Physical & Mental health

[dumps 284]

Id like to do yoga, I think its a really good idea, but i wouldnt want to do it in a class as its normally middle aged women that do it. id also like to do stuff releated to gymnastics, just to train to be able to have total control over the movements of your body. looks so cool. i will never be motivated/have the money/equipment to do it though.

[Leif 6,006]

Just found out this peanut-looking guy is only 1 inch taller than me (He's 5'5"!). Hopefully this will somehow boost my confidence in getting the adonis belt/"V lines"; although my understanding is that it's mainly down to luck whether you get them or not. I'd kill to have them once I burn this fat off.

(Seriously - is there any way of telling whether I'll have that defined "V" look eventually? Is it a muscle which gets trained just like the biceps, forearms, abs etc? Is there any way of poking this belly of mine and feeling it underneath?)

[Blue-in-me-Veins 4,067]

@Leif, for your insanity do you have like that little bit of flab over your body? or do you still have the 1 cage?

Because i wanted to order insanity being that it was no equipment, but because most of the test group people looked relatively fit just missing that definnition i chose the p90x. With p90x i saw people who were big, and still made the 90 days.

[Leif 6,006]

@Blue-in-me-Veins,

I've got a big bit of flab. Most Insanity workouts I only actually manage 30-40minutes out of the full 45-60 minutes, but it still gets results. There's one guy in the group who always faints around quarter way through and starts gasping for air, so as long as you last longer than him I consider it a good workout! Also, what they stress throughout the DVD's which I've only recently started listening to - go at your own pace. You get way better results if you go slower than the people on the DVD but complete each move - instead of trying to keep the same pace as them and then burning out too quick, if that makes sense.

[Blue-in-me-Veins 4,067]

@Blue-in-me-Veins,

I've got a big bit of flab. Most Insanity workouts I only actually manage 30-40minutes out of the full 45-60 minutes, but it still gets results. There's one guy in the group who always faints around quarter way through and starts gasping for air, so as long as you last longer than him I consider it a good workout! Also, what they stress throughout the DVD's which I've only recently started listening to - go at your own pace. You get way better results if you go slower than the people on the DVD but complete each move - instead of trying to keep the same pace as them and then burning out too quick, if that makes sense.

Theres always that one line in your posts that me die of laughter. hahahaha

Aight i'll try and get it for over the summer as i try and stay committed and continue this p90x. Its no joke either, but i often feel like there are moments i dont really FEEL it, but after next week im done with one month and will track my progress.

[MetsajCFC 1,255]

Theres always that one line in your posts that me die of laughter. hahahaha

Aight i'll try and get it for over the summer as i try and stay committed and continue this p90x. Its no joke either, but i often feel like there are moments i dont really FEEL it, but after next week im done with one month and will track my progress.

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

[dumps 284]

that 'V' line you're after: fat burn and ab workouts. a lot of focus on obliques so do a crunch and twist. if you have a pelvis, which i hope you do... just lose fat and build the abs and boom. to be honest itll just come naturally with everything else you do. I've got a just below average body fat and i have those lines.

[The Skipper 20,609]

Right, so I've decided I'm going to give this fitness thing a go and used a couple of your suggestions to create a vague schedule that I'll be following and improving as time goes on. I'll be starting on monday and will be starting with a little more cardio based programme slowly integrating into a more weight based programme...

Monday-Friday in the first two or three weeks:

Jog for 30-45 mins/Basketball Training/Five aside football (alternate).

Monday:

Chest & Biceps

Tuesday:

Rest

Wednesday:

Back and Triceps

Thursday:

Rest

Friday:

Legs and Shoulders

Weekend:

Rest

All this while keeping a quite healthy calorie diet of around 1900-2000 kcal everyday + drinking 2 to 3 litres of water every day... Any tips would be very welcome. I think my main goal is to reduce fat% to >20% and to get my weight down by 5kg or so, whilst also trying to make sure my strength doesn't deteriorate too much as I'd like to be working on that in the summer.

[dumps 284]

Right, so I've decided I'm going to give this fitness thing a go and used a couple of your suggestions to create a vague schedule that I'll be following and improving as time goes on. I'll be starting on monday and will be starting with a little more cardio based programme slowly integrating into a more weight based programme...

Monday-Friday in the first two or three weeks:

Jog for 30-45 mins/Basketball Training/Five aside football (alternate).

Monday:

Chest & Biceps

Tuesday:

Rest

Wednesday:

Back and Triceps

Thursday:

Rest

Friday:

Legs and Shoulders

Weekend:

Rest

All this while keeping a quite healthy calorie diet of around 1900-2000 kcal everyday + drinking 2 to 3 litres of water every day... Any tips would be very welcome. I think my main goal is to reduce fat% to >20% and to get my weight down by 5kg or so, whilst also trying to make sure my strength doesn't deteriorate too much as I'd like to be working on that in the summer.

My advice would be, when you do go to that weight regime, dont be afraid to participate in some fat burn stuff on the same day/rest day. i mean real easy stuff. not only will it help you burn fat but it will help you recover.

Another tip, instead of doing Chest and Biceps. do Chest and Triceps. simply because when you do your chest you are doing your triceps as well so it works out nicely. same with back, when you do your back you tend to work the biceps as well.

my advice would be no more than 2 exercises that work the same muscle. so for chest, dont go doing the bench, the dumbell fly, cable fly, push ups etc. just chose 2. and because of that, you may want to add shoulders to your chest and triceps workout. as those muscles are all secondary muscles to each other in those exercises.

strength training doesnt need to last more than 45 minutes. Id say legs should be done alone. so just spend 45 minutes on your legs. they are a very hard group of muscles to work due to their size and the amount of them.

Its just advice, different things work for different people. also as time goes on you'll be able to add in another strength session and remove a rest. itll all just come naturally.

but yeah that fat burn/cardio you have planned for the start sounds pretty solid and you seem to have the right idea. just eat well, sleep well, and stay active!

[Steve 10,227]

I train at the gym five days a week. Basically I mix it up but it's something along these lines with Cardio thrown in between here and there.

Monday - Chest

Tuesday - Back

Wednesday - Cardio or Rest

Thursday - Arms

Friday - Shoulders

Saturday - Rest

Sunday - Legs

[Rmpr 8,977]

Starting the gym tomorrow, as a fierce food lover, I ate everything I wont be able to eat for the next 7-8 months!

[MetsajCFC 1,255]

Starting the gym tomorrow, as a fierce food lover, I ate everything I wont be able to eat for the next 7-8 months!

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!

[SinineUltra 1,170]

Bought 20kg (44lbs) dumbells to train more effectively at home on shoulder day etc. Can't wait to try them out tomorrow.

My usual chest-tricep day (only day I go to gym, except a few leg workouts):

- Bench press: 4x 6-8 (using 85kgs)

- Incline bench press: 3x10 (using 70 kgs, 50kgs for super set/ warmup)

- Body weight dips: 4x10

- Tricep pulldowns 4x10

- Chest flies: 3x10 + super set it with diamond push ups

Has worked great so far, increasing the weights constantly to push myself. Max bench has gone from 60kgs to 100kgs in 3months. So a steady 10kgs a month pace, ofc it will drop down remarkably later on but aiming for 120kgs by summer for 1 rep max - would be 1,5x my body weight. After that I'll maintain, don't want to get the body-builder physique.

Edit: Dumps gave very good advice with work out max lasting 45-60min etc.

[Leif 6,006]

I live in the middle of nowhere and thus have zero gyms anywhere near me. What sort of equipment would be essential in a home gym? I don't even have a barbell yet! I've got a good ol' tractor tire outside with a 5kg sledgehammer for 'those' little workouts; a set of different dumbbells, and err, yeah. Are there any machines or pieces out there which would drastically help with my ab/pelvis area development? I was looking into one of those frames with 2 stick-shaped handles: The ones where you grab the handles and push down on them to elevate yourself above the ground, and then stick your legs out in front of you, hold it for a second, then bring the legs back to the starting position & repeat.

[The Skipper 20,609]

My idea is that I wanted to alternate doing chest and triceps because I didn't want to tire out my triceps due to me working on my chest and vice versa but if you're suggesting that I should only have 2/3 workouts for each muscle group then I guess it could work out pretty well yes. Thanks again guys.

[Korea 734]

I haven't bench press since my football days......

All I have is a pull-up bar, medicine ball/ antiburst ball, yoga mat and jump ropes (I go through 3 a year due to wear and tear) covers all the circuit training I need (However, I stopped after the Holiday season and got fat!)

[SinineUltra 1,170]

My idea is that I wanted to alternate doing chest and triceps because I didn't want to tire out my triceps due to me working on my chest and vice versa but if you're suggesting that I should only have 2/3 workouts for each muscle group then I guess it could work out pretty well yes. Thanks again guys.

That's a good idea but use it if you feel that your triceps alone are holding you back from benching more. It's one of many ways to get over plateaus!

[dumps 284]

depending on what you want from your workouts, in terms of strength you can do pretty much anything with some dumbells... you need make sure you can get some heavy ones though to keep up the progression. a bench would be useful for thise as well.

things like pull up bars can be useful. punch bags can give you a great workout for the hwole body.

problem is its all pretty pricey! but then i guess £30 for a membership is pretty pricey as well in the long run.

if you are living on a farm, im sure I saw Rocky lifting some farming stuff. hay and all that, worked out alright for him


To The Skipper, im not sure i knwo what you mean, but when you do your chest, yes you use your triceps, but you arent using them 100%, I have chest, shoulder and triceps day and i leave the gym feeling ive worked them all. If you wanted to laternate htem you could, i dont think there will be any harm in it, its just what i do, likei said, different people different things. hell, why not try out both see if you notice any differences. - another thing, on my chest, shoulder and triceps day, i do 2 chest things, 2 shoulder thigns hten one tricep thing. because my triceps would have been used for all my shoulder and chest exercises, so they dont need too much doing at the end of a session.

[SinineUltra 1,170]

I live in the middle of nowhere and thus have zero gyms anywhere near me. What sort of equipment would be essential in a home gym? I don't even have a barbell yet! I've got a good ol' tractor tire outside with a 5kg sledgehammer for 'those' little workouts; a set of different dumbbells, and err, yeah. Are there any machines or pieces out there which would drastically help with my ab/pelvis area development? I was looking into one of those frames with 2 stick-shaped handles: The ones where you grab the handles and push down on them to elevate yourself above the ground, and then stick your legs out in front of you, hold it for a second, then bring the legs back to the starting position & repeat.

You dont need a barbell, bench a tractor.

[MetsajCFC 1,255]

I live in the middle of nowhere and thus have zero gyms anywhere near me. What sort of equipment would be essential in a home gym? I don't even have a barbell yet! I've got a good ol' tractor tire outside with a 5kg sledgehammer for 'those' little workouts; a set of different dumbbells, and err, yeah. Are there any machines or pieces out there which would drastically help with my ab/pelvis area development? I was looking into one of those frames with 2 stick-shaped handles: The ones where you grab the handles and push down on them to elevate yourself above the ground, and then stick your legs out in front of you, hold it for a second, then bring the legs back to the starting position & repeat.

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!