Fitness!

[Azzaman]

After a quick search it looks like the last fitness + nutrition thread has died a horrible, horrible death. Lets get it up on it's feet again.

I've been running the beep test and doing my pushups for my upcoming fitness test. I can get well past 35 pushups now, nearly got 50 the other day and I'm still struggling with the beep test, but since I last tried it I've improved from 5.8 about 2 months ago to 7.1 a week or so ago. I even think I could get a lot better, missed the beep by a hair and wasn't really 100% spent just mistimed the run.

I rekon I could get to high 8's or 9's, if only I could shake this cold (which I think I was starting to get when I ran the test last).

I have until the 5th of August to get 9.04 down, wish me luck fellas.

[Ad-Rock]

I've started (3 weeks ago) going to the gym again, this time with the aim of bulking up. I'm now bench-pressing 60kg (my PB), and doing dips with an extra 10kg. I still struggle with chin-ups (embarrassed to attempt them when there are other people around) and my biceps are struggling to improve.

I weigh 73kg which is the heaviest I've been for ages although put on the extra weight by training hard for soccer, which puzzles me... Maybe its on my thighs...?

[incompatible with life]

Ah the beep test. Brings back horrible and humiliating memories of high school.

[igotnewsuper8systemWRONG!]

What do I do if I want a butt like Van Damme?

[Surgeon.]

Went back to the gym today, after not really going the past 6 months. Stopped going because I started getting intense head-aches/light headed periods after doing exercise. After blood tests, heart-rate tests, blood pressure tests and a head CT scan which all showed nothing I'm attempting to get back into it.

Pretty embarrassing being puffed out after about 15 minutes of just learning the machines.

Anyway, got my 'beginner' program sorted out and hoping to hit the gym 2-3 times a week hopefully this time without brain destroying headaches.


Also, Azzamans sig reminds me of the beep test. To think, if you had HASTE you could probably smash that test.

[franks]

I've started (3 weeks ago) going to the gym again, this time with the aim of bulking up. I'm now bench-pressing 60kg (my PB), and doing dips with an extra 10kg. I still struggle with chin-ups (embarrassed to attempt them when there are other people around) and my biceps are struggling to improve.

I weigh 73kg which is the heaviest I've been for ages although put on the extra weight by training hard for soccer, which puzzles me... Maybe its on my thighs...?

Woah, your goals and stats are eerily similar to mine.

I'm on a bulking phase right now. I dumbbell bench press 30 kg (i.e. 60 kg all up), I do dips with an extra 10kg, and I also struggle with chin ups. I'm happy with the size of my arms, but they aren't 'peaky'. I'm 71 kg.

[Azzaman]

Went back to the gym today, after not really going the past 6 months. Stopped going because I started getting intense head-aches/light headed periods after doing exercise. After blood tests, heart-rate tests, blood pressure tests and a head CT scan which all showed nothing I'm attempting to get back into it.

Pretty embarrassing being puffed out after about 15 minutes of just learning the machines.

Anyway, got my 'beginner' program sorted out and hoping to hit the gym 2-3 times a week hopefully this time without brain destroying headaches.


Also, Azzamans sig reminds me of the beep test. To think, if you had HASTE you could probably smash that test.

You go to the YMCA near the craigmore shops? If yes, we should go together and egg each other on like the macho muscleheads that we are...

[Ad-Rock]

Woah, your goals and stats are eerily similar to mine.

I'm on a bulking phase right now. I dumbbell bench press 30 kg (i.e. 60 kg all up), I do dips with an extra 10kg, and I also struggle with chin ups. I'm happy with the size of my arms, but they aren't 'peaky'. I'm 71 kg.

lol cool

[Xanafalgue]

What do I do if I want a butt like Van Damme?

Have a personality bypass.

[Surgeon.]

You go to the YMCA near the craigmore shops? If yes, we should go together and egg each other on like the macho muscleheads that we are...

Going to the newly developed Aquadome gym. Shame too. I miss out on the awkward conversation the first time I see you there, sharing your sweat-towel and the musclehead top-gun style high fives we'd bust out randomly.

[Azzaman]

Going to the newly developed Aquadome gym. Shame too. I miss out on the awkward conversation the first time I see you there, sharing your sweat-towel and the musclehead top-gun style high fives we'd bust out randomly.

The comradery is dead before it even started.

EDIT: Surgeon, I sure as hell hope you don't pay $15 a session at the aquadome. Do they wipe your arse for that price too?

[Azzaman]

Well i did my physical test this morning, got 9.06 on the beep test! Beats my previous pb of 7.01 quite easily.

I ******ed up the pushups though, fell short by 2 for a grand total of 33. I can't believe it, I've been able to do 40 + quite easily on my own and once I'm in the spot light I got wobbly at 30. If I fail because of 2 pushups I'll be so annoyed at myself...

[Spudzilla]

What was the fitness test for?

[Araenel]

What was the fitness test for?

*** da po-lice

[Azzaman]

They failed me on 2 pushups *grumble*

[Spudzilla]

Damn. When can you give it another go?

[Azzaman]

2 weeks time, but I've got quite a bit on, so I'm doing it again on the 16th of Sept.

I'm sure that'll be enough time to squeeze another 2 pushups out of myself ;)

[Second]

Well i did my physical test this morning, got 9.06 on the beep test! Beats my previous pb of 7.01 quite easily.

I ******ed up the pushups though, fell short by 2 for a grand total of 33. I can't believe it, I've been able to do 40 + quite easily on my own and once I'm in the spot light I got wobbly at 30. If I fail because of 2 pushups I'll be so annoyed at myself...

Are they doing the 2 second cadence for the push ups? That screws up so many people in the ADF as they tend to just smash them out.



I've gone back to the gym after a long break. When I was unemployed I couldn't motivate myself to go, but now that I do a standard 9-5 it's easier to go.

I try to go at least 3 days a week after work for cardio and I try to make those sessions last a good 60-90 minutes. I start off with a warm up on the bike, followed by two sets of the 2.4KM run to try and improve upon the minimum requirements for the ADF (goal is to do the 2.4 in under 10 minutes) and I follow that up with an hour on the bike. Naturally, I give myself an awesome stretch too.

I have personal training once a week on saturdays also and today I managed to get back to 300KG on the leg press. I'll likely do larger sets on the 300KG next week and I might have to start doing single leg presses. I'm pretty weak in the upper body, I think I only do 50KG benchpress.

Also, put me down as another one who can't do chin ups. I blame my legs being so heavy. <_<

[Spudzilla]

Are they doing the 2 second cadence for the push ups? That screws up so many people in the ADF as they tend to just smash them out.

Is that 2 seconds down and 2 seconds up?

[Second]

Is that 2 seconds down and 2 seconds up?

Two seconds total per push-up.

[Azzaman]

When doing the pushups, they would get another applicant to hold a fist under the other guys chest, basically your pushup had to touch their fist or it wasn't counted, and of course you can't really start doing the caterpillar or lay flat after a pushup either. Just a continous flow of pushups to 35. I think when doing my own pushups I haven't been going that low, tbh I haven't really been measuring them. I'm guessing that's why it hit me so much harder.

btw, If I had to do any chinups I'd be royally screwed, best I can do is 2.

[Ad-Rock]

Yeah I suck arse at chin ups. I go low enough to touch my nose to the ground for push ups.

Had my first soccer match in 2 months on Saturday. **** I need to work on my cardio. Played the second half of each half and was buggered by the end. Playing on the wing is hard work.

[Ad-Rock]

DOUBLE POST!!

This (http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2009/08/10/2651000.htm) is interesting. Here (http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/00722.2009v1?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=beetroot&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT) is the abstract for the journal article.

Basically they gave beetroot juice to one group of people and a placebo to another group for a period of 6 days. They put both groups through intense workouts. The group on beetroot juice lasted 16% longer than those on the placebo before giving in. I know what I'm drinking before soccer ;)

[Dorkify]

Everyone feels feeble when they first do chin-ups but if you persist, you'll find yourself improving even if you don't do any muscle work, although a bit of shoulder and back work doesn't go astray.

[Azzaman]

I'm no expert, but that's how I found push-ups to be. I also found that when i didn't do any for a few weeks I would be able to do quite a few less when I next attempted them.

[Spudzilla]

DOUBLE POST!!

This (http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2009/08/10/2651000.htm) is interesting. Here (http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/00722.2009v1?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=beetroot&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT) is the abstract for the journal article.

Basically they gave beetroot juice to one group of people and a placebo to another group for a period of 6 days. They put both groups through intense workouts. The group on beetroot juice lasted 16% longer than those on the placebo before giving in. I know what I'm drinking before soccer ;)

Though I hate beetroots, I'm willing to give it a go if it means helping me get over that 7.5 mark in the beep test.

[Second]

There are no shortcuts, only hard work! Can't really hurt to try though.

[Gnomey_g]

Thinking of giving weight gain powder a go, anyone got any recommendations? Also do you take the stuff before workouts or whenever you feel like it?

[This_is_me]

Thinking of giving weight gain powder a go, anyone got any recommendations? Also do you take the stuff before workouts or whenever you feel like it?

It really depends, what brad and what's in them. Personal i take it 2 or 3 times a day, one between meals and should be taken within 30mins after a workout. Depends if you are looking to gain wight,tone up or quicker recovery time. Isolate whey protein is the way to go easy to digest, creatine is also good but make sure you drink at least 2 litters of water a day with that.
I would focus on nutrition the the most though, most people tend to forget about that and adequate sleep.

[This_is_me]

There are no shortcuts, only hard work! Can't really hurt to try though.

I definitely agree with you on that. ;)

[Gnomey_g]

It really depends, what brad and what's in them. Personal i take it 2 or 3 times a day, one between meals and should be taken within 30mins after a workout. Depends if you are looking to gain wight,tone up or quicker recovery time. Isolate whey protein is the way to go easy to digest, creatine is also good but make sure you drink at least 2 litters of water a day with that.
I would focus on nutrition the the most though, most people tend to forget about that and adequate sleep.
Thanks mang. I'm already on the creatine. The stuff gave me a big initial weight gain boost (3 kilos in about as many days) but after that it doesn't seem to do an awful lot. I sure as shit don't drink two litres of water a day though >_>

Is their any particular whey protein powder you'd recommend?

[This_is_me]

The effect of the creatine works wonders if you drink more water.;)Remember 30 mins before a work out. No-Xplode is good one to have, what you can do also is mix it up with falx seed oil, Extra calories and good fatty oils.
What you should be doing to put wight on is eating clean foods.
*Replace white bread with whole grain
*Replace Full cream with skim milk (cutting down on the trans fat)
*Tuna will be your best friend
*Whole grain Pasta, its cheap and quick

Mix this with your protein drinks, you will put the wight on. If you at the gym, keep it under an hour and do cardio for about 7 to 15 mins.

[fishfishmonkeyhat]

I've been back at the gym for a few weeks and just started a 4 week fat burning class. It's good to have someone making sure I'm not going in and half-arsing it, plus I get access to the recovery area with the ice baths and spa.

I was surprised that the ice bath does actually help with not feeling sore the next day.

Recommended.

[Lazlow]

Personally I believe supplements are the domain of the high performance athlete or competitive body builder. Even then quite a few get by fine without supplementing. Humans were able to develop fine physiques long before supplements became a nice money earner, through correct exercise and diet.

Each to their own, but in reality supplementing is only an indication that you feel your diet is not up to scratch. And if it is - well your body can only absorb so much protein, any excess will pass through you.

[proofreeder]

I made great gains in the gym and never touched creatine, while many of my friends and others raved about all these supplements they were taking.

I ate eggs, meat, drank milk, all natural sources of protein, and this was fine for me. I had a glass of milk before I went to bed each night, my reasoning being the rebuilding of the tears in your muscles would occur when your body was most at rest. I also ate a big meal after workouts.

Personally I prefer natural sources of protein, but that's just me. I'm no expert.

I'm an advocate of correct technique (no cheating by using your bodyweight to do the work), working your legs and consistency personally. I made much greater gains than most of the other people in the gym using these philosophies. I'm no expert, but I do what experts tell me. As I've said before, most people in the gyms I've gone to have no idea what they're doing. All they do is bench, curls, (cheating most of the time) take supplements, and then expect results :confused:

[Serenity]

I've been doing situps for nearly 6 weeks now to flatten my belly. It's working. At first I was doing just ordinary situps, then it got too easy so I started with my legs on the floor and lifted them up as I came up, went down when I came down. I don't know what it's called but I can do 70. I figured, if I lifted the legs that means more effort in the bottom half so maybe it'd help tone there too.

Pretty poxy, but as I said, at least it's made my belly flat.

[Second]

It's been said before and I'll say it again: There is no such thing as spot fat removal. Sounds like if you do any exercise it'll come off your old gut first, so maybe add going for a run to your life.

[Serenity]

I walk maybe 2 kilometres 2 times a week.

[Second]

Move it to a jog and double it and then we're making some real progress. ;)

[Lazlow]

Jogging 2km = Walking 2km

You exert more energy when jogging but its a shorter workout. A jogger may complete 2km in 20 minutes, and then rest while a walker will take 2-3 times as long. The extended work out time from walking balances out the increased exertion of jogging.

The body also burns a higher percentage of calories from fat during low intensity exercise.

Whilst high intesity exercise benefits your cardio-vascular capacity, and gives your metabolism a bigger post workout boost, if fat loss is the main goal there is not much difference between walking 2km and jogging 2km.

EDIT: if you really want to get the best bang for a 2km buck, turn it into a series of 2min walks and 30sec sprints.

[Azzaman]

Well, I have my physical on Wednesday morning, I was only going to do a light workout at the gym tonight. After reading your post Laz I'm wondering If I should take it easy or not, thoughts?

[Second]

Who ya doin' it for again?

[Azzaman]

police, need to run a 9.6 beep test and do 35 pushups.

[Second]

Take it easy. Doing a full session certainly won't help you much at this point. My PT gave me half a weeks break before my fitness test.

[Lazlow]

Whatever you do you'd want it to be as light as possible so you're as fresh as possible for the physical.

Maybe some high intensity interval training on a stationary bike. Low impact cardio workout, that'll preserve muscle mass, and increase your oxygen intake during exercise.

[Serenity]

Yeah, I'm usually anywhere between 49 and 52 kilos, I don't need to lose weight. I just need to tone up.

[Surgeon.]

u23iK22Pgug

Man, fitness is awesome.

[Lazlow]

A lycra clad Daisy Fuentes doing pilates makes for good night time viewing >_>

[fishfishmonkeyhat]

So what's the deal with jogging reducing muscle mass?

[Super Mario]

So what's the deal with jogging reducing muscle mass?

Not if you increase your calories and consume sufficient protein.

[Lazlow]

So what's the deal with jogging reducing muscle mass?

Long bouts of aerobic exercise (ie jogging for 40 minutes) is more damaging to lean muscle, than bursts of shorter high intensity exercise. Simply put your body will cannibalise its own muscle mass to fuel itself for the long haul.

If you wish to improve cardio whilst maintaing or improving muscle mass, its best to mix strength training with High Intensity Interval training.

[fishfishmonkeyhat]

What if you have a lot of body fat? Will it burn that first, last, in equal measures or what?

[This_is_me]

What if you have a lot of body fat? Will it burn that first, last, in equal measures or what?

It would go for the body fat first for a source of energy. If you are skinny on the other hand say good bye mussel mass.

[fishfishmonkeyhat]

It's good to know muscle loss will never be an issue for me then!

[Lazlow]

Actually there is no "order of preference". Muscle proteins are broken down during aerobic exercise, as well as stored fat. The process is a common occurrence in everyday life in varying levels.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying cut out all cardio routines, they are extremely beneficial. But with inadequate eating and over exertion it can work against you.

Like everything in health and fitness, its a balance.

[fishfishmonkeyhat]

So you're saying I should eat a lot and take it easy, thanks!

[Lazlow]

Yes! :D

[Azzaman]

nailed the push ups (got 37) and missed the beep test got 9.1 and need to get 9.4. Especially annoying considering last time I got 9.6 on the run and 33 pushups.

Now I've been told the next intake won't be until next year.

*sigh*

At least I can still get drunk at my companies Christmas function...

[Second]

At least I can still get drunk at my companies Christmas function...

Or you can work hard and well and truely exceed the minimum requirements.

[This_is_me]

Or you can work hard and well and truely exceed the minimum requirements.

I would agree with second there, I passed my pfa before i went into the Army. I got a shock of my life how much more fitness i needed, i got through it all, just not comfortably and hell more beastings i got.:( I by the end of it all, i went from 7.5 to 11.5 in the shuttle run.

[Dunkurtin]

I need to strengthen my wrists. A mate suggested getting a dumbbell bar and tying a string with a weight on the end to it then winding it up and down. Any other suggestions people can offer?

[Super Mario]

Or you can work hard and well and truely exceed the minimum requirements.

Are you still planning on organising a meet were we do the shuttle run and then got pissed?

I'm dead keen, we could all chuck in $10 each and the winner gets the lot.

[This_is_me]

I need to strengthen my wrists. A mate suggested getting a dumbbell bar and tying a string with a weight on the end to it then winding it up and down. Any other suggestions people can offer?

That works well you could also look at wrist wights and heavy grips.

[Lazlow]

I need to strengthen my wrists. A mate suggested getting a dumbbell bar and tying a string with a weight on the end to it then winding it up and down. Any other suggestions people can offer?


http://i37.tinypic.com/9u3mtx.jpg


Also wrist curls, reverse wrist curls.

[Second]

Are you still planning on organising a meet were we do the shuttle run and then got pissed?

I'm dead keen, we could all chuck in $10 each and the winner gets the lot.

Hmm. I suppose I could do that, seeing as I don't have much else to entertain me these days.

[Azzaman]

Or you can work hard and well and truely exceed the minimum requirements.

oh I plan on it. I also plan on getting drunk at Christmas, can't I have it both ways????

[Queenie]

I was doing free sparring today in TKD, but we were really going at it and I've noticed that a couple of my muscles when hit were really sore. Now, I realise that i can't make them invulnerable but is there any way to strengthen them.

They're the muscles right below the wanking ones on your elbow (heading towards the hand, back of the hand side of arm). I think it's called the brachioradialus though I'm probably wrong.

Also, anyone in adelaide go to a gym?

[Super Mario]

Do you dudes take multivitamins?

[Azzaman]

Nope. but I do have a horrible sweet tooth, which I'm told helps me with muscle, but relly stuffs me up with running.

[Second]

Do you dudes take multivitamins?

I do, only because the olds have them. I'd take my Fish Oil no matter what though.

[Surgeon.]

I'd take my Fish Oil no matter what though.

Does that shit actually do anything?

I've heard like 3 people recommend taking it this week.

[Serenity]

Fish/Cod Liver Oil is the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted bar none.

NOW.

Even though I'm of a slight frame, I've always hated my thighs and I think they're kinda big and a bit wobbly. Any tips on how to tone my thighs please?

Serious suggestions only.

[Second]

There is no such thing as spot fat reduction.

[Serenity]

Well fine, legs in general. Asides from squats. I do them already.

[texta]

Cardio.

[Serenity]

I went for that 2km jog that was suggested to me the other day. I did it in intervals though, as I think Lazlow suggested. Was it Lazlow? *forgets* Oh well. I'm doing another today.

[Second]

Just keep doing what you're doing (Follow Lazlow's advice). Better yet, join a gym and make use of their equipment.

[Serenity]

Just keep doing what you're doing (Follow Lazlow's advice). Better yet, join a gym and make use of their equipment.

No driver's license. I have to beg my parents just to take me to work...

[texta]

I would push that out to 4 or 5 km.
http://www.mapmyrun.com

[Serenity]

I'll try 4, I'll see how I go. Going now.

[fishfishmonkeyhat]

We did a practice triathlon on Friday at the gym, with a 5k jog, 4k row and 18k bike ride. When I went back on Saturday just for the hell of it I did another 5k jog/4k row.

Probably the longest I've ever jogged for. Think I'll try that more than the stair machine I've been using. My theory is I'll worry about toning my butt when I can actually see it.

[Azzaman]

I'll try 4, I'll see how I go. Going now.

No reply? If it weren't for the pics in the tell me I'm beautiful thread I'd think she didn't make it.

I just had a run/jog, I estimate it to be a total of 3 - 4k's. Prob the longest run I've done on the road (aside from the beep test I suppose) I just need to get into the habit of running that at least once every two days and I should be right by the 28th.

[Serenity]

I did 4, yeah. I also did 4 yesterday.

[Second]

Zombie!

[Super Mario]

So thinking of downloading Pumping Iron, anyone seen it?

[Queenie]

20 pushups
20 situps
20sec handstand (assisted by wall) (I climb up wall)
20 Leg raises
10 Tiger Pushups
30 Crunches.

My new morning thing. Takes me about 5-10 mins. Need help with handstand progressions from what is listed above.

[texta]

Went on a sneaky 5km run this afternoon to put some money on my print account before the uni library closes. Ran a bit under 30 minutes which isn't too bad given that I haven't been running in months, but I'm going to work pretty hard at getting that under 20 in the next couple of months.

[Fenrir]

Oh, I've just started running 5km, too - apparently managing it within the 25-30 minute range*, but I'm just glad to find myself capable of the run at all, actually. It's a fairly hilly course, too.

Anyway, I've just done this for the second day in a row, and I'm contemplating whether or not to take a break day - I'm pretty sure my legs will be sore tomorrow. Is it a good idea to plough on, or should I be giving my body time to repair?

*Starting out playing Blind Guardian's "The Soulforged", finishing ~8-9 minutes into "And Then There Was Silence". I don't use a stopwatch.

[Azzaman]

If your not a regular runner you should have days off. I went for a run last night after having a game of bball the night before and I ended up with a very sore leg after 10 mins of running.

[Fenrir]

Hmm, I run 1-2km stretches at least semi-regularly, as well as doing ~3-3.5km of that 5km road before finding myself incapable of keeping up a running pace. It was only yesterday that I discovered I was able to do the 5km running.

[Fenrir]

Ended up taking a 2-day break; but on the third day I started a streak that remains unbroken. 5km per day, this being the fifth in a row, and if anything, I seem to be recovering more rapidly than ever. It feels incredible, I'm definitely going to keep it up. :D

[SOX]

Trying to take up rock climbing. Only been 3 times so far but I feel I'm doing a hell of a lot better regardless.

Too bad my ****ing grip still dies on me after a couple of walls >_<

[Second]

Trying to take up rock climbing. Only been 3 times so far but I feel I'm doing a hell of a lot better regardless.

Too bad my ****ing grip still dies on me after a couple of walls >_<

Rock Climbing is the closest thing to a sport that I actually enjoy doing. It's a ****ing blast.

[Fenrir]

Yar, I've been meaning to get back into rock climbing.

Also,
5km per day, this being the fifth in a row
Tenth. :D

[SOX]

My knees would implode after 10 days of straight running. I usually have to take a day break in between or I can't run for a week - sucks balls.

[Fenrir]

Well, thirteenth day in a row as of maybe half hour ago. My knees aren't really worrying me, but my lower legs are feeling strained - there's some localized soreness on some parts of my calves, which seems a bit weird. >_>

I'll have to come up with something else to keep me focused when (if?) I break the streak, though, "getting fit" hasn't ever really been as inspiring to me as "achieving something impressive yet pointless". :p

[Azzaman]

It's amazing what a few days off will do for your body. You'll probably find the run much easier after a rest and may want to push a bit further.

[SOX]

My knees aren't really worrying me, but my lower legs are feeling strained - there's some localized soreness on some parts of my calves, which seems a bit weird. >_>

I find running on grass reduces the stress on my knees but even then, if I try for more than once a day they get hurt too bad that I can't run for a couple of days. I should mention I'm only 23 >_<

[Fenrir]

I find running on anything other than solid ground saps momentum from my pace - I guess I could be imagining it, though.

Well, seventeenth day in a row, now - 3am under a full moon on a night like this one is a pretty sweet time for a run. :)
Also, I did the sixteenth run 15 hours before that (noon yesterday), and hadn't slept between the two - which could be construed as meaning it doesn't count towards the running streak and that I'll have to run again today to keep it unbroken, but nuts to that. >_>

Also, my running has been a bit more pathetic and strenuous lately (edit: still ~25 minutes, though), but this last one wasn't so bad - maybe because of the relatively low temperatures. Either way, I have >24 hours to recover this time before the eighteenth run, so hopefully my legs will heal up in that time.

It's amazing what a few days off will do for your body. You'll probably find the run much easier after a rest and may want to push a bit further.
Yeah, I don't doubt this. For me, though, the goal isn't necessarily to push further or go faster right away - it's about the fitness, and finding a way to keep myself at it in the short-to-medium term. Trying to uphold a running streak, as silly as it might be, seems to motivate me, so I'm going to try to keep it up.

[texta]

I find running on anything other than solid ground saps momentum from my pace - I guess I could be imagining it, though.I'm not sure if saps momentum is the right word, more likely it forces you to use different muscles that don't normally get so much strain. If you're aiming for fitness then mixing it up a bit (eg running on sand etc) is a good way to help.



As far as rest days go, running is something where ideally you shouldn't need much of a rest. It might be worthwhile to vary the distance and speed you run on different days though.

[Richie]

Hey peeps.

If anyone is interested in strength training than I really suggest this website, stronglifts.com

I'm not sure if it's what people here are after though, most seem to be concerned with losing fat (me as well) which is not what this site advocates really. In a nutshell its training 3 times a week doing 5*5 (5 sets of 5 reps) using heavy weights and moving up each week.

If you search the 'big four' on google it will always come up with squat, deadlift, overhead press and bench. With this stronglifts thing you basically alternate them each day except squats which is done each workout and add weight each time until you stall. Then you have your assistance exercises such as pushups, pullups, chinups and prone bridges.

But yeah to make big gains you gonna have to eat a lot (good food obviously) and stack on the weight. I'm insisting on staying at 75kg but I've already stalled on most of the exercises when I probably shouldn't so I'm reconsidering my goals right now.

Not much emphasis on cardio either its really about strength. One thing you'll notice straight away, its not a body building website. They only focus on exercises that will build strength, for the beginner anyway so if you post on there about dumbbell curls and leg raises you'll get shot down pretty quick, or pushed in another direction.

[Fenrir]

I'm not sure if saps momentum is the right word, more likely it forces you to use different muscles that don't normally get so much strain.
Nah, I'm pretty sure I mean momentum in the classical mechanics sense. Kinetic Energy might be more relevant - it feels less energy-efficient to run through grass, loose gravel or (definitely) sand.

If you're aiming for fitness then mixing it up a bit (eg running on sand etc) is a good way to help.
True.

As far as rest days go, running is something where ideally you shouldn't need much of a rest. It might be worthwhile to vary the distance and speed you run on different days though.
Yeah, on this note, I think I'm going to have to break the streak at #20 - mainly because my sleep patterns have gone to shit again, so I'll probably spend all of today miserably tired before going to bed in the afternoon. The last time I tried a 5km run in this condition (incidentally, yesterday), it worse than drained me.

I'm thinking I'll pick on the ~1.2km run to the shop after a day or two worth of rest. I'm curious - since I've been running ~5km at approx. 1km every 5 minutes - how well I'll be able to slaughter a 1km stretch. That might keep me inspired to keep going.

I'm not sure if it's what people here are after though, most seem to be concerned with losing fat (me as well)
Hmm, I'm not really trying to lose fat - I'm pretty much a skinny bastard with a layer of gamer fat that ideally I'd like to see give way to chiselled abs, but I don't really care or get self-conscious about it. Strength/bulk are definitely on my wishlist (alongside the obvious cardio, which you can infer from my babble in this thread is pretty much my #1 concern), though, so I might check the site out.

[Gee_Yai_Bro]

stronglifts.com
Checking it out now. Some of this stuff I've already read in the Spartan Health Regimen but this is a really excellent (free!) site. Cheers for the hook up.

[Azzaman]

Had a good run yesterday. I've managed to cut another 5 mins off my time (I'm doing just shy of 4km's in 20 mins now.) I'm actually improving quite a bit, at one point I was running the same distance in 30 mins. I'm thinking about adding more distance to my run now.

My pushups are also going nicely, I'm developing a nice set of guns.

[Bob the Destroyer]

I've been using an iPhone app called MotionX to track my running. Basically it uses the built in GPS to locate your speed, distance traveled, time and a few other things as well as giving you a mapped location that plugs into google maps.

This is my main circuit (http://maps.google.com/?t=p&z=15&ll=-19.29996681213379,146.79119873046875&q=http://api.motionxlive.com/motionx-remote/api/gps/host/acb02943-706f-41db-82c4-4b5c94e95cf1): Just under 6kms, I'm aiming for a sub 30 minute run (currently at 34mins), has some nice river scenery and it's usually pretty empty of other people

I also throw in a mile run every now and then, last attempt was 7.5 minutes, not all that improbable to get it under 7

[Surgeon.]

I've been using an iPhone app called MotionX to track my running. Basically it uses the built in GPS to locate your speed, distance traveled, time and a few other things as well as giving you a mapped location that plugs into google maps.


You'd be really easy to assassinate.

Speaking of fitness, I'm slowly becoming less of a sloth. Been going to the gym twice a week and feeling slightly better. Somehow I've accumulated an extra 2kg of something . . . I'm bulging with what could be muscles!

Although running 3km still kills me and seeing old people apply more weight after I've finished with the weight machines doesn't fill me with confidence.

[Azzaman]

You'd be really easy to assassinate.

Speaking of fitness, I'm slowly becoming less of a sloth. Been going to the gym twice a week and feeling slightly better. Somehow I've accumulated an extra 2kg of something . . . I'm bulging with what could be muscles!

Although running 3km still kills me and seeing old people apply more weight after I've finished with the weight machines doesn't fill me with confidence.

He'd be running too quick ;)

I've yet to run into you at the gym (not that I go very often these days). Unless you were the guy a few months back on a Friday night wearing overly bright orange clothes.

[fishfishmonkeyhat]

I've finally started to loose some weight from my 5 day a week gym classes.

[Fenrir]

Hmm, ~1.2km in 4:30 this time. It's also personal best from way back, but I think I might be able to cut some time off, now.

[texta]

Nah, I'm pretty sure I mean momentum in the classical mechanics sense. Kinetic Energy might be more relevant - it feels less energy-efficient to run through grass, loose gravel or (definitely) sand.
Yeah, it's not really momentum. I think at best a loose surface prevents you putting as much force into your steps as you might otherwise.

[Mykle]

Recently switched my program from straight muscle building (so 10-12 reps) to 'strength building' which is apparently a different thing, but involves 5 sets, 5 reps, of heavy weights, and lots of body weight exercises like dips and chin-ups and whatnot. Apparently it builds strength without building muscle, which is what I'm after. Have to combine that with more stretching too, like big 20-30 minute sessions. I like it so far, I leave the gym feeling worn out, but without the muscle soreness I'm used to.

[JimmyKane]

But how will you get RIPPED?

http://cdn.fastclick.net/fastclick.net/cid197427/media370755.jpg

AWWWWWWWWWW YEAH

[proofreeder]

lol they don't even show the face, even if we did believe that was 4 weeks, how do we know it's the same guy? And what's the rule, just out of interest?

[Araenel]

Recently switched my program from straight muscle building (so 10-12 reps) to 'strength building' which is apparently a different thing, but involves 5 sets, 5 reps, of heavy weights, and lots of body weight exercises like dips and chin-ups and whatnot. Apparently it builds strength without building muscle, which is what I'm after. Have to combine that with more stretching too, like big 20-30 minute sessions. I like it so far, I leave the gym feeling worn out, but without the muscle soreness I'm used to.

Without anything to back this up, I'm pretty sure that's completely untrue (strength vs muscle). I haven't come across anything that lends credence either way.

Muscles and strength are more or less inseparable things, sure you can get lean people who are really strong, but that takes a much more specific dedication than changing the number of reps and sets you do.

[Rambo]

I've been doing crunches the last couple of weeks once every day (with a few exceptions) and I've started to really see the difference.

It's a lil mini 6 pack :P

[proofreeder]

Hey Mykle, not being rude at all but I'm with Araenel completely. There's so many bullshit theories around, I wouldn't believe that one for a second.

What does "heavy weights" entail exactly? If you are lifting only 5 reps to exhaustion, you're gonna be building muscle pretty damn fast.

Body weight exercises make some sense IMO at least because you are only using your muscles to move body weight, not body weight + excess and therefore less increase weight would result in less muscle building but possibly strength building also.

But "heavy weights" and "body weights" seem completely opposed to each other.

If you don't want to build muscle, just do more reps, less weight or body weight only. But make sure you work all your muscle groups, including your legs. And get advice from an expert, not one of these millions of baseless theories. Is there any scientific reasoning for this program? How does excessive stretching reduce muscle building?

Disclaimer: I'm no expert.

[Richie]

About that 5x5 and the muscle thing Mykle said. It builds muscle of course, but they don't look as big compared to when you you 10 to 12 reps because this causes your muscles to get more volume, but not necessarily stronger. Something like that anyway, which I can agree with. My arms looked bigger when doing 10 reps but I'm sure I'm lifting more weight now.

For anyone who is about to start it, I seriously suggest you take some photos of yourself and record the start weights that you're on, and your 1 rep max. It's a good motivator that I don't have as I'm didn't freakin' record anything in my usual lazy fashion. Now I'm wondering if I look much different (definitely leaner) and sometimes the weights I do now I feel as if I could have almost done them from the beginning (hopefully that's not true) :p.

[Araenel]

It should be qualified that no matter what you're doing, it's still great :P

If you're switching exercises because you're worried about getting "big" muscles (ie don't want to look like a meathead etc) then don't worry, it takes ages to develop anything too big. Plus you'll know when things are starting to get big, and then you can just scale back what you're doing when that happens.

[proofreeder]

About that 5x5 and the muscle thing Mykle said. It builds muscle of course, but they don't look as big compared to when you you 10 to 12 reps because this causes your muscles to get more volume, but not necessarily stronger. Something like that anyway, which I can agree with. My arms looked bigger when doing 10 reps but I'm sure I'm lifting more weight now.

For anyone who is about to start it, I seriously suggest you take some photos of yourself and record the start weights that you're on, and your 1 rep max. It's a good motivator that I don't have as I'm didn't freakin' record anything in my usual lazy fashion. Now I'm wondering if I look much different (definitely leaner) and sometimes the weights I do now I feel as if I could have almost done them from the beginning (hopefully that's not true) .

I agree with you on you second paragraph. Noticeable and recorded improvements are a tremendous motivator. I wrote down every set, weight and rep I did. I have read about a study that showed people who record their statistics are MUCH more likely to persevere with their training. Unfortunately I cannot remember the exact statistics but it is huge.

Richie, IMO after you have been introduced to lifting and gotten your technique right, you should be going to exhaustion on most sets. If this is the case then you should not have been able to lift the weights you lift now when you began, unless you were just developing technique. If you feel you should have started records and photos back then, do it now and you will appreciate three months from now.

About that 5x5 and the muscle thing Mykle said. It builds muscle of course, but they don't look as big compared to when you you 10 to 12 reps because this causes your muscles to get more volume, but not necessarily stronger. Something like that anyway, which I can agree with. My arms looked bigger when doing 10 reps but I'm sure I'm lifting more weight now.

Lower reps = more weight and therefore increased, bulkier muscle mass. I still don't get it - is it five reps to exhaustion?

If people are doing it right then 10-12 reps will cause you to get stronger rapidly.

It should be qualified that no matter what you're doing, it's still great :P

Sorry, disagree with this also. I've seen people go into the gym and do completely the wrong things (which I've posted on before) then wonder why they get no gains. Do things properly and in your first 3 months of training you can put on 5-10kg of muscle. This is what I was told by my trainer and this is what occurred for me (fat wasn't a problem for me).

Also, if you use incorrect techniques in the gym, not only can it retard gains, it can be dangerous, develop your muscles incorrectly and result in an unbalanced body. Not to mention potential injuries.

For example, if you do DB bicep curls but do not fully extend on each rep you will develop shorter "knottier" muscles that, IMO, don't look attractive. This is why I personally twist the DB on each curl to achieve full extension.

Anyway, not trying to be rude, that's just my opinion on things. GL with it all.

[Mykle]

I really do appreciate the advice, but one of my mates designed the program for me, he's a personal trainer and physio, has a degree in it and all that jazz. The reason I changed the goal of my training is that I dont really want to be all that muscly (and really, really dont want to be a meathead), I'd prefer to be athletic and flexible and strong. This program is basically about harder, better, faster, stronger. It's 5 reps to exhaustion, with heavier weights than 10-12 rep-sets, with 2-3 min breaks in between sets. Also involves ditching any sort of body support, so benches, and barbells and whatever, so everything involves stabilising your core and improving balance. The underlying goal is to actually build the nervous system that supports the muscles - I dont know what that means, but it's apparently a good thing.


If you don't want to build muscle, just do more reps, less weight or body weight only. But make sure you work all your muscle groups, including your legs. And get advice from an expert, not one of these millions of baseless theories. Is there any scientific reasoning for this program? How does excessive stretching reduce muscle building?

Disclaimer: I'm no expert.

See apparently (according to my mate) higher reps build muscle endurance, which isnt a bad thing, but not really all that useful for the biceps and chest and stuff (good for the legs though). Excessive stretching doesnt reduce muscle building, but it builds flexibility. Compare your average meat-head at the gym to a professional athlete. Chances are the athlete is physically smaller, but actually a lot stronger, faster, more flexible and fit than the muscle guy. Plus, when I see guys who are pretty muscly, but obviously not that fit, I'm not particularly impressed. I always feel like they're just compensating, and training just to look ripped or get big seems kind of pathetic, and I wanted to avoid that.

[proofreeder]

Like I said, I'm no expert or haven't studied it like your friend aside from taking advice from someone who has studied a lot.

I do understand your goals, that wasn't what I was arguing. I stacked on a lot of muscle when I first started and in the end I was getting too big for football, I was heavier and had less acceleration, control and manouvrability.

Core and balance, I can see how that works. Re: flexibility, now that you mention it, despite my previous comments, I do recall reading one time that muscles and flexibity are a trade-off.

About the only thing I have trouble with is how lowering reps to 5 and going to exhaustion doesn't build bulkier muscles. I've always been taught and believed lower reps builds bigger, bulkier muscles and higher reps builders longer, leaner mucles, which is why females who don't want to get too bulky lift less weight at higher reps. But maybe it's something I don't understand :P

Also, from my understanding, a lot of people with bigger muscles have greatly increased strength also. Increased muscle mass increases strength. However, there are exceptions to this, such as if a guy spends all his time on particular muscle groups, like his biceps, and fails to develop other muscle groups to balance them. Therefore, when putting his muscles to practical, real world uses, other neglected, less "flashy" muscles or core muscles fatigue or cannot support the strength he is capable in his biceps. Another exception is steroid users or certain supplement users (so I have been informed) where the muscle retains a lot of water to give a "bloated" look as opposed to natural muscle.

Anyway, GL with it, I hope it works out for you Mykle, keep us updated on records like increase in bench (or the non-bench equivelant) vs weight gain.

[Mykle]

Hold on, the stretching doesnt prevent muscle building - it's just an extra to improve flexibility, doesnt have anything to do with my goal of not building too much bulky muscle. I just feel like getting more flexible to prevent injury etc :)

To be honest, I had always heard what you've been saying: low reps, heavy weights = more muscle mass. But apparently it makes your muscles more dense, builds capillaries and blood flow and all that sports science stuff, without significant muscle fiber tearing (which builds muscle).

EDIT: here we go, just googled 'low reps high weight':
http://www.freedomfly.net/Articles/Training/training29.htm

"The primary difference between the effects of rep ranges on the adaptive response depends on whether the load affects neural factors (low reps) or metabolic factors (higher reps). When you train with low reps (1 – 5), the adaptations that make you stronger are mostly neurological: You develop an increased ability to recruit more muscle fibers, you stimulate the higher threshold fibers that are not activated with high rep, low weight sets, you decrease neuromuscular inhibition, and there is increased coordination between the muscle groups. However, with low reps, the hypertrophy (size increase) of the muscle fibers is minimal.

In other words, reps under 6 make you stronger, but they don’t necessarily make you bigger because the strength gains come from adaptations in the nervous system – the muscle fibers and other muscle cell structures do not hypertrophy (enlarge). This explains why certain athletes, powerlifters and Olympic lifters can be wicked strong but they don’t look as strong as they are."

[fishfishmonkeyhat]

Wish I could be a meathead!

[Second]

I could go for some meat right about now.

[Richie]

Hold on, the stretching doesnt prevent muscle building - it's just an extra to improve flexibility, doesnt have anything to do with my goal of not building too much bulky muscle. I just feel like getting more flexible to prevent injury etc :)

To be honest, I had always heard what you've been saying: low reps, heavy weights = more muscle mass. But apparently it makes your muscles more dense, builds capillaries and blood flow and all that sports science stuff, without significant muscle fiber tearing (which builds muscle).

EDIT: here we go, just googled 'low reps high weight':
http://www.freedomfly.net/Articles/Training/training29.htm

"The primary difference between the effects of rep ranges on the adaptive response depends on whether the load affects neural factors (low reps) or metabolic factors (higher reps). When you train with low reps (1 – 5), the adaptations that make you stronger are mostly neurological: You develop an increased ability to recruit more muscle fibers, you stimulate the higher threshold fibers that are not activated with high rep, low weight sets, you decrease neuromuscular inhibition, and there is increased coordination between the muscle groups. However, with low reps, the hypertrophy (size increase) of the muscle fibers is minimal.

In other words, reps under 6 make you stronger, but they don’t necessarily make you bigger because the strength gains come from adaptations in the nervous system – the muscle fibers and other muscle cell structures do not hypertrophy (enlarge). This explains why certain athletes, powerlifters and Olympic lifters can be wicked strong but they don’t look as strong as they are."

Exactly what I meant before, I just worded it badly I guess. I think doing 5 reps is more relevant to activities in real life. For example, if you're at work you're not going to lift a heavy weight 12 times, you're going to have to move it once, otherwise you'd probably have a machine to do it.

[proofreeder]

Richie - what the hell are you lifting in your work that's equivelant to 5 rep max to exhaustion? You're much more likely to move a lesser weight more often than an extreme weight you can only lift 5 rep max in practicality. You're not going to fatigue your muscles that much in real work. That is, after all, the whole principle behind weight lifting - to push your muscles beyond that which they would ordinarily be used in life, thereby stretching their limitations and allowing them to grow to handle such extremes in the future. This is why your muscles grow and adapt, because they have been pushed beyond the boundaries and constraints they would experience ordinarily in regular activity.

Mykle - how much of what you quoted do you understand? What does "decreasing neuromuscular inhibition" mean exactly?

When I lift lower reps to exhaustion, it certainly feels like my muscles are tearing. You're saying low reps don't build muscles, medium reps do build muscles, and higher reps don't build muscles? I don't understand why the graph would curve like that as opposed to being a direct relationship. I know guys who want to stack on the muscle often do one rep maxes or 3 rep maxes, and those guys are big.

Also, just out of interest, how do you work your chest and pectorial muscles with a five rep max without using a bench?

Body weight and low rep sets to retard muscle growth seem to be in direct contradiction to one another. Body weight only results in much higher reps without additional weight, hence the reason people believe it doesn't increase muscle mass as greatly.

[Mykle]

Mykle - how much of what you quoted do you understand? What does "decreasing neuromuscular inhibition" mean exactly?

When I lift lower reps to exhaustion, it certainly feels like my muscles are tearing. You're saying low reps don't build muscles, medium reps do build muscles, and higher reps don't build muscles? I don't understand why the graph would curve like that as opposed to being a direct relationship. I know guys who want to stack on the muscle often do one rep maxes or 3 rep maxes, and those guys are big.

Also, just out of interest, how do you work your chest and pectorial muscles with a five rep max without using a bench?

Body weight and low rep sets to retard muscle growth seem to be in direct contradiction to one another. Body weight only results in much higher reps without additional weight, hence the reason people believe it doesn't increase muscle mass as greatly.

You'd really have to ask a sports scientist to answer the first few questions about the relationship between hypertrophy and reps. I'm just going by what my mate and the research says, but I dont think its as simple as medium reps = muscle and high/low reps = no muscle. I'm sure all three build muscle and strength, but the just do it in different ways, and have different effects.

Re: the bench, I use it where necessary, but I try to scrap it where possible. Like for the back row, instead of standing with a knee on the bench and a foot on the ground, I try to do it from a staggered stance so my back and core have to hold the rest of my body up. Also, instead of doing preacher curls, doing standing bicep curls.

When it's a body weight exercise, I was told to do 4 sets of 8-10 reps. Same thing goes for small muscles like the bicep and tricep or shoulder muscles.

[fishfishmonkeyhat]

I asked an instructor at the gym about all this and he said you're all neckbeards.

[Fenrir]

I added ~400m to my aforementioned ~5km running course.


That was two days ago. I am still in pain now.

Also, I want to improve my 800m time - I think I might have it down to ~3 minutes, and I might even be able to blow that out of the water in the next few days. Should I just try to run three or four of it per day?

[proofreeder]

When it's a body weight exercise, I was told to do 4 sets of 8-10 reps. Same thing goes for small muscles like the bicep and tricep or shoulder muscles.

But what happens when you can lift that bodyweight in your sleep if you're not increasing reps/weight and thereby pressure?

If you're lifting 10 reps of a dumbell (8-12 reps), you continually increase the weight as your muscles become accustomed to it, therefore getting progressively stronger and stronger. Otherwise I'd probably still be curling 12 pounds :P

However, if you do not increase weight or reps, your muscles will plateu and you will not get stronger. People training for strength know that you have to constantly challenge your body, not just do the same thing ad nauseum. For example, most people who do strength training could perform 10 pushups without challenging their muscles at all.

Re: the bench, I use it where necessary, but I try to scrap it where possible. Like for the back row, instead of standing with a knee on the bench and a foot on the ground, I try to do it from a staggered stance so my back and core have to hold the rest of my body up. Also, instead of doing preacher curls, doing standing bicep curls.

Well as long as you can perform the exercise safely with good technique then they say this will increase core muscles as well as targeted muscles. Like doing stuff on an exercise ball also I do believe. I wouldn't like to do back rows with a staggered stance personally but I'm not really sure what you mean, as long as it's safe. Standing biceps over preachers makes sense as you're relying on other muscles and stabaliser muscles. One tip everyone should know but if they don't it's imperative, is bend your knees slightly when performing bicep curls. This adds a little bit of flexibility to your movements and allows you to lift heavy weights without bending your back at all or using your body weight to help lift, really isolating the muscle.

[Mykle]

But what happens when you can lift that bodyweight in your sleep if you're not increasing reps/weight and thereby pressure?

When that happens I'll probably buy a belt that I can attach some plates to, should be a while off though if my last few sessions are any indication :P

[Azzaman]

I've started doing some vertical leap exercises. Looking at vids on youtube for the basic exercises, best one I've seen so far is from a guy called destrom (will post a link later when I'm not at work)

Only problem is I don't know how often I'll be able to do this, still doing my running and actually playing games of bball, so I'm not sure how effective it will be.

Here's hoping though, my new years resolution is to dunk the ball on a 10" rim by end of next year.

[phatdex]

What do I do if I want a butt like Van Damme?
Deadlifts
Thanks mang. I'm already on the creatine. The stuff gave me a big initial weight gain boost (3 kilos in about as many days) but after that it doesn't seem to do an awful lot. I sure as shit don't drink two litres of water a day though >_>

QUOTE]
Creatine will give your muscles more energy, not make you get big. The only gain will be in initial water retention

[QUOTE=Dunkurtin;1119910]I need to strengthen my wrists. A mate suggested getting a dumbbell bar and tying a string with a weight on the end to it then winding it up and down. Any other suggestions people can offer?
Thats a good one, and a killer.

I was doing free sparring today in TKD, but we were really going at it and I've noticed that a couple of my muscles when hit were really sore. Now, I realise that i can't make them invulnerable but is there any way to strengthen them.

They're the muscles right below the wanking ones on your elbow (heading towards the hand, back of the hand side of arm). I think it's called the brachioradialus though I'm probably wrong.

Also, anyone in adelaide go to a gym?
My arms get sore there too, no idea how to stop it.

Fish/Cod Liver Oil is the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted bar none.

NOW.

Even though I'm of a slight frame, I've always hated my thighs and I think they're kinda big and a bit wobbly. Any tips on how to tone my thighs please?

Serious suggestions only.
Deadlifts - most important exercise you can do. Great for a chicks butt and hammy's.

Without anything to back this up, I'm pretty sure that's completely untrue (strength vs muscle). I haven't come across anything that lends credence either way.

Muscles and strength are more or less inseparable things, sure you can get lean people who are really strong, but that takes a much more specific dedication than changing the number of reps and sets you do.

Hey Mykle, not being rude at all but I'm with Araenel completely. There's so many bullshit theories around, I wouldn't believe that one for a second.

What does "heavy weights" entail exactly? If you are lifting only 5 reps to exhaustion, you're gonna be building muscle pretty damn fast.

Body weight exercises make some sense IMO at least because you are only using your muscles to move body weight, not body weight + excess and therefore less increase weight would result in less muscle building but possibly strength building also.

But "heavy weights" and "body weights" seem completely opposed to each other.

If you don't want to build muscle, just do more reps, less weight or body weight only. But make sure you work all your muscle groups, including your legs. And get advice from an expert, not one of these millions of baseless theories. Is there any scientific reasoning for this program? How does excessive stretching reduce muscle building?

Disclaimer: I'm no expert.

Ok for strength you usually do 4-6 reps at 2-3 sets and you will get stronger without getting bigger. If you do more sets at the same weight you will get bigger. Basically high rep workouts increase the fluid within your muscles and pumps up fake muscles. Low reps, high weight work increases the fibres within the muscle making it more "ropey".
Powerlifting people train at 2-3 sets for 4-6 reps working up to 1-2 reps near comps and this DOES NOT make your muscles bigger!

Look up Pavel Tsatsouline if you are interested in this type of training. I recommend buying the book "Power to the people". When you see SAS etc guys they are all pretty skinny but very strong, how do you think this happens?
Muscle size does NOT dictate strength!

I do a 4 session week.
Every session I do deadlifts as they are the most important, power producing exercise you can do, as heavy as possible done safely.
Then I do Chest, Shoulders, back and legs on a day each.
Chest I do bench and thats it, Shoulders I do Military press and thats it, Back I do bent over rows and thats it, legs I do squat and thats it.
On my off days I do kettlebells.
You DO NOT build muscle this way at all! But you get MUCH stronger. You will put on a bit of muscle initially, but after that you will not change.

Next time u go to the gym, watch the big muscley guys, they dont do that heavy, they simply do lots of reps and lots of sets. This bores me and I would also like useful muscle.

I would rather be stronger than I look instead of look stronger than I am.

[phatdex]

About the only thing I have trouble with is how lowering reps to 5 and going to exhaustion doesn't build bulkier muscles. I've always been taught and believed lower reps builds bigger, bulkier muscles and higher reps builders longer, leaner mucles, which is why females who don't want to get too bulky lift less weight at higher reps. But maybe it's something I don't understand :P



You dont train to exhaustion. Never train to failure. For strength you have big rests in between sets and always stop a rep before failure. IMO 5 sets is too much for strength. 2-3 is better. 5reps at 5 sets is going towards muscle IMO.
When you walk out of a strength session u should feel like you have not done anything, u should walk out with heaps of energy.
Strength is more about training the nervous system to cope with the weight and not the muscles. When it takes a long time to recover from an exercise its because of your nervous system and not your muscles. Strength training also improves recovery time of the nervous system.

[Serenity]

Went on a 30 minute jog after it rained today. Felt good to get back into it. Normally I don't jog because at most times of the day it's well over 35 degrees, sometimes over 40 and there's also a snake population of epidemic proportions here too.

[adam_91vn]

Anyone a member of a gym. Thinking of joining one, did not know if it was worth it or not.

Challenge Stadium is goverment run so less chances of getting ****ed around by fitness first. I think it is about $59 a month, includes the pool and everything.

[Fenrir]

Hmm, my exercise routine is routinely broken up by bouts of illness lately - for maybe even as much as the past week, I've been suffering some sort of throat-corroding phlegm-bilging evil cousin of the common cold.
It seems like I develop these things after a night or two of drinking, maybe I'm allergic to alcohol or something? >_> Also, my sister came home with what was later diagnosed as Tonsillitis, soon before I caught this thing - but apparently the symptoms of the thing I have are largely different.

Anyway, so that this post has a point, a question: I largely know that exercising during illness is generally a bad idea, but at what point should I start up again? Coughs tend to linger with me for a week or so after the serious stuff is over, would it be unwise to run 5km at that stage?

[Azzaman]

I've always wondered that myself, I tend to give it a week or two then have a shorter run/session and work back into it.

But I'm no expert.

[tau]

I'm in a bit of a similar situation. A few months ago I got an infection that made my lungs useless. I tried training after the worst of it had passed and I still had a little bit of a cough and 15 minutes into the hour I couldn't keep going without continuously coughing.

Currently sick again, but not as bad, but still can't do much exercise without coughing like crazy. Hating the wait for recovery so I can continue.

Personally I figure if you're not being held back by the sickness, then it's obvious that you'll be fine training.

[Second]

Sounds like you're getting a bit down with the sickness.

[[m]averick]

Anyone a member of a gym. Thinking of joining one, did not know if it was worth it or not.


If you're wondering if the gym is worth it or not, then it's probably not going to be worth it.

[adam_91vn]

averick;1161318']If you're wondering if the gym is worth it or not, then it's probably not going to be worth it.


Point taken.

Its not that I don't want to go its just that I have a 2 month old and a 2 year old and the wife finds it hard enough when I am away from 7-4 each day so another hour / hour and a half might be a bit much.

Went in there yesterday and they have 30 days for $30 starting on Monday so I'll give that a crack and see how it works out.

[Super Mario]

Do any of you guys have caffeine before you work out, I have been but I actually think it might be having a negative effect.

[Azzaman]

Do any of you guys have caffeine before you work out, I have been but I actually think it might be having a negative effect.

yep, avoid it, If I know I have a big workout or a bball game ahead of me I avoid it all day. On my last attempt at the beep test one guy had a mother drink before running, the guy couldn't get past 5.1.

I think it's because Caffene is a dieretic (sp?) basically makes you need to pee, you want to be as hydrated as possible during a workout.

[Araenel]

Semi-cruised into a 9 on the beep test earlier, I could of squeezed a few more rounds out but I wanted to quit while I was ahead. Need 10.1 for the police fitness, but that's easily achievable, the test isn't until the 22nd.

[Azzaman]

well done, I found it's about hitting a good rhythm and kinda zoning out I guess.

[dimorphic]

I've been going to the gym for a month and a half now. Jetts Fitness opened near where I live, 24 hours and $21.95 a fortnight for unlimited access which I feel is a good deal.

I go about four or five times a week and do both cardio and weight work and have dropped 10kgs give or take so I'm stoked at the moment.

[fishfishmonkeyhat]

My gym work is also going wellish!

[Fenrir]

Seriously considering SUSF (http://www.susf.com.au/). Comments?

Also, illness has kept me off the running course for ~3 weeks. Getting back into running the 5km stretch is murder.

[Azzaman]

Man, this thread is quite dead. Had another beep test today got 9.7 (a passing grade) so I'm quite happy about it. Had a full on fitness day today, my arms are killing me:D

[Second]

Dad called me fat last night. I rejoined the gym today.

[fishfishmonkeyhat]

Best of luck, fatty.

I've been getting up at 5am for a short jog for the last 3 days. MAYBE I'LL KEEP DOING IT WHY NOT?!

[texta]

Seriously considering SUSF (http://www.susf.com.au/). Comments?I don't know if it's even a little bit connected, but for what it's worth the UTas gym is pretty good and the student discounts make it a good 60% cheaper than other gyms.

[Second]

Best of luck, fatty.

I've been getting up at 5am for a short jog for the last 3 days. MAYBE I'LL KEEP DOING IT WHY NOT?!

How's that going for you, White Bread?

[SOX]

Started running more often last week but started getting severe pain on the inside of my calf muscle along the bone - think it's shin splints. Now I want to keep exercising but I need to do something else so my legs heal.

I go climbing once a week at the moment, was thinking of doing swimming - what do you guys reckon?

[Second]

ARE YOU STRETCHING, BOi?

[fishfishmonkeyhat]

How's that going for you, White Bread?

I only did it those 3 times..

:(

[SOX]

ARE YOU STRETCHING, BOi?

Not much tbh

[Second]

I remember reading somewhere that you can get shin splints if walk/run too much without stretching, but it could be bullshit.

[tau]

So for just over a month I've been doing a kickboxing then a boxing class back to back. Initially I was a little bitch about doing kickboxing since I had tried it before and sucked at kicking, going wah my leg hurts etc. I hardened the fk up and pushed through. I went from wah low round kick owwie to RAWR FACE KICK.. TO THE FACE!

Really enjoying it too, can't imagine doing any fitness based training without it being fun :S

[Araenel]

Managed to get my 5km run down to 25 mins, super duper.

[Fenrir]

Managed to get my 5km run down to 25 mins, super duper.
oshit, you're catching up. I haven't really progressed since I last posted times, so we're about on par.

It is a pretty solid exercise, though.

[Second]

I'll beat you both the next time I run, I SWEAR IT!

[SOX]

Went for a swim last night - man I suck so hard since I used to do swimming club!
Just did 1x 200m free then 8x 100m free. Makes your shoulders/biceps feel massive afterwords.

[pauljdavidson]

Any tips for losing a beer belly? (tips that dont include quit drinking?)

[SOX]

Quit drinking

[adam_91vn]

Any tips for losing a beer belly? (tips that dont include quit drinking?)


Eat less, exercise more. I lost 7 kgs in the last 2 weeks and I am not even that fat.

Still have a carton 15-20 beers a week

[Slippery]

Felt really good after a quick gym session today. :D

That's all.

[Azzaman]

Quit drinking

hur hur, an alternative is to cut back your drinking and do some running and core muscle exercises (like stomach crunches, hovers, etc)

[Azzaman]

did a 2.4k run in 10 mins 15 secs today. The current record (only kept since the previous pssb class) is 10.21 so I think I somehow may get myself on the high achievers board.

[Second]

Decent Effort, mate!

[texta]

Joined the gym on Friday. Had a brief go today but still recovering from footy.

I'm just really going to focus on cardio for a few weeks since I'm embarrassingly slow. Built an awesome excel book to document my workouts though. The excitement in getting to fill that out will be as much as a motivator as the actual being fit thing... <_<

[fishfishmonkeyhat]

Plus you'll have all that running you'll be doing to get away from the jocks!

[^gR]

Been really getting into fitness over the past couple of months. Lost about 15 kilos just running and rowing every day, eating protein foods (tuna is your GOD)...staying well the **** away from carbs (booooo @ bread).

Nothing like an 8-10km run when youre angry at some malicious vagina to make you feel refreshed :)

A 24/7 gym is opening down the road from us (Somerville), so my Dad and I have signed up at some ridiculously cheap price..really handy because I work in a bar and hes wit da PoPo so when we both finish work at whatever stupid time we can always manage to work out :) cant wait till it opens woo!

nothin like a run to piss those nicotene cravings off too..havent smoked for a good 3-4 months now.

in short, fitness is orsm

[Lazlow]

Nice work.

But you need carbohydrates (specifically complex carbohydrates), they are a primary source of fuel.

[tau]

^yeah. I hate when people say OMG EW CARBS.

You need shit like wholegrain bread, fruits and veggies which all have carbs in them. Get im in ya.

And since i'm here, i guess I can update on my fitness shit. Lost 12kg since the beginning of the year so far, yey ^_^

Also kicking serious arse at kickboxing which is always good!

[Twisted Conspiracy]

Doc says I need to exercise. Any tips for starting out...? How far to run, weights etc...

[Second]

Start walking around the block. Gauge how you're going from that and then we'll get started.





Fatty.

[Twisted Conspiracy]

73kg, highly unfit. Not quite fat. :P

Think I'll start out walking to the end of the road, gradually improve my time from there...

[Second]

FATTY!!!!!

Post pics. We need to judge you.

[Twisted Conspiracy]

Haha, 'sif. >_>

[^gR]

^yeah. I hate when people say OMG EW CARBS.

You need shit like wholegrain bread, fruits and veggies which all have carbs in them. Get im in ya.

And since i'm here, i guess I can update on my fitness shit. Lost 12kg since the beginning of the year so far, yey ^_^

Also kicking serious arse at kickboxing which is always good!

obviously thats true and theres 'good carbs'. Theres also 'bad carbs' ..doin things like going out of your way to avoid eating shit has meant, for me anyway, that ive dropped a lot of the bad carbs out of my diet (bread being a prime example).

The funny thing is, I've never eaten more. Muesli or porridge for breakfast, and a small meal every 2 hours..usually tuna, nuts, salads, chicken, turkey..goes a LONG long way to help losing weight. Like no shit in the first 2 weeks of this, combined with running every day, I lost something huge like 8 kilos.

massive :)

[Araenel]

The funny thing is, I've never eaten more. Muesli or porridge for breakfast, and a small meal every 2 hours..usually tuna, nuts, salads, chicken, turkey..goes a LONG long way to help losing weight. Like no shit in the first 2 weeks of this, combined with running every day, I lost something huge like 8 kilos.

massive :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v106/Araenel/y.jpg

that's how it's done (although i've yet to be able to follow a similar diet routine)



I was quite happy the other day when I was able to keep up with my pace for the beep test as required by the police fitness testing. Whenever the bastards get around to finally putting my in the selection pool I'll be able to keep up.

[fishfishmonkeyhat]

http://i348.photobucket.com/albums/q321/fishfishmonkeyhat/Temp/squats.jpg

I lolled.

[Barefooted Hobo]

obviously thats true and theres 'good carbs'. Theres also 'bad carbs' ..doin things like going out of your way to avoid eating shit has meant, for me anyway, that ive dropped a lot of the bad carbs out of my diet (bread being a prime example).

Wholegrain bread contains complex carbs btw, just avoid the white bread.

[Azzaman]

Went for my first run in a few weeks, I got my run done in a few mins slower then normal, but otherwise ok :D

[texta]

My exercise schedule at the moment is footy training Tuesday and Thursday, gym on Monday and Wednesday, footy on Saturday and rest days on Friday and Sunday.

I'm slowly starting to notice a difference in my fitness, but I think I need to pick up the intensity at the gym to compensate for our lazy footy training sessions.

I'm thinking about morning gym sessions on footy training nights. But then I'll a) need to put a bit more thought into my routine since if I'm going four days in a row I'll need to start thinking about which muscles I need to rest and b) need to make sure I can still give 100% at training so the coach doesn't think I'm lazy and drop me from the side.

Serious issues.

[Slippery]

Ever so slowly putting on weight.

Since I have a stupidly high metabolism, this is very good.

Gym three times a week plus tuna, pasta and protein shakes out the ass is slowly paying off.

[Watchers]

protein shakes out the ass

Uh...huh.

[Second]

I don't think you're doing the shakes right, Slip.

[texta]

Good one.


Had a good workout today. 8km cardio and then smashed some upper body weights. I usually go Monday evenings with a mate, so tonight I might do some sprints on the rugby field next door.

I haven't lost weight and don't look any fitter, but I think I'm definitely improving my fitness.

[Spudzilla]

Just been doing some walking around the local area, which has some pretty large and steep hills.

[texta]

Gym today since I can't make it to footy training. Did a shorter but faster cardio from yesterday and then went to work on my legs. I find it harder to get the weights right for any of my leg exercises so I think it ended up being a pretty easy workout.

[texta]

Had a day off yesterday and today did 20km in the morning and then weights focusing on my upper body this evening. Worked my arms very hard, so I'll probably take it pretty easy tomorrow.

[tau]

I love kickboxing. Everything hurts the way it should :')

[texta]

Gym yesterday. Did a quick 20 minute cardio and then worked my upper body. Haven't been since my last post so it was good to get back into it. I've been supersetting when I do my legs, but for my upper body I basically just randomly pick exercises until I've had enough. It seems to be working.

At some point I should start writing down what I'm doing, but I don't want it to get too serious. Meanwhile posting up here for everyone to ignore is good enough.

Had today off, but tomorrow I have the cleaner coming at 9am, so I have to get out of the house for a couple of hours so I might gym it up.

[tau]

Pro tip: when you're warming up and sorta excited to start but bored of waiting, don't start jumping to see how high you can jump.

Strained my back on monday HAHAHA fml. At least it's mostly better by now, but sigh.

[texta]

Protip - Don't have such a weak back.

Light cardio today (13 minutes, the same 13 minutes as an episode of media watch) and then legs. I think I need to work my core a bit more, but I'll probably wait until next week to start that as I have footy training today and footy on Saturday so I'll probably take it easy for the rest of the week.

[tau]

I... don't exactly have a weak back though. Kinda the opposite.But yeah okay sure.

[Second]

Pro-tip: Don't jump in the doorway.

[tau]

hahaha *cries*

[Slippery]

Whenever I go to the gym soon after waking up, even if I have a normal breakfast and wait 20 or so minutes, I feel like shit afterwards.

Do I just need to wait longer after eating? Eat more than normal?

I feel like I'm going to vomit after, just had a 25 minute session (gym is a 2 min walk from my house so I can easily have short sessions) and I feel rubbish.

[texta]

Yeah, I've heard you should wait at least half an hour (and even though an extra 10 minutes doesn't sound like much, it's 50% more than what you're doing).

I think it's certainly worth experimenting with a bigger breakfast and/or a bigger wait between eating and exercising.

[Slippery]

That's the plan, means I have to get up even earlier. That's what I tried to do today but I ended up spending time correcting group assignments due today instead.

[^gR]

Just smashed out a 2 hour run :) The treadie says it was 12km but I'm pretty confident that it's a bit more than that (i mean, think about it, you can almost walk 12km's in 2 hours)

Then did a 2km row..went pretty slow so it took about 12 mins.

Pretty happy with that effort, the longest I've run for previously was 1 hour and 40 mins. I feel pretty fckn good too, slammed down some tuna right afterwards..I'm sure I'll be sore tomoz but right now I feel fckn fantastic

Running is 90% mental, 10% the music you're listening to, I swear (downloaded new Pendulum CD and it was perfect)

Yewwwwwwwwwwwww :)

[Beinkasaurus Rex]

Whenever I go to the gym soon after waking up, even if I have a normal breakfast and wait 20 or so minutes, I feel like shit afterwards.

Do I just need to wait longer after eating? Eat more than normal?

I feel like I'm going to vomit after, just had a 25 minute session (gym is a 2 min walk from my house so I can easily have short sessions) and I feel rubbish.

From what I understand, generally recommended to wait 30 mins - 1 hour after eating before it's recommended to start exercising.

[Beinkasaurus Rex]

Despite being a Vegetarian, am I the only one who avoids drinking protein shakes? From what I understand, we generally get substantial protein from dieting (high protein diet for many) and that the shakes aren't beneficial whatsoever for your average person? (Unless you don't get enough protein initially).

[texta]

Despite being a Vegetarian, am I the only one who avoids drinking protein shakes? From what I understand, we generally get substantial protein from dieting (high protein diet for many) and that the shakes aren't beneficial whatsoever for your average person? (Unless you don't get enough protein initially).I'm not big into protein shakes, but if you're trying to put on muscle they might be worthwhile.

[Araenel]

I heard on one of the science podcasts I listen to that a study found chocolate milk to be more effective as a post-workout drink than any commercial protein-shake type of drink.

I'll have to track it down.

found it: http://www.health.am/ab/more/chocolate-milk-is-a-natural-for-post-exercise-recovery/

So it was tested against carbohydrate sports drinks, but still, it'd be a much cheaper alternative regardless.

[tau]

If you were a vegetarian, I'd probably be worried about how much protein you were getting in your diet. Eating enough beans n shit?

Also, I love how even after a few years I'm still mostly clueless on a few points. Like right now, I'm sore all over after last night's training session. It was one of the sessions where afterwards I'm all hell yeah, top of my game etc. I'd have figured I wouldn't still be sore after a session by now, but I guess I'd still feel soreness if I push myself like I did last night.

[Beinkasaurus Rex]

If you were a vegetarian, I'd probably be worried about how much protein you were getting in your diet. Eating enough beans n shit?

Also, I love how even after a few years I'm still mostly clueless on a few points. Like right now, I'm sore all over after last night's training session. It was one of the sessions where afterwards I'm all hell yeah, top of my game etc. I'd have figured I wouldn't still be sore after a session by now, but I guess I'd still feel soreness if I push myself like I did last night.

I keep a mental note of how much protein I take throughout the day, I tend to eat beans, almonds, lentils etc. Also, eggs, soy and various meat supplements =P
What I have to be conscious of is Vitamin B12 and Iron intake, methinks!

I've recently put on a fair amount of weight (I was originally 58kg, now about 68kg), which has correlated with doing weights regularly. It isn't fat, admittedly though I wouldn't call myself muscular. Before I started though I was incredibly skinny (I'm about 6 foot) I don't know why I threw that in, but I'm fairly happy with my results =P

[Second]

And yet you still look like Justin Bieber.

[Araenel]

58kg and around 6 foot? Holy shit you would have been knocked over a by stiff breeze.

[Beinkasaurus Rex]

And yet you still look like Justin Bieber.

Not gonna lie, there are vague similarities <_<

Rae; admittedly vague measurements, but you're pretty much right. Half the problem was that no matter how much I ate, I'd lose weight or stay at 58. So yeah, I started doing weights!

[Spudzilla]

I've found that having two shots of scotch before I go out for a run allows me to push further and much harder than I would normally.

Is this good or bad?

[tau]

good, your body would probably go into repair overdrive thanks to being able to push yourself harder.

[texta]

Good gym session today. Mostly upper body work, though since there was no one around I took the plunge and tried some squats as well. I think I will add them into my workout since /fit/raves about them.

[^gR]

10km run, 2km row. Could have run for longer but I'm working tonight and don't wanna crash while I'm at work.

Gonna have to get a gym membership soon and hitup some weights and..'squats' :p

[Beinkasaurus Rex]

Good gym session today. Mostly upper body work, though since there was no one around I took the plunge and tried some squats as well. I think I will add them into my workout since /fit/raves about them.

and for good reason, the difference they make is incredible.

[texta]

Went to the gym briefly on Monday and then more substantially on Wednesday. But I've had tonsillitis for the last couple of weeks which has prevented me doing much.

Monday there were crowds of people so I didn't hang around, but Wednesday workout was good. Since I hadn't been for a while I did upper and lower. Chucked a bit more weight on the squats than last time and definitely felt it. I still need a bit of work on my balance/technique so I won't be breaking any records just yet.

I lifted the intensity on my cardio. A pretty short workout, but cranking the speed up to under 4 minutes per km. I remember when I used to be able to run 10km at this speed. The good old days. Sigh.

[^gR]

So when I started doin my training I was about, 105kg's, give or take. I'm 6 foot 2, so I'm a tall **** but I was still pretty big.

Now I'm 83 kilos, I dropped down to 82 there for a day or two but I've been lazy this past week. This shit gets addictive..

none of my clothes fit me now. I've notched 3 new holes in my belt. Got army aptitude tests in 1 month, possible recruitment in January next year if shit goes well..so much time :)

[Fenrir]

Just picking up the running regime again after nigh-abandoning it during uni. I was hoping to keep it going during semester, but I ended up drowning in the mucus of the latest mutation of the common cold.
I did cover a lot of ground on foot during the semester, but it's been difficult to handle running 5km at once again. Hopefully I can reaccustom myself to the abuse on a daily basis in time for another semester of uni.

[Second]

Do it, Fenrir.

[texta]

Gym today. Didn't get a chance to go all last week because of work, but definitely starting to notice an improvement since I joined up in April.

Did short cardio at speed. Have decided to maintain the speed but work on increasing time. Then mostly upper body, but did some squats as well. It turns out my balance issues were because my feet weren't far enough apart so did a lot better today.

[Beinkasaurus Rex]

Do you use a bar?

[texta]

Yeah, I thought I'd persist with it a bit longer.

[Beinkasaurus Rex]

Sorry, I meant using a high bar =P
I'd like to obtain one (got a bench at home, too poor for the gym!), but debating whether it's really worth the cash.

[Beinkasaurus Rex]

Also during my holidays, going to try and increase the amount of work I do etc with weights. I'm almost tempted to do those lame 'before and after' shots that I've seen flying around everywhere. WHO WILL DO IT WITH ME?!

[[m]averick]

I'm pretty rookie when it comes to the gym but there is seriously no point in going if you don't squat or deadlift.

[Beinkasaurus Rex]

I'd almost agree there, unless you have BACK INJURIES.
NEVER TAKE THAT INTO CONSIDERATION DO YOU MAVERICK. ****S SAKE, THIS IS EXACTLY WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS

[texta]

I disagree. It depends entirely why you're going in the first place.


Anyway, had an okay session today. Wasn't really feeling the cardio so mostly just did weights for an hour.

[texta]

Gym today.

Slowed down my cardio and did a very leisurely 5km over 30 minutes mostly as a recovery from footy. New new plan is to do more on cardio over the next few weeks but to focus on increasing the duration rather than the speed.

After that I did weights focussed on my upper body. Mostly various dumbell and barbell stuff. Reverse curls, curls, bench press. I forget what else.

Question though: cross trainers: I've never really got into them and it looks like women and old or unfit people are the only ones to use them at the gym. Am I being fair or are they actually good?

[SOX]

Having stopped climbing since I broke my foot (over two months ago), I've been twice in the past week and despite some pain in my foot still - its an awesome feeling to be getting fit again.

My forearms, grip, shoulders and left calf muscle (weak leg) are all killing me - but in the best kind of way!

[texta]

Nice one.

I've had pretty quick sessions today and yesterday. I haven't had much time so I've just snuck along and put in 30 minutes of cardio both days and that's about it. Now that Uni is back it makes it a bit hard, but I should be able to get a session in every day this week.

[JC Henderson]

Question though: cross trainers: I've never really got into them and it looks like women and old or unfit people are the only ones to use them at the gym. Am I being fair or are they actually good?


They certainly are a benifit for the larger frame folk like myself in the knee department as opposed to a treadmill. I find their greatest benifit though is in interval training. It is easy to do the 12 second off 8 second sprint with the things and a bit more of an overall workout compared to doing that on the bikes. Just my opinion though.

[^gR]

Started doing pushups and situps again as part of my training for army fitness test.

Did 25 pushups last night, in a set of 15, then 5, then 5. Then 40 situps in a set of 20, 10, 10.

That was after running for my usual 1hour and rowing hardout for 10 mins. Gonna try and get heaps better at pushups tho..until 2 weeks ago I couldn't even do 1 :p

[Larry]

Good one.


Had a good workout today. 8km cardio and then smashed some upper body weights. I usually go Monday evenings with a mate, so tonight I might do some sprints on the rugby field next door.

I haven't lost weight and don't look any fitter, but I think I'm definitely improving my fitness.I think it's a good rule to do weights before cardio, so that you can get the most out of your weights session. Also read another of your posts that said you were doing upper and lower body on the same day, which is fine if you're doing a low work load. Otherwise, if you're doing the same amount of work as you would do on split days, then spending 1+ hours on the weights might do you more harm then good by overtraining.

I like the Cross trainer. Easier on the joints. I find it an effective low impact machine. Get your heart rate up by doing interval splits at high levels. I find it a good way to do intervals at the gym, when it can be hard to do them on the treadmill. I tend to do 1 minute intervals for 10 minutes and then follow it up with a run on the treadmill. Good, quick routine.

[Azzaman]

I'm going to try and get back into my (fairly limited) exercise routine next week. I've had a tough time finding free moments between working overtime or odd hours and being up listening to a new born baby cry.

My run is going to absolutely kill be at first, though I have still been playing basketball I've really noticed how unfit I've gotten in the past few months.

[Second]

I plan on getting back in to it once I lose this ****ing cough.

[tau]

^that.

flu for the ****ing lose.

[texta]

Back to the gym after a good week off being sick.

Took things reasonably easy, but upped my weight amounts slightly. I'm thinking of trying the SS stuff for a few weeks to see how that goes.

I can put on muscle very easily, but actually getting stronger seems to take more work. :|

[texta]

Went to the gym Friday and again today.

Just did the same old on Friday though I've got my squat technique pretty down and I think those muscles that kick in right at the bottom of the squat are a bit stronger now, so I'll hopefully be able to start really adding the weight on over the next few weeks. And today I decided to start using the iFitness app on my iPhone, just because I think when I don't write down what I'm doing I don't really push myself enough.

I also mixed things up and did my weights first and then cardio. There's pretty conflicting reports on which is better, so I don't really care. But I was able to lift slightly more so didn't look quite as puny as normal.

I also did bent over row's for the first time. But I overestimated how hard they were so I'll have to crank the weight up a bit next time.

I did only arm work today. Legs and core tomorrow. But my mate texted me suggesting "gym tomorrow at 6", because we sometimes go in the evenings after work, but I jokingly texted back and said "gym doesn't open until 6:15am, how about 6:30am" and he said yes, so now I'm locked in to a ridiculously early start. Not to mention that I'll have to get up at the crack of dawn to have breakfast. FML.

[Slippery]

3x10 sets of chin-ups today. Honestly should've done like 11 on that last set.

But still, hell yeah!

Edit: Should point out this is possible because I don't weight shit, but still, **** yeah.

[texta]

Gym today: day two of my new routine, focused mostly on legs. Doing a proper routine seems to work much better than the ad-hoc stuff I was doing before. I am well and truly stuffed.

[texta]

Had a rest day yesterday plus footy training. Today was mostly working the guns.

I think I might have the rest of the week off since I've got footy training tomorrow and then our semi final on Saturday. I'm actually quite looking forward to footy ending so I can focus more on actually improving my fitness, since trainings and games don't really offer a whole lot of anything.

[tau]

So that was sorta unexpected.

Started weight training but also started eating to slim down as advised by my pt. Pretty much a diet of mainly lean proteins and veggies. Gained 2kg on the scales yet my pants are looser. Win?

[Bob the Destroyer]

Shovel Gloving (http://www.shovelglove.com/)

Been trying it for a few days, feeling really sore in places I don't usually get using machine or free weight. Plus its a sledgehammer, pretty manly regardless

[texta]

3km run. Hour at the gym. 3km run home. ****ed.

[Ad-Rock]

Rode to work for the first time in ages.

I am scarily unfit.

There's a big arse hill on the way, it's scarily fast.

[[m]averick]

Tex, how many warm up sets do you use on SS?