: Substitute plain non-fat yogurt for the milk, and frozen blueberries for the sugar. You can usually buy non-fat yogurt in 1 lb containers for like, $1.50, which is actually really cheap compared to the little single serving yoplay or dannon cups. Frozen blueberries tend to be about $3.00 a pound, depending on how large of a container you get.

Yogurt gives you all of the delicious calcium and protein that milk does, plus microbials that promote digestive health and a few other choice boons. Blue berries are sweet enough to sub for sugar, and are like, the 2nd or 3rd highest food on an antioxident/calorie comparison rating. They are basically a superfood, they are so rediculously good for you. Plus, who doesn't like blue berries?

PS: I went to the gym last night. Ran 2 miles in 17.5 minutes, then did a bajillion situps, a half-bajillion pushups, and then ran another mile in 10 minutes alternating between an 8 mph pace and a 4 mph pace to keep my heartrate up. I feel freakin amazing today! Like, invincible and a half!

[Deth Muncher]

Plus, who has two thumbs and doesn't like blue berries?


This guy. Nice ta meetcha. Seriously though, it sucks that I hate blueberries, since they're disgustingly good for you. I AM making sure to keep yogurt around though.

Which reminds me: So, I ate an egg, two pieces of marmalade toast, and a yogurt and was so full I couldn't even eat my grits - which is great, because I'm apparently so effing inept at cooking breakfast that I can't. Make. Grits. For those of you unaware, the procedure for making grits is:
1. Boil water.
2. Add grits.
2b. Stir occasionally.
3. Wait 5-7 minutes.
4. Serve.

I screwed up somewhere between 2 and 2b. >_<

Sigh. Anyway, point is, I need to rethink breakfast - I don't really ever eat breakfast, so my body isn't used to wanting food this early. Maybe with more regular exercise, this will change.

[Keld Denar]

PEBKAC PEBSAF?
(Problem exists between stovetop and floor)

[Deth Muncher]

PEBKAC PEBSAF?
(Problem exists between stovetop and floor)

No, then I would have at least had a reason behind my failure. Instead, it just refused to solidify, despite having the correct amount of water/grits, etc. Oh well. I'll just go with your answer, since that way I feel less bad.

[drakir_nosslin]

Sigh. Anyway, point is, I need to rethink breakfast - I don't really ever eat breakfast, so my body isn't used to wanting food this early. Maybe with more regular exercise, this will change.

If you start eating a proper breakfast every morning your body will get used to it. Soon you won't be able to live without it. And yes, training will increase your appetite, though I recommend eating breakfast anyway, it's good for you.

[Haruki-kun]

Completely true.

As you continue to train and start eating more (if a bit forcefully at first), your metabolism will increase and with time you'll find yourself going hungry more often. No more problem eating! :smalltongue:

.....though I admit, I get really cranky when I don't eat. >.<

[Serpentine]

An alternative to your oatmeal with milk + brown sugar: Substitute plain non-fat yogurt for the milk, and frozen blueberries for the sugar. You can usually buy non-fat yogurt in 1 lb containers for like, $1.50, which is actually really cheap compared to the little single serving yoplay or dannon cups. Frozen blueberries tend to be about $3.00 a pound, depending on how large of a container you get.

Yogurt gives you all of the delicious calcium and protein that milk does, plus microbials that promote digestive health and a few other choice boons. Blue berries are sweet enough to sub for sugar, and are like, the 2nd or 3rd highest food on an antioxident/calorie comparison rating. They are basically a superfood, they are so rediculously good for you. Plus, who doesn't like blue berries?I'm very... thingy first thing in the morning. That might be alright if I have a glass of juice, but without it I think it'd be too dry. And anyway, I like my soggy microwaved weetbix :smalltongue:
Oh, weetbix look like this, by the way:
http://www.sixthseal.com/archive/June2006/weet_bix_cereal_biscuits.jpg
Not oatmeal. Although I really should eat more porridge... Ran out of oats and never got around to buying more.
Incidentally, Weetbix got on the top of some list by Choice Magazine or someone like that, for being... I think basically as good as they say they are. That is, the box says that it's got wholegrains and little or no salt and sugar, and that's exactly what it has in it; as opposed to, say, most other cereals that go on about how they're packed full of energy! and vitamins! and minerals! and so on, and decline to mention how packed full of sugar and salt they also are (Frootloops proclaims how very good they are because they have so many vitamins. Frootloops.
...
Now I feel like Frootloops).

Anyway, I have trouble with getting yoghurt, cuz I have an annoying habit of taking ages to eat it and then throwing out most of a tub :smallsigh:

By the way... what is "grits"? Sounds so very... unappetising :smallyuk:

[Deth Muncher]

I'm very... thingy first thing in the morning. That might be alright if I have a glass of juice, but without it I think it'd be too dry. And anyway, I like my soggy microwaved weetbix :smalltongue:
Oh, weetbix look like this, by the way:
http://www.sixthseal.com/archive/June2006/weet_bix_cereal_biscuits.jpg
Not oatmeal. Although I really should eat more porridge... Ran out of oats and never got around to buying more.
Incidentally, Weetbix got on the top of some list by Choice Magazine or someone like that, for being... I think basically as good as they say they are. That is, the box says that it's got wholegrains and little or no salt and sugar, and that's exactly what it has in it; as opposed to, say, most other cereals that go on about how they're packed full of energy! and vitamins! and minerals! and so on, and decline to mention how packed full of sugar and salt they also are (Frootloops proclaims how very good they are because they have so many vitamins. Frootloops.
...
Now I feel like Frootloops).

Anyway, I have trouble with getting yoghurt, cuz I have an annoying habit of taking ages to eat it and then throwing out most of a tub :smallsigh:

By the way... what is "grits"? Sounds so very... unappetising :smallyuk:

Here, let me Wikipedia that for you. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grits) :P

[Serpentine]

Corn porridge, huh? Interesting. Looks like rolled oats are still better for you, though.

[Deth Muncher]

Corn porridge, huh? Interesting. Looks like rolled oats are still better for you, though.

This is true, but I can only have but so much oatmeal. That's what I had for breakfast every morning in elementary school...I prefer not to remember it. Bluhh...but now I'll be eating it.

Also, my plan is yogurt before working out, rest of breakfast after.

[Haruki-kun]

This is true, but I can only have but so much oatmeal. That's what I had for breakfast every morning in elementary school...I prefer not to remember it. Bluhh...but now I'll be eating it.

Also, my plan is yogurt before working out, rest of breakfast after.

Eat a fruit before working out. I usually have a banana. But that's because I like bananas.

[Deth Muncher]

Eat a fruit before working out. I usually have a banana. But that's because I like bananas.

I lack fruit, other than canned pineapple and canned pears. And the yogurt. I COULD fix this, but I worry because my apartment has a slight slug problem.

And now, to bed! Swimming in the morning, I think! Or maybe just weights. Probably weights.

[Haruki-kun]

Canned fruits are still fruits! :smalltongue:

No, seriously, they are. Still good. Slug problem sounds awful, though, good luck with that.

[Lycan 01]

Is Grits really a food not consumed much outside the south? :smallconfused:


Anyway, random workout concern. You're supposed to take a break the day after you work out, yes? But what if you're not actually that sore, or not even hurting at all? Some days when I work out, the next day I'm not really sore in some of the areas I work out. Part of this could be that I'm eating more protein and drinking more water and stuff, but part of it could be that I'm just not doing enough. But I'm doing about as much as my arms can handle in most cases. Which, admittedly, isn't much. I can only lift about 15 pounds right now... :smallsigh:

So yeah... Am I not doing enough work, or is it just because I'm healthier and my body is able to cope with the strain better? :smallconfused:

And if I'm not trying hard enough, and I'm not hurting that much because I didn't do enough work... should I work out that day, rather than resting? Or should I play it safe and wait til the next day?

[Haruki-kun]

Is Grits really a food not consumed much outside the south? :smallconfused:


Anyway, random workout concern. You're supposed to take a break the day after you work out, yes? But what if you're not actually that sore, or not even hurting at all? Some days when I work out, the next day I'm not really sore in some of the areas I work out. Part of this could be that I'm eating more protein and drinking more water and stuff, but part of it could be that I'm just not doing enough. But I'm doing about as much as my arms can handle in most cases. Which, admittedly, isn't much. I can only lift about 15 pounds right now... :smallsigh:

So yeah... Am I not doing enough work, or is it just because I'm healthier and my body is able to cope with the strain better? :smallconfused:

And if I'm not trying hard enough, and I'm not hurting that much because I didn't do enough work... should I work out that day, rather than resting? Or should I play it safe and wait til the next day?

Supposedly, you rest the body part you worked out the previous day. Day,if you did chest, you do back on the next day. That's resting the chest.

That aside, soreness is NOT the way to tell if you got enough workout, more for safety than for inaccuracy, but it IS an indicator.

You say you can lift 15 pounds,but the question there is... what exercise are you doing? And how many reps/sets? And have you raised that weight?

[Keld Denar]

Apples are REALLY easy for your body to process immediately prior to working out. Very simple sugars for nearly instant energy. Good stuff!

[Lycan 01]

Supposedly, you rest the body part you worked out the previous day. Day,if you did chest, you do back on the next day. That's resting the chest.

That aside, soreness is NOT the way to tell if you got enough workout, more for safety than for inaccuracy, but it IS an indicator.

You say you can lift 15 pounds,but the question there is... what exercise are you doing? And how many reps/sets? And have you raised that weight?

Alrighty. So even if I'm not very sore, its better to be "better safe than sorry" and just rest, or work a different part of the body.

As for what exercises I'm doing... I'm doing Curls in reps of 10, Lawnmower Cranks 15-20, raising the weight from my shoulder to up in the air in reps of 15-20, holding the weights over my head and lower it down behind my shoulders in reps 15-20... Yeah, I don't know what some of these work-outs are called. XD As for the amount of sets... It varies. It really depends on how long it takes my arms to feel like noodles. I'll usually do a single set of all those, and then go back and try an extra set of Curls or those arm-raise-things for good measure...


The thing is, I'm only just now getting to where I can comfortably do those things with the 15 pound weights. With 10 pounds, I could Curl them 20 or more times without being too worn out... So, I figured that since it was getting easier with the 10lb weights, I should move up to 15.
When I first started using the 15 lb weights, though, it was kinda hard, especially with curls. After around 6 or so lifts, I'd start losing proper form and have trouble lifting the weight right. Plus, y'know, my muscles were on fire. But now I've gotten better at it, and can actually finish sets of 10 Curls with relatively good form. I still have trouble on the last couple lifts most time, but hey, progress is progress. I dunno why I had so much trouble going from 10 to 15 pounds... Maybe the different size of the weights threw off my balance?


Should I go back to just lifting the 10 lb weights for longer sets in order to tone my muscles and improve muscle stamina, or should I stick with the 15 lb weights until I'm completely able to comfortably lift them? :smallconfused:


Apples are REALLY easy for your body to process immediately prior to working out. Very simple sugars for nearly instant energy. Good stuff!

After returning back to school from a visit home, I have a bag of about 6 fresh apples in my mini-fridge, courtesy my mother. Your advice has been noted, and shall be put to good use. :smallbiggrin:

[Keld Denar]

Should I go back to just lifting the 10 lb weights for longer sets in order to tone my muscles and improve muscle stamina, or should I stick with the 15 lb weights until I'm completely able to comfortably lift them? :smallconfused:

Haruki-kun will probably say it better than me, but the whole more reps/less weight thing is pretty bunk. With free weights, you'll generally get the best result from sets of 4-5 reps of the most weight you can lift of those amounts. If you can't do at least 4-5, step the weight down. If you get to 8 and are still going strong, you need more weight. If you want to improve your stamina, you need moar cardio. Effective, full body cardio is tough to do on your own, thats where a trainer REALLY pays off. You want to chain together a number of floor exercises like pushups, situps, lunges, sprints, deadlifts, a lot of pilates exercises, etc, if you really want to improve your stamina. Set up several exercises and go from one to the next without stopping. The more exercises you can chain together, the more stamina you'll find you have. Mix it up a little, and PUSH yourself to do more/go faster.

You're at kinda a tough point. Going from 10-15 lbs is a 50% increase in weight. Thats much different from going from say, 40 to 45 lbs. Once you power through it, it should get better. Keep with the 15s as much as you can, until it burns too much, then drop them and pick up the 10s and keep going. That'll get you a better return on your time and effort than simply doing the 10s 15 or 20 times. You really need to break the muscles down to get the best gain.

[Deth Muncher]

Who's got two thumbs and went to the gym? This guy right here.

So here's how it went:

-First off, 7AM is a GREAT time to go to the gym, since absoeffinglutely no one is there.

-Ran half a mile. Probably could have done more, but didn't wanna over do it Day 1.

-10/5/3 Leg Curls @ 45lbs. Pretty happy I retained that level of fitness on my legs, but hey, you use 'em every day.

-10/10/9 Leg Extensions @ 75lbs. Again, pretty happy.

-10/10/10 Leg Press at 120lbs. Happy, but my legs were done by this point.

-10/10/ 4r - 3.5l Dumbell Curls @ 15lbs. As in, in the third set, my right arm could do 4, but I couldn't get my left arm past halfway after #3. Annoying, but this just means I should do some pushups, I guess.

-10/5/- Tricep Extensions @ 15lbs. Something felt wrong when I started doing these, so I did a set, waited, tried the second set and something was still wrong, so I stopped. I'll have to go bother someone on the proper technique to be sure I'm doing them right.

-5/5/5 on the...er, it's technically the dip bar, but I was bringing my knees to my chest, not dipping. What's that called?

I also tried doing the abmachine again, but that was a poor life choice. I need to inquire as to the proper technique on there just to be sure I'm doing them right, because I did a total of like 3 and it was hurting fairly bad. The good hurt, but still. After 3, even for me, it shouldn't be that bad.

And now, to bathe and breakfast, and my first day of classes starts today at 11am. (Which will be neat, since my first class seems like it's going to be the one that's going to rape me the most.)

[Serpentine]

Mmmm... That garlic and herb marinated kangaroo steak sure was tasty P:

[Deth Muncher]

Mmmm... That garlic and herb marinated kangaroo steak sure was tasty P:

I hate you. Hate hate hate.

[Serpentine]

Now why would you say something so hurtful? You just have to go down to your local supermarket and- Oh, wait.

[Deth Muncher]

Now why would you say something so hurtful? You just have to go down to your local supermarket and- Oh, wait.

Don't make me bring small animals to your country to completely rewrite your local food chain.

Also, looking online, the cheapest I can find kangaroo to get in the US is a pound of ground 'roo at about 13 bucks, maybe including shipping (I dunno). Most places, though, start at $50.

[KuReshtin]

-First off, 7AM is a GREAT time to go to the gym, since absoeffinglutely no one is there.


I have the same kind of thought myself.
The gym I'm signed up with opens at 7am, and since I start work at 9, I can get an hour or so in at the gym before having to head to work.

Just need to think of some decent post-gym breakfast except for cereal and yoghurt.

Thursday after work will be the first session with my ops manager/team leader beating the crap out of me at the gym after work. She said it will be a session to see how much I can do, so she'll try to break me down.
Anticipatory dread. :smalleek:

[Deth Muncher]

I have the same kind of thought myself.
The gym I'm signed up with opens at 7am, and since I start work at 9, I can get an hour or so in at the gym before having to head to work.

Just need to think of some decent post-gym breakfast except for cereal and yoghurt.

Thursday after work will be the first session with my ops manager/team leader beating the crap out of me at the gym after work. She said it will be a session to see how much I can do, so she'll try to break me down.
Anticipatory dread. :smalleek:

Weeeeell, you could go with MY meal (which I actually need to go make now), which, if you take out the yogurt, is an egg, toast, some sort of porridge-y bit, and maybe a fruit. But that's just me. My dad used to do a small steak, an egg and some broccoli post-workout.

EDIT: I also wish you all the best. Try not to die.

[Coidzor]

Is Grits really a food not consumed much outside the south? :smallconfused:

Italians make it into polenta, taking advantage of its ability to stick together and solidify into shapes, IIRC. Mexicans do something with hominy, though I've never figured out what exactly, just that it's sold in cans in that section of the supermarket, which is the precursor to grits, and that's all I've ever heard done with the grits production process anywhere.


Mmmm... That garlic and herb marinated kangaroo steak sure was tasty P:

Which herbs go with Marsupial anyway?


My dad used to do a small steak, an egg and some broccoli post-workout.


Fresh or steamed broccoli?

[Serpentine]

Which herbs go with Marsupial anyway?Not sure about herbs, but I'm partial to ground cumin seeds.

[KuReshtin]

Weeeeell, you could go with MY meal (which I actually need to go make now), which, if you take out the yogurt, is an egg, toast, some sort of porridge-y bit, and maybe a fruit. But that's just me. My dad used to do a small steak, an egg and some broccoli post-workout.

My main problem will be that since the gym and my work is in a different town from where I live (about 15 miles away), I won't have any facilities to cook anything after the gym session, and will have my breakfast once I get in to work.
Actually, now that I think about it, there are a few microwave ovens that I could use to make something porridge-y. And there's a supermarket right on the way from the gym to work, so I could pop in there for some fresh fruit and some sandwich or something.

I prefer to have yoghurt with my cereal instead of milk, and instead have the milk on the side as a proper drink. I find that the cereal don't get as soggy if you have yoghurt with it instead of the milk.

The Müller Light yoghurt is a good option, I feel, as it's both virtually fat-free and low in sugar (7.8g/100ml). I looked around for different types of yoghurt, and a lot of them had sugar contents as high as 22-23g/100ml, which was listed as about 25% of the RDI, so not too good.



EDIT: I also wish you all the best. Try not to die.

I will try my best not to die. If I died, it would mean a high likelyhood that I'd miss officiating the university league football game this weekend, and I don't want to miss that.

[drakir_nosslin]

My main problem will be that since the gym and my work is in a different town from where I live (about 15 miles away), I won't have any facilities to cook anything after the gym session, and will have my breakfast once I get in to work.

I tend to prepare a quick drink before I head off to a training session, so that I've got something to eat as soon as I get home. It's simple, tastes good and I think it's quite a decent thing to drink straight after training. I usually mix around 1l
What you need:
1 Blender
A bottle or something to keep it in.
Oatmeal
Milk
Quark (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quark_(cheese)), the creamy version. I like to buy strawberry flavored.
Blueberries and raspberries (in the winter I buy frozen ones).
Pour everything into the blender, except the bottle and the blender and blend. Pour into the bottle when done, bring it with you. It tastes better if it's cold, so see if there's a fridge or something at the gym. Anyway, it's a bit like porridge, but creamier, tastes like berries and contains a lot of fibres, protein, fat and minerals, giving the body what it needs to start replacing whatever you broke down while training.
You can also add some seeds if you want to add more minerals, omega 3 or whatever it is you feel you need.

EDIT: The reason I didn't write how much of each ingredient is because I don't know. I always improvise as soon as I'm doing something to eat. I do know that I use 250 g quark, because that's how much it's in one package.

[Haruki-kun]

*snip*

Should I go back to just lifting the 10 lb weights for longer sets in order to tone my muscles and improve muscle stamina, or should I stick with the 15 lb weights until I'm completely able to comfortably lift them? :smallconfused:


Haruki-kun will probably say it better than me, but the whole more reps/less weight thing is pretty bunk. *snip*

Pretty much that. (And thanks. :smalltongue:)

The thing about the more reps/less weight standpoint is that when you get to the point you're doing 20+ reps, you're not really doing strength training any more, you're doing endurance training. And getting closer to doing cardio with weights.

Take a look at this:

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t288/Vaarsuvius89/trainingemphasis.png

I found it while browsing the internet one day. Personal trainers, doctors and athletes often disagree on the exact numbers, but generally speaking this is fairly (though not 100%) accurate. At least the idea is. Lower repsand more weights means you get stronger. 8-12 reps with slightly lower weight means you get bigger. Above that you train your endurance. Higher than 30 and you're doing cardio.

*puts on lab coat and glasses*

When training strength, you're making your muscles bigger. This can be done in two ways. One is Myofibrillar Hypertrophy,in which you're basically making more muscle fibers, which makes you stronger. This, however, does not make the muscle grow too much.The other way is Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy, in which the sarcoplasmic fluid IN the muscle cells increases, making the muscle large and bulgy, but accompanied by little or no increase in strength.

tl;dr: The difference is between an Olympic Weightlifter and a Bodybuilder.

Generally speaking, you choose what you want and train accordingly. However, if you're looking to put on size, it's better if you start out training for a bit more strength: There's no point in trying to make muscle fibers grow bigger if you don't have enough of them, there's a limit to how far they can get.

My suggestion: Try training with a 5-7 rep range, and be careful.Good form, safety, spotters, etc. I cannot stress this enough.

Oh, also: About that chart I just posted? Unless you're competing in the olympics or The World's Strongest Man, don't try to do 1-3 reps. You could hurt yourself.

Quick Wikipedia Article. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_hypertrophy)

EDIT: Yup. There's a lot of science to it. :smalltongue:

[Lycan 01]

Haruki-kun will probably say it better than me, but the whole more reps/less weight thing is pretty bunk. With free weights, you'll generally get the best result from sets of 4-5 reps of the most weight you can lift of those amounts. If you can't do at least 4-5, step the weight down. If you get to 8 and are still going strong, you need more weight. If you want to improve your stamina, you need moar cardio. Effective, full body cardio is tough to do on your own, thats where a trainer REALLY pays off. You want to chain together a number of floor exercises like pushups, situps, lunges, sprints, deadlifts, a lot of pilates exercises, etc, if you really want to improve your stamina. Set up several exercises and go from one to the next without stopping. The more exercises you can chain together, the more stamina you'll find you have. Mix it up a little, and PUSH yourself to do more/go faster.

You're at kinda a tough point. Going from 10-15 lbs is a 50% increase in weight. Thats much different from going from say, 40 to 45 lbs. Once you power through it, it should get better. Keep with the 15s as much as you can, until it burns too much, then drop them and pick up the 10s and keep going. That'll get you a better return on your time and effort than simply doing the 10s 15 or 20 times. You really need to break the muscles down to get the best gain.

Thanks. :smallsmile: I thought you had to do 10-15 reps with things like Curls in order to actually get "good" results...

And yeah, going from 10 to 15 lbs was pretty tough. Last night, though, I did some Curls just to see if I'd made any more progress, and I managed to do two sets of 10 reps, and a third set of about 5 or so reps. And with good form and focus, too! :smallbiggrin: So yeah, I'm definitely getting results. I just need to keep at a steady pace, and not try to over-do it. So I'll stick with the 15 lb weights for a bit longer, until I'm comfortable with jumping up to 20 lbs.


Pretty much that. (And thanks. :smalltongue:)

The thing about the more reps/less weight standpoint is that when you get to the point you're doing 20+ reps, you're not really doing strength training any more, you're doing endurance training. And getting closer to doing cardio with weights.

Take a look at this:

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t288/Vaarsuvius89/trainingemphasis.png

I found it while browsing the internet one day. Personal trainers, doctors and athletes often disagree on the exact numbers, but generally speaking this is fairly (though not 100%) accurate. At least the idea is. Lower repsand more weights means you get stronger. 8-12 reps with slightly lower weight means you get bigger. Above that you train your endurance. Higher than 30 and you're doing cardio.

*puts on lab coat and glasses*

When training strength, you're making your muscles bigger. This can be done in two ways. One is Myofibrillar Hypertrophy,in which you're basically making more muscle fibers, which makes you stronger. This, however, does not make the muscle grow too much.The other way is Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy, in which the sarcoplasmic fluid IN the muscle cells increases, making the muscle large and bulgy, but accompanied by little or no increase in strength.

tl;dr: The difference is between an Olympic Weightlifter and a Bodybuilder.

Generally speaking, you choose what you want and train accordingly. However, if you're looking to put on size, it's better if you start out training for a bit more strength: There's no point in trying to make muscle fibers grow bigger if you don't have enough of them, there's a limit to how far they can get.

My suggestion: Try training with a 5-7 rep range, and be careful.Good form, safety, spotters, etc. I cannot stress this enough.

Oh, also: About that chart I just posted? Unless you're competing in the olympics or The World's Strongest Man, don't try to do 1-3 reps. You could hurt yourself.

Quick Wikipedia Article. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_hypertrophy)

EDIT: Yup. There's a lot of science to it. :smalltongue:


Okay, just to make sure I'm following correctly...

Small number of reps with lots of weight = bulging biceps, more for show than effect
Medium number of reps with medium amount of weight = toned muscles, smaller but stronger
Lots of reps with small amount of weight = improved muscle stamina and energy


I don't want muscles that are just for show. I actually want to get stronger. Yeah, larger arms would be impressive, but I don't want to just show off. I want to actually have the strength to back it up...

So to focus on improving the power and strength of the muscles while also adding some size increase... I'd do about 7-10 lifts with my challenging-but-comfortable amount? ie: 15 lbs. But if I just wanted to bulk up, I'd do like... 3-5 reps with 20 lbs, or something like that?

Please, correct me if I'm wrong. I may have gotten something mixed up... :smallconfused:

[KuReshtin]

Was just sent my training program that my team leader/ops manager has devised for me.

I'm thinking it will be quite tough.

Link here (http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/kureshtin/1st_6_week-plan.xlsx) for anyone that's interested.

[Haruki-kun]

Okay, just to make sure I'm following correctly...

Small number of reps with lots of weight = bulging biceps, more for show than effect
Medium number of reps with medium amount of weight = toned muscles, smaller but stronger
Lots of reps with small amount of weight = improved muscle stamina and energy


I don't want muscles that are just for show. I actually want to get stronger. Yeah, larger arms would be impressive, but I don't want to just show off. I want to actually have the strength to back it up...

So to focus on improving the power and strength of the muscles while also adding some size increase... I'd do about 7-10 lifts with my challenging-but-comfortable amount? ie: 15 lbs. But if I just wanted to bulk up, I'd do like... 3-5 reps with 20 lbs, or something like that?

Please, correct me if I'm wrong. I may have gotten something mixed up... :smallconfused:

You mixed up the first two. Strength = Lower reps, more weight.
Size 'n Mass = Mid, Mid.

Here's a useful link: Stronglifts 5 x 5 (http://stronglifts.com/): A beginer's training program. I never followed it because I didn't know it existed when I started working out, but I've heard great things about it. The author gives away a free e-Book somewhere in the site.

Also, a "general fitness advice" link (http://www.liamrosen.com/fitness.html).

[Lycan 01]

So wait, if I do just a few reps with lots of weight, that'll make my muscles stronger but not necessarily bigger, while if I do average reps with average weight, it'll make the muscles bigger but not necessarily stronger? That's... the opposite of what I've always been told. I've always heard that doing more reps with a comfortable-yet-challenging weight is what tones your muscles, while "pushing the limit" is what makes your muscles buff up... :smallconfused:

[Haruki-kun]

See, here's the thing.... the "toning" thing is a bit of.... well, myth-ish. There's some truth to it, but it's not what you hear everywhere. Really, "toning" is more about.... whether the muscle is used or not. They become flaccid if you don't.

Sorta:
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t288/Vaarsuvius89/1275531778133.jpg

If you still have doubts about what I'm saying, Wikipedia seems to support my claim. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strength_Training#Realization_of_training_goals)

[Melayl]

doing pullups on weekends (because stupid Iron Gym doesn't fit on the stupid extra-wide doors in my dorm! :smallannoyed:)

Buy a 2x4 that is longer than your door is wide, strap it to the Iron Gym (where it would normally hit the door frame), and go to town. Pad the ends that touch the door with some carpet scraps or something (so they don't scratch). :smallcool: Essentially, you are widening the Iron Gym. You could also buy lengths of pipe (iron, not PVC) to put over the ends of the Iron Gym, but that'd likely be more expensive and more difficult.

[KuReshtin]

Ow! Pain. Oh, the pain.

First training session with my team leader over with.
The deal was that she'd try to kill me, and at times, I felt that she was within an inch of actually succeeding.
I am SOOO out of shape it's not even funny.

[Keld Denar]

She may yet kill you, but at least you'll have sexy abs in your coffin!

Also, I want a workout crazy coworker to be my free personal trainer...trainers are freakin expensive!

[Deth Muncher]

So, I've just realized that this whole "problem with my weight" thing is spilling into other parts of my life. Specifically, the "I told my girlfriend she should go find someone with a little less fat and a lot less self-loathing" part of my life. (She didn't leave, because she's stubborn like that, but still.) So I really, really need to kick this in gear. I'm going to be buying another alarm clock, because I only went the once - I couldn't wake up the other times.

I've realized one of the major issues with my more recent weight gain is that my parent apparently wanted to give me diabetes for Christmas, and gave me a bunch of candy. Which I've been binging on, since I don't normally have any sort of candy around. Also, I'd been drinking soda with real sugar in it instead of aspartame, so there was that extra level of sugar intake. Thankfully, not only is it almost gone, but what's left is dark chocolate (which is good in small doses) and stuff that I can force my girlfriend to eat (which she doesn't mind). I'm also watching my sodium intake - Diet Coke is bad with that, so I've been attempting to go for more teas and such, and the only pre-prepared food I've been having lately is Totino's Pizza Rolls, which are atrocious for you, but so calorically satisfying that having some of those keeps me full for something like 7 or 8 hours. Last night, for example, I made a spaghetti with meat sauce using low-sodium sauce. Huzzah! Also, adding more broccoli into my diet - it's the one healthy vegetable I can actually stand cooked aside from cauliflower, and although I end up adding butter, I don't use that much.

My OTHER problem is knowing when to eat. Because I have such odd hours, I end up being hungry at around 10PM - which is after everything but fastfood is closed, and when it's too late to cook. This just boils down to needing to cook a bunch of stuff early and then have leftovers.

I've been shopping around for people to go gymming with me - a few people I know go that early, but don't do the same kind of workouts that I do, so it makes it a little difficult.

Also, does anyone know any exercises that focus on toning your butt? And odd and kind of awkward question, but the aforementioned blowing up at my girlfriend thing was because I was trying on a pair of pants and found out I'm too big now - which has happened twice in the past week, and both are pants I really like and now can't wear. (Also, one was for a costume, so now I need to find new costume pants.) (I'm also accepting no suggestions for workouts from Kneenibble.)

[Crow]

Generally speaking, you choose what you want and train accordingly. However, if you're looking to put on size, it's better if you start out training for a bit more strength: There's no point in trying to make muscle fibers grow bigger if you don't have enough of them, there's a limit to how far they can get.

To expand on this a bit;

Everything you do is going to tear down your muscles before it rebuilds them. The way your body rebuilds them is going to depend on how you tear them down, because your body is going to adapt to the stimulus that destroyed it. Want to be stronger, lift heavier weights. Want to last longer, do more reps. Want both, do both.

I see people limiting themselves every day because they cling to this "low-rep strength, mid-rep size, high-rep cardio" thing, thinking they can't have all three.

Try 30 reps of your 80% max on a lift. You probably won't do it all in one set, but do what you can, take a breather (start at 5 deep breaths for the first break, get longer from there), and do some more reps, until you get to 30. I guarantee, you will get stronger, and you will gain endurance.

Your body is going to do what you tell it to do when you train, never forget that. If you lift heavy, you will get stonger. If you get stronger, you will get bigger, simple as that. Sure you may not get *as* big as you could, but it is only relevant if you're a professional bodybuilder or power lifter.


Oh, also: About that chart I just posted? Unless you're competing in the olympics or The World's Strongest Man, don't try to do 1-3 reps. You could hurt yourself.

I train in the 1-3 rep range regularly, and can safely say that there is no more risk in this range than in the 5-7 range. If your form is sound, you are fine. Poor form is 5-7 is just as dangerous as poor form in 1-3...possibly moreso as in the 5-7 range you are more likely to "gut out" a ****ty movement.

[Haruki-kun]

I train in the 1-3 rep range regularly, and can safely say that there is no more risk in this range than in the 5-7 range. If your form is sound, you are fine. Poor form is 5-7 is just as dangerous as poor form in 1-3...possibly moreso as in the 5-7 range you are more likely to "gut out" a ****ty movement.

I'm mostly covering myself. I'd feel pretty bad if anyone hurt themselves trying to lift too much weight because I told them to. <.<

[Deth Muncher]

Well, let's start off the morning by saying that I left my exercise record sheet at the gym. >_< It's small, so no one will really notice it (it was a notecard, really) so it'll probably get thrown away and, in all likelyhood, probably already has. Let's see if I can remember.

Oh, and one more note: My rule from now on is that if I can to three sets of ten, perfectly, without straining for it, the weight is too low and I need to go up.

-Ran .66 miles. :P Eventually I'll make it back up to that one mile mark...

-Did 3/3/3 on the dip bar. I'm not sure what you'd call the exercise I did, but basically what I did was bring my knees to my chest, back down, then parallel to the ground out away from me, then down, and that was 1.

-I don't know what to call this exercise, but I'm sure I've done it before. I had a dumbbell in each hand, and pulled my arms up until they were parallel with the floor at my shoulder. This was done fully standing up, not bent. I did 10 @ 15lbs.

-Did 10/5/4R-3.5L dumbbell curls @ 15lbs. As this is the second time I've run into the issue with my left arm, I need to figure out how to target it a little each day until it's on par with my right arm.

-Tried the glute machine (or as I refer to it angrily in my head, the Ass Master), and it kicked my...well, actually, that makes sense. But the point is, I could only get 2 reps on either leg @ the lowest weight, 30lbs. What other options do I have for reducing/toning my glutes?

-10/5/3 Leg Curls @ 45 lbs

-10/5/3 Leg Extensions @ 60lbs. This is an anti-improvement. Deth Muncher is sad.

-10/10/10 Leg Press @ 120lbs. As you may have noticed, that's two days being able to do three perfect sets, so I'm bumping the weight up next time.

I also started doing seated rows, but realized the machine I was using was for laying down rows, so I quickly evacuated.

Exercises to add to the workout: Lat Pulldown, Seated Row. Also, I reiterate the question: does anyone know any butt-toning exercises that AREN'T the godforsaken Ass Master?

[Crow]

Exercises to add to the workout: Lat Pulldown, Seated Row. Also, I reiterate the question: does anyone know any butt-toning exercises that AREN'T the godforsaken Ass Master?

Deadlift. Squat.

[Keld Denar]

+1 squats. Very thigh and rear oriented.

Also, pushups, with proper form, are pretty dang close to a full body exercise. You do get some glutes workout there.

Couldn't you also do some leg lifts while lying face down on a bench and keeping your knee straight? Resistance might be an issue after a while, but starting off your own body mass should provide enough resistance. Eventually, ankle weights or resistance bands could be beneficial, but that should get you started.

[Deth Muncher]

Couldn't you also do some leg lifts while lying face down on a bench and keeping your knee straight? Resistance might be an issue after a while, but starting off your own body mass should provide enough resistance. Eventually, ankle weights or resistance bands could be beneficial, but that should get you started.

If I was at home, where the leg lift was on a bench, yes. Unfortunately, the school gym is full of single-purpose machines, so I'll have to hunt down the other kind of leg lift. But yeah, is a good idea.

[Keld Denar]

They don't have a free weights bench? Thats...kinda hard to believe. Even on a multi-function machine like a Smith machine, there is generally a bench. Just lay on it so that only one thigh rests on the bench, and raise/lower the other from touching the floor to about a 30 degree angle above the plane of the bench. Do a set, then slide over and do the other leg. Lather, rinse, repeat.

[Deth Muncher]

They don't have a free weights bench? Thats...kinda hard to believe. Even on a multi-function machine like a Smith machine, there is generally a bench. Just lay on it so that only one thigh rests on the bench, and raise/lower the other from touching the floor to about a 30 degree angle above the plane of the bench. Do a set, then slide over and do the other leg. Lather, rinse, repeat.

It's a weird, angled benchy-cushion thing. Regardless, I'm quite sure they HAVE the other kind of machine, I just haven't looked for it.

[KuReshtin]

I have come to the conclusion that double crunches and shoulder presses hate me.
They hate me so much.

[drakir_nosslin]

I just found a great way to get Zombie Apocalypse Prepared (ZAP), it's called 'be poor and don't own a bike'. Well, I own a bike, but since last week it's broken. I can't afford to take the bus whenever I want to go somewhere, so the simple solution is to run, or walk, depending on how non-sweaty you want to arrive.

The last week I've been running to and from school (there are showers at both places), to the shop, to my friends, to training sessions. Basically everywhere. It works fine as long as the distances are ok, the longest one way trip is around 5 km for me, and I only have to run that once or twice every week.

[Crow]

Where you at Deth? Haven't fallen off the wagon have you?

[Lycan 01]

I haven't been able to really work out in days. I gave blood Wednesday, so naturally I've been really tired, and the random naps I've been taking over the past few days have really messed up my sleep schedule. But the worst part is, they kinda went crazy with the needle, so I can't lift anything with my left arm right now, and likely not for another day or two. :smallannoyed:

Spoilered for the squeamish...

So the nurse who was doing my blood donation stuff kinda messed up. Instead of the normal vein they use, she went with a different, slightly smaller one. Well, once the needle was in, the vein decided it was a ninja, and started dodging the needle every time she tried to pierce it. So I'm sitting there, looking on in disbelief, as she has to dig and jab around inside the flesh of my arm with the needle. Eventually, she calls over another nurse to handle it, since apparently the other nurse has experience with such issues. Next thing I knew, the first nurse is holding down my arm while the new (scarier) straps the needle to my arm with medical tape, pins down the vein with one hand, then slowly spears the needle into the slippery blood vessel...

So yeah. Twas quite uncomfortable. Didn't hurt that much, though. More-so just shocking... And then to make matters worse, my blood wasn't flowing well through the tube, either because the needle wasn't in right or because my blood was coagulating too fast. So, they proceeded to start twisting the needle in order to get it into a better position inside the vein, and then they tourniquet my arm so tight that the whole limb started to hurt. Not a tingle, not a throb, just a dull burning pain from elbow to fingers. Not exactly a pleasant feeling... Worse than the needle stuff, in fact.


So yeah. They finally got enough blood, and after being monitored and force-fed cookies and gatorade, I was eventually released... Days later, my arm is still sore, and today the injection-sight has begun to sport a sickly yellow bruise...

So yeah. No pushups, pullups, weights, or anything arm related, even though I'm finally over the fatigue from the donation itself. :smallannoyed:

[CurlyKitGirl]

Nnnnnnnnnnnnngh.
I've gone cold turkey on fizzy pops, cut out more than ninety percent of junk foods and sweeties, and you know what's worst?
Fizzy pop withdrawal. I didn't even have that many, and now I'm a little twitchy.
I've allowed myself one allotment of junk food every two weeks - I'm fine with that.
Sweeties, crisps and such I don't even eat all that much, but I've cut it down to one chocolate bar a week, and one small pack of biscuits - for company mainly as I have a biscuit limit of five.
On the fizzy pops I only had one relapse in the past twelve days, and it was at a restaurant where I was not going to pay £1.50 for water (no they didn't have free), didn't want any alcohol, their tea sucked, I hate coffee, and so I had to have fizzy pop.

I. Need. A. Sweet. Drink.
*twitch*
Overall, on the food at least I'm doing pretty damn good. Not eating as much food, and while it's still pretty standard student fare (cup-a-soups and instant noodles and sarnies) and thus pretty salty and not-so-healthy it's still fairly acceptable healthy food.

Exercise though.
I walk everywhere. That's all. I can't go to the gym, not paying a bajillion pounds for it, and I missed induction days for the college gym, so no free one. Likewise for most uni societies.
My room is tiny. It's maybe six feet wide, eight long. Most of it's taken up by furniture that comes with the room.
My available free space is a small square of 2'x1.5', another one I can just about lie down in - provided I don't mind cracking my head on the sink when I get up, and another space perhaps 2.5'x6.5'.
Any ideas for exercises that can be done in my room?

[Haruki-kun]

Any ideas for exercises that can be done in my room?

Pushups, situps, squats.... general bodyweight exercises.

It would be better if you could go out to a park or something where there's more space, but I assume it's somewhat cold up there this time of year.

[Lycan 01]

Perhaps you could try jogging more, or things like jumping rope or jumping jacks. Aerobics, cardio, stuff that gets your heart-rate up and uses energy for an extended period of time, so it seems like that'd be more effective than pushups. I could be wrong, though.

Does crunches, pushups, and lifting weights actually burn as many calories as cardio/aerobics? :smallconfused: I learned in my fitness class Friday that working out like that uses concentrated bursts of high energy, whereas jogging and stuff uses a steady stream of less energy... But I forgot to ask the teacher what the calorie burn ratio for the different types of energy use.



Arm still hurts. :smallannoyed:

[Haruki-kun]

Perhaps you could try jogging more, or things like jumping rope or jumping jacks. Aerobics, cardio, stuff that gets your heart-rate up and uses energy for an extended period of time, so it seems like that'd be more effective than pushups. I could be wrong, though.

Does crunches, pushups, and lifting weights actually burn as many calories as cardio/aerobics? :smallconfused: I learned in my fitness class Friday that working out like that uses concentrated bursts of high energy, whereas jogging and stuff uses a steady stream of less energy... But I forgot to ask the teacher what the calorie burn ratio for the different types of energy use.



Arm still hurts. :smallannoyed:

It really depends on what kind of cardio you're doing and how much and all that. Look into High Intensity Interval Training. (HIIT (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-intensity_interval_training))

[Spiryt]

I'm pretty certain that more intensive effort generally burns more calories than less intensive - long lasting ones.

Mixed ones - like interval training are most effective at boosting metabolic rates though. So is more "effective" in terms of reducing fat tissue.

[Crow]

I'm pretty certain that more intensive effort generally burns more calories than less intensive - long lasting ones.

Mixed ones - like interval training are most effective at boosting metabolic rates though. So is more "effective" in terms of reducing fat tissue.

It's more effective all-around.

CurlyKit, I have some workouts in my sig that can be done with no or limited equipment.

[Keld Denar]

Koorly, keep a large glass of water near your computer. When you get thirsty, drink lots of it instead of soda. Like, a couple big gulps. The water displacement in your stomach is very naturally satiating. Thats what helped me kick my addiction when I quit cold turkey about 5 years ago. It was one of the best decisions of my life, honestly. I can't even actually drink cola anymore, it upsets my stomach, so I have no problem resisting the temptation anymore.

Also, +1 to HIIT. HIIT is basically tricking your heart into thinking that you are sprinting over the entire duration of the workout, even though the rest of your body is getting rest at intervals. Your heartrate stays up at maximum burn rate, and right when it starts to drop on your rest intervals, you go back to a high intensity interval exercise. This keeps you from getting bodily tired quickly, while keeping your heart up at a high rate. Easist way to do HIT is on a treadmill, as it has a timer and is easy to control speed, but floor exercises are also very effective if you can keep up a good rate. The trick to HIIT is to never let your heart rate drop, which takes a little while to sound out as far as how long it takes. In general, you don't want to take rest interval breaks for longer than 45 sec to a minute. And by rest intervals, I mean a brisk jog or slow run, not stopping or walking.

[CurlyKitGirl]

It's more effective all-around.

CurlyKit, I have some workouts in my sig that can be done with no or limited equipment.

>.>
<.<
Checked it out, I can do some of those, but not the box squats or the chair thingies. Why?
I have one good chair. The other is not so good. Not to mention they're at staggeringly different heights. However, I am a student, and so I must be good at improvising.
Time to go and implement said workouts.


Koorly, keep a large glass of water near your computer. When you get thirsty, drink lots of it instead of soda. Like, a couple big gulps. The water displacement in your stomach is very naturally satiating. That's what helped me kick my addiction when I quit cold turkey about 5 years ago. It was one of the best decisions of my life, honestly. I can't even actually drink cola anymore, it upsets my stomach, so I have no problem resisting the temptation anymore.

Yep, I've been keeping the water and stand by too, been drinking about two litres of it a day, plus my teas. It's definitely helping, especially yesterday because my usual Essay Treat after finishing said essay is a pannini and a 330ml can of fizzy pop, but I resisted!
So very proud of myself.


Also, +1 to HIIT. HIIT is basically tricking your heart into thinking that you are sprinting over the entire duration of the workout, even though the rest of your body is getting rest at intervals. Your heartrate stays up at maximum burn rate, and right when it starts to drop on your rest intervals, you go back to a high intensity interval exercise. This keeps you from getting bodily tired quickly, while keeping your heart up at a high rate. Easiest way to do HIT is on a treadmill, as it has a timer and is easy to control speed, but floor exercises are also very effective if you can keep up a good rate. The trick to HIIT is to never let your heart rate drop, which takes a little while to sound out as far as how long it takes. In general, you don't want to take rest interval breaks for longer than 45 sec to a minute. And by rest intervals, I mean a brisk jog or slow run, not stopping or walking.

And @ruki-chan:
It does look good, and easy enough to do, so chances are I'll be joining the night time jogging brigade. Here's hoping I can stick to my guns.

[Deth Muncher]

Something my dad pointed out to me the other day - almonds (and other nuts, but mostly almonds due to availability 'round these parts) that still have their skins are really good for you in small doses - not only do they have all the goodness of nuts, but they also curb your hunger due to some something or other in them. I think this also applies to olive oil - I remember senior year of highschool, after finding out that olive oil in small doses killed your hunger, I pretty much made that my snack after school - a tablespoon of olive oil, a sprinkle of garlic salt and a piece of bread. Worked out well enough.

[Haruki-kun]

Almonds are the greatest thing EVAR!!! @.@

Too bad they're so expensive. :smallfrown:

[Keld Denar]

a tablespoon of olive oil, a sprinkle of garlic salt and a piece of bread. Worked out well enough.

Try this: poor the olive oil into a small fry pan (really small), sprinkle the pinch of garlic salt over it, and then take a rubber spatula and make sure its spread across the whole surface. Now take a piece of whole wheat bread and put it on the oil. Push it around with the spatula to keep it from sitting in one place for too long. It should toast up nice and crispy brown. Add a piece of thin sliced deli ham for extra protien, fold in half, and eat like a half sandwich.

[Deth Muncher]

Try this: poor the olive oil into a small fry pan (really small), sprinkle the pinch of garlic salt over it, and then take a rubber spatula and make sure its spread across the whole surface. Now take a piece of whole wheat bread and put it on the oil. Push it around with the spatula to keep it from sitting in one place for too long. It should toast up nice and crispy brown. Add a piece of thin sliced deli ham for extra protien, fold in half, and eat like a half sandwich.

GENIUS! /zim

[Lycan 01]

Arm still hurts. The bruise is only grey now, at least, instead of that disturbing yellow/grey mix. Still, gonna be better safe than sorry and not do anything with my arms today.

I did, however, just get back from a 45 minute walk about my college campus and the local town. A few bursts of jogging thrown in for good measure, but for the most part just walking, since most of sidewalks were wet or uneven and thus not very fun/easy to jog on. I'm still rather drained from it, though, and now that I'm sitting down I'm feeling all these random twitches and muscle spasms all up and down my leg. It happens every time I get a good leg workout, so I know I did good...

Um... Does that ever happen to anyone else? Little tiny muscle twitches all up and down your leg, rapidly and randomly, after a long walk/jog/sprint/any sort of leg workout? Or am I the only one? :smalleek:

[Haruki-kun]

Arm still hurts. The bruise is only grey now, at least, instead of that disturbing yellow/grey mix. Still, gonna be better safe than sorry and not do anything with my arms today.

I did, however, just get back from a 45 minute walk about my college campus and the local town. A few bursts of jogging thrown in for good measure, but for the most part just walking, since most of sidewalks were wet or uneven and thus not very fun/easy to jog on. I'm still rather drained from it, though, and now that I'm sitting down I'm feeling all these random twitches and muscle spasms all up and down my leg. It happens every time I get a good leg workout, so I know I did good...

Um... Does that ever happen to anyone else? Little tiny muscle twitches all up and down your leg, rapidly and randomly, after a long walk/jog/sprint/any sort of leg workout? Or am I the only one? :smalleek:

Does not usually happen to me that I've noticed, though this article (http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/legpainandinjuries/a/muscle_spasms.htm) says it happens when exhausted or dehydrated. Drinking enough water?

[Crow]

Um... Does that ever happen to anyone else? Little tiny muscle twitches all up and down your leg, rapidly and randomly, after a long walk/jog/sprint/any sort of leg workout? Or am I the only one? :smalleek:

Your nerves are reconnecting with your muscles, or so I've heard from my doctor. I've gotten it while recovering from injuries. A friend of mine got it when he worked out for the first time in like 8 years.

[Serpentine]

Well here's a puzzler for you. The last couple of weeks I've been in a flurry of moving. Some exercise just moving things around but little walking or anything like that, and what with being broke there's been a lack of proper, good food such as veggies. I've been eating a lot more carbohydrates, and haven't been keeping track of of what I eat. Finally, I've been feeling really fat and gross. My jeans are a bit squeezy (I think...) and... well, normally I can tell when I've lost some weight because when I lie on my back my stomach feels fairly flat. This morning, it was positively bulgy. So I weighed myself...
I've lost weight since last time I checked :smalleek: Not much, just from 94.8 to 94.5kg, but considering I was expecting to have put on at least a couple of kilos that's pretty great. According to the tape measure I've even lost a full centimetre.

'supwitat? :smallconfused:

By the way, olive oil is very good. On this diet thing's forum, someone asked whether it would be a problem if they can't get enough of the "Fats and Oils" category. The nutritionist said that although it's probably one of the better categories to fall short in if you have to fall short in one, but that many oils, especially olive oil, can actually help encourage weight loss. Can't remember the reasons, but basically, oils - particularly olive oil - are good.
Another way of eating extra olive oil: Acquire: good quality olive oil, possibly infused with something (I have garlic and rosemary infused olive oil); good quality red vinegar (I have sweet and sticky balsamic); olive tappenade (olives mooshed up with oil and herbs); and a tasty dukkah (crushed nuts (I prefer pistachio) and spices). Cut a slice of fresh white bread into squares. Dip a piece into the vinegar, the olive oil, the tappenade and the dukkah. Eat.
It's a pretty excellent snack P: You can use the tappenade and dukkah on meat or in sandwiches and stuff like that, too.

[Crow]

Well you could have lost muscle...but I doubt it. That isn't enough of a change to really consider a concrete change. I fluctuate about 4lbs per day on average. Measurements can change by something so seemlingy minor as your hydration that day.

Measure and weigh over the next couple days and see if it's consistent.

[Lycan 01]

Does not usually happen to me that I've noticed, though this article (http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/legpainandinjuries/a/muscle_spasms.htm) says it happens when exhausted or dehydrated. Drinking enough water?

Yeah, I drank some gatorade afterwards. Guess I could have drank more... But its not like full muscle cramps or big spasms. Its just... little tiny twitches. Like being poked or tickled in random parts of my thigh, calf, and other muscles.


Your nerves are reconnecting with your muscles, or so I've heard from my doctor. I've gotten it while recovering from injuries. A friend of mine got it when he worked out for the first time in like 8 years.

Huh. Sounds reasonable. If I just do a short walk or run, I don't get it. Its only when I go for an hour-long walk/jog or have to frantically sprint back and forth across campus that my legs do the twitchy thingy afterward.

Oh well. It doesn't hurt or bother me. Just something I was curious about...


Arm still hurts. :smallannoyed: I really want to work my arms, but I also really don't want to risk hurting myself. There's still a bruise, and its still a bit sore. Though, its been almost a week...

Should I go ahead and try working out later, like just some basic stuff like pushups? And then if that doesn't hurt or anything, move on to curls and stuff? Or should I just stick with the better-safe-than-sorry approach? :smallsigh:

Jeez, never thought I'd get so antsy about not being able to work out. I used to despise the idea of lifting weights... XD

[Serpentine]

Well you could have lost muscle...but I doubt it. That isn't enough of a change to really consider a concrete change. I fluctuate about 4lbs per day on average. Measurements can change by something so seemlingy minor as your hydration that day.

Measure and weigh over the next couple days and see if it's consistent.Oh, I know all that. I regularly weigh myself first thing on Sunday mornings(ish), after loo etc. and before breakfast or drinks. This time I weighed myself on an odd-day (I'd skipped a week or two) because I was curious just how much I'd put on. Considering I was expecting to have put on at least a full kilogram, even if I am a bit underestimated it's still pretty significant...

[Crow]

Should I go ahead and try working out later, like just some basic stuff like pushups? And then if that doesn't hurt or anything, move on to curls and stuff? Or should I just stick with the better-safe-than-sorry approach? :smallsigh:

I always play it safe when it comes to potential injury. The progress you lose letting something minor mend is nothing compared to what you'll lose if you end up turning it into something major. Focus on some other body parts, or do some conditioning work.

[Lycan 01]

Managed to do a light workout yesterday. Did a 10 minute warmup by stretching, walking around the campus, and a few short bursts of jogging. Then I did some lifting and pushups for about 20 minutes, followed by a 5 minute cool-down of walking. And I kept myself hydrated the whole time with a steady ingestion of Vitamin Water - which tasted nasty, btw. I didn't push myself too hard with the lifting, since I hadn't done anything in over a week and I didn't want to hurt my arm. But I did enough to tire out my arms and leave them worn and weak the rest of the day, and now they're a bit sore today from the workout.

I am satisfied. :smallbiggrin:


My arm is still kinda sore, but not as bad. The bruise is almost gone, though the injected vein is still kinda sore. Not much you can do about a fubar vein, though. XD

[Deth Muncher]

Guess who hasn't been regularly going to the gym? This guy. Guess who just found someone who will regularly go to the gym with me at a (roughly) set time (roughly) every day? ALSO this guy.

I was in my school library today, and ran into my old roommate, who was also a friend from my highschool. He started going to the gym our freshman year, and has pretty well gone from slightly flabby dork to Schwarzenerd (okay, maybe not that ripped, but you get the point).This guy has determination, lemme tell you. And thankfully, he's willing to help me out. We're gonna be going roughly every day at roughly noon, so all will be well in the world.

I do, however, need a little bit of help with dietary replacements. I've been thinking: I don't really snack all that much, which may be a good thing and bad thing - on the one hand, I'm not eating bad things. On the other hand, it tends to make me overeat at meals, since I think I'm hungrier than I am. I've been thinking maybe I should go find myself some healthy snacks that'll still kick in for the kinds of things I would want, but won't kill me. Currently, my thoughts are:

-Yogurt. (Or yoghurt, to you non-'Murrcans.) I'm rather fond of Yoplait's strawberry and peach yogurts, which conveniently come in 8-packs. I figure a yogurt a day was what I WAS going to be eating for breakfast, so it probably won't do me much damage. Also, more on breakfast later. Also, might buy granola to dunk in it to make it crunchy. Also also, I'm not a fan of flavorless/vanilla or DIY yogurts, but apparently Americans are retarded and don't like hazelnut yogurt. Thus, I may need to end up making some. I assume I just buy hazelnuts and add them to vanilla yogurt?

-Hummus. Chalk it up to certain stereotypes that apply to me if you must, but I freaking love hummus. Hummus and crackers could actually be my diet, and I would be okay with that. But anyway - so I'm thinking hummus, but what to do for what to dip in it? I could just go for Wheat Thins, but they run out kind of fast, and probably aren't that great for you. What's a good, healthy alternative to be dipped in hummus that is still a bread-based thing?

-Vegetables? I've been tempted to get fresh veggies to nosh upon, but my issue is how much to buy - too little, and I have to keep going back to the store. Too much, and it'll spoil. Also, very little room in the fridge.

Also, re:breakfast - So, breakfast kind of hasn't been happening, mostly due to sleeping issues. I feel like I do need to wake up and make breakfast, though, since otherwise I'm eating Pop Tarts, and, well, yeah, they're not exactly the healthiest breakfast in the world. What's a quick, healthy breakfast? And by quick, I mean "takes less that 15 minutes to prepare and make" kind of quick.

[rakkoon]

Fresh celery/cucumber/paprika with black pepper & salt is a fabulous and healthy snack.

Also bananas/mandarins/apples come in handy.

Soup! It stops the hunger and is good for what ails ya.

Do you eat 5 tot 6 times a day? I find that that helps me. Otherwise I just eat 4 plates at dinner and the day was wasted.

What also helps me is talking half the pasta I would normally take and double the veggies. So two kinds of vegetables every evening and take two spoonfuls of them for every pasta spoon.

[Serpentine]

For breakfast: If you can get them, weetbix are one of the better cereals. Otherwise, porridge is good for colesterol etc., and a good muesli (I like Carmen's) is good too.
If you prefer a hot breakfast, boiled/fried/scrambled eggs and wholegrain toast will be healthy and quick, too.
Consider, also, yoghurt and fruit (tinned or otherwise), fried bananas, muesli bars, smoothies etc etc so on and so forth.
Basically, what sort of thing do you feel like for breakfast? I'm very thingy first thing in the morning so I usually prefer cereal, but there's plenty of options.

[Keld Denar]

Those yogurt cups, the ones you say come in an 8 cup? I buy those too, except I almost always get the strawberry/blueberry mix ones. I have one a day, but usually for lunch, rather than breakfast, and sometimes for an evening snack if I'm feeling munchy. If you are having them for breakfast, but want a bit more substance with your breakfast, try cooking up about 2/3 a cup of whole grain oatmeal (takes about 45 seconds in the microwave), drain any excess water that may be sitting on the top, and then stir in a whole one of those cups. It cools the oatmeal down so you can eat it immediately, and also tastes delicious. Whole grains are also great for weight loss, as they are SUPER high in dietary fiber.

For veggies, my big thing is baby cut carrot sticks. I buy a big 4 lb bag from Safeway or something for like, $4, and it generally takes me about 1-1.5 weeks to go through them all. I eat them after dinner, generally in an absent-minded munchy way. They taste good enough on their own, don't spoil too quickly (unlike razzin frazzin letuce...dfsdgdfjsghdfghlsd), and are great for you. Also, filling.

[Deth Muncher]

I went to the gym, and boy did I get the crap kicked out of me. This is what I needed - my friend I mentioned last time was not only willing to go at me, but was nice enough to motivate me to do more stuff. He also put me on his workout scheme instead of mine - which works out fantastically, since he went for the same kind of things I want when he started out - I've just got farther to go. Now, I do need to throw in some squats, unless lots of running is going to deflate my posterior, but eh. I ran for two miles (averaging about 11 minutes a mile - which sucked, because I ran the first one in less than 9 minutes, and then he says "Cool. I do 2 miles each time. Have fun." X_x But anyway. Did chest presses with a machine, lots of ab junk trying to find one machine that worked, some bicep curls, some tricep work...maybe something else I'm forgetting. Point is, it's a lot more than I'm used to, and it's a lot different than I'm used to. Hopefully that means I'll get rid of some more weight than I'm used to.

[Keld Denar]

I did hot yoga tonight. It was an intense workout! I think I sweat out like, 2 lbs of water. I can't wait to go back and do it again!

[Deth Muncher]

I did hot yoga tonight. It was an intense workout! I think I sweat out like, 2 lbs of water. I can't wait to go back and do it again!

Hot yoga? Do I even want to google that to find out what that is?

[KuReshtin]

Time for my weekly pain session with my team leader.

I'll check in later. If I'm still alive. :smallsmile:

[Keld Denar]

Hot yoga is like normal yoga, but done in a room thats ~105 to 110 degrees F.

It's yoga...hot!

[KuReshtin]

I regret to inform you that I've perished during tonight's gym session.

Nah, not really. :smallwink:

Started with a 3-minute 'pre-warmup' consisting of 30 seconds of squats, followed immediately by 30 seconds of moving punch-outs (two steps, then a quick jab/cross combo). repeat three times with no break in between.

After that, we went to 'proper' warmup, tonight consisting of 20 second bursts of high intensity followed by 10 second rest. Starting off with more squats, followed by static punch-outs (basically 20 seconds of just going Jab-cross-jab-cross-jab-cross and so on). Then push-ups followed by squat-jumps, and then repeat to make it a 4-minute total.

Once I'd recovered enough to be able to breathe properly again, we got on the rowing machines and did 10 minutes of 1-on-1-off intervals starting with one minute of slow pace followed by a minute sprint (or in my case until I felt ready to collapse), then one minute slow 'recovery' period followed by another sprint and so on.

After recovering from that a bit, she had me doing three 3-minute 'rounds' of boxing with sparring pads and movement.

Following that, we went on to the strength bit with 5 of the 6 stations listed in the training document I posted the other week (Bench press followed by push-ups until collapse, leg extensions followed by yet more squats until collapse, shoulder press followed by chucking a medicine ball at each other for a minute 20 seconds, static plank for a maximum of 30 seconds times 3 and lastly bicep curls followed by tricep dips until collapse). Each station starts with 6 reps at high weight, then 8 reps at slightly lower weight and ending with 10 reps of an even lower weight with no break other than resetting the weight in between.

After that, it was time for stretching, cool-down and shower, then head for home.

Started the 'pre-warmup' at 5:30pm, and I was out of there and back at my car at 7:30pm. So a lot of stuff done in not too long a time.

[CurlyKitGirl]

Grapes are wonderful snacks, delicious, healthy and the like. Rather expensive though.

And this leads to a grapey problem:
Grapes are the Pringles of the fruit world. I only bought two punnets a couple days ago.

I'm going to go for making fruit salad from now on.

On the plus side! Lost some weight. Woo! Not much but it probably explains why I look okay in a dress for the first time in an age.

But I'll tell you one thing that's a right shock. I've essentially detoxed away the fizzy drinks, so it's easy as reading to avoid them, but I decided that I deserved a treat today so I went shop and got a toasted tortilla wrap and a carton of Ribena.
Never realised how much sugar was in one of those before! :eek:

[Haruki-kun]

But I'll tell you one thing that's a right shock. I've essentially detoxed away the fizzy drinks, so it's easy as reading to avoid them, but I decided that I deserved a treat today so I went shop and got a toasted tortilla wrap and a carton of Ribena.
Never realised how much sugar was in one of those before! :eek:

Soft drinks might as well be called "sugar water". They're nothing but sugar, as you can see in the front page of Sugar Stacks. (http://sugarstacks.com/)

[Deth Muncher]

Soft drinks might as well be called "sugar water". They're nothing but sugar, as you can see in the front page of Sugar Stacks. (http://sugarstacks.com/)

This is why the Russian term for soda translates to "dessert water."

[Deth Muncher]

OH GOD THE GYM. I had to break up my two-mile warmup into a mile running and a mile biking, because my everything hadn't healed since last gym time. This was followed by the bicep curl machine, the tricep machine, chest press machine, some other kind of chest machine, and a failed attempt at the ab machine. Currently, my abs and glutes need serious work, and I'm not going to get it with my friend at the gym - he apparently doesn't fail when he uses the ab-machines, and he also apparently doesn't care about having a hot tuchus.

[Lycan 01]

Hm. Learned some interesting stuff in my "Fitness for Life" class. It seems I'm something called an Ectomorph - a naturally small and/or skinny person who has mostly Slow Twitch muscle instead of Fast Twitch. The difference between the two being that Slow Twitch is better for endurance things like long-distance running, and Fast Twitch is better for strength-related activities like power lifting. Interesting. Also interesting is the fact that its harder for Ectomorphs to actually "bulk up" their muscles. They can be really strong, but they can't really get "big" from working out beyond a certain point.

At least, that's all the simplified info on it. The Professor said there was more info to it all, but he knew that most of the class didn't care so he wasn't going to make things more complicated than they need to be. :smalltongue:

At any rate, its nice to have a better idea about my own abilities and characteristics. Kind of a bummer that I'll never be able to be massively buff, but at least I know its not really my fault. And I actually have managed to add some size to my muscles, much to my delight. :smallcool:


I actually did some working out yesterday, though I didn't do too much since I didn't have any weights on hand. I walked for 30 minutes with a few bursts of jogging and sprinting thrown in every now and then, and then when I got home I did: 2 sets of 10 dips, 2 sets of 7 chinups, and 2 sets of 20 pushups. I went: dips, chinups, pushups, few minute rest, dips, chinups, pushups. I would normally try to do more in a workout, but those chinups really tire me out and fatigue my muscles. :smalleek:

Even if the workout was kinda light, I'm still a bit sore in some areas today, so I'd say it was still a good workout. :smallbiggrin:

[Haruki-kun]

Hm. Learned some interesting stuff in my "Fitness for Life" class. It seems I'm something called an Ectomorph - a naturally small and/or skinny person who has mostly Slow Twitch muscle instead of Fast Twitch. The difference between the two being that Slow Twitch is better for endurance things like long-distance running, and Fast Twitch is better for strength-related activities like power lifting. Interesting. Also interesting is the fact that its harder for Ectomorphs to actually "bulk up" their muscles. They can be really strong, but they can't really get "big" from working out beyond a certain point.

At least, that's all the simplified info on it. The Professor said there was more info to it all, but he knew that most of the class didn't care so he wasn't going to make things more complicated than they need to be. :smalltongue:

At any rate, its nice to have a better idea about my own abilities and characteristics. Kind of a bummer that I'll never be able to be massively buff, but at least I know its not really my fault. And I actually have managed to add some size to my muscles, much to my delight. :smallcool:

To quote Inception, "It's not impossible, just bloody difficult."

For other people who are curious, there's a quiz here (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/becker3.htm). As I do every time I link an internet test, I'll just remind everyone that this is not an absolute or official thing. It's just a guideline.

[Deth Muncher]

Guess who went to the gym again? This guy.

Problem though - my ankles started hurting after about .6 of a mile. Like, to the point where I thought "Hey, maybe I better go bike the rest of this." How I makes ankle not hurts?

[KuReshtin]

Guess who went to the gym again? This guy.

Problem though - my ankles started hurting after about .6 of a mile. Like, to the point where I thought "Hey, maybe I better go bike the rest of this." How I makes ankle not hurts?

I asked my doctor this exact question a bunch of years ago.
Her only reply was.

"You should lose weight, because then your ankles won't be under so much stress and will hurt less."

I found that to be a very unhelpful answer, considering I had told her that I experienced the pain when trying to run or exercise, and I was trying to exercise to lose weight. then she tried to get me a bunch of weight loss pills instead.

[Haruki-kun]

Ah. The old chicken and egg paradox. .-.

Are you stepping right? Stepping wrong can hurt your ankles, could be what causes it.

Here's a guide on running properly. (http://www.ehow.com/how_2311464_run-properly.html)

[KuReshtin]

My problem at that time was that I'd celebrated my birthday in December by heading out to play a game of Laser-Quest with my brother and a bunch of friends.
During the game, I accidentally stepped with the outside third of my left foot on a raised ramp and then shifted my entire weight on it so that my ankle bent sideways.
probably sprained some ligaments or something fun like that, but since I wasn't a pro athlete, they only took some x-rays to make sure I hadn't broken any bones, and then sent me home.
When i was still having problems and pain in my ankle four months later, I decided to go see the doctor about it, at which point I got the advice to just lose weight.

I still have troubles with that ankle occasionally, even after 5 or 6 years have gone by.
That was the ankle the doctor that checked the X-rays said that he could see some bone fragments floating around in the ankle, but it didn't seem ne, so they didn't do anything with it.
Hell, they didn't even want to lend me a set of crutches to start with, even if i couldn't put any weight on that foot at all.
And the doctor gave some snarky comment about 'that's what happens when you mess around with all that entertainment violence'.
So, all in all a happy experience with the doctors. [/sarcasm]

[Haruki-kun]

And the doctor gave some snarky comment about 'that's what happens when you mess around with all that entertainment violence'.
So, all in all a happy experience with the doctors. [/sarcasm]

.....

Does he also say "that's what happens when you drive" to patients from car crashes? :smallannoyed:

[KuReshtin]

.....

Does he also say "that's what happens when you drive" to patients from car crashes? :smallannoyed:

I dunno. He was an ER doctor that I've only seen once ever, since it happened when I was in Sweden for my birthday and left to go back to Scotland two days later. That was also a very interesting trip back to Scotland, since I couldn't walk, but that's another story for another thread. :smallsmile:

[Crow]

Guess who went to the gym again? This guy.

Problem though - my ankles started hurting after about .6 of a mile. Like, to the point where I thought "Hey, maybe I better go bike the rest of this." How I makes ankle not hurts?

Are you stomping on the treadmill?

In any case, of all the "guides" I've seen on proper running, there haven't been any that have helped me with things like this. The best advice I've ever received for running and the various ailments associated was this;

Run fast everywhere you go.

The reasoning behind this is that humans are meant to meander for long distances and run fast over short distances. Jogging or running slow over long distances is not something we are developed to do. Sure, we can do it. But it's not biomechanically optimal, and we have to develop special methods of running to make it feasible. If you run fast, your natural mechanics take over. I don't run anything over 3 miles anymore, but I do it fast.

[CurlyKitGirl]

Aaaaah, ankle problems. I've had one for about nine or ten years now, and it's completely not my fault. Mostly.
See, I made a snarky comment to an uncle, and then went upstairs; however said uncle didn't want me to, so he grabbed me by the ankle and pulled. Given a person's natural instinct to grab onto something when this happens I ended up clinging to the banister while the ex-army uncle was pulling pretty hard.
I have no idea what happened to the ankle, wasn't broken or dislocated or anything, but since then it's been prone to giving out, collapsing, generally being a pain, and apparently I've only recently stopped limping. A limp which I've never noticed.
But the ankle still hurts. A lot. Whenever it wants to. After exercise, after walking to and fro the shops. After sitting down and working for a bit. Just even sleeping in a position it doesn't like will wake me up with a gripping pain in that ankle.

Let me tell you it puts a cramp in a lot of exercise.

[Lycan 01]

Yeesh. Have you ever seen a doctor about your ankle? :smalleek:


I have managed to get the Iron Gym chin-up bar thing to FINALLY fit in my dorm's too-wide bathroom doorway. In fact, yesterday afternoon I managed to crank out a set of 10 chin-ups followed shortly by 3 more. 10 is my new personal best! :smallbiggrin:

Threw in some freeweights and pushups, too. Not much though, since I wasn't trying to actually do a full workout, but rather just kill time. And then later on, I did a few more chin-ups, arm curls, and pushups last night.

Taking a rest today... Arms are pretty sore, so obviously I'm making progress.


Random question, but how much protein does a person typically need daily? :smallconfused: Isn't it about 30 grams or so? With a bit more if you're working out and trying to build muscle? I was reading the nutrition facts on something earlier, and it had about 16 grams of protein. But it said that was only about 15% of your daily protein value... I may be a gram or percentile off, but even so, that insinuates that the average person needs WAAAAAY more protein than what I learned in my Nutrition class last year. :smalleek:

[Keld Denar]

I always learned that to build mass you need about 1 gram of protien per day for each pound you weigh. For most guys, this is about 160-220 grams of protein per day. It's not that hard to get to if you eat sensably and take a few suppliments, but it's not outright easy.

[Haruki-kun]

I always learned that to build mass you need about 1 gram of protien per day for each pound you weigh. For most guys, this is about 160-220 grams of protein per day. It's not that hard to get to if you eat sensably and take a few suppliments, but it's not outright easy.

This is correct.

USUALLY the Daily Recommended Values are based on a person with a 2000 daily calorie diet. And not exactly for people trying to build muscle. So.... better to take those percentages with a grain of salt. Not everyone needs the same nutrients.

I usually approach it differently: Instead of 200 g. of protein a day, I think of it as 35 g. per meal. Or better yet: 6 high-protein meals. I admit I don't follow it perfectly, though. School doesn't always let me.

[Deth Muncher]

Question. So, my left arm is weaker than my right. As a result, I can work my right arm more. How do I get them to progress at an equal rate? Is there some sort of low stress exercise I can do somewhere not at the gym for my left arm that'll get it bigger without detracting from my working out normally?

[KuReshtin]

Warning:
Having good looking girls do stretches (including the splits) on the floor in front of you while trying to go through warm-ups at the gym is very distracting and can lead to one or more exercises in the warm-up cycle to be completely forgotten.

[rakkoon]

Yes...doing fighting on the ground with them in loose pants isn't easy either. Mind on the fight rakkoon, keep your mind on the fight.

[Haruki-kun]

Question. So, my left arm is weaker than my right. As a result, I can work my right arm more. How do I get them to progress at an equal rate? Is there some sort of low stress exercise I can do somewhere not at the gym for my left arm that'll get it bigger without detracting from my working out normally?

Work them both equally, eventually they'll level out.

Though not 100%: it's perfectly normal to have one arm be stronger/more muscular than the other one, because you do more things with your dominant arm.

[Crow]

Question. So, my left arm is weaker than my right. As a result, I can work my right arm more. How do I get them to progress at an equal rate? Is there some sort of low stress exercise I can do somewhere not at the gym for my left arm that'll get it bigger without detracting from my working out normally?

How big of a difference are we talking here? It's normal for one to be a *little* stronger. But the difference should only be perceptible if you're doing single-arm curls or something.

Best solution; When you work arms, do exercises that engage both arms at once. Avoid the single-arm garbage.

[Crow]

I thought I'd post this here for a little motivation.

The first is my wife going trying to go for a personal record on the clean & jerk. Her previous record was 75lbs.

Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZz15iIkzcw&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL)

The second is me getting a new personal record on clean & jerk (235lbs). Previous was 225lbs...Sad thing is, I can probably get more. :smallfrown: Next time I guess.

Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7lcVt_W16s)

[Deth Muncher]

How big of a difference are we talking here? It's normal for one to be a *little* stronger. But the difference should only be perceptible if you're doing single-arm curls or something.

Best solution; When you work arms, do exercises that engage both arms at once. Avoid the single-arm garbage.

It's not SO much different, and it really is only noticeable when I flex, but it's the kind of thing that it craps out faster, so any dual-arm exercises end up being right-arm exercises after a bit.

[KuReshtin]

I thought I'd post this here for a little motivation.

The first is my wife going trying to go for a personal record on the clean & jerk. Her previous record was 75lbs.

Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZz15iIkzcw&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL)

The second is me getting a new personal record on clean & jerk (235lbs). Previous was 225lbs...Sad thing is, I can probably get more. :smallfrown: Next time I guess.

Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7lcVt_W16s)


Good show. One thing that I though looked a bit weird on your wife's attempts was that she didn't seem to get that moment of total control in the fully extended position at the end before dropping the weights.
Basically, as soon as she got her feet back level with each other, she dropped the bar, whereas you held it for a second or two before dropping the bar.
Just looked a bit off in the technique. Probably doesn't mean anything.
Still a good show of setting a new PB, though.


It's not SO much different, and it really is only noticeable when I flex, but it's the kind of thing that it craps out faster, so any dual-arm exercises end up being right-arm exercises after a bit.

I get the same thing. Yesterday at the gym, I noticed that when I did the bench press that my right arm took more of the weight than my left arm, so I consciously made the effort to use the left arm a bit more.

[Haruki-kun]

OK, my turn to ask for advice.

I hate, hate, HATE cardio exercise. Can anyone recommend some cardio that's actually fun or in any way interesting? I usually use a threadmill about 20-25 minutes at the end of every gym session, but that's barely any good, considering I hate running and can't really run very fast or very long, anyway. :smallsigh:

Ideas?

[rakkoon]

Tae bo was great fun for me and my wife. Lots of punching and kicking in the air on a contagious beat. And no running ( we hates it)

[KuReshtin]

OK, my turn to ask for advice.

I hate, hate, HATE cardio exercise. Can anyone recommend some cardio that's actually fun or in any way interesting? I usually use a threadmill about 20-25 minutes at the end of every gym session, but that's barely any good, considering I hate running and can't really run very fast or very long, anyway. :smallsigh:

Ideas?

I don't like the treadmill either. I tend to either go for the exercise bike (not very efficient since you're only using your lower body) or the rowing machine (uses your legs, core and arms, so good all round exercise). They're all very repetitive and can get boring, so you could try switching them around a bit. As an example, if you usually do 25 minutes on the treadmill, switch the 25 minutes up into a 'triathlon' where you start with 10 minutes on the exercise bike, then switch without any rest to the rowing machine for another 10 minutes, and then go to the treadmill for 5 minutes.
That will give you a 25 minute cardio workout that doesn't get too monotonous and will keep you interested enough.

Also, try getting a measure of the distance on each of the stations, and then next time try to beat that distance, so you're competing against yourself.

[Keld Denar]

Ideas?

I've just started Hot Yoga. As I stated earlier, its normal yoga...hot! The power yoga is a lot of standing and floor based balancing and resistance activities, including a fair number of push-up and sit-up like exercises. The fact that you are in a room that is 115+ degrees at 70% humidity brings your heart rate up SUPER high and keeps it there, making it a great cardio exercise on top of all of the benefits of stretching, balancing, and controlled breathing.

Plus, its fun. And there are generally a ton of hot gals there to talk to before/after class. Good luck if you can find it though.

[Kuma Da]

Deth. what's your water intake like? I mean this strictly in glasses of water per day, not soda, beer, coffee, juice, etc. Actually, I might as well ask what your soda/coffee/energy drink/beer intake is like, too.

If you can, answer with an actual rough number, not 'enough' or 'hardly any'. I can't guarantee I'll be able to give you magic advice based off of this, but you might be surprised how much water influences, particularly when you're trying to shed weight/gain muscle.

[Crow]

OK, my turn to ask for advice.

I hate, hate, HATE cardio exercise. Can anyone recommend some cardio that's actually fun or in any way interesting? I usually use a threadmill about 20-25 minutes at the end of every gym session, but that's barely any good, considering I hate running and can't really run very fast or very long, anyway. :smallsigh:

Ideas?

I'll go with KuReshtin, and say mix it up.

400m on the treadmill as fast as you can, then 500m on the rower as fast as you can. Hell, after that, do as many pushups as you can without stopping. When you fail, do flutter kicks until you fail. Then hop on a bike or back on the treadmill. Try box jumps. Do as many rounds of your circuit as you can in 20 minutes.

In short, if you get bored, start moving around!

[Haruki-kun]

Alright, thanks. I'll give that a try!

*sigh* I hope it works well. I still don't like cardio much. I get bored so easily...

[Deth Muncher]

Deth. what's your water intake like? I mean this strictly in glasses of water per day, not soda, beer, coffee, juice, etc. Actually, I might as well ask what your soda/coffee/energy drink/beer intake is like, too.

If you can, answer with an actual rough number, not 'enough' or 'hardly any'. I can't guarantee I'll be able to give you magic advice based off of this, but you might be surprised how much water influences, particularly when you're trying to shed weight/gain muscle.

Water intake is...basically 0.

Soda (diet variety only, as I don't drink the other kinds - this is not because I think it'll make me lose weight, but rather because I like the taste better)/beer/tea/energy drink intake, however, is...well, let's see. I'd safely say I consume one drink per hour or two of being awake, so roughly between 6 and 12 per day. In order of consumption statistics, it goes soda > tea > Energy drinks > beer/other alcohol.

[Haruki-kun]

...Deth..... we don't really need to tell you that those aren't exactly healthy, right? <.<

[Deth Muncher]

...Deth..... we don't really need to tell you that those aren't exactly healthy, right? <.<

Wait, bread makes you fat soda isn't healthy for you?

Actually, to be fair, that was pre-gymming statistics. Unfortunately, now the water intake is only slightly more, since I do hydrate during and before/after the gym. But yeah, no, I know how horrible it is.

[Haruki-kun]

Wait, bread makes you fat soda isn't healthy for you?

Actually, to be fair, that was pre-gymming statistics. Unfortunately, now the water intake is only slightly more, since I do hydrate during and before/after the gym. But yeah, no, I know how horrible it is.

OK, then... try to carry water around with you and drink it on the go. It might help you develop better habits.

[Kuma Da]

Water intake is...basically 0.

Soda (diet variety only, as I don't drink the other kinds - this is not because I think it'll make me lose weight, but rather because I like the taste better)/beer/tea/energy drink intake, however, is...well, let's see. I'd safely say I consume one drink per hour or two of being awake, so roughly between 6 and 12 per day. In order of consumption statistics, it goes soda > tea > Energy drinks > beer/other alcohol.

Um...so yeah.

This should help, then.

Water is essential to the functioning of a healthy body. As long as they're taking in some fluids, people have a remarkable capacity for making due without it, but it's not good.

Without water, the body's capacity to transport nutrients slows down to a crawl. Stuff that would normally get routed out of the body is instead banked as brown adipose tissue (fat). Fad dieting and exercise can work some of this off but, unless your drinking patterns change, it'll tend to come back as soon as you stop the diet or exercise.

Ideally, what you wanna shoot for is half your body weight in ounces of water per day, which is typically gallons. It's way too much to be convenient. So, instead, I'd like to advise that you try to introduce some water into your diet. If it tastes boring, spike it with lime or cranberry or lemon.

Furthermore, if you drink two glasses an hour before, two glasses with, and two glasses an hour after meals, you'll increase your body's ability to transport the nutrients it doesn't need out of your body and start shedding weight over time. This isn't as dramatic as a diet or exercise (and you'll actually gain some weight at first, once your body starts retaining some of that water,) but paired with diet and exercise it works rather well.

There are a few precautions I should mention, as a matter of course. It's possible to overdose on water, if you decide to suddenly fast for a few days and then drink tons and tons of water. If you are going to do that, mix in some gatorade for the electrolytes and keep an eye out for feelings of dizziness. Otherwise, you're okay.

The other thing worth pointing out is that a lot of my information here comes from the writings of crazy Dr. Batman (crazy Dr. Batman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fereydoon_Batmanghelidj)). I think some of the information is good, but he was stuck in an Iranian prison for several years with nothing to administer to his patients besides water, so I wouldn't universally accept everything he says as law.

Even if you just tl:dr this whole post and skip right to the bottom, the other posters before me are on to something. You might try to introduce at least some water into your diet.

[Keld Denar]

Also, if you do increase your water consumption, note that demineralized water is actually REALLY bad for you. In small quantities, it generally won't do much to you, but if you start drinking it in large quantities, it will actually leech valuable minerals OUT of your body. Water is all about equality, and so minerals always flow toward where the lowest concentrations are (see osmosis for more details). If the water you drink has less minerals in it than your body, the minerals in your body will disolve in the water you drink and then get passed from your body. This causes some very very very dangerous conditions such as anemia (low iron) and deprive your body of other valuable minerals such as calcium, potassium, and zinc. The best water you can generally drink is tap water (assuming you don't live in an undeveloped nation). It's fluorinated, which is plus, it contains minerals, which is a plus, and federal, state, and municipal guidelines hold the quality to a MUCH higher standard than most bottled water companies are required to hold. Also, it's practically free.

[Crow]

+1 on tap water. Some people just can't bring themselves to drink it though because they have gotten too used to "drinking" water. If you can't do tap, go with spring water. Distilled water is for carpet steamers.

[Lycan 01]

The tap water at my college is nasty. It usually has a strong metallic tang to it, which probably isn't too healthy. :smallyuk: I can drink it straight from my dorm's water fountain without tasting it, but if I collect the water in a cup and let it sit for about 5 minutes, the taste becomes noticeable...


I still try to drink a decent bit of water straight from the fountain, plus bottled water. Besides that, I mostly drink Vitamin Water, Apple Juice, Gatorade, and Milk. I know they have a lot of natural sugars in them, though, so I try to keep from drinking too much... I've done a good job of avoiding sodas and extra-sugary drinks like Sunny D and Hawaiian Punch, at least. :smallbiggrin:

[Keld Denar]

Crystal Light, IIRC, is pretty low in crap and can help mask the taste of metalic tasting water. Metalic water isn't bad for you (as long as that metal isn't lead). It just generally means that there is a fair bit of iron in the water. Its not dangerous, given ordinances governing acceptable levels in potable water (ie drinking water). Drinking water with elevated iron levels won't hurt you either, unless you have some sort of preexisting inability to regulate your own iron levels (such as certain forms of anemia).

I grew up in a house with well water. We have enough iron in our water that it comes out of the tap a yellowish color (despite iron softening salts), and we have enough calcium in our water to turn all of our glassware cloudy over time. I grew up healthy and normal, so I can assure you that you won't have any problems drinking it. If you want, get a couple of empty 1 gallon milk jugs, take them down to a local YMCA or other relatively public place, fill em up, and carry them home. On top of the exercise you get from lugging around ~16 lbs of water, you'll have water on demand.

[Crow]

Wife and I did some deadlift today. Posting this here to show off- I mean help motivate Deth Muncher!

Deadlift 3-3-3-3-3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe2w02kJEvw)

[Deth Muncher]

Well, I made myself drink a cup of water yesterday. This is a 100% improvement over the day before.

Also, forgot to mention that with few exceptions, I actually AM going to the gym MWF. I'm having issues with running, so I've been biking, but other than that, all has been well. I'm noticing minor improvement already - not in fat burning, but in overall strength - I've had to up the weight size a few times already on a few machines. This COULD be from not knowing exactly what weight I need, but I think I'm actually getting some genuine muscle growth too.

[VeisuItaTyhjyys]

It's fluorinated, which is plus

I must beg to differ. Fluoride is straight poisonous. Granted, it'd take higher-than-normal fluoride content to produce serious symptoms of acute toxicity, but I would hesitate to call any ingredient which leads to (among other things) bone deformity and renal damage at daily intake levels within the supposedly safe concentrations a plus, at least from a health perspective.

[KuReshtin]

But.. But.. Your toothpaste contains flouride as well. :smallconfused:

[VeisuItaTyhjyys]

Which is one reason why one should spit out, not eat, one's tooth paste.

While, I suppose, the same approach is viable with tap-water, I don't think spitting it out would really contribute much to hydration. :smalltongue:

[KuReshtin]

but the difference in flouride levels between toothpaste and flourated water is that there's about 1000x more flouride in toothpaste than drinking water, and the toothpaste would only be toxic if swallowed in large quantities. So drinking flourated water will not be poisonous or severely detrimental to your health.

[Keld Denar]

I must beg to differ. Fluoride is straight poisonous. Granted, it'd take higher-than-normal fluoride content to produce serious symptoms of acute toxicity, but I would hesitate to call any ingredient which leads to (among other things) bone deformity and renal damage at daily intake levels within the supposedly safe concentrations a plus, at least from a health perspective.

Lots of things we injest are toxic at high levels. Heck, you can OD on the various vitamins and minerals we take in each day from the food we eat. Anything that isn't water soluable can bioaccumulate in toxic quantities. Yet we generally don't have any problems with it. Why? Concentrations. You're body can process most things, assuming the concentration is below whatever threshold is established.

I know flouride is toxic, all of the halides are. In the concentration its present in municipal drinking water, however, there are benefits and virtually no risk. Typical concentration is only .7 mg/L to 1.2 mg/L, which is very carefully controlled and monitored. Negative effects start occuring when bioaccumulation rises to .2-.3 mg/kg of the drinker, with toxic levels being in the 28 mg/kg level. Its pretty much impossible to ingest a toxic amount of flouride from drinking water, especially given its water soluable nature. Any time your body contains a higher concentration of flouride than the water you are drinking, the flouride leaches OUT of your body via osmosis and into that water, which is then passed from your body in one form or another.

Now, if the flouride present in drinking water was fat soluable as opposed to primarily water soluable, you might have bioaccumulation issues as a person could have with say...heavy metals. But its not.

Unless you've got some kind of scientific study that shows that the drawbacks of water flourination outway the benefits that proves that the whole World Health Organization is wrong, then you are exaggerating.

Heck, if you want to go into semantics, you probably injest more residual chlorine from the antibacterial treatment of drinking water than you do flouride.

[Spiryt]

Well, I made myself drink a cup of water yesterday. This is a 100% improvement over the day before.


Well, how much is cup?

Anyway, I can't really drink that much water....

Except in the evening, when I can easily empty the 1.5 l bottle of water in short time. Even though it's quite superfluous, because I don't need that much.

I wonder if it's normal? :smallconfused:

[Lycan 01]

So wait, swallowing toothpaste rather than spitting it out when you get done brushing your teeth is bad for your health? :smallconfused:

[Keld Denar]

Toothpaste has a concentration of NaF (sodium flouride) of ~1000-1500 PPM, depending on where you live. On the low end this means that a 200 lb person (~90 kg) would have to consume about 18 grams of toothpaste to even start experiencing symptoms of flouride poisoning, with lethal levels being in the 360g range* if I worked it out correctly.

*Keld is and engineer not a doctor, nor really that good at math to boot. Individual results may vary. Consult your doctor if you injest any product. See product for details. Some exclusions may apply. Not applicable in all states. No purchase neccesary. Void where prohibitted. State and federal taxes may apply.

[Haruki-kun]

So wait, swallowing toothpaste rather than spitting it out when you get done brushing your teeth is bad for your health? :smallconfused:

Yes. You're not supposed to swallow it.


Except in the evening, when I can easily empty the 1.5 l bottle of water in short time. Even though it's quite superfluous, because I don't need that much.

I wonder if it's normal? :smallconfused:

I don't think it's.... abnormal. But it's not the best... when people tell you "drink at least 2 litters of water a day" they mean "spaced throughout the day".

[VeisuItaTyhjyys]

Unless you've got some kind of scientific study that shows that the drawbacks of water flourination outway the benefits that proves that the whole World Health Organization is wrong, then you are exaggerating.

Well, the U.S. National Research Council's committee on the subject recommended lowering the maximum level of fluoride in our drinking water intheir 2006 report (http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11571). Each chapter lists a number of relevant studies and discusses the risks and dosage levels.

Also, with regard to the above posts, chronic fluoride poisoning is different than acute fluoride poisoning; eating toothpaste isn't very likely to make you sick or kill you, but eating toothpaste in sufficient quantities (or drinking tap water within the legal fluoride MCL, especially if one drinks the amount of water some would recommend) every day/often enough could very well be bad for your bones, kidneys, and/or thyroid, or less conclusively might be bad for your IQ and/or your DNA.

[Spiryt]

So wait, swallowing toothpaste rather than spitting it out when you get done brushing your teeth is bad for your health? :smallconfused:

Maybe not 'bad' but certainly not very good.... It's damn soap after all, with abrasive stuff like silicon dioxide and many more...

So it's certainly not stuff your stomach appreciate very much.

Even leaving aside fluorine matter, I don't think that swallowing bigger amounts would be easy for the body.

[KuReshtin]

Well, the U.S. National Research Council's committee on the subject recommended lowering the maximum level of fluoride in our drinking water intheir 2006 report (http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11571). Each chapter lists a number of relevant studies and discusses the risks and dosage levels.


They recommended lowering the maximum level of flouride from 4 mg/l, which was a limit that was about three times as much as the recommended guideline for flouridation of Water set by the WHO (who's recommendation was to set it at 1.5 mg/l.

At the same time, the CDC (http://cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00056796.htm) in the US figured that the flouridation of water was in the same ballpark as finding out that tobacco is a health hazard as great achievments that benefit the public health.

[Deth Muncher]

Well, how much is cup?


>_> A cup. Like, an 8oz cup.

[VeisuItaTyhjyys]

Sure, but if you read the actual text of the study, some of the effects, such as thyroid changes and some degree of bone weakness, are still present at fairly low concentrations. These become extremely low when coupled with a lot of other conditions; iodine deficiency, existing renal damage, etc. decrease the concentrations and/or increase the severity of the symptoms. In any case, they're saying the benefits of fluoride do not outweigh the possible costs at its current MCL, at least.

Sorry, but I'm not too convinced by the CDC article. I have a little trouble accepting a list which considers prevention of tooth decay about as important to public health as vaccination. I mean, sure, healthy teeth are important, but that's a little ridiculous; if you had to decide between possibly having bad teeth and possibly getting smallpox, polio, influenza, or any one of many other awful, often fatal diseases (which are also way more prevalent because in addition to you not being vaccinated, neither is anyone else), are you going to tell me it'd be a hard choice? That the two were, if not equivalent, at least pretty close? Personally, I'll take dentures over an iron lung, any day, without hesitation, by a mile, etc. Plus, it's not like that's really a big, controlled study on the CDC's part, or anything; it has six sources. The NRC study has, like, fifty pages of sources. I wouldn't exactly say it's fair to either to put both analyses in the same category.

Anyhow, that's pretty much all I have to say about this (without repeating myself :smallwink:), but drinking water is good. Even if it has fluoride in it, but that's really despite the fluoride, not because of it, at least if you ask me; I certainly wouldn't call it a plus, though others might and that's fine.
Water with no minerals is definitely bad, I agree, but I'm still not keen on being kinda force-fed toxic chemicals in any concentration, unless I get to become a hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength out of it, in which case we we will call it a wash and I will fight crime. :smalltongue:

[KuReshtin]

Another Thursday night gym session with my team leader.
She had devised some new ways to torture me tonight.

A 320lb guy is not meant to do a pyramid drill. It sucked!

Also, we had the first proper casualty tonight.
My team leader decided that instead of doing the cardio bit on the rowing machines like we've been doing the past weeks, tonight we'd try the step-machines instead.
Mine lasted about 2 minutes 50 seconds before it decided that enough was enough and it just shut off and refused to start back up again.
So I killed a step machine tonight. :smallredface::smalleek:

[Kuma Da]

Ah, another casualty in the timeless battle of man vs. exercise machine.

Keep fighting the good fight, KuReshtin. :smallbiggrin:

[Deth Muncher]

Went to gym. Exercise was had.

Problem: My overall strength is increasing. My fat is not decreasing.

Solution: Probably going to have to change the way I eat again. I am not looking forward to this. I'm going to have to do so in such a way that I'll still be eating as much/when I want thanks to whatever being easy to make, but not so much that it becomes so much of a hassle that I just won't want to bother dealing with it and go out to get food at Wendy's or something.

On the plus side though, I know that my overall strength is increasing because I didn't crumple when my 230lb friend decided he wanted a piggyback ride. I actually didn't even break stride - I was just like "Oh. Hey. You're on my back now. Odd." And then walked around with him.

[Don Julio Anejo]

Actually chances are your fat is decreasing and significantly. It's turning into muscle. It's just your weight that's staying the same, since muscle is a lot denser and heavier than fat.

[Keld Denar]

Do you wear a belt? Thats where I noticed the biggest change when I get back into weightlifting. Weight stays the same, but belt comfortably cinches down an extra notch or 2. Don't really notice it with just my jeans, but the belt really shows it.

[Lycan 01]

Okay, so, I didn't work out much last week. I did a good workout last Monday, but then for the rest of the week I lacked the motivation and/or energy most of the time. And when I did try, I found myself unable to do much for some reason. Odd.

At any rate, did a workout earlier today. I did:

10 minute warmup of walking, jogging, stretching, punching, and kicking

Chinups
-1 set of 10

Forearm Twist Thingies (twisting a bar to lift a weight) @ 5 lbs
-1 set of 7 (Last week was my first time to work my forearms, and I only got 5 on that set...)

Curls (sitting) @ 15 lbs
-1 set of 7

Curls (standing) @ 15 lbs
-1 set of 10
-1 set of 12

Pushups
-1 set of 30

Chinups
-1 set of 5

Lawnmower Cranks @ 15 lbs
-1 set of 10

Dips
-1 set of 20

And then several minutes of light karate and stretching to cool down.


I tried to go for more exercises today rather than more sets. Next time I'll probably focus more on specific workouts and try to do more sets.


I'm mostly posting this to motivate myself, since I'll feel better if next time I post I can say I'm improving and have the stats to back it up. :smalltongue:

[Don Julio Anejo]

Slightly off-topic, but decided to try how many push-ups I can do since I couldn't make it to the gym for the last few days (:smallmad: @ lab reports). Maxed out at 5 sets of 40 for a total of 200 in about a 12 minute time span.

Will try again in about 2 days to see how many I can do without stopping...

[Haruki-kun]

Went to gym. Exercise was had.

Problem: My overall strength is increasing. My fat is not decreasing.

Solution: Probably going to have to change the way I eat again. I am not looking forward to this. I'm going to have to do so in such a way that I'll still be eating as much/when I want thanks to whatever being easy to make, but not so much that it becomes so much of a hassle that I just won't want to bother dealing with it and go out to get food at Wendy's or something.

On the plus side though, I know that my overall strength is increasing because I didn't crumple when my 230lb friend decided he wanted a piggyback ride. I actually didn't even break stride - I was just like "Oh. Hey. You're on my back now. Odd." And then walked around with him.

You probably are losing fat, but not realizing it. But you've been at it for a short time, give it some more time.

That aside, changing the way you eat is a good thing. Fitness is 70% Nutrition, 20% Training, 10% Resting.

[Deth Muncher]

Actually chances are your fat is decreasing and significantly. It's turning into muscle. It's just your weight that's staying the same, since muscle is a lot denser and heavier than fat.


You probably are losing fat, but not realizing it. But you've been at it for a short time, give it some more time.

That aside, changing the way you eat is a good thing. Fitness is 70% Nutrition, 20% Training, 10% Resting.

Well, we can certainly hope I am. I WILL say that I was able to fit back into the jeans I needed for my Lupin III cosplay, so I've clearly lost some glute fat, but yeah. Honestly, I wouldn't mind just losing some weight total and not being a strong - I don't like being 180 lbs. I'm only like 5' 9". I should not be that heavy unless I'm freaking ripped.

EDIT: Re:Dietary Changes - I will say I've been doing pretty well, since the only snacks I've really had are hummus with Triscuits and yogurts, and I've been reducing my portions from their formerly preposterous amounts to more manageable sizes (i.e. going for the single burger instead of the quadruple mega heartclogger, should I end up eating out). I've also tried to cut back severely on eating out, though this is difficult when you have a girlfriend who is a very picky eater and most of the things you like to eat she either doesn't or can't which forces you to go out to get food. (Though she's only around on weekends mostly due to going to school 45 minutes away, so this isn't always an issue.) I'm still not drinking as much water as I should be - this I know. Though I AM trying for healthier drinks - OJ instead of soda, for example (though too much gives me super acid attacks of pain). Other than that...I've been tempted to get vegetables and make a giant thing of salad or something, but the fridge lacks the room for something like that. That being said, I DO have a bunch of chicken breasts in the freezer doing nothing, so perhaps making some sort of pan-fried chicken to cut up into a salad wouldn't be such a bad idea.

[Lycan 01]

My body. It hurts. Its hurts so bad. But... it is a good hurt.

Seriously, my arms and upper body are quite tore up from that workout yesterday. I was expecting very little pain, since I thought I didn't do enough sets. Yeeeeeah, I was wrong. Excuse me while I go chuck water and eat high-protein foods for the rest of the day, in hopes of speeding up my recovery... :smalleek:

[Haruki-kun]

Ah... delayed onset muscle soreness. Where would we be without you?

Seriously, though, this happens all the time. You don't get sore until the next day.

@Deth: Careful with those yoghurts.Read the labels.

[Lycan 01]

I know that it happens all the time. It used to happen to me a lot, but not as much as of late. I guess I haven't been pushing myself enough, or maybe its just because I added a few more exercises yesterday. Still, I didn't expect that I'd wake up to so much pain. o.o

[Deth Muncher]

@Deth: Careful with those yoghurts.Read the labels.

But I don't WANT to hurt the yogs!

Anyway, these are the relatively healthy yogurts, not that fruit on the bottom nonsense.

[drakir_nosslin]

But I don't WANT to hurt the yogs!

Anyway, these are the relatively healthy yogurts, not that fruit on the bottom nonsense.

Skip the yogurts, go with Yoga instead :smallwink:

(seriously, it's awesome. After three weeks of Ashtanga Yoga I could put my forehead to my knees (with straight legs), and I was full with energy all the time. Expensive though :smallyuk:)

[Deth Muncher]

Skip the yogurts, go with Yoga instead :smallwink:

(seriously, it's awesome. After three weeks of Ashtanga Yoga I could put my forehead to my knees (with straight legs), and I was full with energy all the time. Expensive though :smallyuk:)

I've lost all of my flexibility I had as a child. D: I can't even have my legs up straight out.

[Lycan 01]

So I managed to get a decent workout in Friday. Not as good as I'd hoped, though. I kinda ran out of steam near the end, and found myself lacking enough energy to keep going. Not sure what happened. :smallconfused:

At any rate, I did...


Warmup: Walked and jogged up and down the hallway of my dorm a few minutes (it was cold and raining outside), stretching, jumping jacks, punches and kicks.

Workout:
Curls - 15 lbs
10
10

Chin-ups -
8
6

Tricep Extensions - 15 lbs
10

Pushups -
30
20

Lifting weights from shoulders to up over head (I don't know the name) - 15 lbs
10

Shoulder Fly - 10 lbs
7


Cooldown: Stretching and a bit of walking for a few minutes.


That workout didn't leave me as sore as Monday's did, though I had some muscle soreness. So I guess it was a good workout, but not good enough. :smallannoyed:


I will do better tomorrow though. :smallamused:

[Crow]

Anybody in this thread able to help me out (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=189910)?

[Deth Muncher]

Oh, by the way, so I went to the gym again Friday. My problem, I'm finding, is this: I can't run. Like, every time I run? I end up having lots of pain in my legs or ankles by the first half-mile. I don't know how to fix this. Now, currently, I've just been substituting biking with the fancy variable-difficulty bike machines, but that's only but so good. Is biking an acceptable running substitute?

[Lycan 01]

Does biking hurt as much as running? I'd say go with biking if it hurts less, even if you have to do more of it to get the same results as running. No sense hurting yourself if there's a less-painful alternative... :smallconfused:

[rakkoon]

Biking uses a closed circuit so it is much better for your knees, no shock on them, just a continuous movement. As far as I know they do exactly the same thing, make you burn calories and lose weight.
My bike arrives today...gonna build up the quads of my left leg till I can do some running/jumping again.

[KuReshtin]

The problem with the exercise bikes is that they only engage the legs, though.

When you walk/run, you use your arms as well, and therefore running/walking is a more complete workout than using the bike.
If you feel that you can't run, try walking instead. a brisk walk will engage all the same body parts as running, only it will be easier on your knees as you don't get the full weight of your body crashing down on the knee when you walk, whereas you do when you run.

Same goes for using a cross-country trainer/elliptical machine, as you don't lift your feet up from the machine, but instead get a rythm going, while you also use your arms for stability, and therefore also get the upper body motion.

then, of course, you have the rowing machine. Low impact, but very high energy output compared to either the treadmill or the bike. Again, you use both your upper and lower body to burn a lot of calories.

[Keld Denar]

Yea, elliptical machines are pretty much the king of low impact aerobic exercise, from what I've seen. Its a much more natural motion than the circular motion of a bike.

Interesting question for anyone else...I've been doing hot yoga lately, and its a ton of fun. I have no ability to lock out my knees though, which is required for a lot of poses. Is this a function of knee strength (as in, will I eventually become able to do it when I get stronger/more flexable)? Or is it something inherant in the way my knees are built that might be different from others? Like, if I hinge at the waist and try to touch my toes, my knees seem to naturally creep forward as I stretch, robbing me of my really good leg stretches.

If it is something I can naturally improve, what are good exercises for increasing knee strength, other than more yoga? Should I hit the squat rack a bit harder and more frequently? Something else?

[drakir_nosslin]

I've lost all of my flexibility I had as a child. D: I can't even have my legs up straight out.

Even more reason to start then :smallwink:


Oh, by the way, so I went to the gym again Friday. My problem, I'm finding, is this: I can't run. Like, every time I run? I end up having lots of pain in my legs or ankles by the first half-mile. I don't know how to fix this. Now, currently, I've just been substituting biking with the fancy variable-difficulty bike machines, but that's only but so good. Is biking an acceptable running substitute?

Now, I'm no expert, but it sounds like you're running too 'heavy'. Too much weight is distributed on your bones and ligaments instead of your muscles. Try to run smoother, not bouncing up and down as much. If you film yourself running on a treadmill your head should be at the same height all the time. What this means is that you have to bend your legs when they are directly under you, forcing your muscles to absorb the shock. Also, you're probably putting down your feet heels first, meaning that the foot doesn't absorb any power either. Try putting down the middle, outside of your foot first, then rolling onto the whole. It's hard to explain, but try walking barefoot for a while, often you'll find that you don't heel strike without shoes.
Last, but certainly not least, strengthen your ankels. I've got a simple workout that I do every night.

3 minutes standing on one leg, when that's easy do it with your eyes closed. When that's easy buy a balance board.
15 heel rises on one leg, the heel should just barely touch the ground before you go up again.
15 one leg squats
15 one leg squats to a chair or sofa, preferably one that's quite low.

And that's for one leg, so you do two sets :smalltongue:


Interesting question for anyone else...I've been doing hot yoga lately, and its a ton of fun. I have no ability to lock out my knees though, which is required for a lot of poses. Is this a function of knee strength (as in, will I eventually become able to do it when I get stronger/more flexable)? Or is it something inherant in the way my knees are built that might be different from others? Like, if I hinge at the waist and try to touch my toes, my knees seem to naturally creep forward as I stretch, robbing me of my really good leg stretches.

If it is something I can naturally improve, what are good exercises for increasing knee strength, other than more yoga? Should I hit the squat rack a bit harder and more frequently? Something else?

Well, from what I've learned in yoga, you should never lock your knees, it's your muscles that should do the work, not your bones or ligaments. When your knees start to bend your at your limit, so don't push it, just hold a position where you can control it and have patience. It takes time to get the body to soften up, but forcing it often won't help. You can probably become just as flexible as anyone else.

[Keld Denar]

Yea yea yea...learn patience...that takes to darned long. I got the pajamas, I want to start learning how to trash bozos now! [/Dr. Demento]

I dunno, all of the yoga instructors I have mention locking your knees in various poses, especially a lot of the 1-leg standing poses (I can't remember any names right now...I'm still a beginner).

One example though, is when standing, bend one knee back and hold the ankle on the inside, other hand straight up. With your other leg locked (her words), hinge forward, hand extended and kick your back leg up while looking forward. Try to touch the front wall while simultaneously kicking your foot up against your grip. When I do this, my straight leg keeps wanting to bend, and I really have to focus hard on keeping it straight, and when I do that, I can't get as good of a stretch on everything else. My knee just won't lock. Is it supposed to not lock? Why would she be saying to lock it if its not supposed to? EDIT: Apparently this is standing bow pulling pose. Makes sense...

I take a Hatha yoga class, if it makes any difference. I've gone like, 9 times since I joined a month ago, if that helps as well.

Further examples, poses 6, 7, and 8 in this image:
http://www.yoga-videos.net/hatha26-opt.gif

[Haruki-kun]

Oh, by the way, so I went to the gym again Friday. My problem, I'm finding, is this: I can't run. Like, every time I run? I end up having lots of pain in my legs or ankles by the first half-mile. I don't know how to fix this. Now, currently, I've just been substituting biking with the fancy variable-difficulty bike machines, but that's only but so good. Is biking an acceptable running substitute?

This happened to me, too. My brother just said I was probably not running right.

When you run, do your feet fall flat on the floor? Try running on the balls of your feet. If you want to continue running, that is.

[Crow]

Your knees are not locking out because you have tight hamstrings. Stretch them out before every workout. Especially if you have a job that has you sitting all day, as these people are most prone to this type of flexibility loss.

[drakir_nosslin]

Yea yea yea...learn patience...that takes to darned long. I got the pajamas, I want to start learning how to trash bozos now! [/Dr. Demento]

I dunno, all of the yoga instructors I have mention locking your knees in various poses, especially a lot of the 1-leg standing poses (I can't remember any names right now...I'm still a beginner).

One example though, is when standing, bend one knee back and hold the ankle on the inside, other hand straight up. With your other leg locked (her words), hinge forward, hand extended and kick your back leg up while looking forward. Try to touch the front wall while simultaneously kicking your foot up against your grip. When I do this, my straight leg keeps wanting to bend, and I really have to focus hard on keeping it straight, and when I do that, I can't get as good of a stretch on everything else. My knee just won't lock. Is it supposed to not lock? Why would she be saying to lock it if its not supposed to? EDIT: Apparently this is standing bow pulling pose. Makes sense...

I take a Hatha yoga class, if it makes any difference. I've gone like, 9 times since I joined a month ago, if that helps as well.

Further examples, poses 6, 7, and 8 in this image:
*snip*

Well, I do ashtanga yoga, so there's a difference, but I've never met any instructor who thinks it's a good idea to completely lock your knee. Though we might be speaking of different kinds of locking perhaps? Because my joints are quite flexible, so I can bend my knees a little bit backwards, meaning that my muscles don't do squat and I'm basically resting on my bones. Not a good, healthy position. What you do want is, especially in yoga since it's a form of exercise and not just stretching, to activate your legs. So I'd say that when you're doing the standing bow pulling pose, don't pull your knee all the way back if you can do the same thing as I can. Instead, your leg muscles are the ones that are supposed to do the work, along with the core, pulling your upper body down and keeping your legs straight.

I find the pictures kind of strange, I've been taught never to bend your leg back that far, because you loose all control and instead you're simply resting, which is not the point at all. Keep your leg straight, don't bend more than you can and give it time.

That's my advice. But, since it's different kinds of yoga there are probably different kinds of philosophy behind it, so take it with a grain of salt. :smallwink:

Good luck! :smallbiggrin:

[Keld Denar]

Huh...I dunno then.

Are there any really good hamstring stretches that don't rely on being super flexible? Preferably ones I can do at the office when I take stretch breaks from slaving over my computer?

[KuReshtin]

Huh...I dunno then.

Are there any really good hamstring stretches that don't rely on being super flexible? Preferably ones I can do at the office when I take stretch breaks from slaving over my computer?

The only one I can think of that will stretch your hammies is to stand with your feet together, bend at the waist and touch your toes.

[Lycan 01]

I said I would do better today, and I did. :smallcool:


Today's Workout:

Warmup
Blah blah blah, same as always, but with more sprinting this time.

Workout
Chinups
10
9

Lawnmower Cranks @ 15 lbs
10

Forearm Twist Things @ 5 lbs

5

Pushups
30
30

Dips
40

Chest Fly @ 10 lbs
10
7

Crunches
50

Pullups
4 (Would have done more, but my elbow randomly popped and messed up my balance and pace, and I decided to stop in case I hurt my elbow)

Curls @ 15 lbs
10
10

Curls @ 20 lbs
5

Cooldown: Pretty much just crashed. XD



So yeah, I managed to do more reps and sets for some of today's exercises, and I managed to curl 20 lbs! :smallbiggrin:


Also, I had to sprint a bit today since I was late to a class, and then an hour later I was in a hurry to get somewhere. I've noticed that my running stamina has greatly increased, and I can run much further without getting winded than I could a few weeks ago.

Huzzah for progress! :smallbiggrin:

[Crow]

Huh...I dunno then.

Are there any really good hamstring stretches that don't rely on being super flexible? Preferably ones I can do at the office when I take stretch breaks from slaving over my computer?

Here are some pulled from my stretching routine;

- Sit on the ground with your feet straight out in from of you. Reach with both hands and grab the ball of your foot, while keeping your leg straight (locked if possible). Raise the foot off the ground, keeping the leg straight, as the other leg remains on the ground. Lift just a few inches to focus on the calf and behind the knee, raise it higher if you want to focus more towards your butt. If you can't reach and grab your foot like this, use a spare sock to get the reach neccessary to "loop" your foot and pick it up. Hole for 30 seconds. Repeat with the other foot.

-Sit on the ground with your feet out in front of you, legs straight. Reach towards your toes, keeping your knees locked, and touch your wrist to your toes. From here, hinge your hands down and touch the heels of your feet with your fingertips. If you can't do this, just reach as far as you can, and continue to build up until you reach the point where you can touch your heel. Hold for 30 seconds.

- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, legs straight. Look up at a 45-degree angle and hinge at your hips to bend forward, keeping your back straight, and knees locked. Bend over as far as you can without losing your straight back. Hold for 30 seconds.

- Stand with your feet together, legs straight. Bend over and place the palms of your hands on the ground beside your feet, keeping your knees locked. If you can't do this, work up to it by first touching (or trying to) your fingers to the ground in front of your feet, progressing until you can place your palms on the ground in front of your feet. Once you can do this, attempt to place your palms beside your feet. Hold for 30 seconds.

@Lycan01: You do sprints in your warmup??? That's hardcore.

[Keld Denar]

Crow, thanks a lot for the advise. I just tried most of those stretches on the floor in my office. I can't reach anywhere NEAR where you are telling me to stretch, despite the fact that I can reach much further than before due to the month of yoga I've done. It must be my hamstrings that are really really tight. My father has really tight hamstrings as well, so could this be genetic? Also, I'm pretty tall (6'2" - 186.7 cm) and have never had flexible legs. My back is super flexible, I can do all of the back bends easily, including resting my head and shoulders on the floor from a kneel, but my legs have never ever been flexible. Are there any good introductory hamstring stretches? I mean, I hinged forward and reached down, but without something to pull against, I don't feel like I'm getting the good stretch. Also, I always feel like I have to flex my quad and calf to keep my knees from bending forward, and it feels like this is inhibiting my stretch, as contracted muscles don't stretch well. Anything else would be appreciated.

EDIT: The second to last one seems to work out pretty good. I can push against the wall and gently push myself downward to deepen the stretch. Thanks!

[Lycan 01]

@Lycan01: You do sprints in your warmup??? That's hardcore.

Well, technically I hadn't intended to sprint for my warmup. I was planning to start working out, but I needed to go do something first. So I sprinted most of the way there, only to find out I went there for nothing. So I headed on back to my dorm, then decided to just do my normal warmup and start working out, since my heartrate and stuff was already up and my body was flooded with endorphins.

So no, I don't normally do sprints to warmup. Sorry to disappoint you. However, considering how good it made me feel and how improved my workout was, I may have to fix that and actually start doing sprints for my normal warmups. :smalltongue:

[Deth Muncher]

You know, based on your responses re: running, I've realized what I have to do - speed march. That is to say, use what I learned in marching band (rolling the step, keeping my shoulders level, etc) and apply it to running. I'm sure it'll be annoying to get back into doing, but I knew there was something I would have gained from four years of marching. :P Now if you want some REAL exercise, run a mile in a sousaphone. THAT, my friends, sucks. I'm not talking one of those pansy fiberglass contraptions, I'm talking full, 100% brass sousaphone, sitting on your shoulder, making you hate life and wish that you'd taken up something less intense, like acting, in highschoo - OH WAIT, I DID THAT TOO. X_x Which is just as much of a workout, except applied to emotions. And occasionally muscle memory for dancing.

[Crow]

Did a pullup challenge yesterday before my workout to try and win some free pants from American Parkour. Had to do as many as you could in 3 sets, with 1 minute of rest in between (kipping ok, so long as chin clears bar, and full extension at bottom). Crapped out on my 2nd set after I tore a hunk of skin off my hand. Posting it here :)

Linky (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6uB90bqPGc)

[Lycan 01]

Er... Ow? O.o How did you shred your hand doing pullups?


Lets see...

Friday: No workout, since I had to move out of my dorm for spring break. That mean carrying several heavy loads of junk up and down stairs. I also had to all-out sprint back to my dorm room several times since we were in a hurry. Yay cardio?

Saturday: A short 30-or-so minute walk with some jogging mixed in, and then some pushups, dips, 20 lb curls, and chinups. I didn't keep track of how many I did, though... It wasn't as much as I could have done, though. I just kinda lost focus, since my family tends to be quite distracting. @.@

Sunday: I walked and jogged for an hour and 15 minutes. I got back about an hour ago and promptly did 40 pushups and about 15 curls of 20 lbs, since I'm not sore at all from yesterday and I still felt like exercising...



I still feel like exercising, actually. Why does my body want to keep going when my mind knows it should stop?! :smalleek:

[Haruki-kun]

I still feel like exercising, actually. Why does my body want to keep going when my mind knows it should stop?! :smalleek:

I'd say your mind's the one that wants to keep going, while your body knows it whoudl stop. :smalltongue:

[Crow]

Er... Ow? O.o How did you shred your hand doing pullups?

Once the callouses get big enough the difference in pliability between the skin and the callous is enough that instead of stretching with the friction, the callous tears off from the edges and bleeds everywhere. Happens all the time to crossfitters.

[Deth Muncher]

Once the callouses get big enough the difference in pliability between the skin and the callous is enough that instead of stretching with the friction, the callous tears off from the edges and bleeds everywhere. Happens all the time to crossfitters.

Bleeeeeh. :P More reason not to do chin-ups, in my opinion.

[Crow]

Bleeeeeh. :P More reason not to do chin-ups, in my opinion.

It's only something you need to worry about if you do many dozens of pullups at a time. Don't throw pullups out of your workout. They're of the best strength exercises you can do.

[Keld Denar]

I thought the pushup was a better total body strength exercise than the pull-up is...push-up engages more muscles.

[true_shinken]

So, I don't know if I'm above my weight. I weigh about 65kg and I'm about 1,65-ish tall. But I'm definitely out of shape. This irritates me a great deal - I used to be somewhat of an athlete when I was a kid ans stuff. So I'm trying to get back in shape.
I wanted to start running, but I have a few problems. 1st, I can only do it in the morning and it heard it's bad to run in the morning. 2nd, I heard running ruins your skin's flexibility. Can anyone confirm that and why? Thanks.

[Crow]

I thought the pushup was a better total body strength exercise than the pull-up is...push-up engages more muscles.

The pushup only makes you move a fraction of your total bodyweight, while a pullup moves nearly the entire bulk. Also a pullup covers a larger range of motion. While the pushup engages more muscles, the pullup requires more work capacity. Overall, your body needs to generate more horsepower for a pullup than for a pushup.

While the pushup is a good exercise, it generally works different primary muscle groups than a pullup anyways. The best option would of course be to do both.

True Shinken; I have never heard that about running ruining your skin's flexibility. Maybe being exposed to the elements if you live in a more harsh environment has more to do with it than the running itself?

I also don't know why it's "bad" to run in the morning. You may get a bit better performance running in the afternoon as your body is warmed up and fully engaged by then, but running in the morning is not "bad" for you.

[Haruki-kun]

I wanted to start running, but I have a few problems. 1st, I can only do it in the morning and it heard it's bad to run in the morning. 2nd, I heard running ruins your skin's flexibility. Can anyone confirm that and why? Thanks.

:smallconfused:

Last I checked, it's better to work out in the morning than later in the day. And I have also never heard of running ruinign flexibility. Do you remember where you heard this?

[Crow]

I have heard opposite on the morning/afternoon workout thing. The rationale being that when you workout in the morning, your body has just finished basically fasting for eight hours, while in the afternoon, your body is generally replenished by then.

Even after a breakfast, your body hasn't metabolized everything yet unless you've waited quite a while.

[Haruki-kun]

I have heard opposite on the morning/afternoon workout thing. The rationale being that when you workout in the morning, your body has just finished basically fasting for eight hours, while in the afternoon, your body is generally replenished by then.

Even after a breakfast, your body hasn't metabolized everything yet unless you've waited quite a while.

Sorry, looked it up. Looks like you're right. Source. (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/wescott6.htm)

I HAD read that it was better in the morning (the article itself points out that a lot of fitness enthusiasts support this claim), but apparently it was wrong.

STILL, I'm guessing working out in the morning is better than not at all.

[Lycan 01]

Alrighty, lets see what Lycan's been up to...

Monday: 20-30 minutes walking and jogging, several sets of crunches through-out the evening. Ballpark estimate is about 5 sets of 30.

Tuesday: 25 minutes walking and jogging - but this time I actually measured distance! :smallbiggrin: I went about 1.5 miles, and I'd say about 1 mile was walking and the other .5 was jogging. I wanted to go further like I normally do, but for some reason I felt kinda sluggish. So, I decided to just head home and work out.

Tuesday's Workout:

Chinups
7
9 - (held the 9th one for 10 seconds)

Pushups
30
40

Curls @ 20 lbs
7
10

Countertop Dips*
10
10

Lawnmower Cranks @ 20 lbs
15


*Countertop Dips are when you do dips using the intercept point of two countertops, rather than a dip bar. They're a LOT more effective than the Iron Gym dip method I've been using. I could crank out 40 of those easily, but I can only crank out 15 countertop dips before I'm worn out.


I'm pretty worn out, mostly from the chinups and dips. Might try to do more pushups later tonight, though. I like pushups...


Now, my main concern is fixing a decent dinner. I'm back at home, where there's not much to eat that isn't fried or heavy in sugar & fat. I think I'll make breakfast for dinner - good ol' scrambled eggs and a side of oatmeal.


On that note, anybody have any good "easy & healthy" recipes they want to share? Some basic (and preferably cheap) meals I could make that won't wreck my attempts at getting in better shape? :smallconfused:

[rakkoon]

Generally veggies are always a good idea. Find out which ones are in season and therefore the cheapest.
Stir-fry them with a small amount of meat/fish and you're all set.

Thanks, now I need to get something to eat *grumble*

Before I go: the training bike is here (rental) and I'm doing 20 minutes at the lowest level to get the muscles in my left leg up to speed (meniscus surgery). I tried at level three first but the knee wasn't happy with that. I'm still doing my martial arts but would like to start using my legs again, they are useful :smallwink:

[Amiel]

I've been pretty consistent with sets so far; they usually fall between 10 reps of 18 kg weights (for arms separate) and 200 lb for legs; repeated at least three times. I've also been doing 10 chin ups, repeated three times.

[Haruki-kun]

they usually fall between 10 reps of 18 kg weights (for arms separate) and 200 lb for legs

For what specific exercise, though?

[KuReshtin]

Recovering after the workouts seem to get easier and take less time each week now.

She (my team leader) has now started making me do spider-man push ups instead of regular push ups after my bench press sets. DO. NOT. LIKE!
Also, next week, she'll have me do a full pyramid to start off the session.

That's starting off with one push up, one double footed jump and one squat jump, followed by two of each, followed by three of each, going up until you do ten of each, and then go back to one of each again.
I don't really like that one either. It's absolutely knackering.

[Lycan 01]

Wednesday: 35 minute walk, covering about 2 miles. Estimated 1.5 miles walked, .5 miles jogged.

Thursday: REST.


My legs are killing me today. All my walking and jogging this week seems to have caught up with me, apparently. Muscles are tense and sore, joints ache, and a slight sharp pain in my left ankle. My back/shoulder muscles are also a bit sore from Tuesday's workout, too...

So yeah, I was extremely lazy today. Did my best to rest my legs, and I've been drinking lots of water and trying to munch down plenty of protein to speed my recovery.


Hopefully I'll be able to walk comfortably again tomorrow. Otherwise, the trip to a military museum and zoo I'm taking with my girlfriend's family tomorrow morning is going to SUCK. :smalleek:

[Crow]

I want to die right now. Why, oh why, did I start this challenge?

It was a challenge my wife issued to her fitness group on CafeMom. It's been done elsewhere, and I'm sure it sucked there too. Basically, you do 100 days of burpees. On the first day, you do 1. On the second day, you do 2. Each day, you add 1 burpee, until you do 100 on day 100. You're not allowed to do them ahead of time, but you can make up days if you miss one.

I started this quite a while ago, am now on day 93, and just finished today's required burpees. This is in addition to my regularly-scheduled workouts. One week to go. Have to really focus on not missing any days. I missed days 87 and 88 and had to do over 250 burpees one day just to get caught back up. Plus, if I don't finish on day 100 (say if it takes me 101 days to do everything because I missed a day), I fail the challenge.

If anybody else feels like giving it a shot, I'm sure my wife would be happy to add you to her casualty list.

For reference, here is a burpee (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MGljX4bbps).

Buck Furpees, as they say...

[rakkoon]

I tried that with simple crunches, start with 3 times 20, then 25, 30, got upto 72 I believe before I lost interest and the will to breathe.

Is there a prize at the end of the challenge? Like a river of gold or something?

[Crow]

I get a shirt if I finish. But since it'd be coming from my wife, I may as well go out and buy the shirt myself and just skip the burpees.

Also, my pullup vid won those pants from American Parkour. Yay me!

[Don Julio Anejo]

Youtube your pull-up vid? :smile: We're kinda curious.

BTW, Crow, what's your opinion on lifting your legs way up while doing pull-ups/chin-ups? Without momentum, just crunching your stomach at the same time as going up.

I'm trying to work my abs, and I'm too lazy to do crunches, but I do lots of pull ups because I put a bar (well, not an actual bar, rather one of these things that fits in the frame and is held by a bar on the front and another one that fits over the top of the frame) in my doorway. I'm thinking if it makes sense to combine the two.

[Crow]

We have one of those bars. We always called it a door gym.

Lookup L-Pullups. They're pretty much exactly what you're looking for. I hate them...because they're so good.

Re: My pullup vid, I posted on page 8. Tore off my callous :(

[Lycan 01]

Way to go Crow! :smallbiggrin:


Lycan's fitness progress over the past few days:

Friday
Walked 3 miles.

Saturday
Walked/jogged 3 miles (walked 2.5, jogged .5)
Pullups - 2 sets of 10
Pushups - 5 sets of 30
Curls - 1 set of 10 @ 20 lbs


Today I'm mostly just gonna rest. No walking or anything. Though, I may try to work my abs with some leg raises and curls. But for the most part, Sunday is my lazy day. :smallcool: