MetsajCFC

For me, pushups worked to some extent but I hit a plateau, I could do 80-100 good form pushups in a row, feel the pump and all that but it wasn't enough anymore to stimulate muscle growth. Another factor are the wrists. Pushups, especially diamond pushups, aren't too beneficial for wrists, never experienced wrist problems (warm up is essential) even when benching heavy weights (for me) around 110kg (242lbs), and that's hard to emulate with pushups. Just a personal preferance. Push ups are good for toning but only work to certain point when it comes to building your chest. But otherwise your mentality is spot on and I'm with you on this one - work with what you have.

Fucking hell, monster of a gym

Big belly is caused by steroid abuse, just a side-effect I think what Vincent was trying to say is that some people have harder time developing the fat-muscle ratio needed for abs to show. For example my legs and abs are stronger and I've never had to work that much on them, they've always been toned, muscular but I work very hard to chest, shoulders and arms to even it up, so it'd look in porportion. We're all genetically different, that's the way it is. As far as anwsering if everyone can get toned abs - yes, ofcourse. All it takes is more work, more nutritional awareness and dedication (not 2-3 month dedication but years and years of work)

Wow, what a second half. United were lucky not to lose. Well played lads, great to see the old Chelsea again, will it continue?

On a positive note Jan Verthongen double takes Spurs ahead in Anfield... o wait

Closed the game after 2-0. If they can't be arsed, I can't be either. Benitez has to go, we're a joke of an opponent as we stand now, can't beat anyone anymore, every game is so tricky. I hope Abramovich now realises that it's not the managers that are purely behind the results, but also the underperforming, over-rated players. I'd sack half of the squad, bring back some youngsters from loan and get couple of new signings in. It's a disgrace. From a hero to zero in 8 months

All you need is: Set of dumbells (make sure they're ones that you can regulate, so you can add weight later on rather than buy whole new dumbells, having 2-3 different dumbells is the best option, 1 light, 1 medium and 1 heavy weights for different exercises), a pull-up bar for pull ups, chin ups - all kinds of pull up techniques, also later on you can train abs on it (while hanging, bringing your legs to a 90 degree angle with your body and slowly moving them back to normal position), a standard mat for abs (all those ab machines are fancy and all that but not necessary, get a normal routine off YouTube or something and all it takes is a mat), perhaps a medicine ball (those big rubbery balls you can sit on, can do abs there, all kinds of exercises) Only thing that will make you want to go to a gym later on is the bench press, which is harder to emulate (push ups are good but they won't have the same effect as bench press would), to some extent you can do flat dumbell presses because with dumbells you can't bench as much as you would with barbell - only because you'll have to stabilize the weight using your hand rather than two hands, that's why dumbells are always more beneficial with that kinds of exercises. And that's about it, work with what you have. Having a tractor tire and a hammer is a very good thing, I've seen lots of MMA fighters train with it, just don't knock yourself out when the hammer bounces back!

All the best of luck to you mate, keep us up to date Fitness is about lifestyle, you'll get used to it. Remember, Rome was not built in a day and neither was your body. Anything takes time but in the first 1 month or so you'll see some results very fast, then changes become harder to notice (for yourself anyway, people who see you once every 1-2 months will notice) but keep yourself focused and true to the cause because you're doing it for yourself!

I was just adding to this thread, didn't take any of your comments as an insult, far from it, was a good read as you seem to orientate in history very well. If you take history book definition of communism, then yes, it wasn't anything like that but they'll always be known as the reds or as the commies.

It's hard to find a family in Estonia that hasn't been touched by the deportations and warfare of the World War II. God knows where we'd be now if it wasn't for Boriss Jeltsin who called back the troops (it got very intense here, I remember my father saying that he thinks it's about to get bloody - keep in mind there were already bloody consequences in neighbouring Baltic state Latvia, tanks on the streets, civilianz blocking the path to Tallinn's Broadcasting Tower to keep in touch with the people and the world, freeing the parliament building from russian demonstrants after Edgar Savisaar asked people to save the nation over live-radio) from Estonia during the Moscow's August Coup in 1991. So as Estonians, we take anything like that very personally as we've experienced it first hand. Till this day Estonia pretty much has the word "enemy" and "Russia" as synonyms and the feelings are still there. Just as little back as 2007 there was a major riot on the streets of Tallinn where russian speaking community used the removing of a statue (that was a memorial statue for Soviets from WW2) from downtown Tallinn (capital of Estonia) to a more quieter, less provocative place as an excuse to riot, burglar shops and trash the city. For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Night So the feelings run deep, as if the hate for russians (and I don't mean those russians who live in Estonia, learn the language, obey the law like a normal citizen. I mean thos russians who haven't learnt Estonian while living here for 20+ years, demand for russian to be second national language, more benefits for russians, waving Russian flags where they shouldn't etc, playing the CCCP anthem loudly etc, we're democratic and all that but there's a line.) runs in our DNA, whereas I've only heard good (well, good as in as good as they can be when your country is being invaded by foreign troops) things about the German soldiers from my family members or history class for that matter.

Congrats mate!

I did P90X three times. It works to a certain point for me. It's great for upper back and arms but not so much for legs and chest and shoulders (muscle building wise) - can't replace good old bench press with all kinds of push ups but it's a good way to "introduce" this kind of movement to your body. Now I just lend some of the exercises from the programme but not much else. P90X (excluding yoga and a couple of more routines) get repetative and easy very fast, so in order to keep progressing its better to either invest in weights or join a gym. But for any programme to work there has to be strict eating programme. Good luck to you

Though I must say, Rmpr don't take it so personally

hahah no not at all! that sort of posts keep the league alive really

I was like +2 on Y-axis and -2 on X-axis, in the upper left box (red) - I don't consider myself communist-minded person, far from it but that's what the test gave me, answered all questions accurately

Blue Ultras to face the mighty S.E.P in last TC League Cup Last 16

This also shows that it's not only Benitez who has to get his act together, our finishing is wasteful whichever way you look at it

Win is a win and a deserved one! Well done to the players. Ben Foster had such a great game, feel sorry for Oscar

The only place to be

Regarding motivation. One of the best tips anyone can give you is to have a workout partner. You're bound to hit the gym if you've set up the appointment with a mate, can't bail out as easily. But also anything that "pumps you up" mentally is great. For example music or some youtube video. I'll add some videos I've watched for motivation below. I'd also recommend checking out YouTube channels for new ideas, motivation and just for educational purposes. Two Iv'e followed are Twin Muscle Workout (they've also got two-three other channels linked with workout channel, covering all kinds of topics, great laugh aswell.) and one that I recently found is Marcos Silva Fitness (brazilian guy, seems level headed and talks from his experience) But take any information (including mine) with moderation. Everyone's different so things that work for me perhaps don't work for you and vise-versa, plus the language barrier, perhaps I can't express myself as clearly as I would with my native language. Also, what makes you not interested in training? Is it because you feel you're not getting the results? Lack of energy? The gym's environment? When I came back from the army, I had lost a lot of weight. I think I was around 87kgs, because all you do is cardio there day in day out and the food there is not sufficent to cover the nutritional needs to maximize muscle gains, strength gains. Now, I'm 96 kgs. When I re-started my workout routine I had the same feeling as you. All the weights seemed heavier than I remembered them to be. 50-60kg bench was a good workout, now I can do 110+kg(I rarely try my max, not bothered with it, I'll try next time I'll hit chest). What I want to say is that it all will come back to you faster than it would for a guy who starts from zero. Give it some time and keep giving it your all. Going strictly cardio you'll keep on losing your muscle mass (but at the same time it's beneficial for your cardiovascular health). Balance it out, ask yourself what are your goals. Do you want to gain muscle and focus on physique or run 30kms. I'd start from low weights again, feeling the form, getting it spot on (that's why there's mirrors everywhere in the gym, to check your form) and let your body get used to lifting again. So listen to your body but make sure you don't stay in your comfort zone just because it feels good, can't have progress if you don't increase weights, mix it up every now and then. But at the same time no point grabbing weights that will cause injuries or jeopardize form. So listen to your body and be realistic and honest towards yourself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVtmNhWhQWo

Keep strong mate, role model for all of us

Yes, splitting muscle groups to different days is the way to go. For example what I do is Monday: Shoulders and Arms; Tuesday: Cardio Wednesday: Legs and Back Thursday: Cardio Friday: Chest and Triceps Weekend rest (monday's arms workout is mostly biceps&shoulders, because chest day also works triceps quite alot) and after every strenght training I'll do abs/core (although I admit, sometimes I can't be arsed wriggling on the mat for 15 minutes and hit the showers instead ). When doing back, don't forget lower back, it's not one of the glamour muscles but surely as important if not more. When planning workouts try not to mix two big muscle groups into one day. You'll tire out faster because you're using alot more energy, so you'll soon start to yawn, get abit light headed etc etc. So watch out for that As mentioned before, start light (not because you couldn't, but because to get form right, to get it into your muscle memory) and prefer compound(movements that use multiple muscle groups, isolating movements use primarily one, for example bicep curls) movements (squats, bench press, dead lifts (dead lifts are somewhat injury risky, careful with them) You can also ask other guys/girls in the gym for information. There are some who just say you're doing something wrong while you're not. So again, can't take anything 100% seriously. One time I saw this guy, first time I saw him in the gym, wasn't skinny, wasn't fat, medium really. But he went to every machine and automatically pushed the weights to near max while his form was absolutely wrong, all it does is train anything but the muscle group you're targeting and causes injuries. About protein powders. It isn't a magic tool or steroid type booster. It's just nutrients packed into a form of powder. Meal replacer. Widely used by people who aim to build muscle, mostly after a workout because you'll get an hour window after the workout when your body is "grabbing" nutrients, so everything that goes in within that hour is most likely used for good cause, rather than stored as fat

Seems to be a decent gym from your description, surely there's some trainer around who will gladly help you out if you need any. It can be distracting to work out in a new gym, new environment, new people but just keep your focus on your goals, training programme. Gym is a place of work, get in-get out. About supplements, taking clean whey protein is totally fine, although can be expensive. Just a meal replacement really. When it comes to changing your body sleeping and eating right is even more important than working out itself. When you sleep, our bodies repair the micro-wounds in our muscle fibre that we've "achieved" during the workout. Muscle building is scarring the tissue to put it white and black. And food is the building material for our body. Can't build a house without materials, right? Really hard to give you any advice as to how to train and how often, how frequent because we don't know your limits, current shape and so on. Best is either test your limits yourself, do some research on the internet (tons of channels on youtube, some of which I've followed are Twin Muscle Workout and Marcos Silva Fitness, but like said before take any information with a pinch of salt, in the end of the day they're giving out information that's based on their experience and we're all different, lots of crap out there.) Best advice anyone can give to you over the internet is to stick to your training, eating healthy (includes minimilizing/cutting alcohol out), sleeping well, educating yourself and getting the right mentality of "no excuses". Determination, all it is. Seen so many people talking about "bad genetics" and "don't have time, money, energy, wind blows from wrong side, too cold, too hot to work out" - you get my point! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbKkkZNwmN4

What a debut from Ake, looked very solid. Hope he keeps it up!

I think he is somewhat right and somewhat wrong. I agree totally with the part that the minority of fans who are just scapegoating Benitez for everything and anything negative, but never aknowledge his positive achievements with the club, aren't doing us any favours. Ok, yes we know you want him out, we know at times the results haven't gone our way, we're struggling to hold onto top four place, yes we know Di Matteo won us the Champions League (which has as much to do with him as it does with Drogba's form and pure luck) but he's gone now, won't be coming back. It was a great gesture to applaud him on 16th minute but it's getting old now. There are 11 players on the pitch trying to win games, putting in performances although they're overplayed due to lack of squad depth (and quality, because some of the names on the bench shouldn't be there, not sufficent cover ability wise) - and that has nothing to do with the manager or players. It goes down to the board and board only. They're in charge of the transfers, they appointed Benitez and they inserted the title "interim manager" - which made sure he had nowhere the respect from anyone from day one. So yes, Rafa's right about one thing. Why focus on distributing hate (especially on the Internet) when we know that in 3 months (90 days!) time he will be gone. So instead of rambling on about Benitez, focus on the team and help the team. There's a saying that no man is bigger than the club, well the minority of the fans are equaling Benitez with Chelsea in a sense that they'll rather keep on being twats than support, chant, clap, cheer the team - no matter the result. We all have bad days, why shouldn't footballers. But he has two weak points. Benitez is terrible with the media. He lets his emotions take control and will say things he'll regret later on. I'm sure the board wasn't expecting that nor will they appreciate him discussing internal affairs with media. Because let's face it English media is made up from bullshit news, taking a quoute and twisting it just to get a couple of million clicks. News=Business, not a source of news. Times have changed. He also stresses the fans' role too much. Like he said, he won 9 trophies in different countries, he should be mentally stronger to hold his composure and refrain from such remarks. In the end of the day, he has had dreadful games tactically - nothing to do with the "small group of fans with an agenda". Both sides need to look in the mirror. He won't and can't be the manager next season, that's clear from day one but we need to accept that he will be gone not before than end of the season. And it saddens me to see that while we have an interim manager, we also got interim fans.